Scoring sheet
How we scored the best free Photoshop alternatives
Every score in The best free Photoshop alternatives comes from this sheet: the tools we considered, the scale for each criterion, and the evidence and date behind each score.
This page shows the working behind the best free Photoshop alternatives: the editors we considered, the criteria and weights, what each score means, every score with the evidence behind it, and the full results of our Photoshop file test.
Four of the eight editors were tested hands-on in November 2026: Photopea and Pixlr in a web browser, and GIMP and Krita installed on a Linux computer. We opened the same 20 Photoshop files in each one, compared what we saw with the image Photoshop itself saved inside each file, and saved files back to PSD to see what survived. Affinity, PhotoDemon and Paint.NET don't run on Linux, and Pinta has no PSD support to test, so those four were scored from their own documentation and source code, and we did not use them. Everything was checked on November 4, 2026, unless a line says otherwise.
The question and the reader
The question, in the reader's words: "What is the best free alternative to Photoshop?" People also ask which free editor can open and edit PSD files, whether Affinity is really free now, which free editor works on Mac or Windows, and whether GIMP, Krita or Photopea is closest to Photoshop for retouching. We asked four AI models (GPT, Claude, Gemini and Perplexity, through their APIs with web search on) those five questions in November 2026, which gave 20 answers. Those answers, and the pages they cite, built the field below.
The reader edits photos and graphics, wants to stop paying for Photoshop ($22.99 a month for Photoshop alone, or $19.99 for the Photography plan with Lightroom, both on Adobe's annual plan billed monthly, Adobe's plans page) or never wants to start, and may be sent PSD files by clients, colleagues or template sites. They want something that does the same jobs for free, on the computer they already have.
Must-haves
An editor had to pass all three to be scored. These are filters, not criteria.
- Free to use with no time limit. A free trial, or a free app that only exports with a watermark, doesn't count.
- A layer-based photo editor: layers, selections and retouching tools on a pixel image. RAW developers and template design tools are different jobs.
- Available to anyone today on a computer, in a browser or as an app.
The field
"Named" counts the answers, of 20, whose text recommends or discusses the editor. Two of our five questions named editors themselves: one named Affinity, GIMP and Photopea, and another GIMP, Krita and Photopea. Those two account for eight of the 20 answers naming GIMP and Photopea, four of the eight naming Affinity and four of the 14 naming Krita. Editors with 0 come from the pages the answers cite, or are added so a reader finds them here.
| Editor | Named | Decision |
|---|---|---|
| Photopea | 20 | Scored, and tested hands-on |
| GIMP | 20 | Scored, and tested hands-on |
| Krita | 14 | Scored, and tested hands-on |
| Affinity | 8 | Scored from documentation: no Linux version, so we couldn't run it on our test computer |
| Canva | 7 | Not scored: a template design tool, not a layer-based photo editor (must-have 2). Canva's own free Photoshop-style editor is Affinity, which is scored |
| darktable | 5 | Not scored: a RAW photo developer, an alternative to Lightroom rather than Photoshop, with no layers to composite images (must-have 2) |
| Paint.NET | 4 | Scored from documentation: Windows only |
| PhotoDemon | 0 | Scored from documentation and source code: Windows only. Ranked by Tom's Hardware, which one answer cites |
| Pinta | 0 | Scored from documentation and source code. Ranked by Tom's Hardware, as above |
| RawTherapee | 2 | Not scored: a RAW photo developer, like darktable (must-have 2) |
| PhotoCraft | 2 | Not scored: an open-source editor its own roadmap describes as early alpha, so not ready to recommend for real work yet |
| Apple Photos | 2 | Not scored: a basic editor with no layers (must-have 2) |
| Lightroom | 2 | Not scored: Adobe's paid photo app, named only as something to pair with Photoshop |
| PhotoGIMP | 1 | Not scored separately: a free add-on that makes GIMP's layout and shortcuts look like Photoshop's. It runs on GIMP, so it opens PSD files exactly as GIMP does |
| Pixlr | 1 | Scored, and tested hands-on (Pixlr Editor, the free web app) |
| Photoshop's free mobile app | 0 | Not scored: Adobe's own Photoshop, free only on phones, with the desktop and web versions behind a paid plan, so not an alternative to Photoshop |
| Fotor | 0 | Not scored: Fotor Pro's listed benefits include "HD download without watermarks" and no ads (Fotor's editor), so free downloads are limited (must-have 1). Listed by Colorlib, which several answers cite |
| Polarr | 0 | Not scored: built around filters and presets for adjusting a photo (its homepage leads with "millions of Polarr filters"), closer to Lightroom than Photoshop (must-have 2). Listed by Colorlib |
| Sumo Paint | 0 | Not scored: its website didn't load for us on November 4, 2026, so we couldn't check its current free version. Listed by Colorlib |
Criteria and weights
These were set before any editor was scored. Changes made before publishing are listed under Changes before publishing.
