--- title: "GIMP (GNU Image Manipulation Program) Reviews, Pros and Cons - 2026 Software Advice" description: "Reviews of GIMP (GNU Image Manipulation Program). Learn how real users rate this software's ease-of-use, functionality, overall quality and customer support. Talk to our advisors to see if GIMP (GNU Image Manipulation Program) is a good fit for you!" source_url: "https://www.softwareadvice.com/graphic-design/gimp-gnu-image-manipulation-program-profile/reviews/" page_type: "reviews" language: "en" --- [Home](https://www.softwareadvice.com/) / [Graphic Design Software](https://www.softwareadvice.com/graphic-design/) / [GIMP (GNU Image Manipulation Program)](https://www.softwareadvice.com/graphic-design/gimp-gnu-image-manipulation-program-profile/) / GIMP (GNU Image Manipulation Program) Reviews Software Advice offers objective insights based on verified user reviews and independent product and market research. When our advisors match you to a software provider, we may earn a referral fee. [Overview](https://www.softwareadvice.com/graphic-design/gimp-gnu-image-manipulation-program-profile/) Reviews [Alternatives](https://www.softwareadvice.com/graphic-design/gimp-gnu-image-manipulation-program-profile/alternatives/) # GIMP (GNU Image Manipulation Program) User Reviews ## Reviews summary - Overall rating: 4.4/5 - Total reviews: 3,500 ### Secondary ratings - Ease of use: 3.9/5 - Customer support: 4.0/5 - Value for money: 4.8/5 - Functionality: 4.3/5 ### Rating distribution - 5 stars: 1,878 reviews (54%) - 4 stars: 1,244 reviews (36%) - 3 stars: 332 reviews (9%) - 2 stars: 37 reviews (1%) - 1 star: 9 reviews (0%) ### Most mentioned pros - There are so many options that I can customize my editing experience to fit exactly what I need. Whether I'm just doing some quick touch-ups or diving into more complex projects, I feel like I have all the tools at my fingertips. - Overall, it can be challenging at times to work with (since I have the muscle memory of Adobe Photoshop), but the best replacement out there. - Has lots of different options for design, and can be used for complexed tasks . ### Most mentioned cons - Others say customer support may be slower to answer and deal with payment-related features or extensions could require technical expertise not best suited for active freelance studios. - For advanced photo editing, GIMP lacks some high-end tools that Photoshop offers. - The learning curve is steeper than expected, mainly because the interface isn’t as intuitive as paid solutions. ## GIMP (GNU Image Manipulation Program) customer reviews Showing reviews 1-25 of 3,500 (page 1). ### Great graphic design software - Overall rating: 5/5 - Reviewer: Verified Reviewer - Verified reviewer: Yes - Industry: Public Relations and Communications - Company size: 2-10 employees - Product usage: Used weekly for more than 2 years - Reviewed: January 2026 - Review source details: This review was submitted organically. No incentive was offered I'm not a graphic designer so I use it to edit my website photos. It does a great job. I'm happy with it. #### Ratings breakdown - Ease of use: 4/5 - Value for money: 5/5 - Functionality: 5/5 #### Pros GIMP is my favorite free graphic design program. It can handle all my photo editing needs without the heavy price tag so I see no sense in using something else. #### Cons Sometimes it's hard to update the program. A recent update caused computer system problems. I had to downgrade back to the version I was trying to update. --- ### Great free to use editing software!!! - Overall rating: 4/5 - Reviewer: Taher A. - Verified reviewer: Yes - Industry: Computer Software - Company size: 501-1000 employees - Product usage: Used monthly for more than 2 years - Reviewed: June 2025 - Review source details: This reviewer was invited by us to submit an honest review and offered a nominal incentive as a thank you. Gimp is a great free to use open source application, that is available on all desktop operating systems and is a great tools for quick And simple photo editing and content creation. Photoshop is more in depth with a lot more variety of features but that is to be expected with the large subscription price. #### Ratings breakdown - Ease of use: 4/5 - Value for money: 5/5 - Customer support: 2/5 - Functionality: 3/5 #### Pros Gimp is a good open source alternative to Photoshop, it has most of the traditional Photoshop features that users of Photoshop would be able to migrate to. It has good UI/UX and is user friendly. It might be difficult at the beginning for users who don't know the basic layout of photo editing software, but so is the case with Photoshop. #### Cons It is lacking new features, such a AI image fill and other AI features. There are ways of adding these through plugins, but finding the right plugins is difficult and quite difficult to implement for anaverga person without technical knowledge. Also the model would run natively on the machine, which means it's would require powerful hardware for efficient use, and also mean you would be unable to run it on laptop or mobile device. Here photoshop take a clear lead, with better cloud services. --- ### Average - Overall rating: 3/5 - Reviewer: Tomas R. - Verified reviewer: Yes - Industry: