Photoshop AlternativesOnly apps categorised as Digital Painting Tools
The best Digital Painting alternative to Adobe Photoshop is GIMP, which is both free and Open Source. If that doesn't suit you, our users have ranked more than 100 alternatives to Adobe Photoshop and loads of them are Digital Painting Tools so hopefully you can find a suitable replacement. Other interesting Digital Painting Tool alternatives to Adobe Photoshop are Affinity Photo, Krita, Paint.NET and Photopea.
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Adobe Photoshop alternatives are mainly Digital Painting Tools, but if you're looking for Image Editors or Photo Editors you can filter on that. 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.- Digital Painting Tool
- Paid • Proprietary
- 184 GIMP alternatives
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.
License model
- Free • Open Source
Application types
Country of Origin
United States
Platforms
- Mac
- Windows
- Linux
- BSD
- Snapcraft
- Flathub
- PortableApps.com
- Haiku
- Flatpak
- AmigaOS
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 CommentTop Negative CommentMarekIrritating, 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.
Most Recent CommentRichardThe newest version of GIMP is a huge improvement and make it more look like PS
- 91 Affinity Photo alternatives
Real-time image editing software supporting extensive colour spaces, unlimited layers, non-destructive edits, and a streamlined workspace for complex tasks on Windows, Mac, and iPad.
License model
- Paid • Proprietary
Application types
Country of Origin
United Kingdom
Platforms
- Mac
- Windows
- iPad
Comments about Affinity Photo as an Alternative to Adobe Photoshop
Comment summary: Affinity Photo offers a polished interface with a minimal learning curve for those familiar with Photoshop, making it suitable for professionals and casual users alike. Its one-time fee model is a major advantage, often praised for its affordability compared to Photoshop's subscription. While it performs well on macOS and Windows, it lacks Linux support. Affinity is recommended for image processing, though it doesn't completely match Photoshop's range of features.Top Positive CommentShaz ShahAffinity Photo has a very polished interface and there's not a big learning curve if you're coming from Photoshop. It is very suitable for professionals that want to process and edit images. The affordable one-time fee for a perpetual license is also a major boost. Sometimes you may even find it on offer, so can get Photo at a much lower price. Performs very well on my macOS and Windows machines. Though I'm not a professional, I just like to dabble.
Most Recent CommentericbrightExceptional app with almost anything a professional photographer or photo-editor might ask for. It is easy to use, fast, and familiar.
Pricing model is good, features are comparable, and it's fast!
- 140 Krita alternatives
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.
License model
- Free • Open Source
Application type
Country of Origin
Netherlands
EU
Platforms
- Mac
- Windows
- Linux
- Android Tablet
- Epic Games Store
- PortableApps.com
- Steam
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 CommentAtoshiIt'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 CommentSoul Rainphotoshop is a photo editing software; krita is a painting and sketching app
Most Recent CommentJT42JT42krita in my opinion is great but it doesnt cover everything for many newer features of ps i recommend using photopea both krita and photpea in bundle are the ultimate solution for indie game devs, art makers, and much more i see krita very positive and everyone should have treid it once its learning curve is not as steep as gimps wich is a big plus krita and photopea can animate things easily even pixelart is possible wich gimp to this time sadly does not support.
JT42JT42
- 162 Paint.NET alternatives
Free Windows image editor with support for layers, plugins, and special effects. Offers intuitive interface, works offline, ad-free, and portable, consuming fewer resources.
License model
- Free • Proprietary
Application types
Country of Origin
United States
Platforms
- Windows
- .NET Framework
Comments about Paint.NET as an Alternative to Adobe Photoshop
Comment summary: Paint.NET is appreciated for being lightweight and easy to use, offering better PSD compatibility than GIMP. However, it cannot fully replace Photoshop due to its minimal features and lack of object support. Users note that while Paint.NET is free and useful for small edits, Photoshop remains superior yet slower for more advanced tasks.Top Positive CommentThatstinkyguyWhile it doesn't beat GIMP in terms of features, open-source, or cross-platform accessibility, it's still a solid program that's lightweight, fairly easy to use, and with a plugin (among many other ones), it seems to have better compatibility with PSD files than GIMP.
Most Recent CommentWell, it as the first image editor I have used other than... paint, So I might be a little biased. But its great, I love it, it has stuff, and its good.
I was able to use it from day one and get better over time the more I worked in it.
- 104 Photopea alternatives
Browser-based image editing supports PSD, XCF, Sketch formats, advanced layers, vector tools, RAW photo support, and exports in 40+ formats. Fully client-side with AI background removal, content-aware tools, and privacy as files never leave your device.
License model
- Freemium • Proprietary
Application types
Country of Origin
Czechia
EU
Platforms
- Online
- Software as a Service (SaaS)
Top Photopea Features
Comments about Photopea as an Alternative to Adobe Photoshop
Comment summary: Photopea is frequently regarded as an excellent, free alternative to Adobe Photoshop, especially praised for its online accessibility without the need for installation. Though it parallels Photoshop with similar interfaces and features, like PSD support and smart objects, some users note it lacks certain tools and artificial intelligence capabilities, and requires an internet connection to operate.Top Positive CommentFully supports PSD format with adjustment layers, layer effects, paths, layer masks etc.
Most Recent CommentFor me, who can't afford to pay for every subscription but still wants to use the tools, Photopea is the best alternative to Photoshop. Especially the free version. The structure, functions, and even the keyboard shortcuts are the same. Plus, you can work entirely with PSD files, and vectors are also supported.
Kris ReginaAn actual free alternative to Photoshop.
- 215 Pixlr alternatives
Explore this platform for free, web-based photo editing; it provides tools like overlays, double exposure, and color splash for detailed modifications plus Pro features like Influence Masks and advanced blending.
License model
- Freemium • Proprietary
Application types
Country of Origin
United States
Platforms
- Windows
- Online
- Android
- iPhone
- Chrome OS
- Android Tablet
- iPad
Comments about Pixlr as an Alternative to Adobe Photoshop
Top Positive CommentThe fact that Pixlr is browser based is cool at places like school where you can't just install GIMP.
Most Recent CommentIlgazclIt was acquired by Apple so you should make sure multi-platform and even Web support continues. Apple doesn't have a good history of maintaining other platforms compatibility.
Ömer Emin OnaranYou do not need to download a program, you enter from the web.
- 149 Pixelmator alternatives
Image editing software for macOS and iOS, offering nondestructive, GPU-powered editing with machine learning features, RAW support, custom brushes, and seamless macOS integration for touch-ups, painting, and creative compositions.
License model
- Paid • Proprietary
Application types
Country of Origin
Lithuania
EU
Platforms
- Mac
- iPhone
- iPad
Comments about Pixelmator as an Alternative to Adobe Photoshop
Top Positive CommentDave CortrightFor the simple editing I do to get photos ready for email and web, Pixelmator is perfect. It can crop (including constrained cropping), resize, and do all the essential color/brightness/contrast/levels tweaks. And the best feature of all, it has a magical healing brush for removing blemishes.
Most Recent CommentDalsPhotographyA great program, just got it so I am still trying it, but you have some more tools or kind of different tools than within Photoshop, as you can work with paths without going to lets say , Illustrator.
Can accomplish nearly all of the functions of Photoshop, while still being cheaper, and more stable
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