Photopea
Free browser-based photo and graphics editor built and largely run single-handedly by Czech developer Ivan Kutskir.
- Software
- active
- Founded 2012
- Researched Sep 2026
The story
Photopea is a web-based, Photoshop-like image and graphics editor created by Ivan Kutskir, a Czech (born in Ukraine) computer science graduate of Charles University in Prague. He began developing it in 2012 as a side project, launched it in 2013, and grew it into a multi-million-dollar bootstrapped business while working almost entirely alone; as of 2025 he has reportedly brought on one additional team member.
Timeline
Development begins
Ivan Kutskir starts building Photopea as a university side project
Photopea launches
First public release of the browser-based editor
Revenue nears $1M/year
Kutskir reports about $1 million earned in 2020, mostly from ads
Passes $1M annual revenue
Solo-run product crosses $1 million per year, per press coverage
Revenue reaches $2.8M ARR
Annual revenue grows from $1.5M in 2023 to $2.8M in 2024
Team grows to two people
Company expands from a solo founder to a reported 2-person team
Founders
9 sourcesEvery fact above links back to these.
- Photopea - Wikipediaen.wikipedia.org
- Building a Photo Editor and Making $100k/mo as a Solo Founderfailory.com
- Creating Photopea (official blog)blog.photopea.com
- Photopea Revenue 2024: $2.8M Est. ARR (Bootstrapped)getlatka.com
- Photopea: Details, Reviews, Pricing, & Featurescheckthat.ai
- Photopea Reviews & Pricing 2025 (founder interview quote)goodfirms.co
- This Founder's Legion of Reddit Fans Helped Him Build a Free Alternative to Photoshopbootstrappers.com
- Domain registration data (RDAP, provided evidence)RDAP registry record (photopea.com)
- Photopea - 2025 Company Profile & Competitors - Tracxntracxn.com