Open-source software has a growing need in the current economy. With many alternatives to Photoshop available, we can only wonder why there isn’t a full open-source creative suite available yet. Since there’s no readymade suite, you’ll have to build your own with the available open-source Adobe alternatives.

6 Scribus

Open-source desktop publishing software

Adobe’s renowned desktop publishing (DTP) software, InDesign, is both well-loved as well as disliked by designers. It takes a while to get used to the platform, and many designers use Illustrator or Photoshop as a workaround rather than learning the correct techniques in a dedicated DTP.

However, if you’re someone looking to avoid Adobe’s software anyway, then learning an open-source DTP is a great option for layout design, printed stationery design, or publishing designs. Scribus is the best open-source desktop publishing software available.

You can get both the stable and development versions of Scribus, and it’s available for free on many operating systems: Mac, Windows, and various Linux distributions, such as Ubuntu and Gentuu.

5 Darktable

Open-source photo and RAW image editor

Darktable is an open-source alternative to Adobe’s Lightroom — but you can also consider it an alternative to Camera RAW, which lets you edit your Lightroom RAW photos in Photoshop too — for editing photos and RAW file images.

The developers of Darktable are photographers themselves, meaning the product hits all the points photographers and photo editors are looking for in an editing software. It offers a non-destructive editing workflow available on Windows, Mac, Linux, BSD, and Solaris 11/GNOME systems.

Darktable offers professional color management and a variety of image format options, including RAW. You can keep your photos organized and managed with its filter and sorting tools, and export systems for all variety of uses.

4 OpenShot

Open-source video editing tool

There are many video editing tools you can use as an alternative to Adobe Premiere Pro, but not many open-source, nor many free options to choose from. OpenShot is a great open-source video editor

Available for Linux, Mac, and Windows systems, you can edit videos with an advanced timeline, including features such as curve-based keyframe animations, unlimited track layers, video transitions, compositing and overlays, text tools and 3D animated text effects, audio features, and video effects of various types.

3 Inkscape

Open-source vector graphic tool

For an open-source alternative to Adobe Illustrator, Inkscape is a great choice. It offers vector drawing and illustration tools, much like the well-loved Adobe program.

Inkscape is compatible with Linux, Windows, and Mac systems. It’s the best open-source tool for creating scalable vector graphics — or SVGs — although you can also export in multiple vector formats such as PDF, AI, EPS, and even some raster formats, like PS and PNG. There are great uses for raster and vector graphics.

2 Krita

Open-source mix of many Adobe programs in one

Krita is a great alternative to Photoshop, but it also features vector-based tools, giving it a good competition with Illustrator, if Inkscape isn’t for you.

Its animation tool can also help you create short animations, similar to Adobe After Effects — these abilities together allow Krita to replace three of Adobe’s Creative Cloud software in one program. Along with being available on the standard operating systems this kind of open-source software is often found on, Krita can also be used on Android.

While each area of replacement to similar Adobe tools isn't as strong, it's nice to have the options found in one software like Krita. It's best used for digital painting with its huge brush library and brush engine; it offers more default brushes than most painting software.

1 GIMP

Open-source raster-based tool

GIMP is a popular choice as an open-source alternative to Photoshop. Not only as a tool itself, but it also has a supported Photoshop plugin you can apply. Combined, this ramps up the ability to perform as close to Photoshop’s power as Photoshop itself.

GIMP 3 was announced in mid-2024, after a slow lifetime of limited upgrades since the tool first released in 1995. After not having previous updates for some years, the best time to use GIMP is now to get the best results. GIMP is a surefire favorite open-souce replacement for Adobe software.

Customize your own open-source creative suite

We'd love to see the day there's a dedicated open-source suite of tools to rival Adobe's capitalist corporation. But since there isn't, creating your own creative suite is the best bet. We've provided favorite and popular alternative tools for the major Adobe programs so you don't have to traipse through and test out all the various options. But not everything will be a perfect match for your preferred Adobe program, so don't be afraid to keep searching other open-source creative programs to find your perfect match.