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Photography
Design
Photo Editor
What are the best free Photoshop alternatives?
23
Options
Considered
163
User
Recs.
Oct 13, 2023
Last
Updated
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17
Options
Considered
Best free Photoshop alternatives
Price
Platforms
License
75
GIMP
Free
Windows 10/8/7; Linux; MacOS
GPLv3+
63
Krita
Free
Windows, Linux, Mac, Android
Open source
--
Photopea
-
Web (in a browser)
-
--
Darktable
Free
Windows, Linux, Mac
-
--
Paint.NET
Free / paid
Windows
-
See Full List
75
GIMP
My Rec
ommendation
for
GIMP
My Recommendation for
GIMP
All
18
Experiences
2
Pros
9
Cons
6
Specs
Top
Pro
•••
Powerful
GIMP is the most feature rich free image editing tool. It has most image manipulation and workflow tools that you would expect from an image editing software and what it lacks it makes up with plugins.
See More
Top
Con
•••
Bloated hype over its quality and features.
It's being presented as Adobe Photoshop replacement for Linux, which it definitely isn't - by any means. It's an OK tool for dilettantes and amateurs, but beyond that it doesn't deliver.
See More
TruthfulRaetTawy's Experience
Krita is not stable and too simple
See More
Specs
Platforms:
Windows 10/8/7; Linux; MacOS
License:
GPLv3+
Tethered capture:
No
Non-Distructive Editing:
No, Feature in development with GEGL
See All Specs
Top
Pro
•••
Free, open source and cross-platform
GIMP is completely free and open source, meaning you can use GIMP and all of its features without spending a penny. This makes it an excellent case for artists or designers who may not have the budget to spend over 700 USD on Photoshop. It is also available for free on Windows, Mac OS and Linux. It's licensed under GPL with source code available here.
See More
Top
Con
•••
Unintuitive interface
Many simple tasks are complicated in GIMP. For example, changing the brush size is annoying. Basically the UI is not bad, but not very good either.
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RageGamer's Experience
I use it all the time, and it's basically a less refined Photoshop, that's free.
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Top
Pro
•••
Lightweight
Compared to to other photo editing software, GIMP is very light weight. In addition it isn't very resource-intensive, meaning you can put it on a flash drive and have it with you to load up on just about any computer.
See More
Top
Con
•••
Lacks adjustment layers
Adjustment layers offer a non-destructive way of combining different photo manipulations. Without adjustment layers the only way to see changes is by irreversibly editing the image. They are promised in future updates.
See More
Top
Pro
•••
Cross-Platform
Available on Linux, Mac, and Windows.
See More
Top
Con
•••
Buggy plug-ins
Some of the plug-ins do not work the way they should, or work slightly differently each time.
See More
Top
Pro
•••
Modular & single-window interface options
By default GIMP splits out each window, but you can check to use the one screen mode in options if you prefer.
See More
Top
Con
•••
Less features than other programs
Being a free program, it shouldn't be surprising that it has limited features. For those needing more advanced features for something more professional, GIMP just isn't for you.
See More
Top
Pro
•••
Content-aware tools with a plugin
There's a content-aware fill plugin available for GIMP.
See More
Top
Con
•••
slow
Performs any operation with huge delay showing progress bar
See More
Top
Pro
•••
Beginner-friendly
Gimp has less features than programs like Photoshop, but for a beginner, or someone not needing complicated options, Gimp is the perfect choice. It allows you to quickly do basic photo manipulation so you can easily get the product you need without having to worry about complicated features getting in the way.
See More
Top
Pro
•••
Full channel support
See More
Top
Pro
•••
fast
See More
Hide
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Free
Recommend
45
10
63
Krita
My Rec
ommendation
for
Krita
My Recommendation for
Krita
All
14
Pros
7
Cons
6
Specs
Top
Pro
•••
Free and open source
Krita is completely free and open source. They have raised a couple of successful Kickstarters in the past to get the initial financing and now they are accepting donations.
See More
Top
Con
•••
Working with text is not that pleasant
See More
Specs
Platforms:
Windows, Linux, Mac, Android
Technology:
C++, Qt
License:
Open source
Top
Pro
•••
Constantly updated
Krita is getting constant releases with updates and bug fixes. New features are added at a pace that far surpasses the other alternatives.
