9 Best Photoshop Alternatives of 2026

Affinity is the strongest Photoshop replacement on this list for people who edit photos and also design graphics or layouts. Canva now offers it free for individuals on Mac, Windows and iPad, with vector, pixel and layout tools in a single app, so a poster, a retouched photo and a print layout can live in one .af file. Affinity says it opens PSD, AI, IDML and DWG files with layers and structure preserved, which matters most when clients or colleagues still send Photoshop files. Edits are non-destructive and the undo history is saved with the document, so you can step back from a final export to the first edit. Finished assets export directly to Canva for team review. The tradeoffs: the AI features need a paid Canva premium plan, and organizations that want SSO have to contact Canva Enterprise or Canva Education. The app also covers far more ground than a basic photo editor, so expect a learning period if you only need quick fixes.

Photopea is the closest thing to Photoshop that runs in a browser tab. Its main file format is PSD, which it opens and saves, and it reads about 40 other formats including AI, PDF, HEIC, Figma files and camera RAW files such as CR3, NEF and ARW. The toolset follows Photoshop's structure: layers, masks, layer styles, smart objects, refine edge, actions and scripts, so tutorials written for Photoshop often transfer. Photopea says it runs entirely on your device using your CPU and GPU, with no uploads, and keeps working if you disconnect after the page loads, which is a real privacy point for a free web tool. The free account is supported by ads; a Premium account removes them and adds team features, but prices show only in the in-app Account window, so we could not verify a USD figure. Photopea itself recommends a large screen and a precise pointing device, so phone use is possible but not ideal.

Pixelmator Pro is the most polished option on this list for Apple users. Apple sells the Mac version as a one-time purchase for $49.99, and it is also part of Apple Creator Studio, which bundles it with Final Cut Pro and Logic Pro for $12.99 a month or $129 a year after a free trial, with education pricing at $2.99 a month. Editing is non-destructive, with more than 60 effects, adjustment layers and color tools that work by range or selection. Select and Mask finds fine edges such as hair, Super Resolution upscales images, and one-click background removal handles product shots. RAW photos and video clips can sit in the layer stack, and Pixelmator Pro reads and writes PSD, SVG, PDF and Illustrator files, which helps when you exchange work with Photoshop users. The limits are platform and hardware: there is no Windows version, and some Creator Studio features need an Apple Intelligence capable device.

GIMP is the long-standing free answer to Photoshop and the only full-featured option here that runs natively on Linux as well as macOS and Windows. The project describes it as a tool for retouching, restoring and creative composites, plus icon and interface artwork, and it ships color management for print and screen work. Where it stands apart is extensibility: GIMP can be scripted in C, C++, Python and Scheme, and a large community has built plug-ins and scripts on top of it. Development is active, with GIMP 3.2.8 released on November 2, 2026 and 3.2.6 in September. Because it is free software, you can study and change the source code. The cost is time: GIMP's menus and tool behavior do not mirror Photoshop, so long-time Photoshop users need to relearn habits, and it has no cloud storage or collaboration of its own. For print layout, GIMP points users to Scribus and Inkscape.

Krita is the alternative to pick if you used Photoshop mainly to paint rather than to edit photos. It is free and open source under the GNU GPL, and its own site promises no trials and no subscriptions. The brush system is its core: more than 100 preloaded brushes, over 9 brush engines such as Color Smudge, Shape and Particle, and three stabilizer modes for steadier lines. Wrap-around mode lets you paint tiling textures without manual offsetting, and a resource manager imports brush and texture bundles from other artists. Vector and text tools cover comic panels and word bubbles, and an animation workspace turns Krita into a 2D animation tool with audio import. Development is active, with Krita 5.3.4 and 6.0.4 released in September 2026. The catch for this comparison is focus: Krita is a painting program first, so photographers who need RAW development or one-click retouching are better served by Pixelmator Pro, Luminar or Affinity.

Acorn is a long-running Mac image editor from Flying Meat and the cheapest paid option on this list, at $29.99 on the Mac App Store. Flying Meat states plainly that Acorn does not use a subscription. Version 8 adds Synth Fill and a Healing Brush for removing objects, subject selection with background removal, a Live Text tool for copying text from images and LUTs for color grading. It supports unlimited layers with more than 25 blending modes, Levels and Curves, clone, dodge and burn, and text on paths for simple logo work. Data Merge automates personalized graphics, and Apple Shortcuts support helps with repeated tasks. File support covers JPEG-XL, WebP, animated GIF and animated PNG. The limits are clear: it runs only on Macs with macOS 14 or later, and it has fewer high-end tools than Pixelmator Pro or Affinity. Flying Meat also sells it directly through its own store, where sale prices sometimes apply.

Paint.NET began as a free replacement for Microsoft Paint and has grown into a capable, simple editor for Windows PCs. It is a free download, and users who want to support development can buy the Microsoft Store version, which updates in the background. The features page lists layers, unlimited undo, a tabbed interface with live thumbnails, pressure support for pens from Wacom, UGEE and Microsoft, and full color management with Windows Advanced Color for wide-gamut displays. Built-in formats include PNG, JPEG, JPEG XL, AVIF, HEIC, WebP, TIFF, DDS and its own layered PDN format, and plug-ins add more file types and effects. Development is current, with Paint.NET 5.2 released on November 10, 2026. It suits resizing, cropping, quick fixes and simple composites. For layered PSD work or advanced retouching, Affinity or GIMP go further, and Paint.NET does not run on Mac or Linux.

Luminar is Skylum's photo editor for people who used Photoshop mostly to make photos look better rather than to build composites or graphics. Skylum lists more than 30 features, many driven by AI: Sky AI replaces skies, Structure AI and Supercontrast add detail, and Face AI, Skin AI and Portrait Background handle portraits. Generative tools such as GenErase, GenSwap and GenExpand remove, replace or extend parts of an image, and layers and masking cover more manual work. Skylum sells Luminar as a one-time license with a 30-day money back guarantee, and there are versions for desktop, mobile and web. The fine print matters: the pricing page says full access to the generative tools is included for one year, with charges applying afterward. Desktop needs macOS 13 or Windows 10 version 1909 or later, and 8 GB of RAM at minimum. From our location the pricing page showed only Polish zloty, so we could not verify a USD price.

Corel PaintShop Pro is the traditional boxed alternative to Photoshop on Windows. Corel sells it as subscription-free software, summed up on its product page as buy it once, it is yours forever, and offers a free trial. The current release, PaintShop Pro 2023, brings AfterShot Lab for RAW editing inside the app, Focus Stacking, an enhanced Frame tool, Snap to Objects and real-time previews of blend modes. It reads Photoshop brushes in .abr format, which helps people bringing a brush library over from Adobe. An Ultimate edition adds extra creative software, and a Photo Video Bundle pairs it with VideoStudio. The drawbacks are age and platform: the product line still carries the 2023 name, it runs only on 64-bit Windows 10 and 11, and it lacks the generative tools found in Luminar or Pixelmator Pro. The pricing page did not show USD from our location, so we could not verify the price.