Alternatives

04 Jul, 2024

Before you read:

Consider donating to Kenney for making this GODLY list.

Anyways, this is KenneyNL's Adobe Alternatives List

Adobe Alternatives

A list of alternatives for Adobe software, originally collected by @XdanielArt and improved upon by the community. Feel free to open issues or pull requests, or create an image (for easy sharing) out of the data. The lists are always ordered with the free & open source option on top, but it might not be the best alternative depending on your use case.

Legend:

• ✨ = Free and open-source
• ⭐️ = Free of charge
• 💵 = Single purchase
• 🔒 = Subscription for more functions

Alternatives to:

• Photoshop
• Illustrator
• Animate
• InDesign
• Substance
• Lightroom
• XD
• Premiere
• Acrobat
• Bridge
• Dreamweaver
• Audition
• After Effects

Photoshop

Photography

• ✨ GIMP (Windows, Mac, Linux)
• ⭐️ (💵, 🔒) Sumo Paint (Windows, Mac, Linux)
• ⭐️ (💵) Photopea (Browser)
• ⭐️ Paint.NET (Windows)
• ⭐️ (🔒) Pixlr (Browser)
• 💵 Pixelmator Pro (Mac)
• 💵 PaintShop Pro (Windows)
• 💵 Affinity Photo (Windows, Mac, iOS)
• 💵 Photoline (Windows, Mac)
• 💵 Acorn (Mac)

Painting

• ✨ Krita (Windows, Mac, Linux, Android)
• ✨ MyPaint (Windows, Mac, Linux)
• ⭐️ IbisPaint (Windows, Android, iOS)
• ⭐️ (💵) Sketchbook (Windows, Mac, Android, iOS)
• ⭐️ FireAlpaca (Windows, Mac)
• ⭐️ Medibang (Windows, Mac, Android)
• 💵 Paintstorm (Windows, Mac, iOS)
• 💵 Corel Painter (Windows, Mac)
• 💵 Rebelle (Windows, Mac)
• 💵 (🔒) Clip Studio Paint (Windows, Mac, Android, iOS)
• 💵 PaintTool SAI (Windows)
• 💵 Procreate (iOS)
• 💵 Artstudio Pro (iOS)
• 💵 Infinite Studio (Android, iOS)
• 💵 Realistic Paint Studio (Windows, Mac, iOS)
• 💵 ArtRage (Windows, Mac, Android, iOS)

Pixel art

• ✨ (or 💵) Aseprite (Windows, Mac, Linux)
• ✨ Pixelorama (Browser, Windows, Mac, Linux, Raspberry Pi)
• ✨ PixiEditor (Windows)
• ✨ LibreSprite (Windows, Mac, Linux)
• ✨ GrafX2 (Windows, Linux, Android)
• ✨ Pixilart (Browser, Android, iOS)
• ⭐️ Lospec Pixel Editor (Browser)
• ⭐️ Pixel Studio (Windows, Mac)
• ⭐️ Microsoft Paint (Windows)
• ⭐️ GraphicsGale (Windows)
• 💵 Pro Motion NG (Windows)
• 💵 Lightcube (Windows)
• 💵 Pyxel Edit (Windows, Mac, Linux)
• 💵 Pixquare (Mac, iOS)

Illustrator

General

• ✨ Inkscape (Windows, Mac, Linux)
• ⭐️ Boxy SVG (Browser)
• ⭐️ (🔒) Linearity Curve (Mac, iOS)
• 💵 CorelDRAW (Windows, Mac)
• 💵 Affinity Designer (Windows, Mac, iOS)
• 💵 Xara Designer (Windows)
• 🔒 Corel Vector (Browser)

Live trace

• ✨ SVGcode (Browser)
• ✨ VTracer (Browser, Windows, Mac, Linux)
• ✨ CR8tracer (Windows)
• 💵 Vector Magic (Windows, Mac, Linux)

Animate

General

• ✨ Tahoma2D (Windows, Mac, Linux)
• ✨ Blender (Windows, Mac, Linux)
• ✨ OpenToonz (Windows, Mac, Linux)
• ✨ Wick Editor (Browser)
• ✨ Synfig (Windows, Mac, Linux)
• ✨ Glaxnimate (Windows, Mac, Linux)
• ⭐️ (🔒) Linearity Move (Mac, iOS)
• 💵 CACANi (Windows)
• 💵 TVPaint (Windows, Mac, Linux, Android)
• 💵 Toon Boom (Windows, Mac, Linux)
• 💵 Clip Studio Paint (Windows, Mac)
• 💵 Moho (Windows, Mac)
• 💵 Tumult Hype (Mac)

Honorable mentions

• ✨ Krita (Windows, Mac, Linux, Android)
• ✨ Pencil2D (Windows, Mac, Linux)
• ⭐️ FireAlpaca (Windows, Mac)

InDesign

• ✨ Scribus (Windows, Mac, Linux)
• ✨ Laidout (Linux)
• 💵 Affinity Publisher (Windows, Mac, iOS)
• 💵 QuarkXPress (Windows, Mac)

Substance

Designer

• ✨ Material Maker (Windows, Mac, Linux)
• ⭐️ Quixel Mixer (Windows, Mac)
• ⭐️ InstaMAT (Windows, Mac)

Painter

• ✨ ArmorPaint (Windows, Mac, Linux, iOS, Android)
• ⭐️ Quixel Mixer (Windows, Mac)
• 💵 3DCoat (Windows, Mac, Linux)
• 💵 (or 🔒) Marmoset Toolbag (Windows, Mac)