See More
Top
Con
•••
Documentation is lacking
Krita's official documentation is incomplete in some areas, especially for new features that are constantly added. But this is compensated with it's great design and usability which makes it easier to understand how things work.
See More
Top
Pro
•••
Amazing support for displaying brushes
Krita's preset brushes are one of the default dockers. Each brush has a preview on mouseover that shows a detailed view of the type of brush involved. All the brushes also have useful and descriptive names such as "HP Pencil" or "Textured Fuzzy".
See More
Top
Con
•••
Not as good as other software for image editing
Krita's main focus is on artistic painting for cartoons, or canvases, not image manipulation. This means it lacks in some tools alternative software may have.
See More
Top
Pro
•••
Very customizable
Although the UI is rather busy, Krita is very customizable. The editing window can be themed and the sidebar can be customized extensively throw many dockers or panes.
See More
Top
Con
•••
Poor touch controls
They are still pretty much a WIP. But they are getting there.
See More
Top
Pro
•••
Developed in part by KDE, which has a great community and therefore great support
KDE has a long history of making solid applications.
See More
Top
Con
•••
New features are not tested throughly
Since releases are so often and with little time between them, usually new features are not tested a lot and this can bring a lot of bugs with them. Which fortunately are quickly patched in the next release.
See More
Top
Pro
•••
Easy to use layout
All the most used and useful tools are easy to find in Krita's UI and are often just one click away. They are not hidden behind menus or dropdowns.
See More
Top
Con
•••
Poor touch controls
They are still pretty much a WIP. But they are getting there.
See More
Top
Pro
•••
Easy editing in a tiled view
Tiled view that shows your image tiled in the editor, and permits you to edit it as you are seeing it tiled. If the brush passes out of your texture, it will just automatically wrap back the painting to the other side of the original texture, while permitting you to paint and see the results on any of the tiled "clones" (the shortcut key to activate this is w by default).
See More
Hide
See All
Free
Recommend
29
1
--
Photopea
My Rec
ommendation
for
Photopea
My Recommendation for
Photopea
All
12
Experiences
2
Pros
7
Cons
2
Specs
Top
Pro
•••
Fast to load
See More
Top
Con
•••
Sometimes slow
Big SVG files load slowly, or not at all.
See More
RickZeeland's Experience
No browser plugin or Flash needed, also supports vector graphics in SVG format.
See More
Specs
Platforms:
Web (in a browser)
Top
Pro
•••
Drag and drop support
Photopea allows dragging & dropping images in to the browser window to upload them and add to the scene.
See More
Top
Con
•••
Hangs from time to time
See More
TallAtaiUlaan's Experience
Much better and exact replica of Photshop. ONline as well
See More
Top
Pro
•••
Requires no browser plugin
As it is an HTML5 application, running it requires no additional plugins on modern browsers.
See More
Top
Pro
•••
It has an excellent support for PSD and a similar interface
See More
Top
Pro
•••
Very reactive on feedbacks
See More
Top
Pro
•••
Can save as PSD
This means you can open these files in Photoshop, so if you don't have Photoshop on one device, you can still export your Photopea project and continue editing on Photoshop on another device
See More
Top
Pro
•••
Works on all OS's
Works on all standard browsers, without additional plugins (does NOT require Flash, for example).
See More
Hide
See All
Get it
here
Recommend
8
1
--
Darktable
My Rec
ommendation
for
Darktable
My Recommendation for
Darktable
All
8
Experiences
1
Pros
4
Cons
2
Specs
Top
Pro
•••
Supports tethered capture
On the camera set it to use USB Remote. Open Darktable, on the left side under Import, click scan for devices. The camera should appear. Click on tethered shoot. Next on the right side look for the gear icon above the battery n/a and click it. go to the session options tab, and change the base directory to the location you want to save photos. close that settings window and try taking a picture. It should come right up.
See More
Top
Con
•••
For tethered capture on Linux you may need additional software installed that is not a dependency for Darktable
First make sure you have gphoto2 and libgphoto2.
See More
RickZeeland's Experience
Darktable is an open-source non-destructive photography workflow application and RAW converter. It tries to fill the gap between the many existing free raw converters and image management tools.
