Gen AI Alternatives
“AI Programs” provide GenAI services and/or regularly scrape content made with their program to train GenAI. “Alternative Programs” have either announced that they don’t do either, or don’t appear to do so (as of June 2026). Many of these programs have free or discounted versions for students, teachers, and organizations.
key
- $1 = a one time purchase option
- $S = a subscription option
- F = a free option
- * = a special note about important details unique to that program.
- Highlight = our recommended programs
art & design
| AI Programs | Alternative Programs | Details |
|---|---|---|
| Adobe Photoshop (painting, illustration) | Clip Studio Paint *includes similar 2D animation features as well https://www.clipstudio.net/ja/ | $1, $S, Windows, macOS, Galaxy, iPad, Android, iPhone, Chromebook |
| Gimp https://www.gimp.org/ | F, Linux, Windows, macOS | |
| Krita https://krita.org/en/ | F, Windows, macOS, Linux | |
| My Paint https://www.mypaint.app/en/ | F, Linux, macOS, Windows | |
| Sketchbook https://www.sketchbook.com/apps | F, iPhone, iPad, macOS, Windows, GooglePlay | |
| Fire Alpaca https://firealpaca.com/ | F, Windows macOS | |
| Paintstorm https://paintstormstudio.com/index.html | $1, iPad, Windows, macOS, Linux | |
| Escape Motions Rebelle https://www.escapemotions.com/products/rebelle/about | $1, Windows, macOS | |
| Adobe Photoshop (graphic design, photo manipulation) | Affinity (Photo Editing) *can be connected to Canva to use their GenAI features https://www.affinity.studio/photo-editing-software | F, macOS, Windows |
| Adobe Photoshop (pixel art) | Aseprite https://www.aseprite.org/ | $1, Windows, macOS, Steam |
| Pixelorama https://orama-interactive.itch.io/pixelorama | F, Windows, Linux, macOS | |
| Pixel Studio https://store.steampowered.com/app/1204050/Pixel_Studio__pixel_art_editor/ | F, Windows, Steam | |
| Adobe Animate/Adobe Photoshop (2D animation) | Tahoma https://tahoma2d.org/ | F, Windows, macOS |
| Blender *a 3D modeling program, the 2D usage is called “grease pencil” https://www.blender.org/ | F, Windows, macOS | |
| Open Toonz https://opentoonz.github.io/e/ | F, Windows, macOS | |
| Wick Editor *can also be used to make games https://www.wickeditor.com/#/ | F, web-based, download beta for: Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, and iOS | |
| Synfig Studio https://www.synfig.org/ | F, Windows, macOS, Linux | |
| Linearity https://www.linearity.io/move/ | F, $S, macOS, iPad, iPhone | |
| Cacani https://cacani.sg/?v=7516fd43adaa | $S, Windows | |
| TV Paint https://tvpaint.com/en | $1, Windows, macOS, Linux | |
| ToonBoom *also has a storyboard program called “storyboard pro” https://www.toonboom.com/ | $S, Windows, macOS, Linux | |
| Moho *primarily puppet animation, but has great frame-by-frame features as well https://moho.lostmarble.com/ | $1, Windows, macOS | |
| Adobe InDesign (book/print layout) | Scribus https://www.scribus.net/ | F, Windows, macOS, Linux |
| Affinity (Page Layout) *can be connected to Canva to use their GenAI features https://www.affinity.studio/page-layout-software | F, macOS, Windows | |
| Adobe Premiere (video editing) | Kdenlive https://kdenlive.org/ | F, Linux, Windows, macOS, BSD |
| Open Shot https://www.openshot.org/ | F, Linux, macOS, Windows | |
| Shotcut https://www.shotcut.org/ | F, Windows | |
| DaVinci Resolve https://www.blackmagicdesign.com/products/davinciresolve | F, $1, macOS, Windows, Linux | |
| Adobe Audition (audio editing) | Audacity https://www.audacityteam.org/ | F, Windows, macOS, Linux |
