Photoshop alternatives reviewed by a pro photographer

Everyone has heard the famous last words “ We can just photoshop it later!” because photoshop is the household name of photo editing tools. Adobe products have been an integral part of my workflow as a professional photographer since you could buy photoshop on an actual CD. 

Before I could afford photoshop, I would use free online photo editors. Today there are a lot of free photoshop alternatives out there to choose from and it can be a little overwhelming to choose the best one. This inspired me to write an article that reviews and ranks the best free photo editing apps available online. 

Criteria for ranking the best free photo editor

I decided that I would test all of these free photo editing apps based on how I would use them as a pro photographer with almost 15 years of experience. I primarily use Photoshop and Lightroom to adjust exposure, remove objects, crop, straighten, enhance vibrancy and adjust white balance. 

I felt the best way to compare and contrast (no pun intended) these free photo editing tools would be to edit the same photo in each one. I did intentionally choose an image that needs a lot of work, just to see how far we can push the limit with these free editing tools. 

It is important to note that I used a JPEG image because most of these free photo editing tools do not support RAW camera format. I only shoot in RAW and this heavily impacts your post processing capabilities. Editing a RAW image vs JPEG is a vastly different experience in my opinion as a photographer. 

I primarily looked at these key tools within each photo editing app:

• Image adjustments
• Object removal
• Cropping/Straightening
• Interface
• Ease of use

Best Free Photo editing tools:

• Pixlr
• BeFunky
• Canva
• Adobe Express
• Fotor
• Photopea

I also looked at the cost of premium features, like ai credits. Some of these free online tools limit certain features and editing capabilities to paid subscriptions.

Pixlr

Pixlr was by far the best free photoshop alternative that I tried. The interface is simple, easy to navigate and it has a layers panel similar to photoshop. The image adjustments I was able to achieve using this free tool are amazing, especially considering the fact that I was editing a JPEG image file. 

Pixlr is also loaded with free ai tools using credits, which helps it stand out against others that limit their ai tools to premium only. It was very easy to use and ran more smoothly and quickly in comparison to other online photo editors. 

While you can’t export PSD files, you can export Webp files which I thought was a great bonus feature for bloggers that are editing photos for their websites. 

The clone tool works as expected, it wasn’t as intuitive as Photoshop’s clone tool but it got the job done. The cropping and straightening tool was easy to find and straightened the image efficiently. 

I really liked this free image editing tool and I was impressed with the speed, ease of use and editing capability. 

Best for:

• Basic Adjustments
• Object removal  
• Free ai tools
• Beginners

Premium Plan Options 

Pixlr offers paid subscriptions if you’d like to go ad free, get more ai credits and save unlimited projects. The most affordable plan is only $2.49/mo, which is very budget-friendly in comparison to other image editing subscriptions out there. However, for everyday photo editing, you can absolutely get away with using the free version.

Canva

I have used Canva pro for our business since 2019 and it is an incredibly diverse and useful tool. While I do not use it to edit images, I find that it offers some great basic image editing options. 

In canva, you can make basic adjustments to exposure and color in addition to background removal. Canva also has ai tools for more in depth changes, however I did get mixed results using these tools. 

The background removal tool in canva is absolutely incredible in my view as a pro photographer because you can remove the background with the click of a button.

I primarily use Canva for social media graphics and blog post graphics because you can easily add design elements and text to your photos. Canva also offers a library of mockups that generate professional looking mockups in seconds. 

Canva also makes it as easy as ever to resize your image to fit just about any document, app or device.

Best for:

• Basic Adjustments
• Adding text
• Social Media posts

Premium Plan Options 

The free version of Canva includes basic adjustments but ai features are only included in their premium plan which starts at $120/year as of January 2025. I personally love and use Canva Pro because it is loaded with features including mock ups, ai tools, stock photos and premium design assets. 

Be Funky

I was really impressed with the online photo editing app BeFunky but many of the smart editing features are not free. I was surprised and disappointed to see that object removal wasn’t included in the free version. 

This photo editing tool did a phenomenal job with basic adjustments to the exposure and color balance. Cropping and straightening tool worked but was a little confusing to find. 

• Basic adjustments
• Image editing 

Premium Plan

The premium plan includes ai features, smart tools and object removal and is currently $14.99/mo

PhotoPea

Photopea has the most similar layout to Photoshop. If you are used to the PS workspace, you will find Photopea easy and familiar to navigate. You can work in layers and save your files as .PSD, which will be very useful if you need that file format for a project. 

You can edit RAW images in Photopea as well, which is provides much more depth and range when retouching images. 

The crop/straighten tool is great because you can draw a line to straighten the horizon of the image and that is very helpful. Photopea does offer both curves and level adjustments, which is great for a free editing app.

Photopea is a web based app, which is easily accessible on any computer and doesn’t require space on the hard drive. However, web based apps tend to run more slowly when running actions or working on complex photo editing projects.

Another added feature of photopea is that you can add brushes just like in Photoshop. 

Best For:

• Free photoshop alternative 
• Image editing 
• Working in PSD
• Editing in RAW

Premium Plan

Photopea offers one affordable premium plan for $5/mo that includes ai credits but all of their other tools can be used for free. 

Adobe Express

Adobe Express is similar to Canva in that its main use is for social media graphics. You can add text and create collages using Adobe Express. 

Adobe Express does have basic editing tools like removing objects and adding filters  but it didn’t work as well as expected. There are limited adjustments that can be made to the color and exposure. Adobe Express does include thousands of free templates and design assets to use. 

You can easily create flyers, social media posts and remove backgrounds using Adobe Express, for free. 

Best for:

• Basic edits
• Social Media 
• Design Templates

Fotor 

My favorite thing about Fotor was the magic eraser tool. For a free photo editing website, the magic eraser tool is incredible. The interface is very similar to Canva, so I felt right at home.

You can utilize a free selection of templates and design tools to create social media graphics or other designs. The basic adjustments I was able to achieve were great but many of the features are only included with a premium plan.

I was not able to save my image without a watermark, so for that reason – I wouldn’t say the free version of Fotor is very practical. However, their premium plans are much more affordable than other options starting at only $3.33/mo for an annual plan. Given that I liked the editing tools, I’d say that Fotor is still an affordable alternative to photoshop. 

Free Photo editor Conclusion

Ultimately, I learned that there are a lot of free tools online for photographers that get the job done. The best free photo editor online is going to depend on what features you need. For basic image editing that is totally free, I would say Pixlr is the perfect option. Each free photoshop alternative has pros and cons but they are all great tools to use if you can’t afford a premium image editing tool. All of the tools mentioned in this post are great free editing options. I did not receive any compensation to review these editing tools and the opinions expressed are completely my own. 

As a professional photographer, I would recommend these tools to anyone looking to learn photo editing without investing the money.