When Adobe moved to CC, development on the perpetual license version (CS6) ceased immediately. While CC users received new features like Dehaze, Panorama Merge, HDR merge, and facial recognition, CS6 users remained frozen in time.

If you currently have Lightroom CS6 working on an older PC, treasure it. But if you are a new photographer or setting up a new system in 2024, do not waste your money hunting for a mythical CS6 license. The $9.99/month Creative Cloud Photography plan (which includes Lightroom Classic, Photoshop, and 20GB of cloud storage) is, reluctantly, the smarter choice for the future.