Affinity Photo
beats GIMP by 25 points
Affinity Photo
Free
GIMP
Free
Affinity Photo wins decisively (75 vs 50) with a more intuitive interface, full RAW development, and professional features that rival Photoshop — all completely free. GIMP remains a capable open-source editor with an active community, but its dated interface and lack of native RAW support make it harder to recommend for serious photo editing.
Score breakdown
Each dimension rated 1–5. Higher is better across all four.
What users say
Affinity Photo
"Free professional photo editor rivaling Photoshop with full RAW support"
Pros
GIMP
"Free open-source photo editor rivaling Photoshop for budget-conscious users"
Pros
How to Choose Between GIMP and Affinity Photo
Both are free, but they serve different needs. Affinity Photo is a professional photo editor with full RAW support. GIMP is an open-source image manipulation program stronger in graphic design and compositing.
| If you… | Consider… |
|---|---|
| Need built-in RAW development | Affinity Photo — full Serif RAW engine included |
| Want the most intuitive free editor | Affinity Photo — praised as more intuitive than Photoshop |
| Prefer open-source with active plugins | GIMP — large plugin ecosystem and community |
| Need non-destructive editing | Affinity Photo — full adjustment layers and live previews |
| Work with graphic design and compositing | GIMP — strong at layered image manipulation |
| Edit photos professionally | Affinity Photo — purpose-built for photography |
How They Score on 1vs
| Metric | GIMP | Affinity Photo |
|---|---|---|
| Overall Rating | 50/100 | 75/100 |
| Pricing | ★★★★☆ | ★★★★★ |
| Features | ★★★☆☆ | ★★★★☆ |
| User Experience | ★★☆☆☆ | ★★★★☆ |
| Reviews | ★★☆☆☆ | ★★★☆☆ |
GIMP scores 50/100 — its features (3/5) are solid for graphic design but it lacks native RAW and has a polarized UX experience. Affinity Photo’s 75/100 comes from its exceptional combination of professional features (4/5) and highly praised UX (4/5), all at zero cost.
When to Choose Each
Choose GIMP if you need an open-source image editor with a large plugin community. GIMP excels at graphic design tasks: logo creation, digital painting, batch processing, and layered compositing. Its open-source nature means dozens of community plugins extend its capabilities far beyond the defaults. For photography, the limitations are significant — no native RAW development, a dated single-window interface, and a learning curve that many find frustrating. Users praise how well GIMP handles core editing, but the UX is polarized in community discussions.
Choose Affinity Photo if you want a free professional photo editor with modern features. Full RAW development, non-destructive adjustment layers, Frequency Separation for skin retouching, HDR merge, panorama stitching, and focus stacking — all included at zero cost. The interface is consistently praised as more intuitive than Photoshop. Available on Windows, macOS, and iPadOS with native performance. The trade-off is a smaller community compared to GIMP’s decades of tutorials and plugins.
Key Differences
| Dimension | GIMP | Affinity Photo |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free, open-source | Free (proprietary) |
| RAW development | No (requires plugins) | Yes, full Serif RAW engine |
| Adjustment layers | Limited | Full non-destructive |
| Community size | Massive, decades-old | Growing, newer |
| Plugin ecosystem | Large, community-driven | Smaller but curated |
| Learning curve | Steep, polarized | Moderate, praised as intuitive |
| Best for | Graphic design and compositing | Professional photo editing |
For more photo editor comparisons, see our Affinity Photo vs Adobe Photoshop comparison for a free-vs-subscription professional showdown, or our Snapseed vs Photopea comparison for mobile and browser editing.
Pricing & value
| Metric | Affinity Photo | GIMP | Winner |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free tier | Yes | Yes | Tie |
| Starting price | Free | Free | Affinity Photo |
Is GIMP better than Affinity Photo?
Is Affinity Photo really free now?
Can GIMP open RAW files?
Our pick