Which are the best al­tern­at­ives to Adobe Photoshop?

Adobe Photoshop is an image editing software from Adobe Systems and is part of the Adobe Creative Cloud (formerly Adobe Creative Suite). Photoshop is con­sidered one of the most feature-rich software ap­plic­a­tions in the field and is virtually the standard in the image editing industry. However, since the suite is very expensive and often too extensive for personal use, Photoshop al­tern­at­ives are becoming in­creas­ingly popular.

Key Takeaways ⓘ

Adobe Photoshop is the industry standard, but high costs and com­plex­ity make free al­tern­at­ives a popular choice for many users.

• GIMP offers extensive open-source features including layers and masks for various platforms.
• Photopea enables pro­fes­sion­al PSD editing directly in the browser without software in­stall­a­tion.
• Krita spe­cial­izes in digital painting and il­lus­tra­tion with high color depth and brush engines.
• Pho­to­Scape X and Pixlr provide easy tools for quick photo op­tim­iz­a­tion and web-based design.

Why are Photoshop al­tern­at­ives in such high demand?

While Adobe Photoshop’s quality is rarely cri­ti­cised, its cost remains a widely debated topic. Photoshop is only available through an Adobe Creative Cloud sub­scrip­tion, which has seen price ad­just­ments over the years. Although Adobe provides more af­ford­able options like the Pho­to­graphy package and special rates for students, there is no version available without a sub­scrip­tion. In com­par­is­on to the numerous free image-editing programs, Photoshop is often con­sidered expensive.

In addition, Photoshop is geared toward pro­fes­sion­al use and therefore re­l­at­ively difficult for non-experts to handle. Extensive features, large project files, and GPU-ac­cel­er­ated processes also mean that you need very powerful hardware for Photoshop.

What Photoshop al­tern­at­ives are there?

Due to its high level of re­cog­ni­tion, Photoshop is the first solution many people think of for editing images and photos. It’s no co­in­cid­ence that the term ‘to photoshop’ is commonly used to describe the digital post-pro­cessing of images or photos – re­gard­less of whether Photoshop is actually used. However, there are several excellent Photoshop al­tern­at­ives that compete with the industry leader and offer similar features. Here, we present the best Photoshop al­tern­at­ives to you.

GIMP

The GNU Image Ma­nip­u­la­tion Program (GIMP) has been one of the best-known free al­tern­at­ives to Photoshop for many years. The open-source software is available for Windows, macOS, and Linux, is con­tinu­ously being developed, and is suitable both for basic image editing and for more demanding re­touch­ing and com­pos­it­ing tasks.

Since the 2.10 series, GIMP has become much more modern and flexible. The program now fully utilises the GEGL engine, allowing for a colour depth of up to 32 bits per channel. This enables photo and graphic editing with a broader dynamic range, min­im­ising early quality loss. While GIMP 2.10 offers live previews for many GEGL filters, these are typically applied de­struct­ively. Non-de­struct­ive filters will primarily be available in GIMP 3.0.

GIMP offers a broad set of features, including but not limited to:

• Layers
• Masks
• Paths and selection tools
• Colour and contrast cor­rec­tion
• Image re­touch­ing tools
• Creation of complex com­pos­i­tions

With the in­teg­rated plugin system, the software can be further extended, for example with CMYK support, special filters, or ad­di­tion­al file formats. PSD files from Adobe Photoshop can be opened and edited, although complex layer effects or smart objects are not always fully preserved.

The user interface may initially seem less ac­cess­ible to beginners, as many functions are deeply nested in menus. However, users benefit from a very active community, extensive doc­u­ment­a­tion, and numerous tutorials that help ease the learning process. GIMP is therefore primarily aimed at budget-conscious creatives who seek powerful image-editing software with no ongoing costs and are willing to invest time in learning the tool.

Photopea

Photopea is one of the best-known free, web-based Photoshop al­tern­at­ives and is aimed primarily at users who want to work without in­stalling software and without high hardware re­quire­ments. The ap­plic­a­tion runs entirely in the browser, making it platform-in­de­pend­ent and usable on Windows, macOS, and Linux. Re­gis­tra­tion is not required for free use.

From a func­tion­al stand­point, Photopea is closely modelled on Photoshop. The interface, tool layout, and workflow logic are de­lib­er­ately designed to be similar, so users switching from Photoshop can quickly find their way around. Photopea supports:

• Layers
• Layer masks
• Smart Objects
• Ad­just­ment layers
• Paths
• Text tools
• Numerous filters and trans­form­a­tion functions.

A key unique selling point is its high com­pat­ib­il­ity with Photoshop files (PSD). Files can be opened with their layer structure intact, edited, and saved again as PSD. The software also supports other pro­fes­sion­al image formats such as XCF (GIMP), Sketch, XD, PDF, SVG, PNG, and JPEG.

