Photopea
Browser-based raster image editor modeled closely on Adobe Photoshop's interface and features.
Commenters like it as a free, browser-based Photoshop replacement123 that covers most small edits and that many have used regularly for years.4567 The most common complaint is its large ads and aggressive handling of ad blockers,8910 and one user finds the 8 euro monthly premium plan hard to justify.11
Why people recommend it
Long-term favorite · 3
Many commenters say they have used it frequently or daily for years and love it.
“I love Photopea and have been using it for 6 years I think. Best piece of software imo.”
“I use photopea every day.”
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“I use photopea for years and really respect what you did.”
Photoshop replacement · 3
Users say it has replaced Photoshop for them and comes close to its feature set.
“It has basically fully replaced Photoshop for me for at least a few years now.”
“It's not at 100% feature parity with PS but it's pretty darn close.”
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“There have been some good alternatives mentioned in the comments here, like Affinity or Photopea.”
Small edits · 3
Former heavy Photoshop users find it covers most quick, occasional edits.
“It suffices for 95% of what I need to do.”
“it's a really cool project”
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“It's not at 100% feature parity with PS but it's pretty darn close.”
Indie success · 3
Commenters admire it as a successful solo-built free Photoshop alternative.
“Photopea was a solo attempt to offer a free alternative to Photoshop, and it was highly successful.”
“We should be supporting them.”
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“Glad for him to found success with Photopea later”
Runs in browser · 2
It works on the web and runs well as a PWA.
“Unless you're a power user, you should check out Photopea[1]. It runs well as a PWA.”
“Photopea.com only works via a website for normies.”
Caveats and dissent
Intrusive ads · 3
Large ads take screen space, and features were reportedly broken when an ad blocker was detected.
“The owner of Photopea also fights ad blockers harshly and he went as far as surreptitiously breaking some features on purpose when it detected that an adblocker was installed”
“I use photopea for years and really respect what you did.”
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“his product is itself just a blatant adware copy of photoshop”
Subscription cost · 1
One user won't pay 8 euro a month indefinitely and would prefer a one-time license.
“I use it enough I would happily pay say $50 for a self-hosted single user license that will not get updates”
Not full parity · 2
It lacks full Photoshop feature parity and is suggested mainly for non-power users.
“It's not at 100% feature parity with PS but it's pretty darn close.”
“Unless you're a power user, you should check out Photopea[1]. It runs well as a PWA.”
Web only · 1
It is described as working only via a website.
“Photopea.com only works via a website for normies.”
Often compared with
Who recommends it in their own words
From the makers not counted in the ranking
“Hey, I am the creator of https://www.photopea.com”
Threads where it came up
- Tell HN: GitHub refuses to remove cracked copies of my software after a month 9 mentions
- Vibecoding Photoshop: Time and pressure 3 mentions
- Photopea creator weighs in on Photosuite project 2 mentions
- ArtCraft Apps – open-source Adobe compatible suite written in Rust 1 mention
- bzip3 1 mention
- An Infuriating Goodbye to Photoshop 1 mention
Data: photopea.json. Quotes are verbatim; the verdict and theme labels are written by a model from these comments, and every clause links to its sources.
All comments 20
“his product is itself just a blatant adware copy of photoshop”
“No thanks. I use https://www.photopea.com/ .”
“The owner of Photopea also fights ad blockers harshly and he went as far as surreptitiously breaking some features on purpose when it detected that an adblocker was installed”
“We should be supporting them.”
“it's a really cool project”
“It has basically fully replaced Photoshop for me for at least a few years now.”
“I use photopea for years and really respect what you did.”
“What an amazing piece of software I used it all the time!”
“I use it enough I would happily pay say $50 for a self-hosted single user license that will not get updates”
“Photopea.com only works via a website for normies.”
“I love Photopea and have been using it for 6 years I think. Best piece of software imo.”
“Hey, thanks for photopea. I use it frequently.”
“First of all, thanks Ivan! Happy user of Photopea.”
“I use photopea every day.”
“Glad for him to found success with Photopea later”
“There have been some good alternatives mentioned in the comments here, like Affinity or Photopea.”
“It's not at 100% feature parity with PS but it's pretty darn close.”
“Photopea was a solo attempt to offer a free alternative to Photoshop, and it was highly successful.”
“It suffices for 95% of what I need to do.”
“Unless you're a power user, you should check out Photopea[1]. It runs well as a PWA.”