Not for good: the first paid plan costs €27 a month. PhotoCraft does the same thing for free, in open source.

What is the free equivalent of Photoshop?

PhotoCraft, an open source rewrite of Photoshop (MIT or Apache 2.0 license): same menus, same shortcuts, layers and masks, and it opens your PSD files with their layers. Free on Mac, Windows, Linux and in the browser. It is still in alpha, with no generative AI.

Can you use Photoshop without a subscription?

No: Photoshop is only sold as a subscription, €27 a month on its own or €23.99 with Lightroom in the Photography plan, with a one year commitment. The only free version is a 7 day trial. PhotoCraft installs with no subscription and no account.

Is PhotoCraft really free?

Yes. PhotoCraft is open source: the code is public and installing it costs nothing. At most you pay for hosting if you put it on a server, often a few euros a month. Photoshop, on the other hand, costs €27 a month.

Do I need to code to install PhotoCraft?

No. The level is beginner and the install takes about 5 minutes with the prompt from the page: Claude does the work, you answer its questions.

How is it different from Photoshop?

PhotoCraft does most of what Photoshop does, without a subscription, and your data stays with you. The point by point comparison is on the page.

Yes. With an open source tool installed on your side, your files stay on your machine or your server. Nobody can close your account or change the price.

Free alternative

Free alternative to Photoshop

Photoshop costs €27 a month. PhotoCraft does the same job for free, in open source: you install it on your machine or a small server, and you stop paying.

Price taken from Photoshop’s website (adobe.com): Photoshop plan, one year commitment paid monthly, VAT included. Over a year, that is €324 that stays in your pocket.

How much does Photoshop cost in 2026?

Photoshop’s public plans, checked on 12 October 2026 on adobe.com. Prices rounded up to the next euro, except those ending in .99.

Photoshop
€27 a month
On desktop, mobile and web, with Adobe Express Premium, 100 GB of storage and 25 AI credits a month. One year commitment.
Photography
€23.99 a month
Photoshop and Lightroom. One year commitment, paid monthly.
Firefly Pro
€23 a month
Photoshop on web and mobile only, with 4,000 AI credits a month. Billed monthly.
Creative Cloud Pro
€79 a month
Every Adobe app. A promotion was shown on the day prices were checked.

Prices including VAT shown for France. The only free version is a 7 day trial. See the official pricing page ↗

What replaces Photoshop

The main alternative

PhotoCraft

🟢 Beginner⏱️ ~5 min to installSave €27/mo

PhotoCraft is an open source rewrite of Photoshop, built from scratch by the ArtCraft team. You find the menus, shortcuts and panels your hands already know: layers, masks, 16 adjustment layers (curves, levels, vibrance), layer styles, editable type, vector tools, a real brush engine, and subject selection that runs on your machine, with no cloud and no account. It opens and saves your PSD files with their layers. MIT or Apache 2.0 license, free on Mac, Windows, Linux and in the browser. The project is brand new (released at the end of September 2026) and still in alpha: the team itself says it does not replace Photoshop for everyday professional work yet, mainly because it has no generative AI.

Loucash’s verdict on PhotoCraft

6/10

It is the project that blew up on GitHub these past days: over 50,000 stars in less than two weeks. And it is easy to see why: the menus, shortcuts and panels are Photoshop’s, so you find your way at once. Layers, masks, adjustments, type, vectors, it is all there, and your PSDs open with their layers. What may bite: it is an alpha, released at the end of September. The team says so itself, it is not yet a replacement for everyday professional work: no generative AI, around fifteen missing tools, no plug-ins. I am following it very closely, all the more since the same team released the same thing for Illustrator, Premiere, Lightroom, Acrobat, After Effects and InDesign.

Who it is for: You retouch your visuals, thumbnails or photos, you pay for Photoshop mostly for layers, masks and type, and you want to stop the subscription. If you live on generative fill or pro plug-ins, keep Photoshop for now.

