The Best Free Photoshop AlternativesTop Digital Painting Tools & Image Editors like Photoshop
The best free alternative to Adobe Photoshop is GIMP, which is also Open Source. If that doesn't suit you, our users have ranked more than 100 alternatives to Adobe Photoshop and loads of them is free so hopefully you can find a suitable replacement. Other interesting free alternatives to Adobe Photoshop are Krita, Paint.NET, Photopea and Pixlr.
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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. 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 alternativesGIMP 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
GIMP VS Adobe Photoshop
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
140 Krita alternativesFree, 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
Krita VS Adobe Photoshop
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 alternativesFree 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
Paint.NET VS Adobe Photoshop
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 alternativesBrowser-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
Photopea VS Adobe Photoshop
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 alternativesExplore 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
Pixlr VS Adobe Photoshop
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.
122 MyPaint alternativesMyPaint is a fast, distraction-free, and easy painting tool for digital artists. It supports graphics tablets made by Wacom, and many similar devices.
License model
- Free • Open Source
Application type
Country of Origin
Switzerland
Platforms
- Mac
- Windows
- Linux
- PortableApps.com
MyPaint VS Adobe Photoshop
Comments about MyPaint as an Alternative to Adobe Photoshop
Top Positive CommentuhadaIf 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 CommentMyPaint is only a drawing program, but it can't edit images. Adobe Photoshop can do both.
Most Recent CommentsedetiMy paint is not a image editor
196 Photoscape alternativesPhotoScape is a fun and easy photo editing software that enables you to fix and enhance photos.
License model
- Freemium • Proprietary
Application types
Country of Origin
South Korea
Platforms
- Mac
- Windows
Photoscape VS Adobe Photoshop
Comments about Photoscape as an Alternative to Adobe Photoshop
Most Recent CommentDalsPhotographyIt's a bit outdated for Mac, but nevertheless it's useful, light weight, and with some funny tools that you can use for daily tasks.
I like it because you can merge multiple photos easily.
Simple, no layers, but brushes are available. Cheap, light weighted and goes easy on your machine resources. Even as professional I do use Photoscape for a first review of my photos.
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