Blender
Focus: 3d, vfx and after effects alternative. Shares animation and open source with Krita. Rated 4.8 (Krita: 4.7).
Desktop AppFreeWindows, macOS
4.8Visit
Desktop App
Krita
A free, open-source painting program made by artists for artists.
Rating
4.7 / 5
Pricing
Free
Difficulty
Intermediate
Works on
Windows, macOS, Linux
Built with love by Shushant Lakhyani. Building bestproductivityresources.com
What is Krita?
Krita is a professional, free and open-source painting program for digital art, concept art, comics and animation, licensed under the GNU GPL. You can download it free for Windows, macOS, Linux and Android; paid versions on the Microsoft Store, Steam, Epic Games Store and Mac App Store add automatic updates and fund development. iPad and iPhone are not supported.
Pros: what Krita does well
- Free and open source (GPL)
- Excellent brushes and painting tools
- Built-in animation features
Cons: where it falls short
- Made for painting rather than photo retouching
- No iPad or iPhone version
Who Krita is for
Illustrators and digital painters who want pro tools for free.
Who can skip it
Photographers who mainly retouch photos.
Compare Krita
See how Krita stacks up, side by side, plus the lists it made.
Krita alternatives
Not sold on Krita? These do a similar job, and each card says what it has in common.
PhotoGIMP
Focus: gimp, image editing and github. Shares photoshop alternative and open source with Krita. Adds Offline. Rated 4.5 (Krita: 4.7).
Desktop AppFreeWindows, macOS
4.5Visit
darktable
Focus: raw editor, photo workflow and lightroom alternative. Shares open source and photoshop alternative with Krita. Rated 4.4 (Krita: 4.7).
Desktop AppFreeWindows, macOS
4.4Visit
GIMP
Focus: photo editor and image editing. Shares open source and photoshop alternative with Krita. Rated 4.4 (Krita: 4.7).
Desktop AppFreeWindows, macOS
4.4Visit
MyPaint
Focus: sketching and fresco alternative. Shares digital painting and open source with Krita. Rated 4.1 (Krita: 4.7).
Desktop AppFreeWindows, macOS
4.1Visit
Compositor
Focus: image editor, compositing and mac app. Shares photoshop alternative and open source with Krita. A Mac app, not a desktop app. Rated 4.6 (Krita: 4.7).
Mac AppFreemacOS
4.6Visit
Free alternatives to Krita
Want to spend nothing? These free picks cover similar ground.
Theatre.js
Focus: motion, web and 3d. Shares animation and open source with Krita. A framework, not a desktop app. Adds Web. Rated 4.6 (Krita: 4.7).
FrameworkFreeWeb
4.6Visit
Transitions.dev
Focus: ui, transitions and react. Shares animation and open source with Krita. A framework, not a desktop app. Adds Web. Rated 4.5 (Krita: 4.7).
FrameworkFreeWeb
4.5Visit
Ghostty
Focus: terminal, emulator and gpu. Shares open source with Krita. Rated 4.9 (Krita: 4.7).
Desktop AppFreemacOS, Linux
4.9Visit
fzf
Focus: fuzzy finder, command line and shell. Shares open source with Krita. Adds Offline. Rated 4.8 (Krita: 4.7).
Desktop AppFreemacOS, Windows
4.8Visit
lazygit
Focus: git client, terminal ui and developer tool. Shares open source with Krita. Adds Offline. Rated 4.8 (Krita: 4.7).
Desktop AppFreemacOS, Windows
4.8Visit
navi
Focus: terminal, cli and cheatsheet. Shares open source with Krita. Rated 4.8 (Krita: 4.7).
Desktop AppFreemacOS, Windows
4.8Visit
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