Computer Software - Company size: 11-50 employees - Product usage: Used monthly for less than 2 years - Reviewed: November 2023 - Review source details: This reviewer was invited by us to submit an honest review and offered a nominal incentive as a thank you. #### Ratings breakdown - Ease of use: 2/5 - Functionality: 4/5 #### Pros Gimp has a lot of capabilities to extend its basic functionality with plugins #### Cons Its user interface is not very friendly and could use a redesign --- ### Cost-effective content creation for small studios. - Overall rating: 4/5 - Reviewer: Kate B. - Verified reviewer: Yes - Industry: Photography - Company size: 2-10 employees - Product usage: Used daily for more than 2 years - Reviewed: October 2025 - Review source details: This reviewer was invited by us to submit an honest review and offered a nominal incentive as a thank you. GIMP allowed White Pine Photography to create logos, photo editing, and branded content on a low budget, enhancing client work and studio advertising with robust editing capabilities. #### Ratings breakdown - Ease of use: 4/5 - Functionality: 5/5 #### Pros Free, adaptive design and graphics creation abilities of GIMP and slim design, along with quick rendering of intuitive controls, all allow photographers to produce content and manipulate images without cost. #### Cons Others say customer support may be slower to answer and deal with payment-related features or extensions could require technical expertise not best suited for active freelance studios. --- ### GIMP: Full-Bodied Image Editing Software - Overall rating: 5/5 - Reviewer: Caleb D. - Verified reviewer: Yes - Industry: Writing and Editing - Company size: 2-10 employees - Product usage: Used weekly for more than 2 years - Reviewed: April 2025 - Review source details: This reviewer was invited by us to submit an honest review and offered a nominal incentive as a thank you. Overall, I only have positive things to say about GIMP. It's a useful image editing software that has a ton of features. It's a bit complicated to wrap your head around it at first, but there are plenty of tutorials online to get you started. #### Ratings breakdown - Ease of use: 5/5 - Value for money: 5/5 - Customer support: 5/5 - Functionality: 5/5 #### Pros I use GIMP to clean up low-quality images we receive from our clients. I remove blemishes and smooth out lines as needed, and make the colors flow more naturally. My favorite part about GIMP is that you can quickly and easily change one color in an image to another color, without messing up the other colors in the image. It's very handy for quick fixes and color blemishes. I appreciate that GIMP gives me exactly what I need quickly after I fire up the application. It's free and receives regular updates, and it's more user-friendly than comparable apps (looking at you, PhotoShop). I also appreciate that GIMP can export to PNG, JPEG, and other, more obscure file extensions. (I don't use them, but I might have to some day!) #### Cons GIMP has a ton of features, and some of them are buried deep in the software menus. Luckily there are guides online to help you find what you need. Additionally, technically, you can edit photos on GIMP, but that isn't the primary purpose of the software. Still, I wish GIMP had some basic photo editing capabilities, or an option to turn on "photo editing mode." It's great having easy access to image layers, color gradients, and shape manipulation, but it'd be nice to have a simple "Exposure" slide bar I could use for editing photos. --- ### GIMP (GNU Image Manipulation Program) - Overall rating: 4/5 - Reviewer: Haley R. - Verified reviewer: Yes - Industry: Hospital & Health Care - Company size: 201-500 employees - Product usage: Used monthly for less than 6 months - Reviewed: April 2026 - Review source details: This reviewer was invited by us to submit an honest review and offered a nominal incentive as a thank you. GIMP has been a fantastic addition to my digital toolbox, and I recommend it to anyone looking for a versatile and powerful editing program without breaking the bank. #### Ratings breakdown - Ease of use: 4/5 - Value for money: 4/5 - Customer support: 4/5 - Functionality: 3/5 #### Pros I recently started using GIMP for my photo editing needs, and I have to say, it's pretty impressive for a free tool! As someone who's always been a bit hesitant to invest in expensive software, finding GIMP felt like a real win. What I love most about it is the extensive toolset. There are so many options that I can customize my editing experience to fit exactly what I need. Whether I'm just doing some quick touch-ups or diving into more complex projects, I feel like I have all the tools at my fingertips. #### Cons I spent some time using GIMP for a photo editing project, and while I really appreciate its powerful features and how flexible it is, I did notice one thing that could be improved: performance. When working with larger files, things definitely slowed down quite a bit. --- ### Easy to handle program - Overall rating: 5/5 - Reviewer: Verified Reviewer - Verified reviewer: Yes - Industry: Education Management - Company size: Self-Employed - Product usage: Used weekly for less than 2 years - Reviewed: