What are the best image editing apps for Windows?

Question

3

Options
Considered

7

User
Recs.

Feb 11, 2021

Last
Updated

Here’s the Deal

3 Options Considered

Best image editing apps for Windows	Price	Platforms	License
-- GIMP	-	Windows 10/8/7; Linux; MacOS	GPLv3+
-- PixBuilder Studio	Free	Windows	-
-- Paint.NET	FREE	Windows	-

See Full List

I Recommend...

Built By the Slant team

Find the best product instantly.

Lustre recommends the best products at their lowest prices – right on Amazon.

4.7 star rating

Try it now - it's free

score 5 · Answer 1

GIMP

Top Pro

It's free to use

Gimp was actually made by a group of like-minded people who wanted to create and share this app freely. It's an open-source app, which means you don't have to pay to use it. 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

John Bauer's Experience

Small Application, Easy to use, very popular, lots of tutorial videos available on youtube. See More

Specs

Platforms:Windows 10/8/7; Linux; MacOS

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

GIMP doesn't embrace OS X application design, thus Mac users might have a hard time wrapping their heads around GIMP's interface. See More

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 Pro

Has a decent-looking set-up

The panels and tools are designed reasonably and Photoshop users will find some qualities of it to be familiar and comfortable to use. 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 Pro

Lots of room for customization

There’s a lot of Gimp plugins to modify the app according to your specific needs. You can get them from the Gimp Massive Package or from the Gimp plugin registry. See More

See All

Built by Slant

Find the best product
instantly.

Stop wasting time searching endlessly. Lustre recommends the best products at their lowest prices – right on Amazon.

4.7 star rating

Add to Chrome - It's Free

Add to Edge - It's Free

Add to Firefox - It's Free

Add to Opera - It's Free

Add to Brave - It's Free

Add to Safari - It's Free

Try now - it's free

score 1 · Answer 2

PixBuilder Studio

Top Pro

Compact

RickZeeland's Experience

Free photo editing software, only a 3MB download. Supports color channels and layers concept, multi-step undo, gradients, masks and text layers. See More

Specs

Platforms:Windows

Top Pro

Free

See All

score 1 · Answer 3

Paint.NET

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

Specs

Platforms:Windows

Top Pro

Easy to learn and use

Unlike most photo editing software, Paint.NET is simple to learn and easy to use. This means less time is spent learning the in's and out's of Paint.NET and more time on 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

Paint.NET is only available on Windows. See More

Top Pro

Active and friendly community

The forums are filled with tutorials, as well as people who are friendly and eager to help. See More

Top Pro

Free software

There is no charge for this software; but donations are welcomed. 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

See All

The Slant team built an AI & it’s awesome

Find the best product instantly

What are the best image editing apps for Windows?

3 Options Considered

GIMP

My Recommendation for GIMP

My Recommendation for GIMP

It's free to use

Lacks adjustment layers

Free, open source and cross-platform

Unintuitive interface

Powerful

Has a decent-looking set-up

Modular & single-window interface options

Lots of room for customization

PixBuilder Studio

My Recommendation for PixBuilder Studio

My Recommendation for PixBuilder Studio

Compact

Free

Paint.NET

My Recommendation for Paint.NET

My Recommendation for Paint.NET

Actively developed

No project-based interface

Easy to learn and use

Only available on Windows

Active and friendly community

Free software

Lightweight

Don't see your favorite option? Add it.

One sec!