Krita vs Photoshop (2026): Painting Studio or Pixel Editor?

Krita official hero artwork showing the painting workspace used to identify the application — Krita project site hero (krita.org). Source · License: GPL-3.0-or-later.

Adobe Photoshop 2023 workspace showing the splash screen, toolbar, layers, and color panels — Photoshop UI used to identify the commercial editor. Source · License: Adobe product screenshot.

Verdict. Choose Krita 5.3.4.1 if your job is digital painting, comics, or concept art and you want GPL software from krita.org. Choose Adobe Photoshop if you want the commercial Creative Cloud pixel editor. Choose GIMP if the job is general photo manipulation. We have no sourced speed or quality test.

Compare Krita and Photoshop.

Dimension	Krita	Photoshop	Source
License	GPL-3.0-or-later (krita.org license page, 2026-10-18; still the cited page)	Proprietary (Adobe General Terms of Use)	krita.org/en/about/license/; adobe.com/legal/terms.html
Price	free (open-source); paid store listings still use that GPL	paid Creative Cloud (price not copied here)	krita.org license page; Adobe product page
Current release (this check)	Krita 5.3.4.1, released Wednesday 7 October 2026 (krita.org/download)	Creative Cloud SKU; version string not copied from Adobe’s product page	krita.org/en/download/ (2026-10-22); adobe.com/products/photoshop.html
Platforms / hardware (sourced)	Windows 8.1+, macOS 10.15, Linux; 4 GB RAM min / 16 GB recommended; OpenGL 3.0 or Direct3D 11	Adobe markets desktop plus an online app; we did not copy a requirements table	krita.org/en/download/ system requirements
Primary job (project positioning)	Digital painting studio (comics, illustration, concept, VFX)	Commercial general-purpose photo and design editor	krita.org; Adobe product page
Canonical code host	invent.kde.org/graphics/krita (GitHub KDE/krita is a mirror)	Not a public GitHub product in this check	Project README / Adobe site
Community snapshot (2026-10-22)	10,603 stars / 891 forks on the GitHub mirror; last push 2026-10-22	Not a public GitHub product in this check	GitHub API KDE/krita
Painting vs photo tools	Not independently tested	Not independently tested	n/a

When to choose which

Digital painting, comics, concept art: Krita — That is Krita’s own positioning (5.3.4.1). We did not test a production illustration.
Paid Creative Cloud pixel editor: Photoshop — That is the commercial product. Not a quality score.
General photo retouching with a free editor: GIMP — See GIMP vs Photoshop. We did not test a retouch job.
Tracking a new Rust-native editor: PhotoCraft — Early alpha v0.12.0. See PhotoCraft vs Photoshop.

Read the entity pages: Krita and Photoshop (identification only). Hub: Photoshop alternatives. Painting-focused OSS pair: Krita vs GIMP. Same cluster: GIMP vs Photoshop, PhotoCraft vs Photoshop, PhotoCraft vs GIMP.

Krita vs Photoshop at a glance

Krita is a free digital painting studio. krita.org/en/download presented Krita 5.3.4.1 on 2026-10-22 (released 7 October 2026). License: GPL-3.0-or-later (krita.org license). Canonical git: invent.kde.org/graphics/krita. GitHub KDE/krita mirror on 2026-10-22: 10,603 stars / 891 forks.

Photoshop is Adobe’s proprietary Creative Cloud editor. See the identification page. We did not copy a price or a painting-vs-photo scorecard.

Star counts on a GitHub mirror are not quality. Krita’s own positioning is painting, not a drop-in Photoshop clone.

When to pick each

Need painting, comics, concept, matte/texture: Krita 5.3.4.1 from krita.org/download.
Need a general free photo editor: GIMP 3.2.6 — GIMP vs Photoshop.
Need the commercial Creative Cloud editor: Photoshop.
Need a new Rust-native PSD-aware editor and accept alpha: PhotoCraft — PhotoCraft vs Photoshop.
Need a RAW catalog: darktable vs Lightroom.
Need SVG as a primary job: Inkscape on Adobe Illustrator alternatives.

Install notes (Krita)

Download binaries from krita.org, not from GitHub star counts (the GitHub mirror has no Releases object in our earlier check). Official requirements on that page (2026-10-22): 4 GB RAM minimum, 16 GB recommended, OpenGL 3.0 or Direct3D 11, any OS-compatible tablet. New Windows versions do not support 32-bit. We have not run 5.3.4.1 on a named forkalt machine.

Photoshop alternatives
Canva alternatives (Krita is also listed there)
Krita vs GIMP
GIMP vs Photoshop
PhotoCraft vs Krita
PhotoCraft vs GIMP
Switch from Photoshop to GIMP if the job is general editing, not painting
Image & Design

FAQ

Krita vs Photoshop — is Krita a drop-in Photoshop clone?

No sourced document we opened claims that. Krita positions itself as a painting studio. Photoshop is a commercial general editor. Job split is the sourced difference, not a quality rank.

What version of Krita is current?

krita.org/en/download presented Krita 5.3.4.1 on 2026-10-22, released 7 October 2026. System requirements on that page: Windows 8.1+ / macOS 10.15 / Linux, 4 GB RAM minimum (16 GB recommended), OpenGL 3.0 or Direct3D 11.

Should I pick GIMP or PhotoCraft instead?

GIMP is the general photo editor (see GIMP vs Photoshop). PhotoCraft is early-alpha Rust (see PhotoCraft vs Photoshop). Krita is the painting row. See Krita vs GIMP.

Are Steam or Microsoft Store Krita builds still GPL?

krita.org’s license page (checked 2026-10-18) says paid store listings still use GPL v3 or later. Not legal advice.

Sources & verification

Last verified 2026-10-22 · Last updated 2026-10-22· Edited by forkalt editors · Editorial policy

License notes are not legal advice. Read the original LICENSE. Trademark & disclaimer.