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Best Productivity ResourcesBy Shushant LakhyaniVerified creator

Desktop App

GIMP

The free, open-source image editor for photo retouching and design.

Visit GIMP4.4

  • Rating

    4.4 / 5

  • Pricing

    Free

  • Difficulty

    Intermediate

  • Works on

    Windows, macOS, Linux

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What is GIMP?

GIMP (GNU Image Manipulation Program) is a free and open-source image editor for photo retouching, image composition and graphic design, with layers, masks, filters and plug-ins. It is free software under the GPL that you can modify and share, and runs on Linux, macOS and Windows. The latest stable release is GIMP 3.2.6 (10 September 2026).

Pros: what GIMP does well

  • Completely free and open source
  • Layers, masks, filters and a large plug-in ecosystem
  • Runs on Windows, macOS and Linux

Cons: where it falls short

  • Interface and shortcuts differ from Photoshop
  • Fewer AI tools than paid editors

Who GIMP is for

Anyone who needs serious photo editing without a subscription.

Who can skip it

People who only crop and resize images now and then.

Compare GIMP

See how GIMP stacks up, side by side, plus the lists it made.

GIMP alternatives

Not sold on GIMP? These do a similar job, and each card says what it has in common.

All Personal Productivity resources

PhotoGIMP

Focus: gimp and github. Shares photoshop alternative and image editing with GIMP. Adds Offline. Rated 4.5 (GIMP: 4.4).

Desktop AppFreeWindows, macOS
4.5Visit

Paint.NET

Focus: windows. Shares photo editor and image editing with GIMP. A Windows app, not a desktop app. Rated 4.5 (GIMP: 4.4).

Windows AppFreeWindows
4.5Visit

Affinity

Focus: vector design and page layout. Shares photo editor and photoshop alternative with GIMP. Freemium (GIMP: Free). Rated 4.7 (GIMP: 4.4).

Desktop AppFree planWindows, macOS
4.7Visit

Krita

Focus: digital painting, illustration and animation. Shares open source and photoshop alternative with GIMP. Adds Android. Rated 4.7 (GIMP: 4.4).

Desktop AppFreeWindows, macOS
4.7Visit

darktable

Focus: raw editor, photo workflow and lightroom alternative. Shares open source and photoshop alternative with GIMP. Same 4.4 rating.

Desktop AppFreeWindows, macOS
4.4Visit

Compositor

Focus: image editor, compositing and mac app. Shares photoshop alternative and open source with GIMP. A Mac app, not a desktop app. Rated 4.6 (GIMP: 4.4).

Mac AppFreemacOS
4.6Visit

Free alternatives to GIMP

Want to spend nothing? These free picks cover similar ground.

Ghostty

Focus: terminal, emulator and gpu. Shares open source with GIMP. Rated 4.9 (GIMP: 4.4).

Desktop AppFreemacOS, Linux
4.9Visit

fzf

Focus: fuzzy finder, command line and shell. Shares open source with GIMP. Adds Offline. Rated 4.8 (GIMP: 4.4).

Desktop AppFreemacOS, Windows
4.8Visit

lazygit

Focus: git client, terminal ui and developer tool. Shares open source with GIMP. Adds Offline. Rated 4.8 (GIMP: 4.4).

Desktop AppFreemacOS, Windows
4.8Visit

navi

Focus: terminal, cli and cheatsheet. Shares open source with GIMP. Rated 4.8 (GIMP: 4.4).

Desktop AppFreemacOS, Windows
4.8Visit

ripgrep

Focus: search tool, command line and developer tool. Shares open source with GIMP. Adds Offline. Rated 4.8 (GIMP: 4.4).

Desktop AppFreemacOS, Windows
4.8Visit
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