Did you know that 68% of adults edit their selfies before posting them? Not surprisingly, whether for personal use or for business, if you aren’t producing catchy images, you aren’t going to get attention! There are lots of high quality best free online photo editors available if you know where to look.
Tools such as Photoshop or Lightroom are very popular, but they are higher-priced and not everyone can afford them. But you don’t need Adobe Photoshop to make amazing photos for social media or your business. So, we will focus on the best lesser-known options for free online photo editors.
With so much options online, making a choice can be difficult, so we have picked some of the best ones for you. Most of these photo editing software lets you create stunning images in just a few clicks.
Table of Contents
Summary: Pros and Cons of Free Online Photo Editors
| Free Online Tools | Pros | Cons |
| GIMP | Unrivaled features It’s basically Photoshop but FREE Great UX Always evolving | Hard to get used to |
| Fotor | Instantly upload photos to social media One-touch enhancements on laptop, tablet, phone Feels like Photoshop | Not as comprehensive as GIMP Not as convenient as Fotor |
| Inpixio Photo Clip | Easy Decently powerful for a simple editor Before and after feature Connects to Facebook | Not very powerful Not a professional-grade editor |
| BeFunky | Unique features like the cartoonizer Powerful and simple Fun! | Not as many features as Gimp |
| Photoshop Express | Instantly upload photos to social media One-touch enhancements on laptop, tablet, phone Feels like Photoshop | Not as comprehensive as GIMP Not as convenient as Fotor |
| Ashampoo Photo Optimizer | Auto-correction Half a dozen sliders for optimizing photos Batch editing options Clean interface | Not as many features as others No bulk color options Auto-optimizer is great but sometimes misses basic things. Needs improvement. |
| Pixlr | Clean interface Integrates with social media for easy sharing One-click manipulations Collages | Not as many features as others Annoying ads to upgrade |
| Paint.net | Layers function rivals expensive editors Unlimited features Fun plugins and helpful community Familiar interface | Option overload Too complex for newbies Takes a long time to make edits |
| Photo Editor by Aviary | Clean interface Variety of effects | Only available on iOS mobile platform |
| iPiccy | Easy to use interface Many interesting effects and features | Limited file formats to save |
| Ribbet | Great user experience Free cloud storage and sharing | Mobile only platform |
| Canva | By far the easiest photo editor Basic image editing without the hassle | You really can’t do much edits |
| Instasize Photo Editor | Lot of filter options Collage creator and beauty tools | Built for mobile only |
| Google Photos | Simple and intuitive Many options to access photos | Not too many features for photo editing |
| PicMonkey | UI is friendly and intuitive Useful templates | Free version has less features |
Detailed Review of Best Free Online Photo Editors
GIMP – Best Photoshop online
When it comes to free photo editors, GIMP is the king. Short for GNU Image Manipulation Program, GIMP is the closest you can get to Photoshop without paying a dime. It comes equipped with an impressive number of professional-quality functions, a completely configurable interface, allows fine-tuning of images, and contains a fully-integrated tool set that allows the creation of professional quality original artwork.
Check this for Online free version of GIMP, easily this is the best Photoshop online
If you can do it in Photoshop, you can almost certainly do it in GIMP. If you want even more options, you can also use Photoshop plugins, which provide you with unmatched flexibility compared to any other free photo editor. GIMP is also open-source, which means that if you have the know-how, you’ll be able to add your own filters and features should you desire.
If you are experienced in image editing software you should get the hang of GIMP relatively quickly, but those not well versed in image editing software may find the interface cluttered or non-intuitive. A fair compromise for the sheer editing power you get at no cost!
Fotor – Best online image editor
Fotor has tons of features that you usually find in high-priced camera editing software, but it’s insanely easy to use. And it’s all from right in your browser, so this is one of the best online image editors that are free.
It’s so easy to enhance photos, it’s almost comical. There are 13 different 1-tap options, so you can make all of the most common photo enhancements with next to no human effort.
Fotor provides a wonderful set of Smart Filters and effects, as well as an engaging photo collage tool, and can handle RAW files without much issue. Fotor also allows some limited design functionality in the form of business cards, social media images, posters, banners, documents, and invitations, which should be useful to bloggers and digital marketers.
