@karlnyhus I came across this. Who knew? (apparently @zkarj ) 
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@zkarj and @neonate: I donāt disbelieve you. I believe that you can continue using Lightroom with limited functionality but you may remember that my original post questioned why someone would do that on a continuing basis. It is clear that Adobe allows paying customers to access their photos even after they have stopped paying, which is handy if you plan someday to resume paying Adobe when you need the service again or if you simply need time to get your photos moved to another solution. But if all you want out of Lightroom is the Library Module and a rather awkward workflow to edit new photos, then you clearly have found yourself a good deal! 
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I also have the photos (apart from those stored on Apple and Google Photos) stored on Synology NAS. I have an older model DS918+ (4-bay) NAS, using DSM7 and Synology Photos. I agreed that Synology Photo is not on par with Google Photos but it does have some degree of face recognition, AI, etc. However, it it not great on photo management, hence I am looking for an external app to overlay on top of Synology Photo, perhaps go down Photo Mechanics Plus (no subscription) or LR Classic route
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Sorry for misinterpreting your point. The reason why is because nothing does keywords like Lightroom Classic. At least nothing I have found.
It is the only software that makes a complex keyword hierarchy easy to maintain and to use on a regular basis. There are wrinkles when it comes to how the (hierarchical) keywords are treated in other software, thanks to a general lack of standards (in the beginning) and different software vendors going their own ways (still an issue), but if Lightroom stopped working today I would still have all the keywords in my files so not all would be lost.
There are people who insist on using the likes of Photo Mechanic or iMatch (Windows only) even if their preferred processing software also offers management functions, so Iām not an outlier in using multiple software products, just perhaps an outlier in using Lightroom only for its photo management functions. As needs must, because PhotoLab is mediocre in photo management and Lightroom is mediocre in processing.
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After nearly 20 years of shooting digital professionally, Iāve used a lot of options. From a DAMS that cost a half million dollars for the international non-profit educational and research institute I worked for, as well as Extensis Portfolio Server (a mere $20K for non-profits). It really comes down to this.
Photo Mechanic is absolutely the best if you need to work with images fast, and metadata is paramount. It has all sorts of automation options that let you manage the metadata quickly. But alas, it does not do image processing at all. Photo Mechanic Plus I have not used, but it seems to have a usable database module to manage your photos. You could certainly do a lot worse if fast processing, and working professionally is your thing. But it requires what comes below. You need something to actually process the images.
So, for the rest of us who are serious about our photos, I only recommend two options. Adobeās Creative Cloud Photo subscription which gives you Bridge (a free image management application in any case) Lightroom, and Photoshop. There are a few other things included but nothing worth considering in deciding to use it or not. It just got a phenomenal update in October that makes it a much more compelling product. Itās $10 a month. I used Photoshop professionally from May of '92 until I retired almost two years ago. So I know it inside and out.
The other alternative is Capture One Pro 21 (and in seven days 22). It is on sale currently for $179, and you get a free upgrade to 22 when it comes out. Normally $299. It has a subscription thatās significantly more than Adobeās, but if you like it, it is worth it.
Capture One Pro has a better RAW converter than Adobe, and that makes it easier to make the best quality pictures possible. It has a database like Lightroom. The interface is more customizable than Lightroom. But its use is somewhat more difficult to grasp at first. But there are lots of great tutorials out there and you can find Facebook and YouTube great resources for learning how to use it. It has a free demo, so you can try it first before committing.
I had switched from Adobe to Capture One Pro when I retired, but recent updates to Lightroom and Photoshop have me using them for the first time in a long time.
There are other options, but I canāt get used to their lack of the power and sophistication of Capture Oneās and Adobeās software. But if they work for you, fine. Just keep in mind that being the pro choices results in their owners refining their features, and making them the more powerful options out there.
Anything you choose is going to have a learning curve. Choose carefully.
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For the benefit of other readers to this thread, I strongly disagree with this statement. You might prefer a different processor, that is fine, but Lightroom is certainly not āmediocreā in the processing field.
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Iāve used a version of Powerphotos for many years. Itās purely good for those who use Appleās Photos app. I can create multiple Photos libraries and set whichever one I want as default. I can remove duplicates and all the albums etc stay in place. I have an archive Photos library of 40GB and every so often I move all photos from my default library which syncs with iCloud into the archive library to clear out iCloud. I use other apps to edit the photos.
