# Alternatives to GIMP

The open source image editor.

GIMP ranks #3 of 10 in Image editing, with an Alt Score of 74. It is licensed under GPL-3.0, free and available on Windows, macOS and Linux. 12 of 12 checklist rows are verified against a public source.

Source: https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/gimp/
Category: Image editing

## Overview

- **Who it's for**: Photographers, graphic designers, illustrators, and hobbyists who need a full-featured raster image editor without paying for Photoshop, on Linux, Windows, or macOS.
- **What you get**: A free, open-source editor for photo retouching, compositing, and original digital artwork, with layers, selection and masking tools, color correction, and support for most common image formats. It's extensible via Python and Script-Fu (Scheme) scripting for automation and custom filters/plugins.
- **How it works**: You open or import an image, edit it using layers, brushes, selection tools, and filters in a customizable workspace, then export to formats like PNG, JPEG, or GIMP's native XCF.

## Profile

- **License**: GPL-3.0 (verified 2026-07-11)
- **Pricing model**: Free (verified 2026-07-11)
- **Starts at**: ?
- **Platforms**: Windows, macOS, Linux
- **Status**: active (verified 2026-07-11)

## Ranked alternatives

| # | App | Alt Score | Licence | Platforms |
|---|-----|-----------|---------|-----------|
| 1 | [Photopea](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/photopea.md) | 96 | Proprietary | Web |
| 2 | [Photoshop](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/photoshop.md) | 96 | Proprietary | Windows, macOS, iOS, Web |
| 3 | [Krita](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/krita.md) | 70 | GPL-3.0 | Windows, macOS, Linux, Android |
| 4 | [Pixelmator Pro](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/pixelmator-pro.md) | 70 | Proprietary | macOS |
| 5 | [Affinity Photo](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/affinity-photo.md) | 62 | Proprietary | Windows, macOS, iOS |
| 6 | [Luminar Neo](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/luminar-neo.md) | 62 | Proprietary | Windows, macOS |
| 7 | [Polarr](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/polarr.md) | 51 | Proprietary | Web, iOS, Android, Windows |
| 8 | [Paint.NET](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/paintnet.md) | 48 | Proprietary | Windows |
| 9 | [PhotoScape X](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/photoscape-x.md) | 40 | Proprietary | macOS |

Alt Score = Verified coverage (90%) + Visibility (10%). See https://altcatalog.com/how-alt-score-works/

## Feature comparison

Legend: Yes / No / Partial / ? (not verified).

| Image editing checklist | GIMP | Photopea | Photoshop | Krita | Pixelmator Pro | Affinity Photo |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | Free | Freemium | Subscription | Free | One-time | Freemium |
| Starts at | ? | $5/month | $22.99/month | ? | $49.99 | ? |
| License | GPL-3.0 | Proprietary | Proprietary | GPL-3.0 | Proprietary | Proprietary |
| Platforms | Windows, macOS, Linux | Web | Windows, macOS, iOS, Web | Windows, macOS, Linux, Android | macOS | Windows, macOS, iOS |
| Layers | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Non-destructive editing | Yes | Yes | Yes | Partial | Yes | Yes |
| RAW support | Partial | Yes | Yes | Partial | Yes | Yes |
| CMYK support | Partial | Yes | Yes | Partial | ? | Yes |
| PSD compatibility (open / save) | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Content-aware / AI fill | Partial | Partial | Yes | Partial | Partial | Partial |
| Vector tools included | Partial | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Partial |
| Batch processing | Yes | Yes | Yes | Partial | Yes | Yes |
| Plugins ecosystem | Yes | Yes | Yes | Partial | ? | ? |
| Runs in browser | No | Yes | Partial | ? | No | No |
| GPU acceleration | Partial | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? |
| Scripting / macros | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Partial | ? |

## Sources

Sources for GIMP. Each alternative is sourced on its own page.

- **Status**: active — <https://www.gimp.org/downloads/> (verified 2026-07-11)
  - Quote: “Download GIMP 3.2.4 for x86_64 and ARM64 directly”
- **Pricing model**: Free — <https://www.gimp.org/about/> (verified 2026-07-11)
  - Quote: “It is a freely distributed program for such tasks as photo retouching, image composition and image authoring.”
- **Platforms**: Windows, macOS, Linux — <https://www.gimp.org/downloads/> (verified 2026-07-11)
  - Quote: “GIMP for Windows”
- **License**: GPL-3.0 — <https://gitlab.gnome.org/GNOME/gimp/-/raw/master/COPYING> (verified 2026-07-11)
  - Quote: “GNU GENERAL PUBLIC LICENSE Version 3, 29 June 2007”
- **Layers**: Yes — <https://docs.gimp.org/2.8/en/gimp-image-combining.html> (verified 2026-07-11)
  - Quote: “A good way to visualize a GIMP image is as a stack of transparencies: in GIMP terminology, each individual transparency is called a _layer_.”
- **Non-destructive editing**: Yes — <https://www.gimp.org/release-notes/gimp-3.0.html> (verified 2026-07-11)
  - Quote: “filters stay active once committed. This means you can re-edit most GEGL filters in the menu on the layer dockable without having to revert your work.”
- **RAW support**: Partial — <https://docs.gimp.org/3.0/en_GB/gimp-prefs-import-export.html> (verified 2026-07-11)
  - Quote: “This setting shows a list of known plug-ins that can be used for opening and processing RAW image formats. Most common apps used here are Darktable and RawTherapee.”
- **CMYK support**: Partial — <https://www.gimp.org/release-notes/gimp-3.0.html> (verified 2026-07-11)
  - Quote: “GIMP also supports importing and exporting CMYK JPEGs, TIFFs, PSDs, and JPEG XL.”
- **PSD compatibility (open / save)**: Yes — <https://www.gimp.org/release-notes/gimp-3.0.html> (verified 2026-07-11)
  - Quote: “We've improved compatibility for importing and exporting PSD project files”
- **Content-aware / AI fill**: Partial — <https://docs.gimp.org/2.10/en/gimp-tool-heal.html> (verified 2026-07-11)
  - Quote: “the Healing Tool is a close relative to the Clone Tool, but it is more smart to remove small failures in images.”
- **Vector tools included**: Partial — <https://docs.gimp.org/2.10/en/gimp-tool-path.html> (verified 2026-07-11)
  - Quote: “The Paths tool allows to create complex selections called Bézier Curves, a bit like Lasso but with all the adaptability of vectorial curves.”
- **Batch processing**: Yes — <https://docs.gimp.org/2.8/en/gimp-fire-up.html> (verified 2026-07-11)
  - Quote: “Execute the set of commands non-interactively.”
- **Plugins ecosystem**: Yes — <https://developer.gimp.org/resource/about-plugins/> (verified 2026-07-11)
  - Quote: “Some users are able to install third-party plugins written in interpreted languages.”
- **Runs in browser**: No — <https://www.gimp.org/downloads/> (verified 2026-07-11)
  - Quote: “GIMP for Windows”
- **GPU acceleration**: Partial — <https://www.gimp.org/release-notes/gimp-3.0.html> (verified 2026-07-11)
  - Quote: “Some most needed work has been done on making OpenCL implementations more robust though it is still disabled by default since GIMP 2.10.22.”
- **Scripting / macros**: Yes — <https://docs.gimp.org/2.10/en/gimp-concepts-script-fu.html> (verified 2026-07-11)
  - Quote: “similar to very powerful 'macros' that you may be familiar with from other programs”

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Ranked by verified data, never by who paid. https://altcatalog.com/trust/