ArtCraft vs GIMP
Both are free. That is roughly where the similarity ends: GIMP has had two decades to grow rough edges, workarounds and answers, while PhotoCraft has a cleaner interface and no track record.
Last updated
The honest comparison
GIMP is a mature, GPL-licensed raster editor. It runs on every desktop platform and has a plugin ecosystem, but its interface and its colour handling are the two things people complain about most, usually in that order.
PhotoCraft is the ArtCraft image editor, currently early alpha. It looks like the tool most people already know, and it is native Rust rather than a wrapper, but it has no plugin ecosystem and no body of tutorials.
So the choice is not which is better. It is which risk you prefer: GIMP's friction, or an alpha's missing features.
Where GIMP wins
It has shipped for decades, so almost every problem you hit has a forum answer, a video or a script.
The plugin ecosystem covers batch processing, file formats and specialised retouching that PhotoCraft has no equivalent for.
It is finished enough to be the only editor you install. An alpha cannot make that claim.
Where PhotoCraft wins
The interface will feel familiar if you come from Photoshop. GIMP's does not, and that gap is the most common reason people bounce off it.
It belongs to a suite: vector, layout, video, audio and office apps share conventions, which no other free stack offers.
It is early enough that reporting a bug can change the product. GIMP's roadmap is not waiting on you.
A test that settles it in twenty minutes
Take one real layered file and do three things in both editors: a mask, a text edit, and an export at your delivery settings.
Write down where you stopped. If you completed all three in GIMP and not in PhotoCraft, install GIMP and check back on ArtCraft next quarter. If PhotoCraft finished first because you could find the buttons, use it on a copy and keep your paid editor for the deadline.
Do not remove your current editor until one of them has passed on a project you care about.
Questions
Is PhotoCraft better than GIMP?
It has a more familiar interface and is part of a wider suite, but GIMP is far more mature. Neither wins outright.
Is GIMP still worth using?
Yes. It is finished, free, and every problem has an answer somewhere.
Which should I install first?
GIMP if you need to finish work today. PhotoCraft if you are evaluating the ArtCraft suite.
Are both really free?
GIMP is GPL. The ArtCraft Craft Apps are free and open source; its paid plans fund a separate AI product.