Paint.NET AlternativesOnly apps categorised as Digital Painting Tools for Mac

Paint.NET is not available for Mac but there are plenty of alternatives that runs on macOS with similar functionality. The best Mac Digital Painting Tool alternative is Pinta, which is both free and Open Source. If that doesn't suit you, our users have ranked more than 100 alternatives to Paint.NET and 16 are Digital Painting Tools available for Mac so hopefully you can find a suitable replacement. Other interesting Mac Digital Painting Tool alternatives to Paint.NET are Krita, GIMP, Adobe Photoshop and Pixelmator.

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Paint.NET alternatives are mainly Digital Painting Tools, but if you're looking for Image Editors or Photo Editors you can filter on that. Other popular filters include Linux, Android, Mac, iPhone, iPad, Online and Android Tablet. 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 Paint.NET.
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Alternatives list

  1. Pinta icon

    Pinta

     277 likes

    Pinta is a image editing, drawing and painting application with a simple yet powerful interface. Pinta has a wide range of drawing tools, including: freehand, rectangles, circles and lines. It also has over 35 effects to apply to your images, and also has the ability to create...

    98 Pinta alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source (MIT)

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • BSD
    • Flathub
    • Mono
    • Snapcraft
    Pinta 3.0
     
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    21
    Pinta vs Paint.NET Comments
    Top Positive Comment
    Guest
    12

    This functions in almost identical ways to Paint.NET, more so than any other program listed on here.

    Review by a new / low-activity user.
    Top Negative Comment
    Guest
    6

    It gives you a good taste of Paint.NET, but it's so broken and painful to work with that it just isn't worth using; e.g. the text function doesn't work.

    Review by a new / low-activity user.
    harrisben
    Positive
    0

    Much more functionality and cleaner UI.

    3 of 21 comments
    • Pinta is Free and Open SourcePaint.NET is Free and Proprietary
    • Pinta is Privacy focusedPaint.NET is not according to our users
  2. Krita icon

    Krita

     1417 likes

    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.

    143 Krita alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Android Tablet
    • KDE Plasma
    • Epic Games Store
    • PortableApps.com
    • F-Droid
    • Steam
    • AppImage
    Main Window
     
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    16
    Krita vs Paint.NET Comments
    Top Positive Comment
    beng tang
    0

    As an alternative to Paint.NET for Linux, Krita is not exactly the same, but it has most of the same functionality and it can resize (Image > Scale Image to New Size) images using a variety of resampling filters including Lanczos3, which makes it better than GIMP for resizing photos.

    Top Negative Comment
    Guest
    16

    Very good, but not focused to photo editing.

    Review by a new / low-activity user.
    FiTekno
    0

    I was looking for a quick tool to combine multiple screenshots, for example. This succeeds with that but not as fast as with Paint.net. Good thing this is localized to many languages.

    Review by a new / low-activity user.
    3 of 16 comments
    • Krita is Free and Open SourcePaint.NET is Free and Proprietary
    • Krita is Customizable and Privacy focusedPaint.NET is not according to our users
  4. GIMP icon

    GIMP

     4737 likes

    Free open-source suite offering advanced photo retouching, image composition, original artwork creation, batch processing, plugin support, custom scripting, mass image format conversion, and integration with free publishing tools for comprehensive editing solutions.

    187 GIMP alternatives

    Cost / License

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • BSD
    • Snapcraft
    • Flathub
    • PortableApps.com
    • Haiku
    • Flatpak
    • AmigaOS
    • AppImage
    GIMP screenshot 1
     
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    41
    GIMP vs Paint.NET Comments
    Top Positive Comment
    Guest
    1

    free, open-source, cross-platform

    Review by a new / low-activity user.
    Top Negative Comment
    zlelmefs
    7

    The #1 perk of paint.net is how lightweight and fast it is, it's intended as a competitor to Paint. GIMP is the complete opposite- it's a big, slow monster designed to compete with photoshop.

    Guest
    Negative
    0

    It's slow and has a lot of stuff you have to learn while paint.net is easy to use and lightweight.

    Review by a new / low-activity user.
    3 of 41 comments
    • GIMP is Free and Open SourcePaint.NET is Free and Proprietary
    • GIMP is Customizable and Privacy focusedPaint.NET is not according to our users
  5. Ad
    Screenshot
    Adobe Photoshop icon
    Adobe Photoshop

    Comprehensive raster graphics editor offering advanced photo and image editing features. Supports multiple layers, masks, alpha compositing, various color models, and has limited vector graphics, 3D, and video capabilities. Exten...

    https://www.adobe.com
    Learn More
  6. Adobe Photoshop icon

    Adobe Photoshop

     2426 likes

    Comprehensive raster graphics editor offering advanced photo and image editing features. Supports multiple layers, masks, alpha compositing, various color models, and has limited vector graphics, 3D, and video capabilities. Extensible via plug-ins.

    224 Adobe Photoshop alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Paid
    • Proprietary

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Online
    • Android
    • iPhone
    • Android Tablet
    • iPad
    • Google Chrome
    • Wine
    • ReactOS
    Adobe Photoshop screenshot 1
     
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    9
    Adobe Photoshop vs Paint.NET Comments
    Top Positive Comment
    HaricharanSrinivasan
    5

    The absolute best in photo correction and manipulation. Slick interface. Fast. Loads of tools for mobile and Web design. Content-aware editing. Video editing. 3D design capability. Synced Libraries. Integrated stock library. Complementary mobile apps.