| Criterion | Weight | What it measures |
|---|---|---|
| Editing and retouching tools | 30 | A 10-point checklist of the photo editing tools people use Photoshop for, built into the free version |
| Opening Photoshop files | 25 | A 10-point checklist of what survives when a PSD is opened and saved again, checked on our 20 test files for the editors we tested |
| Cost and catches | 25 | What the free version holds back: ads, save limits, an account, paid AI tools |
| Platforms | 20 | Windows, Mac, Linux, Chromebook and tablet |
Why these weights: replacing Photoshop's tools is the job, so tools count most. Opening PSD files is the next reason people pick or drop a free editor, because PSDs are how designers and template sites share work. What the free version holds back matters as much, since "free" ranges from no catch at all to three saves a day. Platforms count least, because most readers need only the one computer they have, but they decide whether an editor is an option at all.
Not scored: how easy each editor is to learn, how closely its menus and shortcuts copy Photoshop's, speed, and AI tools. We found no independent test with a published method that measures ease of use across this field, and everyone's Photoshop habits differ. We describe the interfaces in the ranking instead. AI tools are counted only as a catch when they cost money.
What each score means
Each criterion is the sum of its parts, up to 10.
Editing and retouching tools
Only tools built into the free version count. A plugin you have to find and install yourself doesn't.
| Part | Points |
|---|---|
| Non-destructive adjustments: adjustment layers or filters you can change later | 1.5 |
| Layer masks | 1 |
| A healing brush that blends a patch into its surroundings | 1 |
| A clone stamp | 0.5 |
| Object removal without paid AI: paint over something and it is filled from its surroundings | 1 |
| Selection refinement for hair and fur: a refine edge or matting step | 1 |
| Liquify or warp | 1 |
| Opens camera RAW files | 1 (0.5 if it needs a separate free app) |
| Edits in 16 bits per channel or more | 1 |
| CMYK for print | 1 for editing in CMYK; 0.5 for CMYK export or proofing only |
What a 10 looks like: all ten. A 7: everything except CMYK editing, RAW and object removal. A 4: layer masks, a healing brush, liquify and RAW, and nothing else. A 0: none of them.
Opening Photoshop files
| Part | Points |
|---|---|
| Opens layered files with layers and groups intact | 1: all 20 test files opened, with layers, groups and hidden layers as Photoshop saved them. 0.5: all opened, but content was missing or wrong in at least one of the plain layered files (1 to 5). 0: a file failed to open, or groups were flattened or hidden layers shown |
| Text stays editable | 2: text layers stay text and our text files (6, 7, 8 and 20) look right apart from a substituted font. 1: text stays editable but its font or layout changes. 0: text becomes pixels |
| Adjustment layers stay live | 2: they stay adjustment layers and at least three of files 9 to 12 look right. 1: they stay adjustment layers but two or more of those files look wrong. 0: they are dropped or become plain layers |
| Layer styles stay editable | 2: effects such as shadows and strokes stay editable and files 6 and 19 look right (close is fine). 1: some stay editable, but some are missing or look wrong. 0: they are lost |
| Smart objects stay editable | 1: embedded smart objects stay smart objects and files 13 to 15 look right. 0.5: they look right but become plain pixels. 0: they look wrong |
| Saves a layered PSD | 2: a PSD saved from the editor keeps the layers, groups, text, adjustments and styles it opened. 1: it keeps the layers (and groups, where the editor has them) but turns some of the rest into pixels or drops them. 0: no PSD export |
Only built-in PSD support counts, as with tools: a plugin you install yourself doesn't. For the editors we did not test, the first five parts get half the points their documentation claims, and saving gets the points the documentation supports. We halve documented claims because our test found that documentation overstates: Krita's PSD page says it loads and saves layer styles, yet several styles drew wrong in our files and none survived saving. The half credit is a ceiling for what we couldn't check, not a penalty.
