XDA spent the week showing how Claude can drive Adobe apps from a chat window, and the comments thread quickly turned into the same question we hear every month: do we still need to pay Adobe to edit images on a desktop in 2026? For most workflows the honest answer is no. Photoshop alternatives have closed the gap on retouching, layer-based compositing, and RAW work, and several of them charge once instead of every month.
We tested 7 Photoshop alternatives on Windows, macOS, and Linux, focusing on what people actually leave Photoshop for: the recurring fee, the slow Apple Silicon performance on older releases, and the constant Creative Cloud background processes. Each pick below is judged on editing depth, plugin support, RAW handling, and how painful the migration is for an existing PSD library.
Quick comparison
| App | Best for | Free option | Paid starting price | RAW support |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Affinity Photo 2 | Photoshop-level work without a subscription | Trial | One-time purchase | Yes |
| GIMP | Open-source layered editing | Yes (free) | Free | Limited |
| Krita | Digital painting and illustration | Yes (free) | Free | Limited |
| Photopea | Browser-based PSD editing on any OS | Yes (ad-supported) | Optional subscription | Yes |
| Pixelmator Pro | Fast native editing on macOS | Trial | One-time or subscription | Yes |
| Paint.NET | Lightweight Windows edits | Yes (free) | Optional paid mirror | No (plugins add it) |
| Capture One | Professional RAW workflow and tethered shooting | Trial | One-time or subscription | Yes (core feature) |
Why people leave Photoshop
The Creative Cloud price has not gone down. The Photography Plan covers Photoshop and Lightroom for a monthly fee that adds up to several hundred dollars over a few years, and the All Apps plan is multiples of that. For freelancers and hobbyists who open Photoshop a handful of times a month, the math stopped working a long time ago.
Users on r/photography and r/graphic_design consistently raise the same complaints. The Creative Cloud desktop helper sits in the menu bar and pushes notifications. Generative Fill needs a network connection, which rules it out for editing on a plane or in a studio with no internet. The Camera Raw filter is excellent, but its pricing is bundled into a recurring fee whether you shoot weekly or twice a year.
The subscription model also locks files behind active payment. Stop paying and the cloud-saved versions of your PSDs become read-only after the grace period. Several Photoshop alternatives offer the same layer features under a one-time purchase, which is the headline switch for most leavers.
The 7 best Photoshop alternatives for desktop
Affinity Photo 2 — best Photoshop replacement for pros
Affinity Photo 2 from Serif is the most direct Photoshop replacement on this list. The layer panel, blend modes, mask logic, and keyboard shortcuts are close enough to Photoshop that an experienced editor reaches productivity in an afternoon. The Develop persona handles RAW with a deep colour pipeline, the Liquify persona covers retouching, and the Tone Mapping persona delivers HDR work. The Apple Silicon build is fast on a base M-series Mac.
Where it falls short: Smart Objects work but follow Affinity’s own logic, not Photoshop’s, which can confuse round-tripping with collaborators on PSD. The plugin ecosystem is smaller than Adobe’s.
Pricing:
- Free: trial only
- Paid: one-time purchase for Photo 2, or a Universal Licence bundle that adds Designer and Publisher
- vs Photoshop: cheaper over any horizon longer than a few months
Download: affinity.serif.com (Windows, macOS, iPad)
Bottom line: Pick Affinity Photo 2 if you want Photoshop’s daily workflow without the subscription and can accept minor differences in Smart Object behaviour.
GIMP — best free open-source editor
GIMP is the long-running open-source image editor that ships free for Windows, macOS, and Linux. The 3.0 release brought a native ARM build for Apple Silicon, refreshed the GEGL-backed rendering, and added non-destructive layer effects. The selection, layer mask, and channel tools cover most professional retouching work, and the Script-Fu console allows batch automation that even Photoshop users sometimes envy.
Where it falls short: The interface still does not match industry conventions. CMYK is not native and needs the Separate+ plugin for print workflows. Text handling is awkward compared to Affinity or Photoshop.
Pricing:
- Free: completely free, no upsell
- Paid: none
- vs Photoshop: drastically cheaper at the cost of a steeper learning curve
Download: gimp.org (Windows, macOS, Linux)
Bottom line: Pick GIMP if budget is the hard constraint and you are willing to invest a week into learning a different UI.
Krita — best for digital painting
Krita started as a painting-first tool for the KDE community and has grown into a credible image editor for artists. The brush engine is genuinely best in class for digital painting, with realistic bristle dynamics, full pressure and tilt support, and a brush stabilizer that competes with Procreate. The frame-by-frame animation feature is a bonus.
Where it falls short: Photo retouching tools are thinner than GIMP’s or Affinity’s. The RAW workflow leans on external processing first.
Pricing:
- Free: completely free
- Paid: optional Steam version supports the project
- vs Photoshop: no cost, with a better painting experience than Photoshop has shipped
Download: krita.org (Windows, macOS, Linux)
Bottom line: Pick Krita if illustration and painting are your main workload and photo editing is occasional.
Photopea — best browser-based editor
Photopea runs entirely in a browser tab and opens PSD, AI, XD, and Sketch files natively. It looks and feels close enough to Photoshop that the muscle memory transfers immediately. Working on a borrowed laptop or a Chromebook becomes painless, and there is nothing to install. The free tier is ad-supported but never paywalls core editing features.
