Image Editing Software
Last updated July 30, 2025
Benjamin Barrett © 2025
Last updated July 30, 2025
"What should I use to make thumbnails?"
I'm a Photoshop guy through and through, but there are plenty of alternatives that are good enough to make effective YouTube Thumbnails.
OS: Windows, Mac, iOS (iPad)
Price:
Includes the entire Affinity suite of applications which function similarly to Adobe's Photoshop and Illustrator. The Canva AI features require a Canva subscription.
Why is Affinity Free Now?
Affinity was a professional software suite which was always available as an alternative to Adobe's creative cloud collection - but without a monthly subscription, After being acquired by Canva (in 2024), the entire suite has been made free with some non-intrusive AI-related features paywalled behind a Canva Membership.
I used to own affinity back in the day, honestly it's S-Tier for everything youtubers may need to do and it's free now so yolo
Thank you to Walky for helping write this entry
OS: Windows
Great alternative to Photoshop that I grew up with. Relatively simple to use and powerful enough to handle your thumbnail creation needs.
OS: Windows, Mac, Linux... Basically anything with a modern browser.
It's like Photoshop... in your browser! Similar to Pixlr
OS: Windows, Mac, Linux
Very powerful image editor.
It's like Free Photoshop basically, but many people find the UI confusing / difficult.
OS: Windows, Mac, Linux
Krita is a very capable professional-level digital painting program aimed at artists. The program is Free and Open-Source (FOSS), and is fairly intuitive to use, even for newbies. Whilst it is not particularly aimed at the kind of image manipulation we typically need when editing thumbnails, it is well and truly capable of producing a well-performing thumbnail. Whether you're using a tablet or a mouse, it's definitely worth trying out.
OS: Windows, Mac, Linux... Basically anything with a modern browser.
Another Photoshop Alternative that runs in the browser. Similar to PhotoPea
OS: Windows, Mac, Linux... Basically anything with a modern browser.
Price: Free (Forever) / $20 USD (Per Month)
Canva is pretty popular for image editing and making thumbnails. It has a variety of templates (both free and paid) to use.
Personally, I strongly dislike Canva. The templates are sometimes tacky and objectively bad, and I feel like it's a waste of money.
OS: Windows, Mac
Price: $22.99 USD (Per Month)
The tried and true industry-loved editing software. Huge community around it (Plenty of tutorials).
Pairs very well with other Adobe applications, which must be purchased separately or as part of a Creative Cloud subscription.
The only / main reason I do not recommend this is the cost, but if you're fortunate enough to have your school / workplace grant you a free license, give it a shot!
While these websites / programs are not individually good enough to handle all your image-handling needs, these "honourable mentions" can be very helpful in your process(es).
OS: Anything with a modern browser
Price: FREE (Forever)
Allows you to preview what your video's title and thumbnail would look like on a variety of devices on YouTube.
OS: Anything with a modern browser
Price: FREE (Up to a certain resolution)
Easy tool to remove backgrounds without any effort. Great for thumbnails and other quick edits. I wouldn't bother with the paid version though.
OS: Anything with a modern browser
Price: FREE (With some limitations)
Easy tool with a variety of features such as background removal and upscaling.