Adobe Alternatives

A list of alternatives for Adobe software, originally collected by @XdanielArt and improved upon by the community. Feel free to open issues or pull requests, or create an image (for easy sharing) out of the data. The lists are always ordered with the free & open source option on top, but it might not be the best alternative depending on your use case.

Legend:

• ✨ = Free and open-source
• ⭐️ = Free of charge
• 💵 = Single purchase
• 🔒 = Subscription for more functions

Other Important Stuff:

• ⛔️ = Tested but didnt decided yet
• 🚫 = Didnt tested it, didnt needed to.

If the best variant is a closed source variant I will link the closed source and the open source variant for developers who want to create a fork. The best will have a 🥇 Symbol and the other 🥈

Alternatives to:

• Photoshop
• Illustrator
• Animate
• InDesign
• Substance
• Lightroom
• XD
• Premiere
• Acrobat
• Bridge
• Dreamweaver
• Audition
• After Effects

Photoshop

Photography

• [🥇] ⭐️ (💵) Photopea (Browser)
• [🥈] ✨ GIMP (Windows, Mac, Linux)

Painting ⛔️

• ✨ Krita (Windows, Mac, Linux, Android)
• ✨ MyPaint (Windows, Mac, Linux)
• ⭐️ IbisPaint (Windows, Android, iOS)
• ⭐️ (💵) Sketchbook (Windows, Mac, Android, iOS)
• ⭐️ FireAlpaca (Windows, Mac)
• ⭐️ Medibang (Windows, Mac, Android)
• 💵 Paintstorm (Windows, Mac, iOS)
• 💵 Corel Painter (Windows, Mac)
• 💵 Rebelle (Windows, Mac)
• 💵 (🔒) Clip Studio Paint (Windows, Mac, Android, iOS)
• 💵 PaintTool SAI (Windows)
• 💵 Procreate (iOS)
• 💵 Artstudio Pro (iOS)
• 💵 Infinite Studio (Android, iOS)
• 💵 Realistic Paint Studio (Windows, Mac, iOS)
• 💵 ArtRage (Windows, Mac, Android, iOS)

Pixel art ⛔️

• ✨ (or 💵) Aseprite (Windows, Mac, Linux)
• ✨ Pixelorama (Browser, Windows, Mac, Linux, Raspberry Pi)
• ✨ PixiEditor (Windows)
• ✨ LibreSprite (Windows, Mac, Linux)
• ✨ GrafX2 (Windows, Linux, Android)
• ✨ Pixilart (Browser, Android, iOS)
• ⭐️ Lospec Pixel Editor (Browser)
• ⭐️ Pixel Studio (Windows, Mac)
• ⭐️ Microsoft Paint (Windows)
• ⭐️ GraphicsGale (Windows)
• 💵 Pro Motion NG (Windows)
• 💵 Lightcube (Windows)
• 💵 Pyxel Edit (Windows, Mac, Linux)
• 💵 Pixquare (Mac, iOS)

Illustrator

General 🚫

• ✨ Inkscape (Windows, Mac, Linux)
• ⭐️ Boxy SVG (Browser)
• ⭐️ (🔒) Linearity Curve (Mac, iOS)
• 💵 CorelDRAW (Windows, Mac)
• 💵 Affinity Designer (Windows, Mac, iOS)
• 💵 Xara Designer (Windows)
• 🔒 Corel Vector (Browser)

Live trace 🚫

• ✨ SVGcode (Browser)
• ✨ VTracer (Browser, Windows, Mac, Linux)
• ✨ CR8tracer (Windows)
• 💵 Vector Magic (Windows, Mac, Linux)

Animate

General

• ✨ Blender (Windows, Mac, Linux)

InDesign 🚫

• ✨ Scribus (Windows, Mac, Linux)
• ✨ Laidout (Linux)
• 💵 Affinity Publisher (Windows, Mac, iOS)
• 💵 QuarkXPress (Windows, Mac)

Substance

Designer 🚫

• ✨ Material Maker (Windows, Mac, Linux)
• ⭐️ Quixel Mixer (Windows, Mac)
• ⭐️ InstaMAT (Windows, Mac)