See More
Specs
Platforms:
Windows, Linux, Mac
Technology:
C
Tethered capture:
Yes
Non-Distructive Editing:
Yes
Top
Pro
•••
Good batch editing capabilities
Darktable allows applying the same set of operations to multiple images and saving your history stack as a style (you can pick exactly which modules).
See More
Top
Con
•••
Can be overwhelming
There are a lot of different modules. You're going to need some time watching tutorials to understand how to get the best out of it.
See More
Top
Pro
•••
Fast and flexible
A very well considered UI makes edits fast and fluid. You can redo or undo any step without disturbing any other part of your edit. The UI doesn't get in the way.
See More
Top
Pro
•••
Feature rich
There are a lot of different modules.
See More
Hide
See All
Free
Recommend
1
--
Paint.NET
My Rec
ommendation
for
Paint.NET
My Recommendation for
Paint.NET
All
21
Experiences
2
Pros
11
Cons
7
Specs
Top
Pro
•••
Easy to learn and use
Unlike most photo editing software, Paint.NET is simple to learn and easy to use. This leads to less time learning the in's and out's of Paint.NET and more photo editing. For those who only edit photos sporadically and don't have time to invest in learning complicated tools for editing, Paint.Net will suit your needs.
See More
Top
Con
•••
Only available on Windows
See More
VigilantHesat's Experience
I've used Paint.NET multiple times for my YouTube thumbnails and icons and it's never failed me once. It's like Photoshop, but a free, easier to use version. If you're on a budget, I'd recommend Paint.NET.
See More
Specs
Platforms:
Windows
Technology:
.NET
Top
Pro
•••
Excellent user interface
Paint.Net makes excellent use of Microsoft .Net native controls, as well as some custom ones, to provide an interface that's both very functional and familiar. This is in stark contrast to cross-platform and proprietary graphics editors, which tend to have user interface elements that are somewhat jarring and confusing (not to mention ugly), particularly on newer versions of Windows.
See More
Top
Con
•••
Lack batch layer operations
Cannot show/hide multiple layers, lock a layer or link layers
See More
PoliteAmunet's Experience
Excellent tool for all up to semi-pro level, who need a quick & comfortable application to create & edit various graphical files. It has a highly intuitive interface, reasonable amount of app options, effects & tools and comes in a free package. The documentation is also very good.
See More
Top
Pro
•••
Lightweight
Paint.net provides a streamlined but effective core tool set. Support for advanced and niche features is provided through modular plugins, allowing the user to install only what's needed.
See More
Top
Con
•••
Proprietary
See More
Top
Pro
•••
Actively developed
The project is active and being continually expanded and refined.
See More
Top
Con
•••
No project-based interface
You can only edit a single image at a time in Paint.NET. For example, in other tools you can open 5 or a 100 images at the same time, and stack those windows in all directions. Furthermore, when you are editing in Paint.NET you can only "view" a single image at a time, even though you can have multiple images open. This limits your zooming ability, as the image will go fullscreen quite quickly, and hide parts of it behind the floating toolbars which can not be embedded anywhere on the screen.
See More
Top
Pro
•••
Plugins allow extra functionality
Plugins can be made by anyone in the community, and are offered for download on the forum. They extend the capabilities of Paint.NET to cover most tasks. Paint.NET community has an active plugin development scene with many plugins being supported for years.
See More
Top
Con
•••
Does not have many of the tools that Photoshop has to offer
See More
Top
Pro
•••
Community tutorials
Paint.NET community over time has created an impressive list of tutorials. Most of them have been seen, tried and commented on by other people so that common pitfalls are easily avoided.
See More
Top
Con
•••
Proprietary
See More
Top
Pro
•••
A fine set of effects and filters
The base set of all the effects & filters is very reasonable and comfortable to use. It easily does most of the job out of the box.
See More
Top
Con
•••
Proprietary
See More
Top
Pro
•••
Very reasonable tool set
Tools that are available have been selected with great care and should suffice for most users.
See More
Top
Pro
•••
Active and friendly community
The forums are filled with tutorials, people who are eager to help, and who are friendly while they do so.
See More
Top
Pro
•••
Portable without installation
See More
Top
Pro
•••
HiDPI support
Paint.NET supports HiDPI displays fully, with no scaling problems.
