GIMP

Free and open-source image editor

As of 30 August 2026, GIMP is free to use. GIMP (GNU Image Manipulation Program) is a free, open-source image editor that provides similar functionality to Photoshop. Softwr lists it under Publishing. GIMP is made by GIMP Project, launched in 1995, available on Linux, macOS, Windows.

Visit siteVisit GIMP

Overview

What GIMP does

GIMP (GNU Image Manipulation Program) is a free, open-source image editor that provides similar functionality to Photoshop. It's available on multiple platforms and has a large community of users.

What people use it for

Photo editing and retouching with professional colour management
Digital art creation with power and flexibility for image transformation
Icon and UI element design for application development
Batch image processing through Python, C, C++, and Scheme scripting

Where it falls short

Concrete and checkable, so you can decide whether any of them matter to you. This is the half of a review a vendor will not write about GIMP.

GPLv3 licence requires derivative works to be open-source and freely distributed
Community-driven development with no commercial support tier
No native CMYK support for professional print workflows
Ecosystem depends on community plugins and scripts for advanced features

Cross-shopped

What people choose instead of GIMP

Each pairing was judged by two reviewers asking whether a buyer would genuinely weigh the two against each other. The ones that failed were deleted rather than published.

GIMPvs
Shopify
Shopify: The most trusted ecommerce platform to start, grow, and scale your business
GIMPvs
Blurb
Blurb: Visual storytelling through print-on-demand books and wall art
GIMPvs
Lulu
Lulu: Quality book printing at a reasonable price
GIMPvs
Marq
Marq: Web-based design and publishing for brand templates

Capabilities

Features

Photo editing
Digital painting
Image processing
Batch editing
Filters
Color correction
Layer support
Script-fu automation
ImageMagick
Integration with ImageMagick
Ghostscript
Integration with Ghostscript
GIMP plugins
Integration with GIMP plugins
Open source software
Integration with Open source software

Answered, with sources

Questions people ask

Each answer names the page it came from, so you can check it rather than take our word for it.

How much does GIMP cost?

GIMP is completely free to use and distribute. The software is released under the GNU General Public License v3 (GPLv3), an open-source license that guarantees freedom to use, modify, and distribute.

Source

Can I modify and distribute GIMP?

Yes, GIMP's source code is available for modification and redistribution according to the terms of the GPLv3 license.

Source

Behind it

Who makes GIMP

Company: GIMP Project
Based in: Open source community

Keep looking

Where to go from GIMP

Best Publishing software for

Compare GIMP with

Other Publishing software

Shopify
The most trusted ecommerce platform to start, grow, and scale your business
From $24/mo13 researched notes
Blurb
Visual storytelling through print-on-demand books and wall art
From $3.99/unit10 researched notes
Lulu
Quality book printing at a reasonable price
9 researched notes
Marq
Web-based design and publishing for brand templates
Free, then $10/mo9 researched notes
QuarkXPress
The original desktop publishing software for print and digital design
9 researched notes
Sigil
Open source EPUB editor for working directly on the file, not generating it
Open source10 researched notes
Scribus
Open-source desktop publishing and page layout
Open source7 researched notes
Calibre
Ebook library management and format conversion
Open source7 researched notes
Pressbooks
Open source book production built on WordPress, and the default tool for open textbooks
Open source10 researched notes
Affinity Publisher
Desktop page layout application, free since the Affinity range was relaunched by Canva
Free plan11 researched notes
Webtoon
Naver-owned vertical-scroll digital comics platform with a paid-early-access coin system
Free plan9 researched notes
Reedsy
Vetted marketplace of publishing freelancers with free writing and formatting tools attached
Free plan10 researched notes
Kobo Writing Life
Rakuten Kobo self-publishing platform paying a 70% royalty with no delivery fee deduction and no upper price cap, a materially different structure from Amazon KDP
Free plan11 researched notes
Libro.fm
Audiobook subscription that splits revenue with an independent bookstore of your choice
From $14.99/mo11 researched notes
Atticus
One-time-purchase writing and book formatting that runs on Windows and Linux, not just Mac
From $147/one-time11 researched notes
PublishDrive
Ebook distribution aggregator that moved from a royalty-share model to flat-fee subscription pricing, so authors now keep 100% of the store royalty rather than splitting it with the platform
Free plan11 researched notes
Affinity Publisher
Desktop page layout application, free since the Affinity range was relaunched by Canva
Free plan11 researched notes
Kobo
Rakuten e-reader hardware, app and ebook store, the reader-facing side of the Kobo ecosystem
Free plan11 researched notes

Softwr does not host reviews and shows no star rating for GIMP, because a rating we did not collect is not ours to publish. What is here is the pricing and platform detail from the vendor’s own pages, limitations we could state concretely, and alternatives a reviewer confirmed people weigh against it. Tell us if any of it is wrong.

Best Publishing software alternatives

View all Publishing software