Comparison
GIMP vs Krita
GIMP and Krita are the two flagship open-source creative tools, and both are genuinely free with no accounts, telemetry, or upsells. The real decision is workflow: GIMP is built for photo retouching and image manipulation, while Krita is a painting-first studio for illustration, concept art, and animation.
Choose GIMP if
Choose GIMP if your work centers on photo retouching, image manipulation, and format-heavy editing rather than freehand drawing. Its layers, masks, advanced selection tools, and plugin ecosystem make it the closest fully free counterpart to a traditional image editor, provided you accept a steeper learning curve.
GIMP Trust Report ›Choose Krita if
Choose Krita if you draw, paint, or animate — its brush engine, stabilizers, and comic and animation tooling are built for artists first. It also reaches further across devices, with a beta Android build for tablets and Chromebooks alongside desktop versions.
Krita Trust Report ›| Pricing & openness | ||
| Price | Free No subscriptions, accounts, or upsells | Free Optional paid store builds exist purely to fund development |
| License | GPL-3.0-or-later Full source public on GNOME GitLab | GPL-3.0-only Full source public on KDE infrastructure with a GitHub mirror |
| Developer | GIMP Development Team International community project, active since 1998 | Krita Foundation Netherlands-based foundation within the KDE community |
| Privacy & security | ||
| Data collection | None No analytics or telemetry; only an optional, disableable update check | None One-sentence privacy statement: no personal data accessed, collected, or transmitted |
| Release verification | SHA256 checksums Published for every build; Windows installers digitally signed | GPG-signed releases .sig files published alongside every release; signed macOS disk images |
| Known vulnerabilities | 4 file-parser CVEs (2023) DDS/PSD/PSP flaws up to CVSS 7.8, fixed in 2.10.36; no independent audit | CVE-2025-59820 TGA heap overflow, patched; no independent audit |
| Experience | ||
| Primary focus | Photo editing & manipulation Layers, masks, advanced selections, color management, deep plugin ecosystem | Digital painting & illustration Deep brush engine with stabilizers, comic tooling, frame-by-frame animation |
| Platforms | macOS 11+ · Windows 10+ · Linux Native Apple Silicon builds in the 3.x series; no mobile app | Windows 8.1+ · macOS 10.14+ · Linux · Android Android build is beta, aimed at tablets and Chromebooks |
| Current version | 3.2.4 (April 2026) Non-destructive layer effects, GTK3 interface, regular release cadence | 5.3.2.1 (June 2026) Rebuilt text engine; experimental Qt 6-based 6.0 line in parallel |
The bottom line
Choose GIMP if
Choose GIMP if your work centers on photo retouching, image manipulation, and format-heavy editing rather than freehand drawing. Its layers, masks, advanced selection tools, and plugin ecosystem make it the closest fully free counterpart to a traditional image editor, provided you accept a steeper learning curve.
Choose Krita if
Choose Krita if you draw, paint, or animate — its brush engine, stabilizers, and comic and animation tooling are built for artists first. It also reaches further across devices, with a beta Android build for tablets and Chromebooks alongside desktop versions.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between GIMP and Krita?
GIMP and Krita are the two flagship open-source creative tools, and both are genuinely free with no accounts, telemetry, or upsells. The real decision is workflow: GIMP is built for photo retouching and image manipulation, while Krita is a painting-first studio for illustration, concept art, and animation. In short: choose GIMP if choose GIMP if your work centers on photo retouching, image manipulation, and format-heavy editing rather than freehand drawing. Its layers, masks, advanced selection tools, and plugin ecosystem make it the closest fully free counterpart to a traditional image editor, provided you accept a steeper learning curve. Choose Krita if choose Krita if you draw, paint, or animate — its brush engine, stabilizers, and comic and animation tooling are built for artists first. It also reaches further across devices, with a beta Android build for tablets and Chromebooks alongside desktop versions.
Is GIMP or Krita cheaper?
At our last review, GIMP is listed at “Free” and Krita at “Free”. Pricing is recorded as published by each developer and re-checked when the report is refreshed.
Which of GIMP and Krita supports more platforms?
GIMP runs on macOS 11+ · Windows 10+ · Linux. Krita runs on Windows 8.1+ · macOS 10.14+ · Linux · Android (tablets).
Are GIMP and Krita both safe to use?
Both carry an independent Altapp Trust Report. GIMP: 8/9 of nine checks verified, last full review Jul 17, 2026. Krita: 8/9 of nine checks verified, last full review Jul 17, 2026. Each covers source verification, data and permissions, and known risks. Altapp publishes no score of its own — the count is a tally of what could be independently confirmed.