If you cannot afford Adobe, the "better" technical solution is to leave the Adobe ecosystem. The quality of free alternatives has skyrocketed.
If you hate subscriptions but want professional polish, Serif’s Affinity suite (Photo, Designer, Publisher) is the direct competitor Adobe fears most. adobe zii 404 better
It may sound obvious, but Adobe has adapted to keep users away from patchers. If you cannot afford Adobe, the "better" technical