Free Alternative to Adobe Photoshop

I tested version 2.10.36 on macOS Sonoma. The interface feels dated. It looks like a 2015 Linux app ported as an afterthought. You have to hunt for basic tools like the healing brush. Once you get past the learning curve you find a massively capable engine. The GEGL image processing framework handles 32-bit floating point color precision. I loaded a massive 2GB TIFF file from a medium format camera. GIMP processed Gaussian blurs faster than I expected on Apple Silicon. It lacks native non-destructive adjustment layers. You have to duplicate layers to preserve your original pixels. That feels archaic in 2024. It remains the only true free heavyweight contender for complex photo manipulation.

Version 5.2.2 is highly effective for digital painters. It natively supports Apple Silicon. The brush engine easily beats Photoshop for illustration work. I plugged in my Wacom Cintiq. The pressure sensitivity mapped perfectly on the first try. You get incredible brush stabilizers that make drawing smooth lines incredibly easy. Krita handles PSD files surprisingly well. I opened a client's layered Photoshop file. All the text layers and blending modes translated accurately. It falls short for strict photo editing. The crop tool feels clunky. You will not find advanced photo retouching tools like content-aware fill. If your primary goal is drawing or painting this is the absolute best option available.

Ivan Kutskir built this entirely in JavaScript. It runs directly in your web browser. I was skeptical of a web app replacing a desktop giant. I dropped a 500MB PSD file into Safari. It opened in three seconds. The interface is a direct clone of Photoshop CS6. Your muscle memory kicks in instantly. Keyboard shortcuts like Cmd+J to duplicate a layer work perfectly. It supports smart objects alongside layer styles. You do not even need to create an account. It runs locally in your browser memory. You have to deal with banner ads on the right side of the screen. You can pay a small fee to remove them. You also need an internet connection to load the app initially.

Pinta 2.1 is built on the Mono framework. It aims to be a Mac equivalent to Paint.NET. I find it perfectly suited for quick annotations. Sometimes you just need to draw a red circle on a screenshot. Opening Photoshop for that is ridiculous. Pinta launches instantly. It gives you layers alongside unlimited undo history. You also get basic drawing tools. The Mac version feels a bit unpolished. The window management acts strange on multi-monitor setups. It only supports basic file formats like JPEG or PNG. Do not expect to open complex PSD files here. It fills that gap between Apple Preview and a massive professional suite.

This app uses the native macOS Cocoa framework. It is technically based on GIMP's core technology. It ditches the confusing interface for something that looks like an old Apple iWork app. Version 3.4 is incredibly lightweight. I tested it on a 2014 Mac mini. It ran flawlessly. It supports layers alongside alpha channel transparency. It handles basic gradients perfectly. It has not seen a major feature update in years. You will not find modern AI tools or advanced color grading options. It is strictly for cropping or basic image manipulation. I keep it installed just for converting image formats quickly.

Photoshop users rely heavily on Camera Raw for processing native camera files. Darktable 4.6 steps in as the open-source replacement for that exact workflow. I threw a folder of 200 Sony ARW files at it. The import process was fast. The interface is highly technical. It looks like a spaceship control panel. You get incredibly granular control over tone curves. It uses OpenCL to accelerate rendering on your Mac GPU. The learning curve is brutal. The terminology differs entirely from Adobe products. You adjust filmic rgb modules instead of basic exposure sliders. Once you learn the logic it produces stunning results.

This is a lightweight Japanese painting app. It works wonderfully on Mac. Version 2.11 is tiny. The download is under 100MB. I love the built-in perspective snap tools. You can set up vanishing points to draw cityscapes perfectly. It includes a basic animation mode with onion skinning. The interface looks a bit childish. It features a literal alpaca mascot. Do not let that fool you. The brush engine is extremely fast. It lacks CMYK support for print work. You will mostly use this for web comics or casual illustration. The memory footprint is so small you can leave it running in the background all day.

This is available directly from the Mac App Store. The free version is surprisingly capable. The user interface is bizarre. It ignores every Apple design guideline. You navigate through tabs at the top for viewing. You can also switch to editing or batch processing. I found the batch editor incredibly useful. I resized 500 images and applied a film grain preset in about two minutes. It includes hundreds of built-in filters. It feels slightly consumer-focused. You cannot do complex multi-layer compositing easily. The pro features are locked behind a paywall. The free tier gives you enough tools for heavy social media management.