May 2025 - Review source details: This review was submitted organically. No incentive was offered I use it when I want to introduce changes to my pictures for my blog rapidly without spending too much time. #### Ratings breakdown - Ease of use: 5/5 - Value for money: 5/5 - Customer support: 5/5 - Functionality: 5/5 #### Pros It is easy to install on my Windows computer, easy to start and works smoothly without delay. #### Cons Sometimes it takes a little time to figure out how to change a picture. Specially with the layers. --- ### GIMP Review - Overall rating: 5/5 - Reviewer: Yashvi p. - Verified reviewer: Yes - Industry: Design - Company size: 1001-5000 employees - Product usage: Used daily for less than 2 years - Reviewed: May 2025 - Review source details: This reviewer was invited by us to submit an honest review and offered a nominal incentive as a thank you. #### Ratings breakdown - Ease of use: 5/5 - Value for money: 4/5 - Customer support: 5/5 - Functionality: 5/5 #### Pros GIMP is a free and powerful tool for photo editing and graphic design 🖌️. It supports layers, masks, and many file formats – great if you want pro-level features without paying 💸. #### Cons The interface looks a bit outdated 😕 and can be confusing for beginners. Some advanced features require extra plugins or tweaks to work properly. --- ### Incredibly Useful and Powerful - Overall rating: 5/5 - Reviewer: Diane B. - Verified reviewer: Yes - Industry: Arts and Crafts - Company size: Self-Employed - Product usage: Used monthly for more than 2 years - Reviewed: June 2025 - Review source details: This reviewer was invited by us to submit an honest review and offered a nominal incentive as a thank you. I use GIMP for both my own art business and for my work at a water utility. The art use is obvious. The water utility has to apply for county permits when fixing or installing service lines. The county requires drawings and images of both the site and the locations of construction signs. GIMP allows me to easily fulfill these requirements without purchasing software. #### Ratings breakdown - Ease of use: 4/5 - Value for money: 5/5 - Customer support: 5/5 - Functionality: 5/5 #### Pros The in-depth ability to edit images is essential. Additionally, the capacity to convert documents and images to various formats (such as PDF to JPG) is valuable. #### Cons More quick-and-dirty guidelines for small jobs and basic edits would be helpful. The huge flexibility of GIMP is great but can be a bit overwhelming. --- ### Free but powerful - Overall rating: 4/5 - Reviewer: Luca L. - Verified reviewer: Yes - Industry: Packaging and Containers - Company size: 11-50 employees - Product usage: Used monthly for more than 2 years - Reviewed: March 2025 - Review source details: This review was submitted organically. No incentive was offered #### Ratings breakdown - Ease of use: 4/5 - Functionality: 5/5 #### Pros I'm not a professional photographer, but I love taking pictures. When I travel, I take quite a few shots, and of course, some photos that I like or that have meaning to me don’t turn out great (as I mentioned before, I’m not very skilled). GIMP is a free but very powerful alternative to more well-known software, which unfortunately comes with costs that are hard to justify for occasional use (speaking from my own experience). Lately, it has also become a bit lighter and faster, so I recommend it to anyone who wants to get into post-processing without spending an euro. #### Cons Compared to more well-known software, some filters are probably of lower quality, and there are fewer guides and videos explaining the various processes to achieve the best results. For example, when I needed to recover a partially dark photo, I found a video about Photoshop and tried to apply the same steps… It would have been much easier to have a video specifically made for GIMP. --- ### Good Software - Overall rating: 5/5 - Reviewer: Caroline O. - Verified reviewer: Yes - Industry: Education Management - Company size: Self-Employed - Product usage: Used weekly for more than 2 years - Reviewed: March 2025 - Review source details: This review was submitted organically. No incentive was offered It's good. I mainly get done what I need to get done. #### Ratings breakdown - Ease of use: 5/5 - Functionality: 3/5 #### Pros I like that I can edit any photos, especially removing the background from photos which is why I mainly use it. #### Cons It doesn't have as many features as Adobe Photoshop so is lacking. #### Reasons for choosing GIMP (GNU Image Manipulation Program) Adobe Photoshop was too expensive at the time. --- ### great for editing images - Overall rating: 4/5 - Reviewer: kirstie m. - Verified reviewer: Yes - Industry: Arts and Crafts - Company size: Self-Employed - Product usage: Used monthly for more than 2 years - Reviewed: March 2025 - Review source details: This review was submitted organically. No incentive was offered good. does what it is supposed to, just a steep learning curve #### Ratings breakdown - Ease of use: 4/5 - Value for money: 5/5 - Customer support: 5/5 - Functionality: 4/5 #### Pros Great alternative to paint for image editing #### Cons difficult to use at first. needed to look up how to do some things