Alternatives / Adobe Photoshop

Open-source alternatives to Adobe Photoshop

3 genuinely open-source alternatives. The projects are compared by license, workflow, self-hosting, and pricing.

Why look for a Adobe Photoshop alternative?

Adobe Photoshop is a proprietary image editor used for photo retouching, compositing, graphic design, digital painting, and raster workflows. People look for alternatives when they want open-source software, no recurring subscription, local image processing, cross-platform tools, plugin extensibility, or independence from Creative Cloud.

Graphite

Nondestructive vector and raster graphics editor.

Graphite is an MIT/Apache-2.0 2D graphics editor built around a node-based engine. It combines layers with procedural, reusable operations and supports vector and raster workflows.

MIT OR Apache-2.0Self-hosted

Pricing: Free and open source; browser and local workflows are under active development.

Nondestructive node-based editing
Vector and raster graphics
Layer compositing and local browser use
Still in alpha
Raster photo editing is less mature than GIMP
Limited PSD compatibility

View on GitHub

Krita

Professional open-source digital painting and illustration.

Krita is a GPL-3.0 digital painting and image-editing application with an advanced brush engine, layers, masks, vector tools, animation, drawing assistants, color management, and tablet support.

GPL-3.0Self-hosted

Pricing: Free and open source under GPL-3.0; optional store distributions may be paid.

Professional painting and brush tools
PSD support, layers, masks, and animation
Excellent tablet and color-management support
More focused on painting than photography
Fewer photography-specific tools than Photoshop
Interface can feel complex for simple edits

View on GitHub

GIMP

Mature open-source raster image editor for photos and composites.

GIMP is a mature GPL raster graphics editor for photo manipulation, image composition, graphic design, and digital artwork. It provides layers, masks, selections, transformations, color correction, filters, scripting, plugins, and broad format support.

GPL-3.0-or-laterSelf-hosted

Pricing: Free and open source; no subscription.

Closest general-purpose Photoshop alternative
Layers, masks, retouching, filters, and PSD support
Large plugin and scripting ecosystem
Workflow differs from Photoshop
PSD compatibility is not perfect
Creative Cloud integrations have no direct equivalent

View on GitHub

Compare Adobe Photoshop alternatives

Tool	Stars	License	Self-hosted	Pricing
Graphite	—	MIT OR Apache-2.0	Yes	Free and open source; browser and local workflows are under active development.
Krita	—	GPL-3.0	Yes	Free and open source under GPL-3.0; optional store distributions may be paid.
GIMP	—	GPL-3.0-or-later	Yes	Free and open source; no subscription.

Which one should you choose?

Want the closest general-purpose Photoshop replacement

GIMP provides the broadest open-source raster workflow with layers, masks, selections, retouching, color correction, plugins, scripting, and PSD support.

GIMP

Want digital painting and illustration

Krita is designed around professional brushes, tablets, layers, animation, drawing assistants, and artist-focused workflows.

Krita

Want nondestructive procedural graphics

Graphite uses a node-based engine where many operations remain editable, combining vector and raster graphics with procedural workflows.

Graphite

Need PSD compatibility

GIMP and Krita support PSD import and export, although Photoshop-specific effects and features may not translate perfectly.

GIMP

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