Best Open-Source Image Editors 2026: 6 Options Compared

Open-source image editors differ mostly in whether they treat a picture as a photo, a painting or a graphic. GIMP is the general-purpose raster editor with layers, masks and a huge plug-in ecosystem, and is the closest free equivalent to a commercial photo editor. Krita is aimed at painters and has a brush engine that feels better for freehand work. Pinta is the small, simple one, a free open-source program for drawing and image editing that runs on Linux, macOS, Windows and BSD, and suits quick crops, resizes and annotations. MyPaint offers an infinite canvas for sketching. Inkscape is not a raster editor but is worth having beside any of them for shapes and text. Darktable handles raw photo development non-destructively. To choose, start with the task: for retouching and compositing use GIMP, for illustration use Krita, and for a five-minute edit use Pinta. The trade-off is learning curve against power. GIMP can do almost anything, but menus and tool names differ from commercial software, so expect to look up how to do familiar things. Not every project names its license on its own site, so check the repository's license file if your company requires a specific one.

GIMP

Free raster editor for Linux, macOS and Windows; the downloads page offers source and donations only. The most capable general option, but its interface has a learning curve.

Price: Free (Free; source tarballs offered, donation link only, no paid tier. Store packages are third-party and not from the GIMP team) (GIMP pricing, checked 2026-10-22).

Platforms and license: Linux, macOS, Windows. Open source (license not named on gimp.org/downloads) (open source) (license source).

Best for: Retouching and compositing.

Worth knowing: Raster image editor for photo retouching and compositing.

Krita

GPL painting and illustration app with no paid tier. Strong brushes and layers, less suited to photo retouching than GIMP.

Price: Free (Free and open source; optional donations, no paid tier) (Krita pricing, checked 2026-10-22).

Platforms and license: Windows, macOS, Linux, Android. GPL (open source) (license source).

Best for: Illustration and digital painting.

Pinta

MIT-licensed drawing and image editing program for Linux, macOS, Windows and BSD. Simple tools and layers make it quick for crops, resizes and basic edits.

Price: Free (Free, open-source program for drawing and image editing; no price listed) (Pinta pricing, checked 2026-10-23).

Platforms and license: Linux, macOS, Windows, BSD. MIT (open source) (license source).

Project activity: 4.1k GitHub stars · latest release 3.1.2 (Apr 2, 2026) · last commit Oct 26, 2026

Best for: Quick, simple edits.

Worth knowing: Site does not name the license; MIT comes from license-mit.txt in the GitHub repository.

MyPaint

GPL-2.0 painting program for Linux, macOS and Windows with an infinite canvas. Aimed at sketching and painting, not photo editing.

Price: Free (Free to download; the page lists no price and offers a donate option) (MyPaint pricing, checked 2026-10-23).

Platforms and license: Linux, macOS, Windows. GPL-2.0 (open source) (license source).

Project activity: 3k GitHub stars · latest release v2.0.1 (May 29, 2020) · last commit Oct 20, 2026

Best for: Freehand sketching.

Inkscape

GPL-3.0 vector editor that pairs with a raster editor for shapes and text. Not for editing photos.

Price: Free (Free software under GPLv3; the site asks for donations and lists no paid tier) (Inkscape pricing, checked 2026-10-22).

Platforms and license: Linux, macOS, Windows. GPL-3.0 (open source) (license source).

Project activity: 4.1k GitHub stars · No commits since Mar 3, 2022

Best for: Vector shapes and text.

Worth knowing: SVG vector editor. The site links to the GPLv3 guide; the GPLv3 license name is taken from that link.

darktable

GPL-3.0 raw photo workflow application for Linux, macOS and Windows. Develops photos non-destructively but is not a paint or layers editor.

Price: Free (Free and open source under GPLv3; no paid tier on the site) (darktable pricing, checked 2026-10-22).

Platforms and license: Linux, macOS, Windows. GPL-3.0 (open source) (license source).

Project activity: 13.3k GitHub stars · latest release release-5.6.2 (Oct 4, 2026) · last commit Oct 27, 2026

Best for: Raw photo development.

Worth knowing: Photo workflow with a library and culling views, closest to PhotoMechanic's ingest and sort role. Platforms are from the install and download links; the homepage did not list them explicitly.

Which one to pick

• You retouch and composite photos: GIMP
• You draw or paint: Krita
• You want something small and quick: Pinta
• You process raw files from a camera: darktable