GIMP vs Krita Comparison 2026
GIMP is built for photo correction, retouching and compositing, free under the GPL with color management strong enough for print. Krita is built for painting instead, illustration, concept art and comics with a brush engine tuned for tablet pressure and tilt, also free under the GPL, with an animation timeline included. Krita's own guidance says these two get confused for each other constantly despite being built for opposite tasks: GIMP develops and fixes a photograph, Krita makes original marks from scratch.
A free image editor for retouching and paint
Free painting software built for drawing tablets
At a glance
- Both have a genuinely free tier.
Side by side
GIMP | Krita | |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | Free | Free |
| Pricing model | Free | Free |
| Free tier | Yes | Yes |
| Billing | Not stated | Not stated |
| Free trial | Not stated | Not stated |
| API | Not stated | Not stated |
| Data export |
GIMP
A free image editor for retouching and paint
GIMP has been the free answer to a paid image editor since the nineties, covering retouching, compositing, painting and format conversion, with scripting for the jobs you do a hundred times. Its colour management is strong enough for print work. The interface is its own rather than a copy of anyone else's, which is the real cost of switching to it.
Our note
The honest comparison is not against Photoshop feature by feature but against what you actually do, and for retouching and compositing most people never reach the edge of it. Photopea is worth a look first if you want something Photoshop-shaped in a browser tab.
Krita
Free painting software built for drawing tablets
Krita is a painting application aimed at illustrators, concept artists and comic work rather than at photo retouching, and its brush engine is the reason people choose it. Pressure and tilt from any tablet the operating system already recognises work without a driver of its own. The application is free under the GPL, and the paid copies on the console and desktop stores buy automatic updates and put money back into development. A 4 GB machine will run it and a 16 GB one is what the project asks for.
Why people weigh these two
- Krita instead of GIMP
- Krita is also free and built specifically for drawing tablets, the pick when the work is painting from scratch rather than retouching or compositing existing photos.
- GIMP instead of Krita
- GIMP is also free with no time limit, but it is built around photo retouching and general image editing, the pick if painting is only one of several jobs.
Which one should you pick
Pick GIMP for photo correction, retouching and compositing on an existing image, with layers, masks and scripting for jobs done a hundred times. It is not built for drawing original artwork with a tablet; its own guidance is honest that it is the wrong tool for the job Krita specializes in.
Pick Krita for illustration, concept art or comic work with a drawing tablet, where the brush engine and pressure sensitivity are the actual point. It runs on a 4GB machine at minimum, with 16GB recommended, and the free GPL download and the paid app-store builds are the same program; paying only buys automatic updates and sends money to development. Photographers wanting to correct exposure and color are in the wrong place; GIMP is built for that instead.
Common questions
- Do GIMP and Krita do the same job?
- No, and Krita's own guidance says the two get confused for each other constantly despite being built for opposite tasks. GIMP corrects and composites existing photographs; Krita paints original artwork with a tablet-tuned brush engine.
- Is Krita's paid app-store version different from the free download?
- No, they are the same program; the paid store builds buy automatic updates and send money back to development after the store's fee, with no feature difference stated. GIMP has no paid version at all, on any store.
- Does GIMP have a brush engine built for a drawing tablet like Krita's?
- Not to the same degree; Krita's brush engine and its pressure and tilt support are specifically what illustrators choose it for. GIMP's strengths are retouching, compositing and photo-format work instead.
- Does either one include animation tools?
- Krita does: a frame-by-frame animation timeline ships in the same free application, useful as a first step into animated work. GIMP's feature list does not describe an equivalent animation timeline.
Ratings are the average of reviews readers left. The facts are stated by each tool’s own listing and are not verified by CloutStack. How we make money.