Open Source Alternatives
  • Alternatives
  • Categories
    Categories by size882 projects
    • Developer Tools461
    • AI & Machine Learning404
    • Web Development196
    • Business & Productivity191
    • Communication & Collaboration126
    • Security & Monitoring126
    • IT Management123
    • Product & Project Management106
    • Cloud & Hosting105
    • Data & Analytics104
    Browse all 21 categoriesLLMOps & AI Tooling, Design & Creative and 9 more
  • Blog
  • Advertise
SearchNotion, Slack, password manager.../
Submit
Open Source Alternatives
  • Alternatives
    • Developer Tools461
    • AI & Machine Learning404
    • Web Development196
    • Business & Productivity191
    • Communication & Collaboration126
    • Security & Monitoring126
    • Browse all 21 categories
  • Blog
  • Advertise
Submit your project

New open source projects by email

The projects we add and every new guide. Free, unsubscribe any time.

Open Source Alternatives LogoOpen Source Alternatives

Handpicked Open Source Alternatives to Paid Softwares

Product

  • Categories
  • Tag
  • Advertise

Resources

  • Blog
  • Collection
  • Submit

Company

  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Service
  • Refund Policy
  • Sitemap

Alternatives

  • Claude Code
  • Jira
  • Notion
  • Slack
  • Linear
  • Wispr Flow
  • All alternatives
© 2026 Open Source Alternatives. All rights reserved.
Open SourceAlternatives
Home/Categories/Design & Creative/Pinta
icon of Pinta

Pinta

Open source alternative to Adobe Photoshop, Affinity Photo and Corel PaintShop Pro

  • 4.1K stars
  • MIT
  • Active this week
  • Last commit 2 days ago

Last verified Oct 21, 2026

A free, open-source painting and image editing program designed for simplicity and power across Linux, Mac, Windows, and *BSD.

Visit websiteGitHub4.1K stars
image of Pinta
TL;DR

Pinta is a simple cross-platform image editor inspired by Paint.NET for users who need quick raster edits without Photoshop. It replaces paid photo editors for lightweight drawing, cropping, layer-based touchups, and everyday image adjustments on Linux, Windows, and macOS.

Read the full breakdownHide the full breakdownWho it is for, how it works, trade-offs and the FAQ
who it's for

Who Pinta is for#

Users editing screenshots and small graphics

Use Pinta for quick crops, annotations, and simple raster edits without opening a full design suite.

Skip if:

You need advanced masking, RAW processing, or professional color management.

Linux users wanting a Paint.NET-like app

Use Pinta when you want a simple desktop image editor with familiar tools on Linux.

Skip if:

You are comfortable with GIMP and need its deeper feature set.

Educators teaching basic image editing

Use Pinta for approachable classroom editing tasks where students need fewer controls.

Skip if:

The course teaches professional design or photo production workflows.

the problem

The problem it solves#

Many image editing jobs do not justify a professional design suite. Users need to crop screenshots, annotate graphics, make small raster edits, and adjust simple artwork, but heavyweight tools add subscription cost and interface complexity. Linux users in particular need approachable desktop image editing options that are not as advanced as GIMP.

how Pinta solves it

How it solves it#

Simple Paint.NET-style editing

Pinta is a GTK clone of Paint.NET 3.0 aimed at straightforward desktop raster editing.

Cross-platform desktop app

Pinta supports Linux, Windows, and macOS, with build instructions and dependencies documented for each platform.

MIT-licensed codebase

Original Pinta code is under the MIT license, with Paint.NET-origin code also under MIT.

Modern GTK4 development stack

Current build instructions reference .NET 10, GTK4, and libadwaita, which signals active modernization of the desktop stack.

strengths · trade-offs

Strengths and trade-offs#

Strengths

  • Approachable for small editsPinta is useful when GIMP or Photoshop feels too heavy for basic raster work.
  • Good Linux desktop fitPinta gives Linux users a familiar simple image editor pattern without needing a proprietary app.
  • Low-friction licenseMIT licensing makes Pinta easy to package, study, and adapt compared with more restrictive desktop software licenses.

