Adobe keeps upping the prices for its creative cloud suite. If you don’t want to pay extortionate amounts or only need certain parts of the suite, you’re probably looking for completely free adobe alternatives. And you’ve come to the right place. Let’s dive in.
Free Photoshop Alternatives
Let’s start with the Photoshop alternatives. Lets face it, it’s probably why you’re here!
GIMP – The one most people are familiar with. And the one I personally use (and prefer to Photoshop).
Krita – Open source painting program. Great for illustrators and artists.
Photopea – Very similar to Photoshop in looks. Great program for those that are used to using Photoshop but does contain adverts.
FireAlpaca – Digital painting software that is easy to use.
Free Premiere Pro Alternatives
Shotcut – Open source, supports a huge amount of video and audio codecs plus native editing.
Openshot – Very simple and easy to use. Depending on your needs, this could be a great or a terrible thing!
Hitfilm Express – A great free editor and as mentioned elsewhere, has some VFX capabilities baked in.
Free Adobe Illustrator Alternatives
Inkscape – Open source professional vector graphics editor. The one most people know and use.
Vectr – Another with an Abobe feel to it and with the added bonus of an online version. Easy to use, great for beginners.
Boxy SVG – Great for beginners and professionals. Used by web designers and web developers.
Free Adobe InDesign Alternatives
Scribus – Magazines, Books, Artwork. Whatever you need can be accomplished with scribus. And it’s open source so will always be free.
Canva – A great online resource to make posters, social media graphics and more. I’ve used it loads and like it. But it is limited in scope and tries to push you to “upgrade” i.e. buy Canva Pro.
Free Adobe Animate Alternatives
OpenToonz – An open source animation production software customised by non other than Studio Ghibli.
Pencil2D – An easy to use tool to draw and animate in 2D.
Krita and FireAlpaca (in the Photoshop Alternatives section) can also be used to animate.
Free Adobe Lightroom Alternatives
DarkTable – Open source photography workflow application and raw developer including a virtual light table and darkroom.
RawTherapee – Open source raw image processing program.
Free Adobe Dreamweaver Alternatives
Aptana – The world’s most powerful open source web development tool. Amazing and intuitive. You won’t need anything else.
Free After Effects Alternatives
Hitfilm Express – Full video editing suite with built in VFX. Great for beginners, film students or those just starting out.
Blender – Has a surprising amount of VFX baked in. However, it’s not for the beginner or those faint of heart.
Free Adobe Auditions Alternatives
Audacity – Open source multi-track audio editor and recorder. Brilliant piece of software.
And we’re done! If I missed any completely free adobe alternatives, let me know in the comments. But they have to be free. No trials or anything else. Preferably open source.