Painter 🚫

• ✨ ArmorPaint (Windows, Mac, Linux, iOS, Android)
• ⭐️ Quixel Mixer (Windows, Mac)
• 💵 3DCoat (Windows, Mac, Linux)
• 💵 (or 🔒) Marmoset Toolbag (Windows, Mac)

Lightroom 🚫

• ✨ RawTherapee (Windows, Mac, Linux)
• ✨ Darktable (Windows, Mac, Linux)
• ✨ digiKam (Windows, Mac, Linux)
• 💵 (or 🔒) Darkroom (Mac, iOS)
• 💵 On1 (Windows, Mac, Linux)
• 💵 FastRawViewer (Windows, Mac)
• 💵 Capture One (Windows, Mac)
• 💵 Dx0 PhotoLab (Windows, Mac)
• 💵 Luminar Neo (Windows, Mac)
• 💵 Aurora HDR (Windows, Mac)

XD 🚫

• ✨ Penpot (Windows, Mac, Linux)
• ✨ Draftoola (Linux)
• ⭐️ Lunacy (Windows, Mac, Linux)
• ⭐️ (🔒) Figma (Browser, Windows, Mac)
• 💵 Sketch (Mac)
• 💵 Origami Studio (Mac)
• 💵 Axure RP (Windows, Mac)
• 💵 Principle (Mac)
• 🔒 Framer (Windows, Mac, Linux)

Premiere ⛔️

• ✨ Olive (Windows, Mac, Linux)
• ✨ Kdenlive (Windows, Mac, Linux)
• ✨ OpenShot (Windows, Mac, Linux)
• ✨ Shotcut (Windows, Mac, Linux)
• ⭐️ (💵) DaVinci Resolve (Windows, Mac, Linux)
• 🔒 CapCut (Browser, Windows, Android, iOS)

Acrobat

Editor ⛔️

• ✨ LibreOffice Draw (Windows, Mac, Linux)
• ⭐️ PDF24 (Windows)
• 💵 PDF-XChange (Windows)
• 🔒 Xodo (Browser, Windows, Android, iOS)

Reader

Almost every Browser or pre installed app has this feature. just use one of the Editor ones ore the preinstalled apps.

Bridge 🚫

• ⭐️ XnView MP (Windows, Mac, Linux)
• 🔒 Anchorpoint (Windows, Mac)

Dreamweaver ⛔️

• ⭐️ Visual Studio Code (Windows, Mac, Linux)
• 🔒 WebStorm (Windows, Mac, Linux)
• 🔒 PHPStorm (Windows, Mac, Linux)

Audition

General 🚫

• ✨ Audacity (Windows, Mac, Linux)
• ⭐️ Ocenaudio (Windows, Mac, Linux)
• ⭐️ (💵) DaVinci Resolve Fairlight (Windows, Mac, Linux)
• 💵 GoldWave (Windows, Mac, Linux)
• 💵 iZotope RX (Windows, Mac)
• 💵 Sound Forge (Windows, Mac)

DAWs 🚫

• ✨ (💵, 🔒) Ardour (Windows, Mac, Linux)
• ✨ LMMS (Windows, Mac, Linux)
• ⭐️ Cakewalk (Windows)
• ⭐️ GarageBand (Mac)
• ⭐️ (💵) Tracktion (Windows, Mac, Linux)
• ⭐️ (🔒) Pro Tools (Windows, Mac)
• 💵 Reaper (Windows, Mac, Linux)
• 💵 Logic Pro (Mac, iOS)
• 💵 Ableton Live (Windows, Mac)
• 💵 FL Studio (Windows, Mac)
• 💵 FL Studio Mobile (Windows, Mac, Android, iOS)
• 💵 Bitwig (Windows, Mac, Linux)
• 💵 Steinberg Wavelab (Windows, Mac)
• 💵 Steinberg Cubase (Windows, Mac)
• 💵 Steinberg Nuendo (Windows, Mac)
• 🔒 Studio One (Windows, Mac)
• 🔒 Cakewalk Next (Windows)
• 🔒 Cakewalk Sonar (Windows)

After Effects

Compositing and effects ⛔️

• ✨ Blender (Windows, Mac, Linux)
• ⭐️ (💵) DaVinci Resolve Fusion (Windows, Mac, Linux)

Motion graphics

• ✨ Blender (Windows, Mac, Linux)