There are few free photo editors as good as GIMP; you typically have to fork out a small fortune to use them. Now, a massive 21 years after its last full number update, GIMP 3.0 is finally here. And let me tell you, it’s a big one.
GIMP 3.0 Finally Launches, and It Has Loads of New Features
After spending nearly a decade in development, the open-source image editing program GIMP (GNU Image Manipulation Program) has finally received its version 3.0 update. The GIMP 3.0.0 release was first spotted onGit, withGIMPlater confirming the release and making the program available for download on Windows, macOS, and Linux.
you’re able to read theGIMP 3.0 release notesif you want to know all the changes, improvements, new features, and more. The highlights of the update are as follows:
GIMP 2.0 was released in 2004 and has received several updates since, adding new features and changes, bringing the program up to modern standards. However, the version 3.0 update marks a major landmark for the program, finally migrating it from the outdated GTK2 toolkit to the relatively modern GTK3.
For those out of the loop, GTK3 is a free and open-source cross-platform widget toolkit for creating GUIs. GTK4 launched in December 2020, so GTK3 isn’t exactly cutting-edge tech anymore, but it still brings GIMP into the modern era with a newer, better user interface. The older interface and default layout weren’t user-friendly, so you had tocustomize your GIMP layout before editing anything.
GIMP vs. Photoshop: Which One Is Right for You?
Adobe Photoshop is the most popular image editing app. GIMP is the best free alternative to Photoshop. Which should you use?
The initial development build for GIMP 3.0 was released in 2020, and after four years of improvements, the first release candidate build (RC1) was released in November 2024. Development picked up after that, and the latest release candidate, RC3, was released in February 2025. The final stable release is close to the RC3 version, indicating that the last month was spent optimizing and fixing bugs instead of adding new features.
The update is an important one for GIMP as it isone of the best free photo editing tools. While the program does get frequent updates, version 3.0 was a long overdue update that brings it more in line with how modern photo editing tools operate.