What a 10 looks like: everything opened right, stayed editable and saved back. A 7: layers, text, smart objects and saving all perfect, adjustment layers live but some drawn wrong, and layer styles lost. A 4: everything opens with some content wrong, text keeps its words but not its font, adjustments are lost, some styles stay editable, smart objects become pixels, and a saved PSD keeps only the layers. A 0: no PSD support at all.
Cost and catches
Start at 10 and subtract:
| Catch | Points |
|---|---|
| A limit on how many images you can save or export | 4 |
| A watermark on exports | 4 |
| Ads in the free version | 2 |
| An online account needed to use it | 1 |
| Built-in AI tools that need a paid plan or credits | 1 |
What a 10 looks like: no catches. A 7: ads and paid AI tools. A 4: a save limit and ads. A 0 isn't reachable without failing must-have 1.
Platforms
| Part | Points |
|---|---|
| Windows | 3 |
| Mac | 3 |
| Linux | 1.5 |
| Chromebook | 1.5 (0.5 for a beta) |
| Tablet: a native iPad or Android tablet app | 1 (0.5 for a beta, or for a browser editor) |
What a 10 looks like: a native app or browser editor on every one, with a tablet app. A 7: Windows, Mac and an iPad app. A 4: Mac and an iPad app. A 3: Windows only.
The Photoshop file test
We collected 20 PSD files that Photoshop itself saved (the files say so), from Photoshop CS3 to Photoshop 26.5, covering what designers send each other: web and app layouts, a print file in CMYK, text with every layer style, text on a path, all 17 kinds of adjustment layer, smart objects, smart filters, blend modes, knockout groups, blend-if sliders and artboards. All 20 come from the test suites of open-source PSD libraries (psd.js, psd.rb, psd-tools and ag-psd), so anyone can repeat the test.
Every PSD carries a flattened image of the whole file, saved by Photoshop at the same moment. That is our reference. We opened each file in each editor with default settings, exported or screenshotted what the editor showed at 100% zoom, and compared it with Photoshop's image pixel by pixel, over a white background, using CIEDE2000 color difference (a difference above 5 is clearly visible). Pixlr's free version allows three saves a day, so we took its renders from screenshots, where transparent areas show as Pixlr's checkerboard; for Pixlr's files with transparency we also measured the opaque area alone. Then we looked at every pair side by side.
- Right: 1% of pixels or fewer differ visibly, and we could see no difference.
- Close: up to 10% differ, and every element is there; the differences are a substituted font, a line break, edges or one small area.
- Wrong: more than 10% differ, or an element is missing, added, or the wrong color or shape, or the file didn't open.
Our test computer didn't have the fonts the files use (Helvetica Neue, Myriad Pro, Proxima Nova and Arial Black), so text in a substituted font, with otherwise correct layout, counts as close at worst. Photopea fetches fonts from its own online library, which is why its text matched.
Editors tested: Photopea in Chromium on November 4, 2026 (no account, free version); Pixlr Editor in Chromium on November 4, 2026 (no account, free version); GIMP 3.2.8 for Linux; Krita 6.0.4.1 for Linux, with every file repeated in Krita 5.3.4.1, the version krita.org offers first, which gave the same results.
