There are loads of programmers out there programming loads of software programs. TNTC (too many to count).
And in each realm there are the major players. The ones who seem to be the end all software, the “if-you got-it-that’s-all-you-need” software.
Photography software is no exception. We know who the big one is, but there are plenty of other players. It’s worth at least knowing they are out there and brushing up against them even if you are just visiting their website. Maybe you’ll find they are better than you expect.
Just use DuckDuckGo.com (the better alternative to Google) and search for photo processing software, or RAW processing or any other logical term and you are sure to find plenty of software to explore. Check out GIMP, the open source alternative to Photoshop and Darktable open source alternative to Lightroom. They are hard to use in some ways but offer some great features (and they are free).
The problem with alternatives is we don’t know how to use them. How do you determine if something is better if you don’t know how it works?
Struggling with a learning curve to try and modify a photo is a pain. It won’t come out as well as what you are used to using and well, pain is a pain. Time to scurry back back to the familiar and comfortable.
But (yes of course there is a but), ya never know. Maybe there are new things to learn, better ways of processing. Learning isn’t necessarily easy but it’s how you got here, so far.