The Best Open Source Photoshop AlternativesTop Image Editors & Digital Painting Tools like Photoshop

The best open source alternative to Adobe Photoshop is GIMP. If that doesn't suit you, our users have ranked more than 100 alternatives to Adobe Photoshop and many of them is open source so hopefully you can find a suitable replacement. Other interesting open source alternatives to Adobe Photoshop are Krita, MyPaint, Graphite and QuickEdit.

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Adobe Photoshop alternatives are mainly Image Editors, but if you're looking for Photo Editors or Digital Painting Tools you can filter on that. Other popular filters include Open Source, Mac, Online, Free, Windows, Linux and Windows + Free. You can also filter by region, for example EU-based alternatives if you prefer software developed in the European Union. These are just examples - use the filter bar below to find more specific alternatives to Adobe Photoshop.
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Alternatives list

  1. GIMP icon

    GIMP

     4720 likes
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    GIMP delivers powerful functionalities for photo retouching, image composition, and format conversion. As a versatile tool, it serves as both a simple paint program and a high-end retouching suite, and offers batch processing for mass image tasks in an accessible open-source platform.

    190 GIMP alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • BSD
    • Snapcraft
    • Flathub
    • PortableApps.com
    • Haiku
    • Flatpak
    • AmigaOS
    yes
     
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    Comments about GIMP as an Alternative to Adobe Photoshop
    Comment summary: GIMP is praised for being a free, open-source alternative to Adobe Photoshop with many features and community support. However, users find its interface unintuitive and criticize its limitation in handling PSD files and advanced Photoshop features. It is considered a less comparable alternative mainly for simpler editing tasks, with suggestions for plugins like PhotoGIMP to bridge some gaps.
    Top Positive Comment
    Conner Vieira
    4

    If you're used to Photoshop, GIMP will feel very unusual, since it has very different ways of doing things. That being said, its more than capable of keeping up with Photoshop on a technical level, and well exceeds Photoshop's abilities (if at the cost of intuitiveness) in my opinion

    Top Negative Comment
    Marek
    24

    Irritating, totally unintuitive, completely unthought-out interface. It may have a lot of possibilities, but a lifetime is not enough to discover them and understand the twisted logic of this program.

    Mike-Fulton
    Negative
    0

    On paper, GIMP would seem to match up quite well against Adobe Photoshop, but when you actually try to use it, it's got a user interface that not even a mother could love. Most features are implemented in a very non-intuitive fashion. Want to crop an image? In Photoshop you enter the desired size and then drag a rectangle around the portion of the image you want to keep. It automatically constrains the selection to the aspect ratio of the size you entered. Gimp offers a variety of options for the crop tool but none of them is as simple and quick to use as PS. I've tried using GIMP several times over the past few decades and it always makes me want to tear my hair out.

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    3 of 111 comments
    Adobe Photoshop Icon
    GIMP icon

    • Almost everyone thinks GIMP is a great Adobe Photoshop alternative.

    • GIMP is the most popular Windows, Mac & Linux alternative to Adobe Photoshop.

    • GIMP is the most popular Open Source & free alternative to Adobe Photoshop.

    • GIMP is Free and Open SourceAdobe Photoshop is Paid and Proprietary
    • GIMP is Customizable, Privacy focused and LightweightAdobe Photoshop is not according to our users
  2. Krita icon

    Krita

     1410 likes
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    Free, open-source painting software designed by artists for artists. Offers customizable UI, 9 brush engines, color management, tablet support, non-destructive editing, and privacy features. Portable and available on major platforms, supporting seamless texture creation.

    142 Krita alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Android Tablet
    • KDE Plasma
    • Epic Games Store
    • PortableApps.com
    • Steam
    • F-Droid
    Main Window
     
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    Comments about Krita as an Alternative to Adobe Photoshop
    Comment summary: Krita, praised for its open-source nature and ease of use, is a strong alternative for those focusing on digital art and animation. While not as robust for photo editing, many users find it complements freeware like Photopea for certain projects. Its intuitive interface and almost complete feature set for drawing resonate with artists, although it lacks some newer features available in Photoshop.
    Top Positive Comment
    Atoshi
    18

    It's kinda more intuitive to use than GIMP (which is a briliant PS alternative too) interface-wise, and supports CMYK out of the box if one needs it. As of version 3.1 it has pretty advanced support for animation, including opacity curves (GIMP fails completely in that field, animathing anything is a major PITA in it)

    Top Negative Comment
    Soul Rain
    36

    photoshop is a photo editing software; krita is a painting and sketching app

    Tomás Barão
    Positive
    0

    I often use complex layer layouts. From my experience, Krita offers ways of combining and compositing layers much more powerful than Photoshop. Some things Krita can do non-destructively that Photoshop can't.

    Krita is often branded with an anime and cartoons focus, but I use it in my professional work for raster processing in general.

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    3 of 46 comments
    Adobe Photoshop Icon
    Krita icon

    • Most users think Krita is a great Adobe Photoshop alternative.

    • Krita is the most popular Android Tablet alternative to Adobe Photoshop.

    • Krita is Free and Open SourceAdobe Photoshop is Paid and Proprietary
    • Krita is Lightweight, Customizable and Privacy focusedAdobe Photoshop is not according to our users
  4. MyPaint icon

    MyPaint

     387 likes
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    MyPaint is a fast, distraction-free, and easy painting tool for digital artists. It supports graphics tablets made by Wacom, and many similar devices.