Lightroom

• ✨ RawTherapee (Windows, Mac, Linux)
• ✨ Darktable (Windows, Mac, Linux)
• ✨ digiKam (Windows, Mac, Linux)
• 💵 (or 🔒) Darkroom (Mac, iOS)
• 💵 On1 (Windows, Mac, Linux)
• 💵 FastRawViewer (Windows, Mac)
• 💵 Capture One (Windows, Mac)
• 💵 Dx0 PhotoLab (Windows, Mac)
• 💵 Luminar Neo (Windows, Mac)
• 💵 Aurora HDR (Windows, Mac)

XD

• ✨ Penpot (Windows, Mac, Linux)
• ✨ Draftoola (Linux)
• ⭐️ Lunacy (Windows, Mac, Linux)
• ⭐️ (🔒) Figma (Browser, Windows, Mac)
• 💵 Sketch (Mac)
• 💵 Origami Studio (Mac)
• 💵 Axure RP (Windows, Mac)
• 💵 Principle (Mac)
• 🔒 Framer (Windows, Mac, Linux)

Premiere

• ✨ Olive (Windows, Mac, Linux)
• ✨ Kdenlive (Windows, Mac, Linux)
• ✨ OpenShot (Windows, Mac, Linux)
• ✨ Shotcut (Windows, Mac, Linux)
• ⭐️ (💵) DaVinci Resolve (Windows, Mac, Linux)
• 💵 (or 🔒) VEGAS Pro (Windows)
• 💵 Final Cut Pro (Mac, iOS)
• 🔒 Kapwing (Browser)
• 🔒 CapCut (Browser, Windows, Android, iOS)

Acrobat

Editor

• ✨ LibreOffice Draw (Windows, Mac, Linux)
• ⭐️ PDF24 (Windows)
• 💵 PDF-XChange (Windows)
• 🔒 Xodo (Browser, Windows, Android, iOS)

Reader

• ✨ Zathura (Linux)
• ✨ Sioyek (Windows, Mac, Linux)
• ✨ Sumatra PDF (Windows)

Bridge

• ⭐️ XnView MP (Windows, Mac, Linux)
• 🔒 Anchorpoint (Windows, Mac)

Dreamweaver

• ✨ Netbeans (Windows, Mac, Linux)
• ✨ VSCodium (Windows, Mac, Linux)
• ⭐️ Visual Studio Code (Windows, Mac, Linux)
• ⭐️ PageFabric (Windows)
• 💵 (🔒) Nova (Mac)
• 🔒 WebStorm (Windows, Mac, Linux)
• 🔒 PHPStorm (Windows, Mac, Linux)

Audition

General

• ✨ Audacity (Windows, Mac, Linux)
• ⭐️ Ocenaudio (Windows, Mac, Linux)
• ⭐️ (💵) DaVinci Resolve Fairlight (Windows, Mac, Linux)
• 💵 GoldWave (Windows, Mac, Linux)
• 💵 iZotope RX (Windows, Mac)
• 💵 Sound Forge (Windows, Mac)

DAWs

• ✨ (💵, 🔒) Ardour (Windows, Mac, Linux)
• ✨ LMMS (Windows, Mac, Linux)
• ⭐️ Cakewalk (Windows)
• ⭐️ GarageBand (Mac)
• ⭐️ (💵) Tracktion (Windows, Mac, Linux)
• ⭐️ (🔒) Pro Tools (Windows, Mac)
• 💵 Reaper (Windows, Mac, Linux)
• 💵 Logic Pro (Mac, iOS)
• 💵 Ableton Live (Windows, Mac)
• 💵 FL Studio (Windows, Mac)
• 💵 FL Studio Mobile (Windows, Mac, Android, iOS)
• 💵 Bitwig (Windows, Mac, Linux)
• 💵 Steinberg Wavelab (Windows, Mac)
• 💵 Steinberg Cubase (Windows, Mac)
• 💵 Steinberg Nuendo (Windows, Mac)
• 🔒 Studio One (Windows, Mac)
• 🔒 Cakewalk Next (Windows)
• 🔒 Cakewalk Sonar (Windows)

After Effects

Compositing and effects

• ✨ Natron (Windows, Mac, Linux)
• ✨ Blender (Windows, Mac, Linux)
• ⭐️ (💵) DaVinci Resolve Fusion (Windows, Mac, Linux)
• ⭐️ (💵) HitFilm (Windows, Mac, Linux)
• 💵 VEGAS Effects (Windows)
• ⭐️ Unreal Engine (Motion Graphics Tools) (Windows, Mac, Linux)

Motion graphics

• ✨ Blender (Windows, Mac, Linux)
• ✨ Friction (Windows, Linux)
• ✨ AstroFox (Windows, Mac, Linux)
• ⭐️ (🔒) Fable (Browser)
• ⭐️ (🔒) Linearity Move (Mac, iOS)
• 💵 Final Cut Pro (Motion) (Mac, iOS)
• 🔒 Cavalry (Windows, Mac)
• 🔒 Rive (Browser, Windows, Mac)
• 🔒 Jitter (Browser)

Final thoughts:

The first paragraph will remain there for around a month or two, then I'll put it in a separate page which I'll link to so the alternatives are the first thing you see.

Like the website? Consider donating to my Ko-Fi if you can.

Peace out. (～￣▽￣)～