| File | What it tests | Photopea | GIMP | Krita | Pixlr |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Web page layout, Photoshop CS6: groups, hidden layers, shapes, text, a gradient overlay | Right (0%) | Wrong: logo gradient lost (2.5%) | Close: font (2.0%) | Wrong: groups flattened, a hidden layer shown (100%) |
| 2 | The same layout in CMYK | Right (0.1%) | Right (0.2%) | Close: font (3.2%) | Wrong: a hidden layer shown (100%) |
| 3 | App screen mockup: groups, shapes, text, a smart object | Right (0.2%) | Wrong: icons became black boxes (3.4%) | Wrong: icons became black boxes (5.6%) | Wrong: text reflowed, icons became black boxes (6.1%) |
| 4 | Phone app layout with masks, Photoshop CC | Right (0.2%) | Wrong: card and header shadows missing (0.5%) | Wrong: did not open | Wrong: shadows missing, text moved and resized (1.1%) |
| 5 | The web layout in 16 bits per channel | Right (0%) | Wrong: logo missing (2.4%) | Close: font (1.6%) | Wrong: blank canvas (100%) |
| 6 | Text with each of the 10 layer styles, Photoshop CC 2017 | Close: one style slightly off (1.5%) | Wrong: several styles drawn wrong (19.6%) | Wrong: styles drawn wrong (24.2%) | Wrong: styles lost (98.5%) |
| 7 | 32 bits per channel, Cyrillic text, Photoshop CS3 | Right (0.3%) | Wrong: shapes missing (18.6%) | Wrong: did not open | Wrong: blank canvas (100%) |
| 8 | Text on a curved path, Photoshop 26.0 | Right (0.3%) | Right (0.3%) | Close: font, one line wraps (3.2%) | Wrong: the curved text became straight (2.6%) |
| 9 | All 17 kinds of adjustment layer | Wrong: color lookup not applied (42%) | Wrong: adjustments became empty layers (100%) | Wrong: adjustments lost (96%) | Wrong: adjustments lost (100%) |
| 10 | Curves adjustments on a photo, Photoshop 23.0 | Right (0%) | Wrong: adjustments lost (96%) | Wrong: adjustments lost (96%) | Wrong: adjustments lost (96%) |
| 11 | Levels adjustments on a photo | Wrong: levels drawn wrong (53%) | Wrong: adjustments lost (99%) | Wrong: adjustments lost (99%) | Wrong: adjustments lost (99%) |
| 12 | Adjustments clipped to single layers | Right (0%) | Wrong: adjustments lost (38%) | Wrong: did not open | Wrong: adjustments lost (64%) |
| 13 | Smart objects, embedded and linked, Photoshop CC 2014 | Right (0%) | Right (0%) | Right (0%) | Right (0%) |
| 14 | Warped and distorted smart objects, Photoshop 22.3 | Right (0%) | Right (0%) | Right (0%) | Right (0%) |
| 15 | A blur smart filter, Photoshop 26.5 | Right (0%) | Right (0%) | Right (0%) | Right (0% of the opaque area; 89.7% overall only because the transparent background shows as a checkerboard) |
| 16 | 27 blend modes, Photoshop 21.0 | Close: one tile wrong (0.9%) | Close: a few tiles wrong (5.8%) | Wrong: many tiles wrong (36%) | Wrong: many tiles wrong (29% of the opaque area) |
| 17 | Knockout groups | Wrong: knockout ignored (10.8%) | Wrong: knockout ignored (10.8%) | Wrong (23%) | Wrong (30%) |
| 18 | Blend-if sliders, Photoshop 26.3 | Right (0%) | Wrong: blend-if ignored (26%) | Wrong (66%) | Wrong: blend-if ignored (26%) |
| 19 | Drop shadows on groups, Photoshop 26.5 | Right (0.1%) | Wrong: shadows lost (14.4%) | Wrong: shadows lost (14.4%) | Wrong: shadows lost (14.4%) |
| 20 | An artboard, Photoshop CC 2015 | Right (0.4%) | Right (0.4%) | Wrong: artboard empty (10.5%) | Wrong: text moved and cut off (12.5% of the opaque area) |
| Points, of 20 (right 1, close 0.5) | 16 | 6.5 | 5 | 3 |
Percentages are the share of pixels that differ visibly from Photoshop's own image. A small percentage can still be wrong when an element is missing: GIMP's file 4 differs in 0.5% of pixels, but the shadows under the header and cards are gone.
What each editor did with the layers, from its own layers panel and the PSD it saved:
- Photopea kept text as text, adjustment layers as adjustment layers, layer styles, shape and fill layers, and embedded smart objects. Two linked smart objects in file 13, whose source files weren't included, became pixels, which is reasonable.
- GIMP turned text into pixels, and adjustment layers into empty layers, as its own import notice warns ("Adjustment layers are not yet supported and will show up as empty layers"). It brought in four kinds of layer style (drop shadow, inner shadow, outer glow and color overlay) as editable filters and dropped the rest. Smart objects became pixels.
- Krita kept text as editable text but lost its font, kept layer styles as editable styles but drew several of them wrong, turned adjustment layers into paint layers, and turned smart objects into pixels. Files 4, 7 and 12 stopped with "The file format cannot be parsed."
- Pixlr flattened groups, showed layers Photoshop had hidden, kept text as text in a substituted font, dropped adjustment layers and layer styles, and drew 16-bit and 32-bit files as blank canvases.
