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Choosing Image & Photo Editing alternatives: 8 free/open-source options

Retouching, color grading, compression & format conversion. Below, 8 tools cover 6 vendors; 3 have been hands-on tested by us, the rest are marked "not tested yet" — no invented verdicts.

Compare at a glance

Tool	Replaces	License	Runs on	Chinese UI	Online
SVGOMG	SVG compression/minimization tools	MIT (commercial use OK)	online	no (English UI)	online, ready to use
LightCraft	Adobe Lightroom	Apache-2.0 (commercial use OK)	desktop	yes	desktop only
PhotoCraft	Adobe Photoshop	Apache-2.0 (commercial use OK)	online / desktop	no (English UI)	official online
GIMP not tested yet	Adobe Photoshop	GPL-3.0 (commercial OK, derivatives must stay open source)	desktop	yes	desktop only
Krita not tested yet	Adobe Photoshop / Corel Painter	GPL-3.0 (commercial OK, derivatives must stay open source)	desktop	yes	desktop only
Photopea not tested yet	Adobe Photoshop	Proprietary & free	online	no (English UI)	official online
Squoosh not tested yet	image compression / format-conversion tools	Apache-2.0 (commercial use OK)	online	no (English UI)	official online
TextureCraft not tested yet	Substance Painter	Apache-2.0 (commercial use OK)	desktop	yes	desktop only

Pick by need (conclusions first)

Want it now, no install: prioritize the "Online" column; for tools without an online build, use the official online version.
Need a Chinese UI: pick only rows with Chinese UI = yes; an English UI still works, but you will be reading menus by icon.
Commercial use / second-party development: check the license column — MIT / Apache-2.0 are the most permissive; GPL derivatives must stay open source.
Sensitive files: pick self-hosted or desktop tools that process files locally; avoid online services that require uploads.

All 8 tools

SVGOMG

tested

For compressing SVGs in the browser, pick this one: free open source, local processing, in

See hands-on test →

LightCraft

tested

Positioned against Lightroom. Maturity: in development. Our hands-on: the web build enters

See hands-on test →

PhotoCraft

tested

To try the open-source Photoshop alternative, install the desktop build; the online build

See hands-on test →

GIMP

not tested yet

Fully free and open source, no subscription

waiting for hands-on test

Krita

not tested yet

Fully free and open source

waiting for hands-on test

Photopea

not tested yet

Free with ads; removing ads / larger quotas require payment

waiting for hands-on test

Squoosh

not tested yet

Fully free and open source

waiting for hands-on test

TextureCraft

not tested yet

It fills a gap in the ArtCraft suite: 3D texturing. The core pipeline (import model -> lay

waiting for hands-on test