GIMP

Best for

Designers and photographers who need layers, masks, and filters without a subscription.

Why it deserves attention

GIMP provides layers, masks, channels, selections, curves, color management, and a deep filter set for photo retouching, compositing, and graphic work. It supports brush and tablet input, batch processing, and scripting through Script-Fu and Python, with a large plugin ecosystem. It is GPL-licensed, runs on macOS, Windows, and Linux, and costs nothing. The trade-off is a learning curve and an interface that differs from Adobe conventions; some print-oriented workflows and proprietary formats still work better in Photoshop, and the macOS build has historically felt less native than the Windows and Linux versions.

Can replace

• Adobe Photoshop
• Affinity Photo

Related and alternatives

• OpenDesign
• Stirling PDF

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