| DaVinci Resolve Fairlight https://www.blackmagicdesign.com/nl/products/davinciresolve/fairlight | F, $1, macOS, Windows, Linux | |
| Ardour https://ardour.org/ | F, Linux, macOS, Windows | |
| LMMS *music editing primarily https://lmms.io/ | F, Windows, macOS, Linux | |
| Tracktion https://www.tracktion.com/ | $1, macOS, Linux, Windows | |
| Bitwig *music editing primarily https://www.bitwig.com/ | $1, macOS, Linux, Windows | |
| Cakewalk https://www.cakewalk.com/ | F, macOS, Windows |
web and socials
| AI Programs | Alternative Programs | Details |
|---|---|---|
| Wix, Squarespace, Shopify, Godaddy (website builders) | WordPress *includes some GenAI features such as image generation and website builder, but is easier to avoid the GenAI than other programs https://wordpress.com/ | F, $S |
| ReadyMag https://readymag.com/ | F, $S | |
| Carrd https://carrd.co/ | F, $S | |
| Blento https://blento.app/ | F | |
| Omg.Lol https://home.omg.lol/ | F | |
| Facebook/Instagram (meta), X, Pinterest | Bluesky https://bsky.app/ | F |
| Cara *primarily for artists https://cara.app/explore | F | |
| Substack https://substack.com/ | F | |
| Reddit *only in explicitly GenAI-free communities https://www.reddit.com/ | F | |
| Chrome, Edge, Google, Qwant, (browsers and search engines) | Vivaldi *can disable GenAI, more safety features https://vivaldi.com/ | F |
| DuckDuckGo https://duckduckgo.com/ | F | |
| Kagi *can disable GenAI https://kagi.com/ | $S | |
| Firefox *can disable GenAI https://www.firefox.com/en-US/ | F | |
| Ecosia *environmentally driven, but in contradiction does have AI features and is partnered with OpenAI, but they claim to power their AI with renewable energy and it can be disabled https://www.ecosia.org/ | ||
| LinkTree | See website builders ^ | |
| Everlink https://everlink.tools/ | F | |
| Kickstarter *uniquely supports GenAI users by allowing them to fund “their” projects that made by GenAI | IndieGoGo *allows the use of GenAI but requires disclosure, generally has less GenAI related projects than Kickstarter https://www.indiegogo.com/en | Payment varies |
| Backerkit *entirely disallows content solely created using GenAI, protects uploaded content from scraping https://www.backerkit.com/ | Payment Varies | |
| Zoom, Google Meet (video conferencing) | Jitsi Meet https://jitsi.org/ | F, web and mobile |
| Jami *includes local AI generated subtitles that can be disabled https://jami.net/ | F, Windows, Linux, iOS, mobile | |
| Signal https://signal.org/ | F, Windows, Linux, iOS, mobile | |
| Nextcloud Talk https://nextcloud.com/talk/ | F *may be hosting costs, desktop, mobile |
other
| AI Programs | Alternative Programs | Details |
|---|---|---|
| Duolingo, Beelinguapp (language learning) | Busuu *some AI integration https://www.busuu.com/ | F, $S, desktop, mobile |
| Wlingua https://www.wlingua.com/en/ | desktop, mobile | |
| Mango Languages https://mangolanguages.com/ | $S *some libraries offer free access, mobile | |
| Rocket Languages https://www.rocketlanguages.com/ | $1, $S, desktop, mobile | |
| Lingo Deer https://www.lingodeer.com/ | F, $S *often has sales, desktop, mobile | |
| LingQ https://www.lingq.com/en/ | F, $S, desktop, mobile | |
| Rosetta Stone https://www.rosettastone.com/ | $S, desktop, mobile | |
| Babbel https://www.babbel.com/ | $1, $S, desktop |
have thoughts?
Do you have resources or information you’d like to add? Evidence that disproves any information on this page? Looking for help with creating art assets? Reach out to humanmindshumanhands@gmail.com
Luke Beatrice Art 