Paint.NET is free image and photo editing software for PCs running Windows, with layers, unlimited undo and an active plugin ecosystem. PhotoCraft is open-source photo editor written in Rust that installs on Linux, Windows, macOS and FreeBSD, treats layered PSD as a format it writes as well as reads, and can be driven from a command line or an MCP client. Both cost nothing to run; the differences are platform reach, document fidelity and automation.
Install PhotoCraft All comparisons
Written against the build verified on 2026-10-14.
Paint.NET describes itself as free image and photo editing software for Windows machines, with an intuitive interface, layer support, unlimited undo, special effects and a wide range of tools, plus a large volume of plugins from an active community. PhotoCraft describes itself as an open-source photo editor written from scratch in pure Rust, whose organising commitment is a layered document model with PSD and PSB handling, GPU rendering paths, and a CLI, JSON control channel and MCP server. The first is a long-standing free Windows editor. The second is a cross-platform, scriptable editor at an early stage.
| Aspect | PhotoCraft v0.9.0 | Paint.NET | How to verify |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price to run | Free, no seat fee | Free software | Each project's own site |
| Source availability | Public repository under MIT or Apache-2.0 | Paint.NET states its terms on its own License page; treat that as authoritative | The repository LICENSE; the paint.net license page |
| Platforms | Linux x86_64, aarch64 and riscv64; Windows x64 and arm64; macOS universal; FreeBSD; WebAssembly build | Windows, described by the project as software for PCs that run Windows | GitHub release assets; paint.net |
| Layers | Layers, masks, adjustment layers, styles, text, vectors, brushes | Layer support is part of the project's own description | Open a layered file and inspect the panel |
| PSD handling | Reads and writes layered PSD as a working format, with compatibility tests in the repo | A format it can work with; confirm what a save-and-reopen cycle preserves for your files | Save as PSD, reopen, count the layers |
| Extensibility | Actions defined in JSON; CLI; MCP server | A wide range of plugins from an active community | Try the specific effect or workflow you depend on |
| Automation without a GUI | Designed for it: run one file or batch a directory headless | Not how the product presents itself; verify before planning around it | Attempt one scripted run |
| Maturity | Early alpha; panels still move | A long-established free editor with a sustained user base | Release histories of both |
Time in the world. It has accumulated a plugin ecosystem, a support community and the kind of muscle memory that makes an editor feel fast in experienced hands, and none of that is available in an alpha project no matter how good the architecture is. If a workflow you depend on is built out of plugins, the plugin ecosystem is the product, and no amount of promising rendering paths replaces it. Being Windows-only is also, for some people, a simplicity: one platform, one installer, one set of expectations.
Three concrete things. It installs where Paint.NET does not: three Linux architectures, FreeBSD, and a WebAssembly build compiled from the same core as the desktop binaries. It is published with source under MIT or Apache-2.0, which lets you read, patch and ship an internal build on terms stated in the chosen licence rather than a EULA page. And it can be operated without a person at the keyboard, because a CLI, JSON action files and an MCP server are part of the product: the task of running one grade across a directory is a documented capability, not an emergent trick.
There is a fourth, narrower case: a document that has to come back as a layered PSD. PhotoCraft treats that as its working format rather than an import, and the repository keeps tests for the format. Paint.NET may well open your file; the question that actually decides a migration is what it writes back, and only a test with your files answers that.
| Scenario | Choose | Because |
|---|---|---|
| Quick free retouching on a Windows desktop | Paint.NET | Familiar, free, and a plugin for the effect you want probably exists |
| Layered PSD work on Linux or FreeBSD | PhotoCraft | No Windows-only editor answers that question |
| A pipeline that must run unattended | PhotoCraft | Headless CLI, action files and MCP are design goals |
| Dependence on a specific plugin | Paint.NET | The ecosystem is the capability |
| Reading or modifying the editor itself | PhotoCraft | MIT or Apache-2.0 source is in the open |
| A file you must hand back editable | Either, then test | Round-trip fidelity is a property of your file set |
It presents itself as free software for digital photo editing, and its own License page defines the terms. Read that page rather than a comparison article, because the conditions on redistribution and commercial use are stated there.
The project describes itself as image and photo editing software for PCs that run Windows, so if Linux is a requirement the comparison effectively ends there. PhotoCraft publishes Linux packages for three architectures plus a FreeBSD build.
That is the question worth testing rather than reading an answer for. Open the same file in both, make a masked adjustment, save, reopen and count what is still editable; PSD fidelity differs by effect and by producer, not by marketing.
Paint.NET has the longer track record, which is a real argument for it today. PhotoCraft offers something else instead: a public repository under MIT or Apache-2.0, so a company can read the code and carry its own patches rather than wait on a maintainer.
Neither should be described as a Photoshop replacement, and this portal does not do that. Each covers a slice of Photoshop work. PhotoCraft's slice is layered files plus automation across platforms; Paint.NET's is fast, free, plugin-rich editing on Windows.
PhotoCraft ships a CLI, JSON action files and an MCP server, so a scripted run is a documented path. For Paint.NET, check its own documentation and plugin interfaces before assuming an equivalent unattended workflow exists.