Where it falls short: Performance depends on the browser and the machine. Very large files (multi-gigabyte canvases) push the limits of what a browser process can handle.
Pricing:
- Free: full editor, ad-supported
- Paid: optional subscription removes ads and lifts history limits
- vs Photoshop: a fraction of the cost, accessible on any device with a browser
Download: photopea.com (Web — runs on Windows, macOS, Linux, ChromeOS)
Bottom line: Pick Photopea if you move between machines and want a Photoshop-like editor without an install.
Pixelmator Pro — best for Mac users
Pixelmator Pro is Apple-native through and through. The Metal-based rendering is fast on M-series chips, the ML-powered Repair and Super Resolution tools handle most retouching jobs with a single click, and the interface follows macOS conventions cleanly. RAW support covers most cameras, and the app reads and writes PSD with high fidelity.
Where it falls short: macOS only — Windows and Linux users need to look elsewhere. The plugin ecosystem is small compared to Photoshop.
Pricing:
- Free: trial only
- Paid: one-time Mac App Store purchase, or a separate subscription bundle that includes the iPad app
- vs Photoshop: cheaper after the first year for Mac users
Download: pixelmator.com/pro (macOS)
Bottom line: Pick Pixelmator Pro if you work only on a Mac and want a native, fast editor without a subscription.
Paint.NET — best lightweight Windows editor
Paint.NET is the long-running free Windows editor that strikes a balance between MS Paint’s simplicity and Photoshop’s layer-based workflow. The plugin ecosystem extends it into surprisingly capable territory for free software, with packs for batch processing, masking, and RAW handling. It opens fast, edits fast, and stays out of the way.
Where it falls short: Windows only. The interface is older and the toolkit is thinner than Affinity or GIMP for serious retouching.
Pricing:
- Free: the canonical download from getpaint.net
- Paid: a maintained Microsoft Store mirror that supports development for a small fee
- vs Photoshop: no cost for the level of editing it covers
Download: getpaint.net (Windows)
Bottom line: Pick Paint.NET when you need quick retouching, light layered work, or a no-friction install on a fresh Windows machine.
Capture One — best professional RAW workflow
Capture One by Phase One is the pick for photographers who care more about RAW processing and tethered shooting than about layered compositing. The colour science is widely considered the most accurate on the desktop, the layer-based local adjustments cover most retouching needs, and the catalogue and session management beat Lightroom on speed and structure.
Where it falls short: Compositing tools are limited compared to Photoshop. The price is the highest on this list.
Pricing:
- Free: trial only
- Paid: perpetual licence per camera maker (Fujifilm, Sony, Nikon variants exist) or all-camera version; subscription option also available
- vs Photoshop: higher up-front cost, no recurring fee on the perpetual route
Download: captureone.com (Windows, macOS)
Bottom line: Pick Capture One if RAW conversion and studio tethering are central to your work and you can live without heavy compositing.
How to choose
Pick Affinity Photo 2 if you want a direct Photoshop swap and never want to see a subscription invoice again. The learning curve is small and the file compatibility is the closest on this list.
Pick GIMP if cost is the only thing that matters and you are happy spending a week on the new UI.
Pick Krita if your work is illustration and painting first, with image edits a distant second.
Pick Photopea if you work across multiple machines or need access from a Chromebook, a work laptop, or a borrowed device.
Pick Pixelmator Pro if you live in macOS, want a native app, and value speed on Apple Silicon.
Pick Paint.NET on a fresh Windows install when you want the lightest tool that still does layers.
Pick Capture One if you are a photographer first and an editor second.
Stay on Photoshop if you collaborate constantly on PSD files with other Photoshop users, depend on Generative Fill, or rely on a specific Adobe-only plugin chain.
FAQ
Is there a free Photoshop alternative?
Yes. GIMP, Krita, Photopea (browser, ad-supported), and Paint.NET (Windows only) are all genuinely free. GIMP and Krita are open-source and never push a paid tier. Photopea adds a small subscription to remove ads, but the core editor is free.
Can I open PSD files in Photoshop alternatives?
Affinity Photo 2, Photopea, Pixelmator Pro, and GIMP all open PSD files. Layers and most adjustment layers come through cleanly. Complex Smart Objects sometimes flatten on import, so check the structure if you plan to round-trip with a Photoshop user.
What is the closest alternative to Photoshop?
Affinity Photo 2 is the closest in workflow and feature parity. Pixelmator Pro is the closest on macOS specifically. Photopea is the closest if you want to keep using Photoshop muscle memory in a browser.
Which Photoshop alternative is best on Apple Silicon?
Pixelmator Pro is the fastest because it is native Apple Silicon and Metal-rendered. Affinity Photo 2 is a close second and runs natively on ARM as well. GIMP 3 has a native ARM build and is much faster than 2.x was on Apple Silicon.
Do these alternatives support Photoshop plugins?
Affinity Photo 2 supports a subset of Photoshop plugins (8BF format) and most popular Nik and Topaz tools. Photopea supports common 8BF filters too. GIMP and Krita do not run Photoshop plugins natively but have their own large plugin ecosystems.