If you aren’t a photo editing pro and just want to make great images, then Fotor is the best editor to start with. That being said, Fotor doesn’t have nearly as many features as GIMP, so if you want to make serious photo enhancements, go with GIMP.
Inpixio Photo Clip – Best non-web photo editor
Inpixio is a foolproof, no-frills photo editor that makes photos POP with minimal effort and requires absolutely 0 technical knowledge or editing skill.
You can download the free photo editor to check all lfeatures.
All of the features are available in the FREE version, and there are none of those annoying ads reminding you to upgrade, so UI is on point.
Adjusting the temperature, hue, exposure, and other facets of your photos is as simple as dragging the bar. You can ignore tone curves if you want, it’s not super important (for basic editing)
Another awesome feature is the “before and after” view that lets you see changes to your photos. That way, you can bask in the amazing editing skills you just showed off.
The tool isn’t very powerful, but it’s perfect for uploading enhanced photos to social media or showing off travel photos to friends on Instagram (which is obviously why you would want a tool like this).
BeFunky – High quality photo editor online
BeFunky an awesome online and mobile image editor. It’s fun, easy, and pretty comprehensive, so there’s nothing not to like. It also has one thing you can’t get anywhere else: their world-famous CARTOONIZER! This is a high quality photo editor you can get online for free!
If your goal is social networking posts, printable assets, or a presentation for a client, then Befunky is a good option for you. While it may lack features as wide-ranging as other options on this list you would be hard pressed to find a faster and more efficient option for cranking out simple creatives in a reasonable time frame.
Photoshop Express – Free online photo editor like Photoshop
Photoshop Express has almost all of the photo enhancement capabilities of Photoshop without the massive price tag. All of this creativity at your fingertips makes it easy and fun to touch up photos on your laptop, tablet, or phone. It’s time to FLAUNT your images all over social media.
So this is an absolutely free online photo editor much like Photoshop.
Everything is immediately accessible regardless of your previous experience. Another bonus: no plugins are required so long as you have Flash installed, and you can simply drag and drop your images onto to start working.
The downside: Photoshop Express currently only supports JPG files and contains no social media sharing features. This might be a crippling limitation to some now that PNG is a much more commonly used extension.
Ashampoo Photo Optimizer – Free photo beautifying bulk editor
Ashampoo is pretty cool photo editing software with a that annoying feature for businesses and narcissists on social media: bulk photo editing.
But the tool offer some cool features as well:
- Auto-detects dull colors for correction
- Instantly corrects poor lighting
- Auto-optimizes white exposure
If you’ve got a ton of photos to edit, you can throw em’ all into the optimizer and choose to rotate or mirror at the same time. You can’t edit colors all at once, though. But, when you combine bulk edits and auto-corrections, Ashampoo is a great free photo editor.
Pixlr – Best collage maker online for free
This online photo editor is available via your browser, the iPhone and Android platforms, and provides a number of simple one-click functions and a relatively robust toolset. Perhaps the best feature of this app is just how easy it is to use: it contains tutorials to guide you through the more complicated features and can be mastered very quickly once you get the hang of things.
If you are familiar with photo editing apps, then this is a fantastic choice for you.
Pixlr is fun because it comes in two versions: Editor and Express. The main version comes with a super simple interface and tons of awesome features, but if you just want to play around with your photos, add effects, or change the size, Pixlr Express is a free online photo editor with 1-click manipulation. You’ll be in and out with a brand spanking new Ansel Adams in minutes.
In addition to this great little program, the company also provides Vectr (a free vector graphics editor), some free graphics that you can use in your creatives, and a nice selection of free stock images should the need arise.
What is the catch? While this app is free to use, the best features are locked behind a paywall. You’ll need to go Pro if you intend to take advantage of the more advanced functionality.
Paint.net – Better than MS Paint
Paint.net started as a university project mentored by Microsoft. It’s totally FREE but comes with features normally found in expensive photo editing programs (Layers creates insanely rich photos at no cost).
Paint.net is the only entry on our list managed by a thriving community of paint-aholics and is extendable via fun plugins that allow you to:
- Make objects 3D
- Remove dust
- Create checkerboards
Just look at all of the available extensions. The simple, intuitive user interface makes enhancing images easy, and if you’re used to playing around with MS Paint, you’ll feel right at home.