with it. #### Reasons for switching to GIMP (GNU Image Manipulation Program) more editing tools & does more than paint does --- ### Gimp > photoshop - Overall rating: 5/5 - Reviewer: Abe N. - Verified reviewer: Yes - Industry: Utilities - Company size: 2-10 employees - Product usage: Used weekly for less than 6 months - Reviewed: January 2025 - Review source details: This review was submitted organically. No incentive was offered Overall my experience has been positive and more than satisfied. #### Ratings breakdown - Ease of use: 4/5 - Value for money: 5/5 - Customer support: 5/5 - Functionality: 4/5 #### Pros I appreciate the tools it offers for free unlike adobe so I can choose if it’s the right editing software for me. #### Cons I would like more tutorials to be available but other than that, no complaints. #### Reasons for switching to GIMP (GNU Image Manipulation Program) Price was drastically different compared to features that I use. --- ### GIMP at a glance - Overall rating: 5/5 - Reviewer: James C. - Verified reviewer: Yes - Industry: Construction - Company size: Self-Employed - Product usage: Used daily for more than 2 years - Reviewed: September 2023 - Review source details: This reviewer was invited by us to submit an honest review and offered a nominal incentive as a thank you. I use GIMP on a daily basis. It comes in very handy since I work with a lot of images. This is a hobby of mine #### Ratings breakdown - Ease of use: 5/5 - Value for money: 5/5 - Customer support: 5/5 - Functionality: 5/5 #### Pros I like the thousands of tools and images offered.I like the ease of use The help files and the tutorialThe fact that it is free and a very good competitor to Adobe Photoshop #### Cons The loading time that it takes the program to open. That is the only thing I dislike about GIMP.It is basically a very good program #### Reasons for switching to GIMP (GNU Image Manipulation Program) The features included with Photoshop and GIMP are almost identical except for one important fact.Adobe Photoshop cost $35.99 on Adobes website compared to GIMP which is free. --- ### GIMP my favorite - Overall rating: 5/5 - Reviewer: kokou A. - Verified reviewer: Yes - Industry: Animation - Company size: Self-Employed - Product usage: Used monthly for less than 12 months - Reviewed: March 2023 - Review source details: This review was submitted organically. No incentive was offered I started using GIMP, when I have a problem downloading photoshop which to download, you are sent to editor pages and after if you do not know how to choose, you end up downloading another thing cabrement. If it happens that you have downloaded, to install it you are asked to connect. I'm a graphic designer, I couldn't wait. A friend offered me inscap, I downloaded and installed it but I can not use it really that's there I started using GIMP, when I have a problem downloading photoshop which to download, you are sent to editor pages and after if you do not know how to choose, you end up downloading another thing cabrement. If it happens that you have downloaded, to install it you are asked to connect. I'm a graphic designer, I couldn't wait. A friend offered me inscap, I downloaded and installed it but I can not use it really that's there I followed a video #### Ratings breakdown - Ease of use: 4/5 - Value for money: 5/5 - Customer support: 4/5 - Functionality: 4/5 #### Pros Gimp is one of the best image processing and animation software with the option to adapt according to your project. What I really like about this software is the accessibility of the tools and their use according to the will of the user. But, this software is recommended for the experienced graphic designer. #### Cons One of the most common uses of GIMP is the retouching of photographs with defects: the image can be over- or underexposed, leaning, not in focus #### Reasons for switching to GIMP (GNU Image Manipulation Program) I want Adobe Lightroom to increase my ability in the use of software in terms of editing and editing your images. --- ### Unleash Your Creative Potential with GIMP - Overall rating: 5/5 - Reviewer: Md Amir M. - Verified reviewer: Yes - Industry: Design - Company size: 2-10 employees - Product usage: Used daily for less than 2 years - Reviewed: March 2024 - Review source details: This review was submitted organically. No incentive was offered GIMP, or GNU Image Manipulation Program, stands tall as a formidable open-source alternative to premium image editing software. GIMP earns my highest recommendation for anyone seeking a powerful yet accessible image editing software. With its expansive feature set, user-friendly interface, and passionate community, GIMP empowers creators to push boundaries and turn imagination into reality. Embrace the freedom of creativity with GIMP, and unlock endless possibilities for your artistic endeavours. #### Ratings breakdown - Ease of use: 5/5 - Value for money: 4/5 - Customer support: 4/5 - Functionality: 5/5 #### Pros As an avid photographer and graphic designer, I've explored various tools over the years, but GIMP consistently impresses me with its robust features and versatility.One of the most striking aspects of GIMP is its extensive toolkit, rivaling even some paid