    Top Negative Comment
    Guest
    35

    Very pricy advanced application compared to free paint.net

    Review by a new / low-activity user.
    zlelmefs
    Negative
    1

    It's slow. It's not free. It's made by one of the worst software companies on the planet.

    3 of 9 comments
    • Adobe Photoshop is Paid and ProprietaryPaint.NET is Free and Proprietary
  7. Pixelmator icon

    Pixelmator

     422 likes

    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.

    152 Pixelmator alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Paid
    • Proprietary

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • iPhone
    • iPad
    Pixelmator screenshot 1
     
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    2
    Pixelmator vs Paint.NET Comments
    Guest
    Positive
    2

    Fast, easy to use, not overloaded with useless features

    Review by a new / low-activity user.
    oddityoverseer13
    Positive
    0

    It's cheap, and it has all the capabilities of Paint.NET (plus some), and it's even more user-friendly.

    • Pixelmator is Paid and ProprietaryPaint.NET is Free and Proprietary
    • Pixelmator is CustomizablePaint.NET is not according to our users
  8. MyPaint icon

    MyPaint

     388 likes

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

    128 MyPaint alternatives

    Cost / License

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • PortableApps.com
    MyPaint screenshot 1
     
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    2
    MyPaint vs Paint.NET Comments
    superluminar
    Negative
    6

    MyPaint is a digital painting/drawing program, Paint.NET is a simple image editor.

    Guest
    Negative
    2

    MyPaint looks a lot like Photoshop. Paint.NET is so popular because of the simplicity. Photoshop is a beautiful program with a lot of options. Paint.NET is a simple "paint" program that allows you to go as you like, but keep it simple at the beginning. MyPaint is like a Photoshop lite.

    Review by a new / low-activity user.
    • MyPaint is Free and Open SourcePaint.NET is Free and Proprietary
  10. LazPaint icon

    LazPaint

     46 likes

    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.

    Cost / License

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • BSD
    • PortableApps.com
    • Flathub
    • Flatpak
    Main UI
     
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    6
    LazPaint vs Paint.NET Comments
    Top Positive Comment
    sourloti
    3

    Is able to open and edit .pdn files! Especially handy if you're on Linux and aren't able/don't want to use paint.net.

    beng tang
    Positive
    0

    LazPaint comes close to Paint.NET in terms of ease of use and features. Unlike GIMP, LazPaint has good resampling / resizing algorithms including Lanczos. Unlike Krita, it's selection tool does not select outside the image and it can print images. Amongst the Linux image editors I have tried, it is so far the best alternative to Paint.NET.

    Guest
    Positive
    0

    Lightweight and available in Debian 11

    Review by a new / low-activity user.
    3 of 6 comments
    • LazPaint is Free and Open SourcePaint.NET is Free and Proprietary
  11. FireAlpaca icon

    FireAlpaca

     89 likes

    FireAlpaca is the image editor that can be used readily and easily. We made it possible to provide the completely free download, in order for our products to be experienced by more users from all over the world. It is available for both Mac and Windows users!

    123 FireAlpaca alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Proprietary

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    FireAlpaca screenshot 1
     
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    1
    FireAlpaca vs Paint.NET Comments
    Ola Johansson
    Positive
    0

    I just need a super simple tool to use as a web developer to crop and resave and stuff like that. I have always used Paint.net on Windows but this seems pretty good for Mac.

    • FireAlpaca is Free and ProprietaryPaint.NET is also Free and Proprietary
  12. Pixelitor icon

    Pixelitor

     27 likes

    Open source image editor with non-destructive editing, 110+ filters, adjustment and text layers, support for smart objects and adjustment layers, cross-platform compatibility, and layer-based editing for flexible image composition.

    112 Pixelitor alternatives

    Cost / License

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    Pixelitor screenshot 1
     
    |
    1
    Pixelitor vs Paint.NET Comments
    nlacaria
    Positive
    0

    not a similar GUI, but similar speed and basic functionality. closest "base" program to Paint.Net on Linux. Paint.Net is much more expandable with extensions. But Pixelitor is much more accurate in things like cropping than Pinta

    Review by a new / low-activity user.
    • Pixelitor is Free and Open SourcePaint.NET is Free and Proprietary
  13. Pixen icon

    Pixen

     18 likes

    Pixen is a pixel art editor designed for working with low-resolution raster art, such as those 8-bit sprites found in old-school video games. With innovative features like a color palette system, patterns, and high-zoom support, Pixen packs all the tools pixel artists need in an...

    71 Pixen alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Proprietary

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • iPad
    Pixen screenshot 1
     
  14. AliveColors icon

    AliveColors

     3 likes

    AliveColors is comprehensive graphics and photo editing software for Windows and Mac. It comes in Free, Home, and Pro versions, with differing levels of functionality.

    Cost / License

    • Freemium
    • Proprietary

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    AliveColors screenshot 1
     
  15. HEAVYPAINT icon

    HEAVYPAINT

     7 likes

    A simple yet secretly powerful painting app! Focus on pure colors and shapes with a streamlined interface. Ideal for plein air painting, color notes, sketches and studies.

    34 HEAVYPAINT alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Freemium
    • Proprietary

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Android
    • iPhone
    • Android Tablet
    • iPad
    HEAVYPAINT screenshot 1
     
12 of 16 Paint.NET alternatives