Best Photoshop Alternatives For Creative Image Editing

Apart from Photoshop there are plenty of other image editors in the market; here we have showcases software that can be considered as the best alternatives to Photoshop.


For editing an image, Photoshop has made its name as a verb, similar to Google. If you need to edit an image, or if you have seen an image that’s unreal you will immediately say it is Photoshopped. So many people will think that Adobe’s Creative Cloud has no competitor, but there are some massive competitors.

There is some other software that are just waiting for your discovery, all of them are good alternatives to Photoshop. These alternatives can become your new companion, if you want to bypass the high price tag of Photoshop or maybe you do not need that many features that Photoshop provide. In this list, we have covered all the possible alternatives that can give you chills while trying.
Let us know, if we have not covered your favorite Photoshop alternatives, we will review and add it to this list.

GIMP

GIMP is one of the most popular, free alternative to Photoshop. It supports platforms like – Linux, Windows, Mac. Pricing : Absolutely Free. It came out for Unix-based systems but now you can use it on Windows and Mac as well. GIMP stands for GNU Image Manipulation Program, its the most popular open-source alternative to Photoshop.
It has some great toolsets, that are similar to Photoshop and has no cost attached. Interface of GIMP is somewhat different but, its user friendly and you can easily switch over from Photoshop to GIMP in no time.

PicMonkey (Web, free)

PicMonkey has a simple interface but it’s very functional and powerful. You can create collages, glamor photos and any image for your blog all that with the ease of few clicks.
Starting the editing is easy and just require drag and drop to the home page. You will not find any easy solution for creating collages. Moreover, you can start off with a blank canvas and design anything you want to.

Paint.net

Another great photo editing program, that is free on Windows. Paint.net is an outstanding alternative to Photoshop. Platform it works on – Windows Pricing – Free. It comes with the Microsoft’s latest versions of Windows and some great useful tools that are free for life. It has got an excellent team of alumni that were appointed way back when they were undergraduate, and it kicked off as a sponsored undergrad project.
The features that Paint.net has are more accurate to providing image editing and not that much for creative or artistic creation.

Canva (Web, free)

Canva is fairly new but a very reliable app for simple image editing. It makes it easy to design for anyone with thousand of design elements, layouts, fonts and stock photographs.
They also have a minimal fee for other elements that are not free, but they will be cheaper if you go to buy an image from stock photo sites. Moreover, of course if you but photoshop. In few seconds, you will be ready to make images for your blog, make a business card and even a birthday card.

Pixlr

Pixlr has more than 600 effects in its kitty. Works on Platforms like – iOS, Android. Pricing : Free for life. Without a doubt, Pixlr in the most popular online photo editor right now. And its totally free.
It has all the features that are essential and can provide you with some awesome photo editing. Its interface is somewhat similar and you will never have any problem if you are switching from Photoshop.

Acorn (OS X, $49.99)

Acron is an image editor for Mac and has a fast interface and its fun to create a new thing on it. Tools such as PSD format (import/export), custom brushes, instant alpha are just a few of its image editing capabilities. Its one of a perfect alternative for Photoshop that has tons of tutorials for beginners.
The only thing that makes it less than Photoshop is the ability to edit RAW files but despite that shortcoming Acorn can do almost anything Photoshop can do.

Serif PhotoPlus

PhotoPlus explicitly sets out on recreating Photoshop’s work. It supports Platform like – Windows 8, 7, Vista, XP. Priced at: £79.99. Priced at a lower range than Photoshop, PhotoPlus can be regarded as a direct competitor for Photoshop.
Not all the features are similar, and you will have some learning curve before getting use to PhotoPlus. But it has some good features and in right hands it can do wonders, plus the pricing is low as compared to Photoshop CS6 or Photoshop CC.

Pixelmator (OS X, $29.99)

Pixelmator another Mac only software is another Photoshop alternative that has advantages like multi-monitor support and memory that can be compressed in OS X Mavericks. Priced at a low range, Pixelmator has many other features that make it easy to use and replace Photoshop.
You will also find enough community support of Pixelmator, as you will get dozens of third-party tutorials that explains Pixelmator rich features.

Aperture

Photographers can use this brilliant software that is user-friendly and low on budget. It supports only Mac Platform. Priced at – $79.99/£54.99 One of the best Photoshop alternative for photographers is this brilliant software Aperture. Image editing can be done easily on it, but it lacks features like animation, web, 3D etc. But these are never of use if you are photographer and needs photo editing only.
Which of these have you used before, do tell us and which other Photoshop alternatives do you prefer?