Photo Editor by Aviary – Best photo effects online
This free iPhone photo editor is widely lauded for its variety of photo editing effects and tools, clean interface, and wealth of sharing options that make posting your shots online a breeze. Photo Editor by Aviary contains more correction and enhancement tools than nearly any other mobile-based competitor on the market.
Similar to Instagram, creative filters are available to improve more lackluster images.
It is important to note that it’s only available on iOS, so you’ll have to look elsewhere if you want something on your PC, Linux box, or Android phone.
iPiccy – Free mobile photo editor
Boasting one of the easiest-to-use interfaces of any editor on this list, iPiccy is a good choice for anyone looking for a free mobile photo editor without learning a complicated interface. With many one-click tools and a fantastic zoom feature, you’ll certainly be able to create compelling final photographs with minimal time invested.
You’ll also have access to more advanced features; with curve adjustments, clone tools, background erasers, and other options, there is more than enough here to satisfy pros and novices alike. Note: you will require Flash to use iPiccy in-browser.
While iPiccy has limited options for saving your files (JPG and PNG only) and limits sharing only to Facebook (sorry Twitter and Tumblr users), the ability to upload multiple files simultaneously and the WYSIWYG interface will keep your productivity high.
Ribbet – Best browser photo editor
Ribbet’s main strength is in how easy it is to use, this is one of the best browser based photo editors.
Even the most unskilled novice can master Ribbet quickly thanks to the fantastic UI and attention to great user experience. Like other options on this list, it contains a collage feature as well as a variety of different tools allowing you to add over 70 different fonts, create stickers, and so much more.
Featuring great sharing options as well as free cloud storage to help save and sort your photographs so they are available at all times, you really can’t go wrong with Ribbet. It’s a solid package that is pleasant to look at and can only get better as time passes.
One thing that is important to note: using Ribbet’s more advanced features is going to require an upgrade to the Premium version. Despite this, you have access to the bulk of the program features with the free option and it’s a great platform for making the most out of your images. Available for iPhone and iPad and with an Android build launching soon, you can take it anywhere you go.
Canva – Free photo editing app
If you need to upload a few photos fast, Canva is the best photo editing app for you. Canva has enough features to make great photos: Filters, Brightness/Color adjustment, Crop, Resize , Rotate, Flip. This is a bare-bones photo editor, so don’t expect much. The good thing is, you can use it on a Mac or PC.
If you need to make fast changes like cropping or resizing or just want to add a filter, definitely use Canva.
Instasize Photo Editor – Best online image editing app
Instasize is available on both iOS and Android. It is built for mobile editing.
Design is sleek and user-friendly. It doesn’t cut corners on features and tools. Cropping and resizing are the app’s bread and butter, but when it comes to image editing, the app lets you get into the nitty-gritty: manipulating exposure and brightness, tint and warmth, shadows and highlights, contrast, sharpness and saturation. Not everyone has the time for that, so Instasize also has over 130 professional-grade, photographer-inspired filters for you to choose from.
It also has many other features such as robust beauty tools, unique borders, a collage creator and text editor. With Instasize, anyone at any skill level can add a personal and professional touch to the photos they post online.
Google Photos – A basic photo editor
A recent replacement for Picasa, Google Photos is extremely simple and intuitive and allows you to edit your photographs with very little fuss. Google Photos can be accessed via your Google account literally anywhere with internet. With one-click sharing options for Google+, Blogger, and YouTube, and integrated sharing with Facebook, Flickr, and other social networks.
You can easily browse your photo library and organize your work without headaches. It has a limited feature set for actual photo editing, but does provide the key functions you would expect (crop, redeye, auto contrast, color correction, etc.). That isn’t to say it can’t do anything fancy—with Google Photos you’re able to make animations, photo booth-style photo arrangements, holiday-themed effects, interactive stories, and apply frames and filters to your photos.
PicMonkey – Free photo editor for collage
PicMonkey’s strength is its ease-of-use compared to more advanced tools. It’s straightforward and the UI is friendly and intuitive and laid out logically and without clutter.
This tool also has all sorts of really useful templates that help speed up your workflow as well as facilitate the creation of headers and banners for blogs, websites, and marketing materials. While PicMonkey can only process one file at a time, it is still a great option for an online photo editor app.
Featuring a great collage maker that outshines most other simple photo editors, PicMonkey is accessible to everyone. As with many other entries on this list, PicMonkey has additional features hidden behind a paywall.