See More
Hide
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Free / paid
Recommend
22
3
--
Canva
My Rec
ommendation
for
Canva
My Recommendation for
Canva
All
5
Pros
4
Specs
Top
Pro
•••
Easy to use
See More
Specs
Platforms:
Windows, macOS, Android, iOS, Web
Top
Pro
•••
Lots of free available resources and easy to add your own ones
See More
Top
Pro
•••
Free to use
See More
Top
Pro
•••
Beautiful templates
See More
Hide
See All
Get it
here
Recommend
3
--
Pinta
My Rec
ommendation
for
Pinta
My Recommendation for
Pinta
All
9
Experiences
2
Pros
4
Cons
2
Specs
Top
Pro
•••
Free and open source
See More
Top
Con
•••
Too limited in formats in general
Supports saving files only in the most popular formats - JPEG, PNG, BMP, GIF, TGA and TIF.
See More
stalliondrift's Experience
Convenient single window
See More
Specs
Platforms:
Windows, Linux, Mac, BSD
Technology:
C#
Top
Pro
•••
Multilingual
Pinta is available (at least partially) in over 55 languages.
See More
Top
Con
•••
Can't save SVG format
Can open SVG image and edit it but can't save it in the same format.
See More
RickZeeland's Experience
Pinta is a free and open-source drawing program that is less complex and more user-friendly than Photoshop. Written in C# as a cross-platform application using .NET 6 / 7.
See More
Top
Pro
•••
Can save ICO format for Windows
Can save an image as a Windows icon.
See More
Top
Pro
•••
Addins
It is easy to write an add-in in C#.
See More
Hide
See All
Free
Recommend
3
--
PhotoFiltre 7
My Rec
ommendation
for
PhotoFiltre 7
My Recommendation for
PhotoFiltre 7
All
11
Pros
10
Cons
1
Top
Pro
•••
Portable version
See More
Top
Con
•••
Some PhotoFiltre functionality is locked behind a paywall
The following features are available in PhotoFiltre Studio X: Animated Gif Vectorial Path PhotoPNG RAW Format 8BF Filters Tool Nozzles Tool Deform Tool Retouch (red eye, ...) Advaced and Inverse Eraser Perspective correction Horizon correction Border effects for layers Transparent gradient in Alpha Chanel White Balance Adjust filter using curves Deform using curve
See More
Top
Pro
•••
Allows quick access to predefined folders
A toolbar at the top of the interface allows quick access to predefined folders that allow quick access to selections, masks, patterns.
See More
Top
Pro
•••
Allows adding to and substracting from selection
It's possible to add to or subtract from a selection using ctrl and alt keys.
See More
Top
Pro
•••
Supports masks
Masks (called PhotoMasque in PhotoFiltre) change the alpha channel based on the mask.
See More
Top
Pro
•••
Has an erase tool
The erase tool works like a brush revealing the bottom layer.
See More
Top
Pro
•••
Automatic stroke and fill option
Lets you fill in and draw an outline of a selection.
See More
Top
Pro
•••
Supports several layers types
PhotoFiltre supports bitmap, text, settings (gamma, contrast, hue) and color (transparency) vector types.
See More
Top
Pro
•••
Reasonable selection of brushes
PhotoFiltre has round, square and oblique line brushes of different sizes and allows custom shapes to be used as brushes. Gradient colors as well as effects such as 3D, pastels, charcoal can be used with brushes.
See More
Top
Pro
•••
Multiple selection methods
PhotoFiltre allows selecting via shapes such as rectangle (square and rounded), ellipse, triangle and rhombus, or in a free-form way. Selections can be saved to be used later.
See More
Top
Pro
•••
Good selection of filters available
Includes filters that allow adjusting brightness, contrast, saturation, gamma as well as stylize the image with watercolor, pastels, Indian ink, pointillism, puzzle effect filters.
See More
Hide
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Free / paid
Recommend
3
--
PhotoScape X
My Rec
ommendation
for
PhotoScape X
My Recommendation for
PhotoScape X
All
3
Experiences
1
Pros
1
Specs
Top
Pro
•••
Free version
See More
RickZeeland's Experience
Easy to use photo editing software with lots of options even in the free version. Sadly not that well known.