Despite its web-based approach, pro­cessing is largely carried out locally in the browser, which can be an advantage in terms of data pro­tec­tion. Files do not ne­ces­sar­ily have to be uploaded to external servers but can be opened locally. However, there is a lim­it­a­tion regarding colour space. Photopea works primarily in the RGB colour space. Although the tool also supports CMYK files and ICC colour profiles, its range of functions for pro­fes­sion­al colour man­age­ment and prepress is clearly behind Photoshop. For web graphics, social media content, and UI design, however, the tool is well suited.

Photopea’s business model is based on ad­vert­ising. In the free version, ads are displayed and some con­veni­ence features are limited. Anyone who wants to work without ads or use ad­di­tion­al features can switch to a paid Pro version. For many use cases, however, the free version is suf­fi­cient, es­pe­cially for oc­ca­sion­al image editing or quickly adjusting existing PSD files.

Krita

Krita is a powerful free al­tern­at­ive to Adobe Photoshop that ori­gin­ally focused on digital painting and il­lus­tra­tion, but today is also suitable for classic image editing and re­touch­ing. The open-source software is actively developed and available for Windows, macOS, and Linux. At its core, Krita is aimed at creatives who work with layers, masks, and brushes and value precise control over colours, shapes, and textures. The program supports high colour depths of up to 32 bits per channel, modern colour man­age­ment features (ICC profiles), and non-de­struct­ive work with layers and effects.

Krita offers a wide array of features, including:

• Advanced brush engines
• Selection and trans­form­a­tion tools
• Layer modes
• Filters
• Masks
• Vector shapes

PSD files from Adobe Photoshop can be opened and saved, with layers and basic struc­tures generally preserved. However, with highly complex Photoshop files that use Smart Objects or special effects, there may be lim­it­a­tions. Ad­di­tion­ally, for print, a full-featured CMYK workflow is not available to the same extent as in pro­fes­sion­al DTP programs, but the available support is suf­fi­cient for many creative workflows.

Krita’s user interface is modern and highly cus­tom­is­able, but it differs sig­ni­fic­antly from Photoshop. While newcomers from the il­lus­tra­tion field can usually become pro­duct­ive quickly, tra­di­tion­al Photoshop users may need some time to adjust. Getting started is made easier with extensive doc­u­ment­a­tion, active community forums, and numerous tutorials and sample projects. Krita is funded through donations, spon­sor­ship programs, and optional purchases via platforms such as the Microsoft Store or Steam, but its core func­tion­al­ity remains com­pletely free.

Pho­to­Scape X

Pho­to­Scape X is photo editing software primarily aimed at personal use and hobby pho­to­graph­ers. Compared to powerful all-around programs like Adobe Photoshop, Pho­to­Scape de­lib­er­ately takes a simpler approach and focuses on fast, straight­for­ward photo editing.

Pho­to­Scape is currently offered in several versions. Pho­to­Scape X is available for free and runs on Windows and macOS. In addition, there is a paid Windows version called Pho­to­Scape X Pro with extended tools, filters, and export options. Pho­to­Scape’s features are tailored to typical everyday tasks:

• Crop, rotate, and sharpen photos
• Adjust contrast
• Apply simple effects
• In­teg­rated batch functions that let you rename, scale, or optimise multiple images at once
• Tools for creating collages, posters, and animated GIFs
• Convert RAW files to common image formats

Unlike Photoshop, GIMP, or Krita, Pho­to­Scape does not support classic layer-based editing. Advanced re­touch­ing features, masks, or non-de­struct­ive editing processes are also not included. The focus is clearly on speed and ease of use. As such, the software is not suitable for pro­fes­sion­al workflows, detailed image com­pos­it­ing, or colour-accurate prepress work. However, for quickly op­tim­ising photos — for example, for personal albums, websites, or social networks — Pho­to­Scape reliably serves its purpose.

Pixlr

Pixlr is a web-based image editing solution that, as a free al­tern­at­ive to Adobe Photoshop, is es­pe­cially suitable for quick work without in­stall­a­tion. The ap­plic­a­tion runs directly in the browser, so you can use it whether you’re working on Windows, macOS, or Linux. Pixlr also offers apps for mobile devices, targeting users who want to edit images on the go or create content for the web and social media.

Pixlr positions itself as a suite of editing and design tools, in­creas­ingly enhanced with AI features, such as:

• Back­ground removal
• Object removal
• Gen­er­at­ive features

For actual image editing, the suite offers several editor variants, including an advanced editor (Pixlr E) and a sim­pli­fied interface. This means you can use Pixlr for typical tasks such as cropping, colour and tonal cor­rec­tions, text, filters, and—depending on the editor—layer functions, all without in­stalling local software.

Pixlr is a freemium solution. You can use it for free, but that typically comes with ads and lim­it­a­tions. Many advanced features (es­pe­cially ad­di­tion­al content/assets and AI tools) are available only through the paid Plus or Premium packages. Pixlr is par­tic­u­larly suitable for personal use, content creators, and marketing teams who want to quickly edit images or create graphics for web projects without in­stalling software. However, for pro­fes­sion­al re­touch­ing, colour-accurate print pre­par­a­tion, or complex com­pos­it­ing, the tool reaches its limits.