Trade-offs

  • -Not a professional photo suitePinta does not aim to replace Photoshop, Lightroom, or Affinity Photo for advanced retouching, RAW workflows, or print production.
  • -Build dependencies can be heavyDeveloping Pinta requires .NET and GTK-related dependencies. End users should prefer official packages where available.
tech stack · detected from GitHub

What it's built on#

Languages
C#
Runtimes
.NET
frequently asked

FAQ#

What is Pinta?

Pinta is a simple open source desktop image editor inspired by Paint.NET.

What platforms does Pinta support?

Pinta supports Linux, Windows, and macOS.

Is Pinta a Photoshop replacement?

Pinta can replace Photoshop for basic raster edits, but it is not a professional photo or design suite.

also worth a look

Similar open-source tools#

GIMP

Alternative toAdobe Photoshop

Free image editor for graphic designers and photographers

  • 6,537 GitHub stars
  • GPL-3.0Licence GPL-3.0

Compositor

Alternative toAdobe Photoshop

Free Photoshop-style image editor for Apple silicon Macs

  • 17,569 GitHub stars
  • MITLicence MIT

Krita

Alternative toClip Studio Paint

Free open source digital painting app for artists

  • 10,590 GitHub stars
  • GPL-3.0Licence GPL-3.0

MyPaint

Alternative toCorel Painter

Free open source painting app optimized for drawing tablets

  • 2,988 GitHub stars
  • GPL-2.0Licence GPL-2.0

Upscayl

Alternative toTopaz Labs Gigapixel AI

Free open source AI image upscaler for Mac, Linux, and Windows

  • 50,790 GitHub stars
  • AGPL-3.0Licence AGPL-3.0

Openfilm

Alternative toRemotion

AI video agent for coding agents; films are local web folders.

  • 1,850 GitHub stars
  • MITLicence MIT
by category

Open source tools in these categories#

97

Design & Creative

ComfyUI, Excalidraw, Godot Engine462

Developer Tools

REA (Reverse Engineer Anything), superpowers, Skills for Real Engineers

Featured

rakazo

Alternative toGrok Bot

AI teammates you own: your keys, your model, your machine.

  • 4,904 GitHub stars
  • Apache-2.0Licence Apache-2.0
  • #AI Agents

Omnara

Alternative toCClaude Managed Agents

Open-source agent deployment API. Self-host or use Omnara Cloud.

  • 2,957 GitHub stars
  • Apache-2.0Licence Apache-2.0
  • #AI Agents

Inbox Zero

Alternative toSuperhuman

AI email assistant that drafts replies and clears your inbox

  • 12,712 GitHub stars
  • AGPL-3.0Licence AGPL-3.0
  • #Email
Feature your project

New open source projects by email

The projects we add and every new guide. Free, unsubscribe any time.

Find open source alternatives to paid software

/
  • Claude Code to OpenCode
  • Jira to Windshift
  • Notion to AppFlowy
  • Slack to Mattermost
  • Linear to GitLab
  • Wispr Flow to Handy
  • CapCut to Concat
  • Grok Bot to rakazo
  • Superhuman to Inbox Zero
  • Airtable to AITable
  • Muse to OpenClaw
  • GitHub Copilot to Cline
  • Datadog to Netdata
  • Microsoft Teams to Rocket.Chat
  • Pinecone to Qdrant
  • Zapier to n8n
  • Devin AI to OpenHands
  • Firebase to Supabase
  • 1Password to KeePassXC
  • Confluence to Docmost
  • Contentful to Strapi
  • Adobe Premiere Pro to Shotcut
  • ChatGPT to AnythingLLM
  • LangSmith to Langfuse
  • Claude Code to OpenCode
  • Jira to Windshift
  • Notion to AppFlowy
  • Slack to Mattermost
  • Linear to GitLab
  • Wispr Flow to Handy
  • CapCut to Concat
  • Grok Bot to rakazo
  • Superhuman to Inbox Zero
  • Airtable to AITable
  • Muse to OpenClaw
  • GitHub Copilot to Cline
  • Datadog to Netdata
  • Microsoft Teams to Rocket.Chat
  • Pinecone to Qdrant
  • Zapier to n8n
  • Devin AI to OpenHands
  • Firebase to Supabase
  • 1Password to KeePassXC
  • Confluence to Docmost
  • Contentful to Strapi
  • Adobe Premiere Pro to Shotcut
  • ChatGPT to AnythingLLM
  • LangSmith to Langfuse