software options. From basic adjustments like cropping and resizing to advanced techniques such as layer masking and non-destructive editing, GIMP offers a comprehensive suite suitable for both amateurs and professionals alike. The ability to extend its functionality through plugins and scripts further enhances its adaptability to diverse creative needs. #### Cons While GIMP offers a wide range of features for image editing and manipulation, it may lack some advanced capabilities found in commercial software. For example, certain advanced retouching tools, content-aware fill, or seamless integration with cloud services may not be as robust or polished in GIMP compared to its commercial counterparts. #### Reasons for switching to GIMP (GNU Image Manipulation Program) Adobe is a subscription based software unlike GIMP, which is an open source tool. --- ### Solid Free Editing Tool - Overall rating: 4/5 - Reviewer: Kimb W. - Verified reviewer: Yes - Industry: Design - Company size: Self-Employed - Product usage: Used monthly for more than 2 years - Reviewed: March 2025 - Review source details: This review was submitted organically. No incentive was offered I've tried GIMP on different projects and I believe it can be a solid free alternative to other Graphics software #### Ratings breakdown - Ease of use: 3/5 - Functionality: 4/5 #### Pros It's free and customizable. Enabled me to retouch photos, make elaborate designs in the time it takes #### Cons The interface is becoming too outdated and requires a coat of paint --- ### Fanatics free image editing software - Overall rating: 5/5 - Reviewer: Verified Reviewer - Verified reviewer: Yes - Industry: Retail - Company size: 1001-5000 employees - Product usage: Used daily for more than 2 years - Reviewed: August 2023 - Review source details: This reviewer was invited by us to submit an honest review and offered a nominal incentive as a thank you. Very good experience and is a exellent alternative to paid for image editing software #### Ratings breakdown - Ease of use: 5/5 - Value for money: 5/5 - Functionality: 4/5 #### Pros Extremely easy to use with the user interface being simple to find tools you want to use when editing images. #### Cons Its difficult to find something to dislike about a program which is free, however, the only items which isn't ideal is when working with layers, you have to select the layer you wish to save as the image. --- ### The Best Free Alternative of the past Decade to Any Commercial Image Editing Software - Overall rating: 5/5 - Reviewer: Sébastien L. - Verified reviewer: Yes - Industry: Computer Software - Company size: 2-10 employees - Product usage: Used weekly for more than 2 years - Reviewed: April 2019 - Review source details: This reviewer was invited by us to submit an honest review and offered a nominal incentive as a thank you. The fact that GIMP is freely available on all major operating systems ensures that you can work seamlessly from any computer in the native format provided (XCF) or any other supported format. I have used GIMP many times to edit PDF files, either to add annotations or to conceal confidential information, which is easy to accomplish with a filter such as "Pixelize". For certain programming tasks, it came handy to create paths with the Bezier tool, exporting the information to the SVG format, which can be read with a programming text editor in a breeze. I have also benefited from its great stability, once creating more than a hundred layers on a single image. Since it can handle as many layer groups and layer masks as you wish, it is possible to iterate over one idea over and over again, discarding only specific modifications. There is also a useful "Undo history" tab that takes a visual snapshot of the state of the image at each particular point in time and gives a meaningful name to each step, facilitating the retrieval of a desired state. #### Ratings breakdown - Ease of use: 5/5 - Value for money: 5/5 - Functionality: 5/5 #### Pros GIMP really has it all: apart from being open source (free) to start with, it supports a plethora of image formats, including animated GIF, PDF, PS, RAW, TIFF and even text (TXT). It features a single-window mode, which is convenient when working with only one monitor, while the multi-window mode is incredibly useful to divide any work being done on two different monitors. It offers many filters and third-party extensions to ease some more tedious aspects of image manipulation. If you are into programming, then you can even take advantage of the exposed libraries, which allow you to programmatically modify images with any tool available in GIMP using Python or Scheme as programming languages. It is also customizable to the core: you can add and remove menus and icons on the fly; you can define the exact resource consumption of the application by specifying details for memory usage and even the number of CPU threads to use; you can have completely distinct configurations for normal mode and full-screen mode; you can create brushes or import from existing creations available online, the same being true with textures; you can configure and add keyboard shortcuts for almost any action you may require to perform and configure many settings