12 Best Free Photoshop Alternatives – AI Photo Editor Tools

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Tonny Franzen · August 18.2025
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For years, Adobe Photoshop has been a standard photo editing tool. We mean, why should it not be? The powerful and versatile tool offers a wide range of services, from simple photo correction to complex digital arts and creative design features. 

However, the time has now changed, there are several other free Photoshop alternatives that can be used to boost productivity. If you are someone in the same boat and are searching for the best free Photoshop alternatives, then this article has got you covered. Hop on below to explore the list.

12 Best Free Photoshop Alternatives You Should Know About

Here is a list of the top Photoshop alternatives that have taken over the world of photo editing by storm!

Tools

Best For

Simplicity

Pricing

X-Design AI Photo Editor

E-commerce creators needing fast, AI-enhanced product visualsBackground removal, AI background gen, cropping, retouching, image enhancements.Free tier available; Pro plan at around $4.17/month

Canva

Beginner-friendly all-in-one graphic/photo editorAI-powered replace/erase/brush edits, background remover, drag-and-drop design featuresFree plan available; Canva Pro starts at about $12.99 to $15/month for advanced tools

PhotoWorks

Budget-conscious photographers needing quick editsColor balance, background changes, object removal, watermarking, batch processingStarts around $19.25 (perpetual license); lifetime license under $80

Polarr Next (Beta)

Professional photographers needing high-volume AI culling/editingAI culling, trained assistant, consistent color/tonality across batchesMonthly billing: $3.99/month. Annual billing: $29.99/year (equivalent to $2.49/month)

Inkscape

Vector illustrations, open-source design workSVG editing, vector tools, text editing, templates, image import/exportCompletely free and open-source

PIXLR

Quick, browser-based edits and graphic designBG remover, overlays, stickers, AI-powered editingFree with ads; Premium: $7.99/month; AI Tools plans: $1.49-$11.99/month; Creative Pack: $14.99/month

BeFunky

Casual editors creating collages and stylized imagesBatch editing, filters (artistic effects), background remover, retouch, collage maker, watermarkFree basic tools; BeFunky Plus: $6.99/month (billed annually) or $14.99/month

Krita

Digital artists and illustratorsAdvanced brushes, textures, animation tools, painting-focused interfaceFree via official site; $10 on Steam

MyEdit

Beginners and professionals who need to quickly edit and enhance their creative content without needing to download or install any software. best known for its AI features, including generative expansion and fill, upscaling, background removal, and text-to-image generation.MyEdit has 3 pricing editions, from $0 to $7

Photopea

Browser-based Photoshop-like editingPSD/AI/XD support, layer-based editing, offline browser usage, drag-and-dropFree with ads; ~$5/month subscription removes ads, adds AI and 5 GB storage

FilterPixel

Amateur and professional photographersPerfect for post-production tasks like editing with freedom or cullingfree, monthly, and lifetime options

Adobe Lightroom

Professional photo management and editingRAW editing, presets, cloud sync, AI (via Lightroom CC / Cloud), exposure/tone adjustmentsSubscription-based; part of Adobe Creative Cloud—around $42/month for Pro individual, with seasonal discounts

X-Design AI Photo Editor

X-Design stands out as one of the best AI photo editors in our lineup, offering exceptional AI-powered tools that make professional-quality editing accessible to everyone. Its AI background remover lets you do the job in just a few seconds, you can also upscale your image into high resolution. X-Design is specifically designed to transform complex editing tasks into simple, one-click actions. 

You can easily erase unwanted objects from your images and enhance the pixels to make it more appealing. Besides all these features, it also offers plenty of video editing tools. Whether you’re a small business, content creator, marketer, or graphic designer needing an extra hand, X-Design is there to help you with the editing process while ensuring stunning results.

Key Features

  • AI Product Photography: It helps transform plain product images into professional photographs quickly with its AI powered features.

  • Image Background Remover: Replace or remove unneeded background and make it more aesthetic. X-Design will detect and remove any image background and convert it into a professional image.

  • AI Image Enhancer: The image enhancer will help enhance low-resolution images into high-quality including 4k and 8K.

  • AI Video Editing: Best to remove watermark, enhance video quality, and remove video background.

Pros of X-Design AI Photo Editor

  • Time Efficiency: It’s efficient and deliver results in minutes, saving you time and hassle.

  • Cost-Effective Solutions: It helps save money on any expensive photoshoots, courtesy of its enhanced images and AI-generated techniques.

  • User-Friendly Interface: X-Design understands that not everyone is a tech pro, hence it comes with a user-friendly interface that is very easy to navigate.

Canva

Canva is another excellent pick that many people incline towards. The service has been constantly introducing new and high-quality AI tools since 2023, and shows no sign of slowing down. Canva allows users to edit their images, replace background objects, or fully generate AI images from scratch, making it a great free Photoshop alternative for graphic design. 

Moreover, users can also develop AI text-to-video easily without the need for a camera. How cool is that! While all of this is great, its collaborative nature is actually what helps it stand out in the AI editing tool market the most. 

Pros

  • A great pick for all kinds of content creation using its excellent AI features.

  • The template library holds versatile options for social media posts, stock photos, and more.

