Luminar Neo vs Cleanup Pictures

Luminar Neo is a desktop photo editor for macOS and Windows that combines one-click AI adjustments with layer-based manual control. Sky replacement, portrait retouching, generative erase and expand, HDR merge, and noise reduction all live in one app, with optional Lightroom Classic and Photoshop plug-in support.

Where subscription editors lock you into monthly fees, Skylum sells Luminar as a perpetual license with 2 device activations. Generative AI tools and the asset library renew annually, but the core app stays yours after a single purchase, which suits photographers who edit in bursts rather than every day.

Landscape shooters, portrait photographers, and hobbyists use Luminar Neo for batch presets, RAW support across 1000+ cameras, and cross-device handoff from mobile to desktop on higher tiers. An AI Assistant suggests edits in 16 languages and opens the right tool when you ask how-to questions.

Cleanup Pictures is a browser-based photo editor focused on AI inpainting. You brush over an unwanted person, object, text, watermark, or blemish, and the tool reconstructs the background in a few clicks. No Photoshop clone stamp or reference patch is needed.

Most inpainting apps need you to sample nearby pixels manually. Cleanup Pictures, built by the Clipdrop team at Init ML, uses a model that guesses what was behind the selection, which handles shadows and complex edges better than traditional retouch tools.

Photographers use it to erase tourists from travel shots and fix cracked prints. Real estate agents depersonalize room photos, e-commerce sellers clean product shots, and agencies touch up campaign visuals. Exports cap at 720px on the free plan; Pro unlocks full resolution for $5 per month or $36 per year.