Adobe Photoshop vs Krita

Fit:

Migration notes

Best fit for digital painting and illustration done in Photoshop. Krita emphasizes painting rather than the full image-manipulation workflow. Supports PSD layers and masks but does not promise complete compatibility; official manual recommends ORA or TIFF interchange when possible.

Sources: docs.krita.org, docs.krita.org · checked 2026-10-21

Adobe PhotoshopPaid incumbent

Entry priceUSD 19.99 / seat / month

Pricing modelper-seat, billed annual

OwnerAdobe Inc.

Lowest listed individual plan including desktop Photoshop is Photography at US$19.99/month on an annual commitment billed monthly; standalone Photoshop US$22.99/month. Web/mobile-only offer excluded from desktop comparison. Source

Adobe Photoshop plans reviewed
Photography	entry	USD 239.88 / user / yr
Photoshop for teams	business	Not established

KritaOpen-source alternative

Fit for Adobe Photoshop

License

GNU General Public License v3.0 Permissions of this strong copyleft license are conditioned on making available complete source code of licensed works and modifications, which include larger works using a licensed work, under the same license. Copyright and license notices must be preserved. Contributors provide an express grant of patent rights. May Commercial useModificationDistributionPatent usePrivate use Must License and copyright noticeState changesDisclose sourceSame license No LiabilityWarranty Summary from GitHub's choosealicense.com

Paid-feature tier A

Self-host

Paid-feature limitsNone established

Krita plans reviewed
Krita	free desktop/core	Free

What you may give up

No paid-feature limits established for this edition.

Tier A: Locally operated desktop digital painting application. GPL v3 application with some more permissively licensed parts. Free installers/source and paid store distribution; store income funds development and automatic updates, no separate paid feature edition identified. Canonical development on KDE Invent; active GitHub mirror. License source

What running it takes

OpenGL 3.0 or Direct3D 11 graphics

Hover or focus an icon for its name. Dashed means not established; struck through means no; grouped icons are alternatives.

Local desktop application, not a server deployment. No external database/cache/queue/SMTP service needed by documented binary installation. Build tools are separate from runtime. Infrastructure and staff time are not priced here; this page does not compare total cost.