Saving back to PSD
We saved files 1, 6, 9, 13 and 19 back to PSD from each editor that can, and read the result with psd-tools, an open-source PSD reader.
| What was kept | Photopea | GIMP | Krita |
|---|---|---|---|
| Layers and groups | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Text as text | Yes, all 17 text layers | No, all became pixels | Yes, all 17 text layers |
| Adjustment layers | Yes, all 17 in file 9 | No | No (and the file 9 PSD Krita saved couldn't be read back) |
| Layer styles | Yes | No | No |
| Smart objects | The one it kept on opening | No | No |
Photopea also opened file 2 as a CMYK document and file 5 as a 16-bit document, and saved them back in CMYK and in 16 bits per channel with all 24 layers. Pixlr's save dialog offers JPG, PNG, WebP, PDF and its own PXZ format, with no PSD.
Opening a camera RAW file
We also tried one camera RAW file in each tested editor: a Nikon NEF photo of an aurora taken from the International Space Station (a NASA image, from the rawpy test files). Photopea opened it in its own RAW developer, with exposure, white balance and an 8-bit or 16-bit choice. Krita opened its RAW import window with a preview of the photo; our scripted, screenless test run then crashed before the import finished, so we credit Krita's RAW support from that import window, without having seen a finished import. GIMP didn't open the file, because it hands RAW files to darktable or RawTherapee, which have to be installed separately. Pixlr didn't open it at all.
Scores
Photopea: total 8.9
Tested hands-on on November 4, 2026, in Chromium, free version, no account.
| Criterion | Score | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Editing and retouching tools | 10 | Adjustment layers, masks, spot healing brush, healing brush, patch tool and clone stamp (Photopea's smart tools page, where the spot healing brush fills what you paint over from its surroundings); Refine Edge for hair and fur (refine edge page); liquify; opened our RAW test file in its own RAW developer; opened our CMYK and 16-bit test files as CMYK and 16-bit documents and saved them back that way. 1.5 + 1 + 1 + 0.5 + 1 + 1 + 1 + 1 + 1 + 1 |
| Opening Photoshop files | 9 | 16 of 20 points in our file test (15 right, two close). Layers and groups intact (1); text stayed text and our text files matched (2); adjustment layers stayed live, but file 9's color lookup and file 11's levels looked wrong (1); layer styles stayed editable, file 6 close and file 19 right (2); embedded smart objects stayed smart objects (1); saved a PSD with all of it (2) |
| Cost and catches | 7 | Free with every editing feature, and ads. Premium removes ads, doubles history steps and adds 3,000 AI credits a month, and "AI credits are available only to Premium users" (Photopea's Account window, November 4, 2026). It showed us Premium at €8 for 30 days, €15 for 90 days or €50 for a year, as one-off payments, in euros, from a US connection. No account needed, no save limit. 10 − 2 − 1 |
| Platforms | 9.5 | Runs in a web browser, so Windows, Mac, Linux and Chromebook; a browser on a tablet gets half. 3 + 3 + 1.5 + 1.5 + 0.5 |
Krita: total 7.8
Tested hands-on on November 4, 2026: Krita 6.0.4.1 and 5.3.4.1 for Linux.
| Criterion | Score | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Editing and retouching tools | 9 | Filter layers and filter masks that stay editable, layer masks, a clone brush with a healing option (Krita's clone brush engine), the Smart Patch tool for removing objects (Smart Patch tool), liquify in the transform tool (transform tool), a camera RAW importer (credited from its import window, which opened with a preview of our RAW test file), 16-bit and 32-bit editing and CMYK editing (color spaces). No refine-edge step for hair. 1.5 + 1 + 1 + 0.5 + 1 + 0 + 1 + 1 + 1 + 1 |
| Opening Photoshop files | 3.5 | 5 of 20 points in our file test (three right, four close). Three files didn't open (0); text stayed editable but lost its font (1); adjustment layers became paint layers (0); layer styles stayed editable but several drew wrong (1); smart objects looked right but became pixels (0.5); saved a layered PSD that kept text but dropped styles (1) |
| Cost and catches | 10 | Free from krita.org with nothing held back, no ads, no account and no AI tools to pay for. Paid copies in app stores are the same program. 10 |
| Platforms | 8.5 | Windows, Mac and Linux (download page); Android and ChromeOS in beta, for tablets and Chromebooks, not phones (Krita 5.3.1.1 release notes). 3 + 3 + 1.5 + 0.5 + 0.5 |
Affinity: total 7.4
Scored from Affinity's documentation; we did not use Affinity.
