Free alternatives to Photoshop

GIMP is the best free all-round replacement for Photoshop. Krita suits painting, darktable suits raw photos, and PhotoCraft is a promising layered editor that is still in early alpha.

The quick answer

No single free app copies Photoshop. Each free tool below covers one part of what Photoshop does. Pick by the work you actually do: retouching and graphic design, painting from scratch, or developing raw photos.

GIMP: the closest all-round editor

GIMP calls itself the free and open source image editor. It is built for photo manipulation, artwork, graphic design and scripted image processing. It supports plug-ins and scripting in Python and Scheme.

It is free software under the GNU GPL v3, and the site states no price. The current stable release listed is 3.2.6. Downloads exist for Windows 10 (1903 or newer), macOS 11 Big Sur or newer, and Linux as an AppImage, Flathub or Snap.

Two small catches. The GIMP team does not provide a Mac App Store package. The Linux AppImage requires Debian 13 or newer. GIMP also takes time to learn. If your work depends on Adobe's own tools and file workflows, it will not replace them.

Krita: best for painting and drawing

Krita is a free, open-source painting program with brush engines and animation. It is made for illustrators, concept artists and comic artists. It runs on Windows, macOS, Linux and Android, and it is licensed under the GNU GPL.

It is aimed at painting and drawing, not photo retouching or print layout. It is also not available for iPad or iPhone. Krita is sold on stores such as Steam and the Mac App Store, which helps fund development, but the free download from the website remains available.

darktable: best for raw photos

darktable is a free, open-source photography workflow app and raw developer. It works as a virtual lighttable and darkroom. It keeps your digital negatives in a database, and edits are non-destructive, so originals are never modified.

It is released under GPL 3.0 and runs on Windows, macOS and Linux. It can use your GPU to speed up processing. The catches are that there is no official macOS release for Intel Macs, and it does not do layer-based compositing or painting. It fits photographers more than designers.

A note on the match: darktable is closer to a raw developer than to Photoshop itself. Choose it for developing photos, not as a general replacement.

PhotoCraft: promising, but early alpha

PhotoCraft is a free, open-source layered image editor written in Rust. It has layers, masks, adjustment layers, layer styles, type, vector shape tools and a brush engine. It opens and saves PSD and PSB files, plus PNG, JPEG, TIFF and WebP. It runs on Windows, macOS, Linux and in the browser.

Be careful with expectations. Its README calls it an early alpha and says it is not yet a Photoshop replacement for daily professional work. It has no AI or generative features, lists 15 missing tools, and has no plug-in compatibility with Photoshop.

Try it if you are a hobbyist who wants a Photoshop-style editor that can open layered PSD files. Do not move a paid project onto it yet.

When Photoshop is still the right call

Photoshop is the right choice if you need Adobe's generative AI tools or file compatibility with Adobe-based teams. Adobe lists Generative Fill, Generative Expand, an improved Remove tool, Harmonize for matching lighting, and background removal. PhotoCraft's README says outright that it has no AI or generative features.

In the US, the Photoshop plan is US$22.99 a month on an annual commitment billed monthly, or US$263.88 a year prepaid. There is a 7-day free trial, and you can cancel within 14 days of purchase for a full refund. Photoshop on mobile is free to download, but premium features need a subscription.

Skip it if you only edit photos occasionally and can live with a free editor.

Our pick

Start with GIMP if you want one free app for general image editing. Choose Krita if you paint, and darktable if you shoot raw. Keep an eye on PhotoCraft, but treat it as an experiment for now. Pay for Photoshop when the AI tools or Adobe compatibility save you more than the subscription costs.