Krita is a professional, open-source painting application created by artists for artists. Offering state-of-the-art brush stabilization, 100+ professional brushes, vector illustration tools, and full frame-by-frame 2D animation support, Krita serves as a complete, zero-cost alternative to Adobe Photoshop and Corel Painter.
Krita
Professional free and open-source painting program for digital artists.
Best for: Concept artists, comic illustrators, matte painters, and 2D frame-by-frame animators
- Free plan
4.8/5 ratingEditorial score 93/100krita.org
Starts at
Free Forever (GPLv3)
Get started free
Opens the official website in a new tab.
Editorial score93/100
The editorial note
What to know about Krita
Is it right for you?
Who Krita suits
Choose it if
- Concept artists, comic illustrators, matte painters, and 2D frame-by-frame animators
Look elsewhere if
- General office workers needing basic document annotations or PDF modifications
What you get
Key features
- Advanced brush engines with 9 unique brush engines
- Brush stabilizer for smoothing shaky hand strokes
- Frame-by-frame 2D animation with onion skinning
- Vector and text shape tools
- Seamless pattern tiling mode (Wrap-around mode)
- Full color management with CMYK and HDR support
Works with
Integrations5
What it costs
Pricing
| Plan | Price | What it includes |
|---|---|---|
| Open Source | Free Forever (GPLv3)Billed one-time | 100% free download for Windows, macOS, and Linux with full commercial illustration rights |
Prices are recorded from the vendor's public pricing page and can change. Check before you buy.
The trade-off
Pros and cons
Pros
- 100% free and open-source without subscriptions or feature paywalls
- Exceptional brush engine with advanced stabilization and customizable brush tips
- Full 2D frame-by-frame animation suite with audio timeline support
Cons
- Text and typography tools are less intuitive than Illustrator or Photoshop
- Can consume significant system resources on very large multi-layered canvas files
Quick read
At a glance
- Category
- Design & Creative
- Pricing model
- Free
- Entry plan
- Free Forever (GPLv3)
- Free plan
- Available
- Free trial
- Not listed
- Website
- krita.org
The verdict
Our take on Krita
Krita is a masterpiece of open-source software, providing a world-class digital painting and animation studio completely free of charge.
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