| Criterion | Score | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Editing and retouching tools | 10 | Non-destructive adjustments and filters, RAW editing, an inpainting brush, healing tools, dodge and burn (Get Affinity), plus masks, a clone stamp, a refine edge workspace for hair, liquify and a high-bit-depth workflow (Affinity photo editing) and CMYK documents (color management help), all in the free app. 1.5 + 1 + 1 + 0.5 + 1 + 1 + 1 + 1 + 1 + 1 |
| Opening Photoshop files | 4 | Untested, so half the documented points. Affinity says layers come in intact (0.5), text stays text if you switch on "Import PSD text as text rather than bitmap" (1), adjustment layers are mapped to Affinity's own (1), and smart objects stay editable if you switch on "Import PSD smart objects where possible" (0.5) (Affinity's PSD guide, June 2026; help page). Neither page mentions layer styles (0). It exports PSD, but its format list says text is rasterized on export (supported file formats) (1) |
| Cost and catches | 8 | Free, but "to download Affinity, sign in with your Canva account (or create one for free)", and Canva's AI tools inside Affinity need a Canva premium plan (Get Affinity). No ads. 10 − 1 − 1 |
| Platforms | 7 | Mac, Windows and iPad (Get Affinity). No Linux, no Chromebook. 3 + 3 + 1 |
GIMP: total 7.2
Tested hands-on on November 4, 2026: GIMP 3.2.8 for Linux.
| Criterion | Score | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Editing and retouching tools | 8 | Non-destructive filters, which GIMP 3.2 can also stack on a pass-through group to work like adjustment layers (GIMP 3.2 release notes), layer masks, the Heal tool, the Clone tool, the Foreground Select tool, which uses matting to separate hair-like edges, the Warp Transform tool, and 16-bit and 32-bit editing. RAW files open through darktable or RawTherapee, installed separately; without them our RAW test file didn't open. CMYK only for soft-proofing and export to JPEG, TIFF, PSD and JPEG XL (GIMP 3.0 release notes). No built-in object removal: the Heal tool needs you to pick a source. 1.5 + 1 + 1 + 0.5 + 0 + 1 + 1 + 0.5 + 1 + 0.5 |
| Opening Photoshop files | 3 | 6.5 of 20 points in our file test (six right, one close). All opened, but files 3, 4 and 5 lost content (0.5); text became pixels (0); adjustment layers became empty layers (0); four style types became editable filters, but files 6 and 19 looked wrong (1); smart objects looked right but became pixels (0.5); saved a layered PSD with text turned to pixels (1) |
| Cost and catches | 10 | Free and open source from gimp.org, with no ads, no account and no paid tools. 10 |
| Platforms | 7.5 | Windows, Mac and Linux (downloads). No Chromebook or tablet app. 3 + 3 + 1.5 |
PhotoDemon: total 4.6
Scored from PhotoDemon's documentation and source code (version 2025.12); we did not use PhotoDemon.
| Criterion | Score | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Editing and retouching tools | 4 | Non-destructive layer changes, a clone stamp, content-aware fill for removing objects and camera RAW import (PhotoDemon's README). Layer masks are still a work in progress: its own layer mask code says "Layer masks are not fully supported by PhotoDemon yet". It works in 8 bits per channel (32-bit RGBA) internally, with no 16-bit editing and no CMYK. No healing brush, refine edge or liquify among its tools. 1.5 + 0 + 0 + 0.5 + 1 + 0 + 0 + 1 + 0 + 0 |
| Opening Photoshop files | 1 | Untested, so half the documented points. PhotoDemon has no layer groups yet, so groups are flattened (0), and its PSD code says Photoshop features with no PhotoDemon equivalent "will not appear in the final loaded image"; it documents nothing for text, adjustment layers, layer styles or smart objects (0). It saves layered PSD files (1) |
| Cost and catches | 10 | Free and open source from photodemon.org, with no ads, no account and no paid tools. 10 |
| Platforms | 3 | Windows only. 3 |
Pixlr: total 4.4
Tested hands-on on November 4, 2026: Pixlr Editor in Chromium, free version, no account.
