Snapseed review
7.5/10★★★★★Google's free pro-style mobile photo editor, with Smart Masking in Snapseed 4.0
- Best for
- Phone photographers who want precise manual edits for free
- Price
- Free
Free: Everything is free, with no in-app purchases - Platforms
- iOS, Android
- Made by
- Google, Mountain View, USA · since 1998
- App store ratings
- iOS 4.9★ (28K) · Android 4.8★ (1.84M)
What it is
Snapseed is a completely free mobile photo editor, originally from Nik Software and now owned by Google. Version 4.0, released in May 2026, added non-destructive and batch editing, one-touch Smart Masking, an in-app camera and new colour and lighting tools on both iPhone and Android.
Latest: May 2026: Snapseed 4.0 launched on Android and iOS with batch editing and Smart Masking.
What the AI does
- Smart Masking (one-touch masks)
- Portrait tools
- Healing brush
- Auto-adjust
Pros and cons
- Completely free, with no subscriptions
- Precise, non-destructive editing
- Snapseed 4.0 brought Android up to date
- Few generative AI tools
- Mobile only
- Android went nearly two years without updates before 4.0
How it scores
Unbeatable value and strong manual tools, but light on AI features and limited to phones and tablets.
Feature checklist · 4 of 9
- Remove unwanted objects or people (yes)
- Background removal or replacement (no)
- AI subject or sky selection and masking (yes)
- Generative fill or expand (no)
- Edit by describing changes in text (no)
- AI enhance, denoise or upscale (no)
- AI portrait and face retouching (yes)
- Free version with useful editing tools (yes)
- Available on both mobile and desktop or web (no)
Alternatives
See all Snapseed alternatives, ranked →
- Google Photos 8.4/10Anyone who wants quick, free AI fixes on the photos already on their phone
- Adobe Lightroom 8.3/10Photographers who want pro-grade editing and a synced photo library on every device
- Canva photo editor 8.2/10Non-designers who edit photos to use in social posts, slides and marketing
- Adobe Photoshop 8.1/10Designers and retouchers who need full control over complex edits and composites