to correspond to the default behavior you want in most situations. #### Cons GIMP wasn't made to work with Photoshop images (PSD). It does support them, but the experience isn't as good as with Photoshop. Some types of filters apply many different steps and can't easily be undone, which is sometimes frustrating. Unless you are an expert, the Script-Fu Console is not intuitive at all for newcomers and makes it hard to guess what you can actually do. Some filters and effects won't have a complete description immediately available explaining how the image is expected to be modified. This can be inconvenient when trying out new things, as a few filters take a long time to run and may cause the system to hang for a while depending on how the system allocates priority to the application. On the same subject of filters, it is also hard to guess how long a specific effect may take to render as many filters apply a number of steps in a row, resetting the progress bar at each step. Some filters may also have corner cases to consider, for instance when working on a very large image resolution: when rendering a pattern, it can show signs of incongruence if the image isn't scaled down a bit first. --- ### GIMP Rocks My World Everyday, and It Will Do the Same For You, Too! - Overall rating: 4/5 - Reviewer: Robert F. - Verified reviewer: Yes - Industry: Online Media - Company size: Self-Employed - Product usage: Used daily for more than 2 years - Reviewed: February 2022 - Review source details: This reviewer was invited by us to submit an honest review and offered a nominal incentive as a thank you. I click on the GIMP icon on my laptop taskbar everyday, and that takes about ten seconds for GIMP to be ready to go. I can pop an image in with one Control V, and I am ready to go. Or I can bring up a project with one click. It is super easy to use. And there is some serious functional power under the hood of GIMP. Yes, there is a learning curve, like I've mentioned, but it just is not that big a deal, at least for me...and I am not some super brain, either. Okay, so I give GIMP my Two Thumbs Up Award for what I do. I use it a lot, and if you haven't been using GIMP, load it up and start using it. #### Ratings breakdown - Ease of use: 4/5 - Value for money: 5/5 - Customer support: 4/5 - Functionality: 5/5 #### Pros What I like about this software is I can use it on my own laptop and it doesn't require a huge amount of storage space and it is freeware, and I love all the stuff I can do. I keep finding out things I can do that make me one happy image creator. I work a lot with images and so one thing for sure is how I can quickly and efficiently remove backgrounds or grab part of the image that I want to use. GIMP gives me at least five different ways I can do this. I can go on and on about what I can do with GIMP when it comes to taking an image and layering other images, and coming up with some fairly decent and unique designs. #### Cons Hmmm. Well, the there is a learning curve. And, yeah, I'd love it if I could just wave my magic pen and, hey, presto! --- the job was done exactly the way I want. But part of the process of creating images is inside the process of using the tools, and finding new and super cool ways to do something. What I mean is that by getting deep into GIMP and messing about, I have stumbled on some results that have made me some original images that help me get eyes on the prize...you know, converts visitors into return visitors, and into customers. --- ### Nice Photoshop alternative for basic image editing tasks - Overall rating: 3/5 - Reviewer: Verified Reviewer - Verified reviewer: Yes - Industry: Computer Software - Company size: 201-500 employees - Product usage: Used daily for more than 2 years - Reviewed: July 2022 - Review source details: This reviewer was invited by us to submit an honest review and offered a nominal incentive as a thank you. As a digital marketer, I’m using GIMP as an alternative to Photoshop to cover my daily Social Media purposes. Although it is a nice Photoshop alternative that copies almost all of its tools, it is obvious that the user interface has a way weaker design, but for an open-source free software, it offers a decent solution. GIMP is suitable for daily micro-tasks such as resizing, blurring, cropping, layers management, rotating, scaling, and background erasing. More complex tasks such as object selection, cloning, shrinking/growing area, etc. may need more effort. Judging by my overall experience these are the (+) and (-). Pros - Easy installation - Open-source/free software - Includes almost all the essential Photoshop tools Cons - Outdated UI - Some tools (shrink, selection) are way more complex and time-consuming - Sometimes the exported result is not of the requested quality(maybe that depends on the user’s skills level) - Absence of Shapes tool which is helpful in Photoshop My comments are about version GIMP 2.10.32. Concluding, I would totally recommend GIMP as a Photoshop alternative for simple daily image editing tasks, but I’m not sure if that’s the right tool for professionals. #### Ratings breakdown - Ease of use: 3/5 - Value for money: 5/5 - Customer support: 3/5 - Functionality: 4/5 #### Pros - Easy installation - Open-source/free software - Includes almost all the essential Photoshop tools #### Cons - Outdated UI - Some tools (shrink, selection) are way more complex and time-consuming - Sometimes the exported result is not of the requested quality(maybe that depends on the user’s skills level) - Absence of Shapes tool which is helpful in Photoshop --- ### Free Photo-shop Alternative - Overall rating: 5/5 - Reviewer: Verified Reviewer - Verified reviewer: Yes - Industry: Design - Company size: Self-Employed - Product usage: Used daily for less than 2 years - Reviewed: February 2019 - Review source details: This reviewer was invited by us to submit an honest review and offered a nominal incentive as a thank you. In conclusion, when using Gimp you will learn how to create fantastic site graphics and compelling WEB to graphics. Gimp educational online videos are the best way to learn how to use Gimp. #### Ratings breakdown - Ease of use: 5/5 - Value for money: 4/5 - Customer support: 4/5 - Functionality: 5/5 #### Pros GIMP is also known as the GNU Image Manipulation Program. It is a great photo editing program that is stress-free to use. It has a lot of things to do with unlimited options on what to do for a picture to make it look cool. The wonderful thing is, it's free! Advantages, As you can expect, GNU Image Manipulation is used to edit images. This program makes photo editing very enjoyable and easy. Sure, there are essential things you should learn before you become an expert, but when you learn these first tips for beginners, you start with the start of stunning photo editing plans. Unlike photo editing, the GNU image manipulation program can also create small videos and animations. Despite the difficulty of creating these images, they are still fascinating and really fun. GNU Image Manipulation is one of the best images editing software available. All you have to do is go to the GIMP site and download it for free. Gimp is always available and updates are often shown with fun things to do and discover them in the program. Another great thing about GNU Image Manipulation is that you can add new things to the program. Unlike waiting for an updated date, you can go ahead and download some plug-ins from their site right away! Also, you can add different fonts and different brushes to the program to make your photo stand out. #### Cons GIMP has limited 8-bit depth, making it an unexpected choice for professional use in the first place. Gimp has disadvantages when compared to Photoshop in trivial issues the fact that it lacks the advantage of color management and does not provide control layers. --- ### The image editing software that almost everyone should be using (instead of Photoshop) - Overall rating: 5/5 - Reviewer: Carlos C. - Verified reviewer: Yes - Industry: Research - Company size: 201-500 employees - Product usage: Used monthly for more than 2 years - Reviewed: August 2019 - Review source details: This reviewer was invited by us to submit an honest review and offered a nominal incentive as a thank you. Whereas some people consider GIMP as a toy software, or a cheap (free) Photoshop replacement, it is not. Instead, GIMP has proven to be a capable, professional software that does not want to be a mere Photoshop clone. On the contrary, they do have their own roadmap, own shortcuts and their own user interface, and even some successful plugins and features of its own (such as resynthesizer) have been later integrated in Photoshop. Whereas some consider it as being difficult to learn or not user-friendly, it is in fact a proof that it follows its own path to success. While I admit that from time to time I do miss some of Photoshop features, like non-destructive operations or basic vector operations, I am confident that GIMP fits in the great majority user cases without compromising final results. #### Ratings breakdown - Ease of use: 5/5 - Value for money: 5/5 - Functionality: 4/5 #### Pros I have been using GIMP for many years for my image editing projects (both, pet projects and professional projects) and I have come to realize that it features such an enormous variety of toolboxes, filters, options... that allow any type of image editing, even really complex ones, with impeccable results. Consequently, there is no need to switch to other software like Photoshop or the like. Not to mention that it is a multi-plattform Free/Libre OpenSource Software. Some features I like the most of GIMP - Multi-plattform: available for Linux, Windows, Mac, portable... - FLOSS - Customizable user interface - Selection and manipulation tools (like Unified Transform tool) - Real-time edition - Professional results Additionally, recently GIMP has seen a major improvement on user interface that makes it even easier (and appealing) to use. #### Cons - Small development team with small budget: as a result development happens at a slow pace, even though developers do have great ideas and roadmap. - Lacks non-destructive filters/effects like in Photoshop - Lacks some vector operations (only works with bitmaps) - While there is plenty of documentation and tutorials, most image editing tutorials and manuals are addressed to Photoshop only, and whereas in most cases the same techniques can be