| Criterion | Score | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Editing and retouching tools | 4.5 | From the editor's menus and toolbar in our test: layer masks, a Heal tool with Spot, Soft and Object modes (no credits shown), a Clone tool and Liquify. Adjustments apply straight to the pixels, with no adjustment layers; no image mode for CMYK or 16 bits; it didn't open our RAW test file. Its subject selection and AI cutout are AI tools, and we didn't check whether they use credits, so we gave no point for selection refinement. 0 + 1 + 1 + 0.5 + 1 + 0 + 1 + 0 + 0 + 0 |
| Opening Photoshop files | 1.5 | 3 of 20 points in our file test (three right). Groups flattened and hidden layers shown (0); text stayed text in a substituted font (1); adjustment layers dropped (0); layer styles dropped (0); smart objects looked right as pixels (0.5); no PSD export (0) |
| Cost and catches | 3 | After three saves in a day the free version stopped: "Snap! You have used all of your daily free saves!" (our test, November 4, 2026). Ads in the free version; AI tools use credits. Plus at $1.99 a month billed yearly, or $2.49 monthly, removes ads and the save limit and adds 80 AI credits (Pixlr pricing). 10 − 4 − 2 − 1 |
| Platforms | 9.5 | Runs in a web browser, so Windows, Mac, Linux and Chromebook; a browser on a tablet gets half. 3 + 3 + 1.5 + 1.5 + 0.5 |
Pinta: total 4.2
Scored from Pinta's documentation and source code (version 3.1.2); we did not use Pinta for the file test, because it has no PSD support to test.
| Criterion | Score | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Editing and retouching tools | 0.5 | Layers, selections, a magic wand, text, gradients, a clone stamp and a recolor tool (Pinta's website). Adjustments such as curves, levels and hue/saturation change the pixels directly. No masks, healing, object removal, refine edge, liquify, RAW, 16-bit or CMYK. 0 + 0 + 0 + 0.5 + 0 + 0 + 0 + 0 + 0 + 0 |
| Opening Photoshop files | 0 | No PSD support: it opens and saves OpenRaster, PNG, JPEG and the other common formats its image library reads, with no PSD importer in its source code |
| Cost and catches | 10 | Free and open source, with no ads, no account and no paid tools. 10 |
| Platforms | 7.5 | Linux, Mac and Windows (Pinta's website). No Chromebook or tablet app. 3 + 3 + 1.5 |
Paint.NET: total 3.3
Scored from Paint.NET's documentation; we did not use Paint.NET.
| Criterion | Score | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Editing and retouching tools | 0.5 | Layers, adjustments that change the pixels directly, a clone stamp, magic wand and effects (features page). No layer masks, text layers or adjustment layers, and no editing above 8 bits per channel. Its roadmap plans layer groups and 16-bit images for Paint.NET 6.0 in 2027, with text, mask and adjustment layers in later releases. Healing, RAW and more come only from third-party plugins. 0 + 0 + 0 + 0.5 + 0 + 0 + 0 + 0 + 0 + 0 |
| Opening Photoshop files | 0 | No built-in PSD support; its file list doesn't include PSD (features page). A free third-party PSD plugin loads and saves PSD files, but plugins don't count, and Paint.NET has no groups, text, adjustment or smart object layers to keep them in anyway |
| Cost and catches | 10 | Free from paint.net; the Microsoft Store version is a paid way to support it, with the same features. No ads or account. 10 |
| Platforms | 3 | Windows only. 3 |
What we couldn't check
- Ease of use, speed on large files, and the quality of each editor's healing and selection tools. Tools were scored from each editor's menus and documentation, even for the editors we tested hands-on.
- Affinity, PhotoDemon, Pinta and Paint.NET, which we did not use. Their scores come from their documentation and source code.
- Krita's Android and ChromeOS beta, PhotoGIMP, and any paid plan.
- Photopea's Premium price in US dollars: it showed us euros from a US connection.
Changes before publishing
- Cost and catches first had a 1-point deduction for closed-source software. We removed it before scoring anyone, because it isn't a cost or a limit the reader runs into.
- Saves a layered PSD was first a yes-or-no part worth 2. After we added the save-back test, we split it into 2, 1 and 0 so that an editor which keeps layers but flattens text isn't scored the same as one which keeps everything. This was settled before the scores above were entered, and it gave GIMP and Krita 1 each rather than 2.
- After an editorial review: GIMP's tools score was corrected from 7.5 to 8 (its Foreground Select tool does matting, and the parts add up to 8); file 4 in GIMP and Pixlr was reclassified from close to wrong, because the shadows are missing; plugins were ruled out for PSD support as well as tools, which took Paint.NET's PSD score from 1 to 0; PhotoDemon and Pinta, which Tom's Hardware ranks, were added; and the "what a score looks like" examples were rewritten to add up.