A detailed comparison of Adobe Creative Cloud and GIMP to help you choose the right tool for your needs.
The industry-standard suite of creative applications.
Free, open-source image editor for photo retouching and manipulation.
| Plan | Adobe Creative Cloud | GIMP |
|---|---|---|
| Free Tier | ✗ No | ✓ Completely free |
| Lowest Paid | $22.99/mo (single app) | Free |
| Enterprise | $89.99/mo (all apps) | Free |
| Feature | Adobe Creative Cloud | GIMP |
|---|---|---|
| Photoshop | ✓ | — |
| Illustrator | ✓ | — |
| InDesign | ✓ | — |
| Premiere Pro | ✓ | — |
| After Effects | ✓ | — |
| Lightroom | ✓ | — |
| XD | ✓ | — |
| Adobe Fonts | ✓ | — |
| Cloud storage | ✓ | — |
| AI features | ✓ | — |
| Photo retouching | — | ✓ |
| Layer support | — | ✓ |
| Custom brushes | — | ✓ |
| Filters | — | ✓ |
| Scripting | — | ✓ |
| Plugin support | — | ✓ |
| File format support | — | ✓ |
| Color management | — | ✓ |
| Batch processing | — | ✓ |
| Cross-platform | — | ✓ |
| Open Source | ✗ | ✓ |
| Rating | ⭐ 4.3 | ⭐ 3.9 |
Choose Adobe Creative Cloud if: You need professional designers and creatives. Adobe Creative Cloud excels with its industry standard and most powerful tools.
Choose GIMP if: You need users wanting free professional image editing. GIMP stands out with its completely free and open source.
Best free option: GIMP offers a free tier (Completely free).
It depends on your needs. Adobe Creative Cloud is better for professional designers and creatives, while GIMP is better for users wanting free professional image editing. Both are excellent tools rated 4.3 and 3.9 respectively.
Adobe Creative Cloud starts at $22.99/mo (single app) while GIMP starts at Free. GIMP also has a free tier.
Most tools offer import/export features to help you migrate. We recommend trying GIMP's free tier before fully committing to a switch.
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