reproduced/adapted, it requires extra effort that some users do not want to make. - The fact that it is not so broadly used as Photoshop may be a problem if collaborating with others, even though GIMP opens and saves Photoshop's native file format (although, admittedly, some filters/effects may be lost). --- ### open-source image editing platform - Overall rating: 5/5 - Reviewer: Nimanthi R. - Verified reviewer: Yes - Industry: Computer & Network Security - Company size: 2-10 employees - Product usage: Used daily for less than 12 months - Reviewed: April 2019 - Review source details: This reviewer was invited by us to submit an honest review and offered a nominal incentive as a thank you. Generally, GIMP is an excellent alternative open-source editing platform for professionals. It's free availability on all operating systems enable users to work seamlessly. #### Ratings breakdown - Ease of use: 5/5 - Value for money: 5/5 - Customer support: 5/5 - Functionality: 5/5 #### Pros I have been using GIMP for a few years now. Earlier on, my experience with this software was not quite right. Now that I am more advanced in graphics and photo edits, I have come to appreciate this open open-source image editing platform. Believe me, when I say this software is excellent, it is because the results are impeccable. GIMP has it all! Its excellent array of features are so good that they can rival adobe photoshop capabilities. These features allow you to tune photos, images and create an artwork of your own. As a graphic designer, you will be able to seamlessly crop images, make colour adjustments, customises brushes and adjust gradients among others editing. Here are some of the advantages of using Gimp over other image editing software. 1.It has incredible, and quality features making it the best among open -source programs 2.Single-window mode operation which is great for single pc operation. 3.GIMP is 100% free. 4.It supports plenty of image formats such as GIF and PDF. Additionally, GIMP is customizable such that you can add and remove menus or icons on the fly. 5.It is easily extensible to ease image manipulation with the third party. 6.Last but not least, GIMP works efficiently on all major operating systems. Whether you choose Linux or windows, results are always impeccable. #### Cons the script-fu is not user-friendly. GIMP lacks intuition on new users and can make their experience pretty cumbersome. Some filters and effects don't explain or guide how the image should be modified. It would be awesome if it would support PSD photoshop images. It does not open some files such a JPEG. --- ### GIMP is seriously powerful now and a keystone to open-source photography workflow - Overall rating: 4/5 - Reviewer: Ray A. - Verified reviewer: Yes - Industry: Photography - Company size: Self-Employed - Product usage: Used weekly for more than 2 years - Reviewed: August 2018 - Review source details: This reviewer was invited by us to submit an honest review and offered a nominal incentive as a thank you. I tried switching to GIMP in Linux back in 2009, but found it awkward to use and wasn't able to achieve the results I wanted easily. Recent versions have been much better and now, with the release of 2.10 which integrates with Darktable, GIMP is a powerful tool indeed. It is open source and free, but please do make donations to support the development of these amazing tools that benefit many users who truly cannot afford to pay for software. #### Ratings breakdown - Ease of use: 3/5 - Value for money: 5/5 - Customer support: 1/5 - Functionality: 4/5 #### Pros GIMP is cross platform and will run equally well on Linux, Windows and Mac. This is a big advantage for people who use different computers but are collaborating on a project. My favorite feature of GIMP 2.10 right now is its ability to open RAW files using either Darktable or Rawtherapee where the user can make adjustments, and when finished, close Darktable (Rawtherapee) and have the edited image open directly in GIMP for further editing. This is brilliant and offers a greatly improved workflow for photo editing. A new feature in 2.10.6 is vertical text layers, or the ability to write text top to bottom. This is useful for writing vertical-reading text in Chinese, especially for the creation of formal or fancy documents or invitations. It is also useful for creating interesting layouts in English. Much has been written about GIMP's 'healing' features that allow removal of unwanted items in a photo. In GIMP, this can be done using the Resynthsizer plugin, or the Inpainting plugin that is included in the G'MIC plugin set. While both work well, the G'MIC plugin seems to yield somewhat more consistent results. #### Cons Until recent editions, GIMP suffered from a rather unattractive interface and opened the main editing window and toolbars separately. While some users preferred this, I found it awkward to to use and arrange on my limited screen space. A single-window mode was introduced in version 2.8 which I prefer. ## More reviews [Next reviews](https://www.softwareadvice.com/graphic-design/gimp-gnu-image-manipulation-program-profile/reviews/?page=2) --- GIMP (GNU Image Manipulation Program) Reviews, Pros and Cons - 2026 Software Advice