Adobe Photoshop replacements

Last checked: 14 October 2026

Switching from Photoshop, made simple

Pick GIMP (photo editing) or Krita (painting and illustration). Both are free, mature, and install like any normal app.

Start the guided switch plan Check a PSD file (private, in your browser)

Switch Kits: Photoshop → Krita · Photoshop → GIMP

Short answer: for daily professional work today, a mature tool such as GIMP (photo editing), Krita (painting) or the free Affinity app is the safer switch. PhotoCraft is the most Photoshop-like option, with familiar menus, shortcuts and PSD support, but it is early alpha and we list it as Amber while legal questions about how it was built are reviewed.

Provisional. SwitchFreely has not yet run its own Readiness Score tests. Notes below come from each project's own documentation and our desk research, and are labelled where self-reported. We have not invented any test scores.

GIMP Green Independent alternative

Download GIMP

Easy to install: Yes. Official installers for Windows (10 version 1903 or later), macOS (11 Big Sur or later) and Linux (AppImage, Flathub or Snap). GIMP says it has no official Mac App Store version, so avoid copies there.Links go to the official download page.

Caveats

Different interface and shortcuts from Photoshop – expect retraining.
PSD import is partial; complex files (smart objects, some adjustment layers) may not round-trip.

Official site · Sources: [1]

Licence	GPL-3.0+
Stage	Mature, long-established
Latest release	Mature
GitHub stars	6.5k (mirror) (14 Oct 2026)
Platforms	Windows 10 (1903)+, macOS 11+, Linux

Krita Green Independent alternative

Download Krita

Easy to install: Yes. Official installers for Windows (8.1 or later), macOS (10.15 or later) and Linux.Links go to the official download page.

Caveats

Built for painting rather than photo retouching.

Official site · Sources: [1]

Licence	GPL-3.0
Stage	Mature; strongest for digital painting and illustration
Latest release	Mature
GitHub stars	10.5k (14 Oct 2026)
Platforms	Windows 8.1+, macOS 10.15+, Linux (official download page)

Graphite Green Independent alternative

Open Graphite in your browser

Easy to install: Browser only. Nothing to install: it runs in your web browser. Desktop apps are only at a test (release-candidate) stage, shared through the project’s Discord, so we don’t link them.

Green on licence

Caveats

Early-stage; node-based workflow differs from layer-based Photoshop.

Official site · Sources: [1]

Licence	Apache-2.0
Stage	Pre-1.0, node-based editor
Latest release	No GitHub releases listed; pre-1.0
GitHub stars	27.6k (14 Oct 2026)
Platforms	Web browser (desktop apps in testing)

PhotoCraft Amber Rebuild

Download PhotoCraft

Easy to install: Alpha only. The developers offer installers for Mac, Windows and Linux on their official page, but the app is early alpha (unfinished). Not recommended for non-technical users yet.Links go to the official download page.

Self-reported by the project, not tested by us: Project parity doc: ~76% feature breadth, ~45% ready for real work, ~61% for essentials users; PSD re-save keeps the render for 307/309 psd-tools test files.

Caveats

Clean-room claim is self-reported ("public specs and observed behaviour only").
Parity doc says the Photoshop 2026 installation was inspected without launching it, including strings in the main binary and default shortcut/preset files – arguably beyond what UK s.50BA covers; awaiting solicitor view.
UI is "familiar by design"; commentators flag trade-dress risk.
Adobe holds patents in areas such as PatchMatch-style fill.
Much of the code is reported to be AI-agent written; no long-term maintenance record yet.
As of 13 Oct 2026 no public Adobe action or GitHub takedown had been reported – this is not a green light.
ArtCraft name and logos are trademarks outside the code licence.

Official site · Sources: [1][2][3]

Licence	MIT OR Apache-2.0
Stage	Early alpha – developers say it is not yet a Photoshop replacement for daily professional work
Latest release	v0.8.2 (12 Oct 2026)
GitHub stars	59.9k (14 Oct 2026)
Platforms	Desktop and browser build

Compositor Amber Independent alternative

Download Compositor

Easy to install: Mac only, unreviewed. Mac only. The download is a .dmg file on the developer’s GitHub release page; there is no separate official website. Not yet reviewed by us.Links go to the official download page.

Caveats

Added from the discovery tracker; readiness not yet tested by SwitchFreely.
Review terms found: pixel-perfect (provenance / trade-dress questions).

Official site · Sources: [1][2]

Licence	MIT
Stage	Unreviewed – added from discovery tracker
Latest release	v1.5.2 (2026-10-13)
GitHub stars	16.9k (14 Oct 2026)
Platforms	macOS only

Photopea Not vetted Independent alternative

Open Photopea in your browserNot vetted

Easy to install: Browser only. Runs in your web browser. Not vetted by us: it is proprietary, so it falls outside our open-source checks.

Proprietary – not assessed under our open-source criteria

Caveats

Not open source; runs in the browser.
Free tier shows ads.

Official site · Sources: [1]

Licence	Proprietary (free, ad-supported; paid ad-free option)
Stage	Established
Latest release	Browser app
Platforms	Browser

Affinity (by Canva) Not vetted Independent alternative

Proprietary – not assessed under our open-source criteria

Caveats

Not open source; requires a Canva account.
No affiliate programme – we earn nothing from this recommendation.

Official site · Sources: [1]

Licence	Proprietary (free download via Canva)
Stage	Mature, professional
Latest release	Commercial app
Platforms	Windows, macOS

Ad Sponsored placeholder – e.g. cloud storage for your image library. Partner link (placeholder)
Sponsorship never affects vetting status or ranking.

Switching from Photoshop: first steps

List the features you use every week (masking, type, actions, plugins).
Export a few representative PSDs and test them in your chosen tool before cancelling.
Keep a flattened TIFF/PNG copy of key files as a fallback.
Check your Adobe plan's cancellation terms before cancelling.

Follow the full guided switch plan.

Not listed? Tools rated Red (decompiled or leaked code, circumvention, trademark misuse, or no licence) are excluded. How we vet.