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Has anybody just used Adobe Bridge? Iām primarily interested in organizing/cataloging and NOT editing. It seems like this might actually work well for my use case.
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I think I used Bridge before. I think it is not worthwhile to use just one Adobe Product without getting the benefit of the whole ecology like LR or Photoshop, etc. Adobe CC overheads seems to be loading down the Mac even if I do not run Bridge.
Can you tell me where I can find Bridge, please? It is free, right?
I couldnāt find Bridge (alone) to download.
I think I have Creative Cloud already. Yep. I am not sure what it is used for. But if that will help me handle or get more organized with Photos that would be terrific. The OCR is already helping. And I find I can do OH so much MORE in the Mac Photos app as opposed to Photos for the iPad.
I really have yet to explore much of Photoshop Elements. It took forever to download and I just wanted to get āatā the app. Thanks for pointing it out to me because it likely jives with what I am already doing.
I did buy a PSE 2021 Dummies book but I just checked it is not even mentioned in there!
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Thanks!!! Found it. I was going to write to you and tell you I found Bridge. 
Not sure how to use it but Iāll figure it out. Evidently you can download just about any app in their suite.
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Got to say itās a vote for Lightroom Classic CC for me. Not to be confused with regular Lightroom which is a cloud based service with a simpler interface.
A couple of years ago I let my Adobe Photography subscription expire, as I resented paying the Ā£9.99 per month. I downloaded the free trials of almost everything I could find but in all my experimentation I could not find anything that came close to Lightroom Classicā¦ Some apps did some bits, some apps did others, but no other app brings together the ease of DAM (Digital Asset Management) and the powerful (and non destructive) editing of Lightroom Classic. Not to mention the file size savings of the database driven non destructive approach! However when you do need it, it integrates with Photoshop CC flawlessly.
While something like Affinity Photo is biting on the heels of Photoshop there just isnāt any real competitor to Lightroom yet - of that I am sure.
Following all my experiments a few years ago - what did I do? Re-enabled my Adobe Photography CC subscription and I havenāt looked back!
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Another vote for Lightroom here. I import all of the photos from my big camera, GoPro etc. into a library on an external SSD and try to keep them semi-organised. The good family and holiday shots get exported into Photos on my laptop where they can be shared with the family, viewed on the Apple TV etc.
This system means that the limited storage on my laptop isnāt taken up by thousands of photos and it also acts as another back-up.
When Iām on the road Iāll use Lightroom on my iPad to look at images I might want to share quickly on social media (especially work related), but nothing gets deleted and the SD cards get ingested into the master library when Iām back home.
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The major difference between Lightroom and Lightroom Classic is that Classic lets you work with your locally stored library, while Lightroom will store all your files in their cloud. Some find this practical, others prefer to keep their photos locally.
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You (@airwhale) are spot on! For me-
(1) with Classic your Originals are āyoursā saved (and backed up) on hard drive(s).
(2) Mobile is ādeficientā in Library, Development, Printing, etc., to Classic. (deficient=less powerful)
(3) there are things that Adobe COULD do to make both more inter-operative but they are resistant.
YMMV!
@anon20961960, āā¦ā¦they are basically the sameā, is for me saying that applies to a horse and a camel, since they both have four legs. 
, no diss intended.
Here is one more site which has excellent information Lightroom CC Is Now Lightroom Classic (And a New Product is Born) | Matt Kloskowski
Adobe has been actively working to bring feature parity to Lightroom CC on the Mac. Iāve found that it can do most things that Lightroom Classic can. The one big thing Iāve found missing is the āMatch Total Exposuresā function. Lightroom Classic also handles editing in other applications better in the sense that it automatically adds the exported file to your catalog. In Lightroom CC, it has to manually be added back.
There is some variation between Lightroom CC on the Mac and Lightroom CC on iPadOS. On iPadOS, some of the presets are missing for selective edits ā eg. eyes and teeth whitening.
Now, if you use the built-in sync function, you can edit photos on the Mac using Lightroom Classic and Lightroom CC on the iPad.
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