See More
Specs
Platforms:
Windows, Mac
Hide
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Free / paid
Recommend
1
--
Figma
My Rec
ommendation
for
Figma
My Recommendation for
Figma
All
3
Pros
2
Cons
1
Top
Con
•••
Not a Photoshop replacement
Figma is UI prototyping tool. The Adobe counterpart would be Adobe XD.
See More
Top
Pro
•••
Allows for real time collaboration
See More
Top
Pro
•••
Works in the browser
See More
Hide
See All
Get it
here
Recommend
2
1
--
MyPaint
My Rec
ommendation
for
MyPaint
My Recommendation for
MyPaint
All
4
Pros
2
Cons
1
Specs
Top
Pro
•••
Good support for pressure sensitive graphics tablets
MyPaint was designed specifically with pressure sensitive graphics tablets in mind.
See More
Top
Con
•••
Not a lot in terms of image manipulation
MyPaint focuses only on drawing. It has very little in terms of post processing or image manipulation features.
See More
Specs
Platforms:
Windows, Linux, Mac
Top
Pro
•••
Interface gets out of the way
MyPaint mostly consists of the canvas. The interface to select different brushes can be brought up if needed, but it generally stays out of the way of getting things done.
See More
Hide
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Free
Recommend
1
--
Chasys Draw
My Rec
ommendation
for
Chasys Draw
My Recommendation for
Chasys Draw
All
4
Pros
3
Specs
Top
Pro
•••
HDR
Supports combining photo's for HDR or focus stacking.
See More
Specs
Platforms:
Windows
Top
Pro
•••
Photoshop support
Supports Photoshop native image format and filters.
See More
Top
Pro
•••
Image file support
Supports lots of formats.
See More
Hide
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Free
Recommend
2
--
PhotoDemon
My Rec
ommendation
for
PhotoDemon
My Recommendation for
PhotoDemon
All
4
Experiences
1
Pros
2
Specs
Top
Pro
•••
Macro recorder
See More
RickZeeland's Experience
Free, portable, open-source photo editor that supports all Windows versions.
See More
Specs
Platforms:
Windows
Technology:
VBA
Top
Pro
•••
Free
See More
Hide
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Free
Recommend
1
--
PhotoPad
My Rec
ommendation
for
PhotoPad
My Recommendation for
PhotoPad
All
4
Pros
3
Specs
Top
Pro
•••
Easy-to-use
See More
Specs
Platforms:
Windows, Mac
Publisher:
NCH Software
Top
Pro
•••
Raw file support
See More
Top
Pro
•••
Free version
See More
Hide
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Free / paid
Recommend
1
--
Artweaver
My Rec
ommendation
for
Artweaver
My Recommendation for
Artweaver
All
2
Pros
1
Specs
Top
Pro
•••
Affordable
Available in a free version, and a paid version that costs only 34 €
See More
Specs
Platforms:
Windows
Hide
Free / paid
Recommend
1
--
Gimpshop
My Rec
ommendation
for
Gimpshop
My Recommendation for
Gimpshop
All
2
Cons
2
Top
Con
•••
Development is on hold
The developer has anounced that this program is on hold due to someone stealing his work.
See More
Top
Con
•••
Spamware that stole another person's work
Gimpshop was a project by a developer Scott Moschella . An anonymous user bought gimpshop.com and took his work and added bloatware and spam into the installer. The situation is not well known to most people who continue giving this random spammer money.
See More
Hide
Recommend
4
2
--
Toolpic Editor
My Rec
ommendation
for
Toolpic Editor
My Recommendation for
Toolpic Editor
All
3
Experiences
1
Pros
1
Cons
1
Top
Pro
•••
Can create GIF images
See More
Top
Con
•••
Needs Flash
Adobe Flash must be installed.
See More
Mirza Zamir's Experience
Very much easy and user friendly photo editor
See More
Hide
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free
Recommend
2
Don't see your favorite option? Add it.
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Affinity Designer
My Rec
ommendation
for
Affinity Designer
My Recommendation for
Affinity Designer
$49.99
Recommend
6
1
--
Corel Draw
My Rec
ommendation
for
Corel Draw
My Recommendation for
Corel Draw
$18.25 / MO
Recommend
1
1
--
AzPainter
My Rec
ommendation
for
AzPainter
My Recommendation for
AzPainter
FREE
Recommend
2
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