When scrolling through your Instagram feed, it is easy to get the perception that everyone around you is an expert at capturing perfect images every time right on their smartphone. But the reality is, there is a lot of work that goes into making content look effortless. The best creators take a great deal of care to edit and perfect their photos before sharing them on social media. But the good news is you don’t have to be a professional photographer to use the most popular mobile editing tools, and you don’t have to spend a lot of money either. In fact, many of the best tools available are completely free, so there’s no excuse for not downloading them right now.

These are the top five free photo-editing apps for taking your content to the next level:

Snapseed

If you download no other photo-editing app, make it Snapseed. Long considered the standard of mobile editing apps, it provides a full range of easy-to-use tools, from basics like cropping and rotation to filters, textures, and special effects. You can also save your favorite “Looks” to apply to photos later, making it easy to develop and maintain a consistent aesthetic for your grid. Best of all, there are truly no in-app purchases, so when they say free they mean free.

VSCO

VSCO (pronounced visco) is ideal for creating that shot-on-film quality that is so popular right now on Instagram. It has the best filters for emulating a vintage, dreamlike, aesthetic and is easy-to-use with presets that can be adjusted to your liking.

Photoshop Express

It’s common knowledge that every graphic designer and photographer uses Adobe Photoshop on a daily basis. The Express version, while not as powerful as the original, let’s you use much of Photoshop’s basic functionality for free. You can crop and rotate photos, adjust exposure, and a lot more right on your phone or tablet.

Lens Distortions

Ever wonder how so many people have managed to capture a perfect lens flare on their phone camera? Well… they haven’t. Lens Distortions is a very cool app that allows you to add atmospheric elements like flares, rain, or fog. You have to subscribe to access their full effects, but there are enough great options available for free to create some truly impressive images.

A Color Story

This app is just so much fun. A Color Story includes a huge selection of stickers, fonts, and brushes for drawing on and enhancing photos. It’s great for creating IG Stories that go beyond the same old features everyone’s seen a million times. It’s also incredibly simple and intuitive to use, especially for those of us who aren’t exactly pros when it comes to photo-editing.

What are your favorite photo apps and why?

The 5 Best (Free) Photo Editing Apps