Home / Directory / Photo & video effects
Alternatives to Instagram filters
Edit, glitch and film with tools that do not need an account or an audience.
Ranked by score out of 30, most convivial first.
RawTherapee
A free raw photo editor with fine control over colour and tone.
OBS Studio
Record and stream your screen and camera, with backgrounds and a virtual camera.
Shotcut
A free video editor with filters, transitions and effects.
PhotoMosh
Glitch your photos, videos and webcam in the browser.
G'MIC
Hundreds of image filters and effects, as a plugin or on the command line.
For comparison
The big names these tools are measured against. We review them as benchmarks, so they sit outside the directory.
About these tools
Effects are the fun end of pictures. PhotoMosh glitches photos, video and your webcam in the browser, G'MIC adds hundreds of filters to GIMP and Krita, RawTherapee develops raw photos with fine control, Shotcut edits video without a watermark, and {obs-studio} builds backgrounds and overlays for calls.
Most are free and open source, and none needs you to post anything.
How to choose
Decide whether you want a quick look or a lot of control. Quick looks are the one thing the big apps do better, and the open tools win when you care about keeping your files, your skills and your privacy.
Frequently asked questions
What is a fun alternative to Instagram filters?
PhotoMosh applies glitch effects in the browser, and G'MIC adds film looks and painterly effects to desktop editors.
Is there a free video editor with no watermark?
Shotcut is free, open source and adds no watermark. {obs-studio} records and streams.
How do I get a custom background for calls?
{obs-studio} has a virtual camera that Teams, Zoom and others can use as a webcam.