Top Free Alternatives to Photoshop
Stop paying expensive subscriptions for Design & Creative tools. Discover the best free and open-source replacements for Photoshop.
Why switch from Photoshop?
Adobe Creative Cloud's subscription model is a heavy monthly cost for creators. Open-source design tools offer professional image editing, layers, vector masks, and photo manipulation tools without any recurring fees.
GIMP
Free / Open Source
GNU Image Manipulation Program. The professional cross-platform image editor.
Key Features
- Layer and channel support
- Customizable interface
- Extensive file format compatibility (including PSD)
- Photo enhancement & digital retouching
Pros
- + Very mature (25+ years of active development)
- + Hundreds of community plugins and filters
- + Runs smoothly on low-end hardware
Cons
- - Interface layout has a steep learning curve
- - Lacks non-destructive adjustment layers natively (coming in GIMP 3.0)
Krita
Free / Open Source
A professional free and open-source painting program designed for concept artists, illustrators, and texture artists.
Key Features
- Brush stabilizers
- Vector and text support
- Animation tools
- Non-destructive layers
Pros
- + Best-in-class brush engine for drawing and painting
- + Beautiful, modern, dark UI out-of-the-box
- + Supports non-destructive editing and adjustment masks
Cons
- - Less focused on photo retouching compared to Photoshop
- - Text editor tool can be clunky to use
Photopea
Free / Premium Paid
Advanced web-based image editor that runs locally in your browser. Replaces Photoshop.
Key Features
- Supports PSD, Sketch, XD, RAW formats
- Layer styles & masks
- Smart objects
- Full keyboard shortcut compliance
Pros
- + Interface is nearly identical to Photoshop (no relearning needed)
- + Runs directly in the browser with no installation
- + Excellent PSD parsing
Cons
- - Not open-source (proprietary freemium model)
- - Shows sidebar advertisements on the free tier