Photoshop Alternatives

Adobe Photoshop serves as a professional raster graphics editor for Windows and macOS, handling advanced image editing, retouching, and digital art. Users praise its extensive feature set for graphics and design, though many complain about high pricing compared to other editors.

GIMP tops the rankings as the leading Photoshop alternative, offering broad image-editing and retouching tools completely free and open-source. Many users switch to GIMP specifically to escape Photoshop's cloud licensing and subscription model. Affinity Photo ranks second with its polished interface and one-time purchase model, repeatedly highlighted as a cost advantage over subscription pricing. Luminar Neo brings AI tools like GenErase and GenExpand plus focus stacking and HDR merging for photographer-centric workflows.

Krita ranks third, focusing on digital painting with advanced brush control and animation support for artists. The alternatives landscape splits between pro photo editors and art-first painting apps, with Photopea standing out as a free, install-free option with PSD support and a familiar interface.

filter to find the best alternatives

For open source transparency, GIMP and Krita lead with community-driven development and no proprietary licensing restrictions. Linux users have native options in GIMP, Krita, and MyPaint without relying on Windows or macOS-only tools. Windows-only picks include Paint.NET and Corel PaintShop Pro for desktop editing with layers, effects, and selection tools.

Web-based editors like Photopea, Pixlr, and Sumo Paint work in browsers when you can't install software on school or locked-down computers. Users avoiding subscriptions can choose Affinity Photo and Affinity Designer for predictable one-time licensing. For PSD workflows, Photopea, Affinity Photo, and Pixelmator open Photoshop-format documents to maintain collaboration compatibility. iPad workflows benefit from Affinity Photo, Pixelmator, and Pixlr for editing on tablets rather than desktop-only setups.

More about Adobe Photoshop
Copy a direct link to this comment to your clipboard
Adobe Photoshop alternatives page was last updated

Alternatives list

  4. Corel Photo-Paint icon

    Corel Photo-Paint

     8 likes
    Copy a direct link to this comment to your clipboard

    Comprehensive tool for image editing, retouching, bitmap creation, digital painting, and RAW editing. Streamlined web exporting makes it ideal for professionals seeking to enhance visual elements efficiently.

    16 Corel Photo-Paint alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Paid
    • Proprietary

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Windows
    Corel Photo-Paint screenshot 1
     
  5. Ad
    Screenshot
    Corel PaintShop Pro icon
    Corel PaintShop Pro

    Corel's tool provides comprehensive photo editing and design features including enhanced layers, precise tools, RAW editing, and organization capabilities such as keyword tags, auto sorting, and facial recognition, making it ...

    https://www.paintshoppro.com
    Learn More
  7. Rebelle icon

    Rebelle

     18 likes
    Copy a direct link to this comment to your clipboard

    Emulates realistic watercolor, acrylic, and dry media with physical paint diffusion, drying control, textured canvas, custom brushes, tilt and pressure support, color blending, masking tools, paint granulation, backruns, stencils, rulers, and high-res export.

    39 Rebelle alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Pay once
    • Proprietary

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    Rebelle screenshot 1
     
  8. Ayin icon

    Ayin

     9 likes
    Copy a direct link to this comment to your clipboard

    Ayin is a free and open source photo editing software available on Windows, Linux, and macOS.

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    Ayin screenshot 1
     
  10. Sumo Paint icon

    Sumo Paint

     74 likes
    Copy a direct link to this comment to your clipboard

    Sumo Paint is a powerful image editor with a long-standing history as a fully capable Photoshop clone in the browser. Being designed for the browser, it's accessible on practically any system and loads much faster than most comparable desktop tools while still providing core...

    Cost / License

    • Freemium
    • Proprietary

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Online
    Sumo Paint screenshot 1
     
    |
    1
    8
    Comments about Sumo Paint as an Alternative to Adobe Photoshop
    Rato GBM
    Positive
    -1

    Photopea > and == PixilR, the one time I properly used it, it was a bit buggy. There a are better alternatives.

    Adobe Photoshop Icon
    Sumo Paint icon

    • Most users think Sumo Paint is a great Adobe Photoshop alternative.

    • Sumo Paint is Freemium and ProprietaryAdobe Photoshop is Paid and Proprietary
  11. PicsArt icon

    PicsArt

     87 likes
    Copy a direct link to this comment to your clipboard

    Offers photo filters, magic effects, drawing tools, stickers, and customizable text. Includes collage layouts, color adjustments, and cropping. Features a built-in camera, live effects, drawing layers, and direct sharing to a global community and external networks. Multi-language support.

    139 PicsArt alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Freemium (Subscription)
    • Proprietary

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Windows
    • Android
    • iPhone
    • Android Tablet
    • iPad
    • Kindle Fire
    PicsArt screenshot 1
    PicsArt screenshot 2
    PicsArt screenshot 3
     
  12. Gimp Paint Studio icon

    Gimp Paint Studio

     30 likes
    Copy a direct link to this comment to your clipboard

    GPS (aka Gimp Paint Studio) is a collection of brushes, patterns, color gradients, accompanying tool presets and dynamics. Tool presets are a simply saved tool options, highly useful feature of the GIMP.

    74 Gimp Paint Studio alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application types

    Alerts

    • Discontinued

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • GIMP
    Gimp Paint Studio screenshot 1
     
  13. Photomator icon

    Photomator

     4 likes
    Copy a direct link to this comment to your clipboard

    Photomator is the most powerful photo editing app ever designed for a mobile device. It features over 30 desktop-class color adjustments, support for over 600 RAW image formats, including Apple ProRAW, deep integration with the Photos app and iCloud Photos, tools powered by...

    60 Photomator alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Freemium (Pay once or Subscription)
    • Proprietary

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • iPhone
    • iPad
    Photomator screenshot 1
    Photomator screenshot 2
    Photomator screenshot 3
     
  14. Artweaver icon

    Artweaver

     59 likes
    Copy a direct link to this comment to your clipboard

    Artweaver is a simple Freeware program for creative painting, i.e. Artweaver offers you all artistic effects which you need for your work.

    94 Artweaver alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Freemium
    • Proprietary

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Windows
    Artweaver screenshot 1
     
    |
    10
  15. Photo Editor icon

    Photo Editor

     13 likes
    Copy a direct link to this comment to your clipboard

    Adjust color, add effects, rotate, crop, resize, frame, and draw on your photos. Color adjustment options include hue, saturation, contrast, and brightness. Additionally, Photo Editor offers a large variety of effects for your photos including gamma correction, auto contrast...

    Cost / License

    • Freemium
    • Proprietary

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Android
    • Android Tablet
    Color (Curves)
    Color (Levels)
    Text (Image)
     
You are at page 4 of Adobe Photoshop alternatives