For many designers, Photoshop is the number one tool for editing images, but for many other designers, Photoshop is an expensive, bloated, and inefficient tool.
In recent years, the number of apps hitting the market that take a bite out of Photoshop’s fanbase has increased. Photoshop has so many built-in features that few apps can combine them all. But few designers need them all. The key to finding a good alternative to Photoshop is finding an app that matches what you want to use Photoshop for.
Today, we are going to look at the best Photoshop alternatives for 2019, for a variety of purposes. If you haven’t thought about switching tools in a while, then you might be surprised at what’s available.
affinity photo
Mac and Windows. $49.99 (one time fee)
Perfect for: Image editing.
Affinity Photo is one of the highest rated image editing apps on the market. Its user interface will be familiar to anyone who has used Photoshop in the past, but it is much faster. In fact, Affinity Photo is so powerful that designers who are used to Photoshop often report missing changes applied to the artwork, because they expected to see a progress bar on the screen.
Affinity Photo is the professional image editor choice. If you’re currently using Photoshop to edit photos, then Affinity Photo is the streamlined, full-featured app you’re looking for.
Sketch
Mac only. $99.99 (annual subscription)
Perfect for: UI designers
The best known and most original challenger to the Photoshop crown is Sketch . Despite not being aimed at photo editing, Sketch has absorbed thousands of ex-Photoshoppers by focusing on UI design tools.
If you’re using Photoshop to design layouts, Sketch is the Photoshop alternative you’re looking for. On the other hand, if you’re interested in pushing pixels around, then Sketch might not be for you. Sketch is for designers who work with vectors, but if you can restrict your editing to basic actions like adjusting hue, saturation, brightness, or scale, then Sketch might be a good fit.
photography lab
Mac and Windows. €129 (approximately $145) (one-time fee)
Perfect for: Photo editing.
With so many design-focused Photoshop alternatives out there, it’s a relief to discover an app that’s geared toward editing photos. PhotoLab, the Little-known but multi-award winning app, it rivals or even surpasses Photoshop for its correction and editing tools.
PhotoLab includes optical corrections and industry-leading denoising technology that lets you shoot at night, in low light, or at high ISOs, and still get a sweet-looking image. Everything from optical correction to selections can be changed from automatic to manual. If you’re someone who values complete control over the smallest details of your images, then you’ll want to check out PhotoLab.
Pixlr x
Mac, Windows and Linux. $ 0
Perfect for: quick edits
Pixlr is always at the top of any list of free Photoshop alternatives, but the old Pixlr has been deprecated (due to the fact that it was built with Adobe Flash).
What’s new for 2019 is Pixlr X , a next generation photo editor that works in the browser and enables photo editing in the same carefully designed interface on any device. And because it works in the browser, it’s compatible with Mac, Windows, and Linux.
Pixlr X It has tons of features that are great for bloggers and marketers. You can even edit photos right inside Dropbox. Professional photographers used to tools like PhotoLab may be a bit short, but if you just need to make a few quick edits, it’s an app to keep checked.
Figma
Mac, Windows and Linux. From $12 (monthly subscription)
Perfect for: Collaborative design.
One of the most innovative apps on this list is Figma . Figma is less of an image editor than a design app, but if Sketch qualifies, so does Figma. Figma offers professional UI design just like Sketch, but Figma also offers prototyping and collaborative design.
There is a free plan, but if you want to collaborate with more than one other person, then you need the Professional subscription. All design work is done in the browser instead of a desktop app, and you can see the other person’s input live on the screen.
If you’re looking for a Photoshop alternative that will enhance your workflow with others, you’ll find Figma to be a great option.
Pixelmator Pro
Mac only. $39.99 (one time fee)
Perfect for: Plugin fans
One of the newest tools on the market, Pixelmator Pro is one of the most feature-rich apps on this list. Layer-based, and non-destructive, it’s a very easy app to get creative with. If you’ve built a large collection of Photoshop brushes or actions over the years, then Pixelmator Pro might be the app you’re looking for, as it comes pre-installed with plenty of brushes, textures, and effects.
Pixelmator Pro is still in the early stages of its life cycle, but it already looks like a mature app. There’s even been room for machine learning and Touch Bar support, to make editing your image more intuitive.
Foto-pintura
Windows only. $599.99 (one time fee) or $199.99 (annual subscription)
Perfect for: Windows users
PHOTO-PAINT is the photo editing component in CorelDRAW Graphics Suite deCorel . It is one of the most expensive options on this list. You also get much more than just a photo editor, CorelDRAW is less of an alternative to Photoshop than it is to Adobe Creative Cloud. It’s a big investment, but there’s a free trial if you want to try before you buy.
PHOTO-PAINT is one of the few professional options that is only available on Windows, and is ideal for anyone looking for a premium alternative to Photoshop that doesn’t work on Mac.
Krita
Mac, Windows and Linux. $ 0
Perfect for: digital painters.
One of the most commonly recommended tools as a direct replacement for Photoshop is Krita . Its user interface is very similar to Photoshop, with a familiar set of tools. If you’re trying to break free from Photoshop, Krita is a smart alternative.
Where Krita beats out other free apps is with support for drawing tablets. If you treat Photoshop like a digital canvas to create original works of art, Krita might be the replacement you’re looking for. It even supports the WEBP format, so it’s a serious contender for web designers as well.
GIMP
Mac, Windows and Linux. $ 0
Perfect for: budget-conscious designers
GIMP (which stands for GNU Image Manipulation Program) is a free image editor. Using GIMP is like using a version of Photoshop from 15 years ago. Compared to some of the apps on this list, a lot of features are missing, but GIMP is open source, so if you can code you can add any features you want.
If you’re thinking of spending your budget on something like Sketch or Pixelmator Pro, but still need a good photo editing app, then GIMP might be the answer you’re looking for.
SumoPaint
Mac, Windows and Linux. $ 0
Perfect for: Beginners
If you’re new to image editing, you may never have tried Photoshop, in which case an app like SumoPaint is perfect for you.
SumoPaint is a popular free app with more than 30 million users worldwide and was selected by Google’s edu platform as a featured app for Chrome Books. The user interface is very similar to previous versions of Photoshop, making it a great tool to get into photo editing.