See the full page →See the tool ↗

PhotoCraft versus Photoshop: the match

Price
PhotoCraft
€0, on every platform
Photoshop
€27/month, one year commitment
Account and sign in
PhotoCraft
No account, no cloud, everything stays on your machine
Photoshop
Adobe account required
PSD files
PhotoCraft
Opened and saved with their layers
Photoshop
Its native format

Photoshop ↗

VS	PhotoCraft	Photoshop ↗
Price	€0, on every platform	€27/month, one year commitment
Account and sign in	No account, no cloud, everything stays on your machine	Adobe account required
PSD files	Opened and saved with their layers	Its native format
Generative AI	Not yet	Included, 25 credits a month
Maturity	Alpha, released in September 2026	Over 35 years of development

The prompt that installs PhotoCraft

Paste this prompt into Claude: it checks the repository, asks you its questions and installs the tool step by step.

Je veux installer PhotoCraft (le logiciel de retouche photo open source qui reprend Photoshop, dépôt GitHub officiel storytold/photocraft, site getartcraft.com/apps/photocraft) à la place d’un abonnement Photoshop. Guide-moi pas à pas et pose-moi des questions si besoin. Repère d’abord mon système (macOS, Windows ou Linux) et mon processeur (Apple Silicon, Intel, x64 ou ARM). Télécharge ensuite la dernière version publiée dans les releases du dépôt storytold/photocraft, ou sur la page officielle getartcraft.com/apps/photocraft, en prenant le fichier qui correspond : l’image disque universelle sur Mac, l’installateur 64 bits sur Windows, l’AppImage, le paquet .deb ou le Flatpak sur Linux. Vérifie l’empreinte SHA-256 du fichier avec le fichier SHA256SUMS.txt publié avec la même version, et arrête-toi si elle ne correspond pas. Installe l’appli et vérifie qu’elle démarre. Si macOS bloque l’ouverture, explique-moi comment l’autoriser dans Réglages Système, sans désactiver la sécurité de mon Mac. Rappelle-moi que PhotoCraft est encore en alpha : je garde mes fichiers d’origine et je travaille sur des copies. Si j’utilise Claude Code, propose-moi aussi d’installer l’outil en ligne de commande photocraft-cli de la même version et de brancher son serveur MCP (photocraft-cli mcp), pour que tu puisses retoucher mes images à ma place. Pour finir, ouvre un de mes fichiers PSD et dis-moi ce qui s’affiche bien et ce qui manque.

Review the GitHub repository and check whether it is safe to install given my machine and my infrastructure. Ask me as many questions as possible, using widgets, to clarify my request and be as precise as you can.

Frequently asked questions

How much does Photoshop cost?: Photoshop: €27 a month; Photography: €23.99 a month; Firefly Pro: €23 a month; Creative Cloud Pro: €79 a month. Prices checked on 12 October 2026 on adobe.com.
Is Photoshop free?: Not for good: the first paid plan costs €27 a month. PhotoCraft does the same thing for free, in open source.
What is the free equivalent of Photoshop?: PhotoCraft, an open source rewrite of Photoshop (MIT or Apache 2.0 license): same menus, same shortcuts, layers and masks, and it opens your PSD files with their layers. Free on Mac, Windows, Linux and in the browser. It is still in alpha, with no generative AI.
Can you use Photoshop without a subscription?: No: Photoshop is only sold as a subscription, €27 a month on its own or €23.99 with Lightroom in the Photography plan, with a one year commitment. The only free version is a 7 day trial. PhotoCraft installs with no subscription and no account.
Is PhotoCraft really free?: Yes. PhotoCraft is open source: the code is public and installing it costs nothing. At most you pay for hosting if you put it on a server, often a few euros a month. Photoshop, on the other hand, costs €27 a month.
Do I need to code to install PhotoCraft?: No. The level is beginner and the install takes about 5 minutes with the prompt from the page: Claude does the work, you answer its questions.
How is it different from Photoshop?: PhotoCraft does most of what Photoshop does, without a subscription, and your data stays with you. The point by point comparison is on the page.
Do I own my data?: Yes. With an open source tool installed on your side, your files stay on your machine or your server. Nobody can close your account or change the price.

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