# Paint.NET

30 Hacker News commenters recommended Paint.NET and 8 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 7 of 13 months. It meets the Hacker Approved badge rule.

**Verdict:** A simple, quick, free image editor that people use for small edits and as a lighter alternative to MS Paint. Critics mainly note that it is closed source.

## Why people recommend it

- Go-to tool for daily use (5 comments): "Paint.net is my go-to image editing software." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49540971)) "I like Paint.NET. It's a valuable resource." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48331072)) "Paint.net is a must have tool on windows." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48328353))
- Simple, quick, no-nonsense editing (4 comments): "a simple, quick, no-nonsense image editor - while there are image editor alternatives, as far as I can tell there's nothing quite like it" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46479626)) "the only software I find reasonably simple AND reasonably advanced" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49543174)) "It’s lighter, simpler, and faster with a much more intuitive UX." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49540744))
- Best for quick, small edits (4 comments): "paint.net is undeniably the best for quick image edits" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48328741)) "I had to switch to Paint.net for doing small edits." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46732326)) "paint.net is amazing for basic png editing" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49540244))
- Better than MS Paint (3 comments): "OP didn't like that, so they went and downloaded Paint.Net to avoid having to deal with (MS) Paint shenanigans." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49423028)) "Paint.net has done Paint right for many years now" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50119932)) "Paint.net is just better in every way." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49518199))

## What people warn about

- Closed source, not open (2 comments): "PDN isn't FOSS. Linux platform knowledge was scraped from FOSS Linux software, trained into AI, and is being used to port a closed source program to Linux" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49549595)) "Paint.net is closed source" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49541205))
- Questions about AI-generated code (2 comments): "PDN isn't FOSS. Linux platform knowledge was scraped from FOSS Linux software, trained into AI, and is being used to port a closed source program to Linux" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49549595)) "It is very buggy, was AI slop coded, and barely works." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49540383))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [MS Paint](https://hackerapproved.com/p/ms-paint.md): 22 recommend
- [KolourPaint](https://hackerapproved.com/p/kolourpaint.md): 5 recommend

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "Paint.NET", https://hackerapproved.com/p/paint-net/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).