PhotoWorks

PhotoWorks is a user-friendly Photoshop free alternative with excellent AI features. It might be perfect for those looking into a free Photoshop replacement that handles batch editing swiftly. It has services like impeccable AI-powered autocorrection, which provides professional lighting, color techniques, and creative fillers, which enhance the pictures to a new level. The best part? This amazing tool offers an affordable lifetime license that is convenient for most people to purchase.

Pros

  • It holds excellent AI-powered autocorrection for quick fixes

  • Provides users with an affordable lifetime license.

PolarrNext – Beta

If you love the advanced features of Photoshop and the perks of Canva, then we are sure this tool will be a dream come true for you. PolarrNext works as an all-in-one editing tool that holds a creative flair. Its sophisticated editing features works as an easy navigation tool, and the creative stickers and frames that add a playful touch to your design, this service has you covered on it all.

Pros

  • Vast presets and filters available

  • Holds a sophisticated and user-friendly design.

InkScape

If you are an e-commerce business selling products online, then Inkscape is the ball that you need in your court. The tool offers AI photo editing for eCommerce products, social media content, or promotional ad designs. InkScape allows users to create files of any size because of its vector editing feature. Hence, the designs created on such vector editors can then be resized without disrupting the quality of the image.

Pros

  • It supports multiple languages

  • Offers custom DPI when saving the created content.

PIXLR

Developed for easy design creation and quick accessibility to all, PIXLR is another excellent free tool that you can access. It offers users multiple ways to edit images and add cute stickers and filters to enhance their designs. If you feel like giving it a more personal touch, you can always dive into a more thorough editing session using the several other AI tools on the service. PIXLR is free and supports multiple import and export file formats, making it an excellent pick for your needs.

Pros

  • Works well with Google Drive

  • Excellent templates for advertisements and graphics.

BeFunky

Are you busy working on your start-up but still need a creative platform to make simple designs and intriguing photos to increase your reach? Well, then, BeFunky is your go-to for sure. The tool is perfect for creating simple designs or adjusting existing ones. You can also edit photos with ease using its user-friendly interface. It might be the best free Photoshop alternatives for beginners. However, if you are a professional on board and think the free version has features a bit too basic, then we highly suggest that you check out the more advanced features on the paid version.

Pros

  • The service provides a lot of templates

  • Has free stock images from Pixabay and Pexels

Cons

  • The free version holds limited features

Krita

You think Photoshop has been present as long as you can remember? Well, then let us tell you that Krita is not far behind. 

Operating for 25 years, Krita is a free and open-source service and undeniably one of the best free Photoshop alternatives for PC and Mac. This tool would be an excellent pick for artists and illustrators, allowing them the same level of fluid and lifelike sketching, masking, animation, workspace options for painting, and VFX, similar to Photoshop (maybe even better).

However, what you should know is that Krita still lacks one-click AI features, which other applications like X-Design AI Photo Editor have. 

Pros

  • Holds a high-quality brush library similar to Photoshop for artists.

  • 100% free to use.

MyEdit

Next on our list is the MyEdit AI editing tool, which is quite simple to use and offers professional results for free!

This is a Photoshop alternative without a subscription and allows users to create and design their images or use AI prompts to generate social media post templates easily. 

The tool has set a benchmark for its AI features, including generative expansion and fill, upscaling, background removal and text-to-image generation. MyEdit offers all these features for free with a user-friendly interface.

Pros

  • User-friendly interface and professional results

  • Provides a free AI tool for life

Photopea

Photopea gives the same gist of Photoshop, courtesy of its accurate layout replication, including the icons and menus. However, this browser-based tool is unique in its ways and allows users to open different types of files, including PDFs, Figma files, and raw photos. Another significant aspect that makes this tool so similar to Photoshop is its ABR format custom brushes. 

For those who use brushes in Photoshop, this custom aspect is quite a replication of it, and something no other app offers. The service also offers free installation, a one-click template library with actions, patterns, mockups, brushes, and other creative tools you need your hands on.

Pros

  • Quite similar to Photoshop, hence gives the same experience

  • Multifunctional and supports multiple languages.

FilterPixel

FilterPixel is another great AI-powered tool that is perfect for photographers looking into post-production tasks like editing with freedom or culling. The service is great and allows users to automatically sort and edit images, which helps save a significant amount of time. 

Moreover, another great standout feature on this Photoshop alternative free online editor is its ability to create a personalized AI edit profile. How does it do this? Well, FilterPixel uploads around 3000 of the past edits, and then the AI aspects save all those styles within its data to generate similar results.

Pros

  • It supports RAW formats

  • Has an easy-to-use interface

Adobe Lightroom

If you are loyal to the Adobe platforms, then you should check out Adobe Lightroom. It allows users to apply similar adjustments to multiple pictures in one go, making batch editing easier. The tool is quite a pick for photographers as well who need consistent and quick editing on a large amount of pictures. 

Pros

  • Pictures can be enhanced with custom presets,

  • Excellent for editing large photo sets

Conclusion

If you are someone who was on the lookout for the best free Photoshop alternatives, then we hope this article was helpful for you. While each editing tool mentioned on this list is exceptional in its unique way, when it comes down to choosing one, our vote always falls in favor of X-Design AI Photo Editor. So, check out this service today and let us know your thoughts on it.