    126 MyPaint alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • PortableApps.com
    MyPaint screenshot 1
     
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    Comments about MyPaint as an Alternative to Adobe Photoshop
    Top Positive Comment
    uhada
    2

    If you're looking for a painting app, MyPaint may be a good alternative to Photoshop. It has infinite canvas, good, natural brushes and overall good tools.

    Top Negative Comment
    Guest
    20

    MyPaint is only a drawing program, but it can't edit images. Adobe Photoshop can do both.

    Review by a new / low-activity user.
    sedeti
    Negative
    0

    My paint is not a image editor

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    3 of 5 comments
    Adobe Photoshop Icon
    MyPaint icon

    • Most users think MyPaint is a great Adobe Photoshop alternative.

    • MyPaint is Free and Open SourceAdobe Photoshop is Paid and Proprietary
  5. Graphite icon

    Graphite

     92 likes
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    Graphite is a free, open source vector graphics editor and animation engine, available now in alpha. Get creative with a fully nondestructive editing workflow that combines layer-based compositing with node-based generative design.

    59 Graphite alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Online
    Made using nondestructive boolean operations and procedural polka dot patterns
     
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    Comments about Graphite as an Alternative to Adobe Photoshop
    dco3lh0
    Positive
    0

    it's still in alpha stage, but in the near future, some years ahead will be the best alternative there is.

    Adobe Photoshop Icon
    Graphite icon

    • Almost everyone thinks Graphite is a great Adobe Photoshop alternative.

    • Graphite is Free and Open SourceAdobe Photoshop is Paid and Proprietary
    • Graphite is Privacy focused and LightweightAdobe Photoshop is not according to our users
  6. QuickEdit icon

    QuickEdit

     21 likes
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    Lightweight photo editor where you can crop your images, paint over them, add text and even add exciting filters to make it stand out on social media. Save the edited images locally or share them directly to your friends through any other social media app.

    54 QuickEdit alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Android
    • Android Tablet
    • F-Droid
    QuickEdit screenshot 1
    QuickEdit screenshot 2
    QuickEdit screenshot 3
     
  7. LazPaint icon

    LazPaint

     45 likes
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    Raster & vector graphic editor with many tools and filters, written in Lazarus. Portable, 32bit & 64bit versions, ORA format & 16384x16384 image support. In app 3D import & rendering.

    41 LazPaint alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • BSD
    • PortableApps.com
    • Flathub
    • Flatpak
    Main UI
     
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    1
    10
    Comments about LazPaint as an Alternative to Adobe Photoshop
    maurosoft391
    Negative
    -2

    the software is poorly designed

    Adobe Photoshop Icon
    LazPaint icon

    • Most users think LazPaint is a great Adobe Photoshop alternative.

    • LazPaint is Free and Open SourceAdobe Photoshop is Paid and Proprietary
    • LazPaint is LightweightAdobe Photoshop is not according to our users
  9. PhotoGIMP icon

    PhotoGIMP

     17 likes
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    A Patch for GIMP 3+ for Photoshop Users.

    14 PhotoGIMP alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    PhotoGIMP screenshot 1
     
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    1
    Comments about PhotoGIMP as an Alternative to Adobe Photoshop
    John Gringo
    Positive
    2

    It's a good way for Photoshop users to be able to use GIMP.

    Adobe Photoshop Icon
    PhotoGIMP icon
    • PhotoGIMP is Free and Open SourceAdobe Photoshop is Paid and Proprietary
    • PhotoGIMP is Privacy focusedAdobe Photoshop is not according to our users
  10. miniPaint icon

    miniPaint

     30 likes
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    miniPaint is free online image editor using HTML5. Edit, adjust your images, add effects online in your browser without installing anything. You can use the Electron based version of the editor if you like.

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Linux
    • Online
    • Self-Hosted
    miniPaint screenshot 1
     

    • miniPaint is the most popular Self-Hosted alternative to Adobe Photoshop.

    • miniPaint is Free and Open SourceAdobe Photoshop is Paid and Proprietary
    • miniPaint is LightweightAdobe Photoshop is not according to our users
  11. PhotoDemon icon

    PhotoDemon

     33 likes
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    PhotoDemon provides a comprehensive selection of photo editing tools in an 8 MB download. It runs on any Windows machine (XP through Win 10) and does not require installation. It can easily be run from a USB stick or SD card.

    22 PhotoDemon alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Windows
    PhotoDemon screenshot 1
     
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    6
  12. Glimpse Image Editor icon

    Glimpse Image Editor

     34 likes
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    Glimpse is an open source image editor based on the GNU Image Manipulation Program. The goal is to experiment with new ideas and expand the use of free software.

    163 Glimpse Image Editor alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application types

    Alerts

    • Discontinued

    Platforms

    • Windows
    • Linux
    Glimpse Image Editor screenshot 1
     
  13. Pocket Paint icon

    Pocket Paint

     19 likes
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    Pocket Paint is a paint editor that, among others, allows setting parts of pictures to transparent and zooming up to pixel level.

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Android
    • F-Droid
    Pocket Paint screenshot 1
    Pocket Paint screenshot 2
    Pocket Paint screenshot 3
     
  14. Pixelitor icon

    Pixelitor

     28 likes
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    Pixelitor is an open source image editor with an intuitive interface and with a special emphasis on non-destructive editing.

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    Pixelitor screenshot 1
     
12 of 29 Adobe Photoshop alternatives