Krita
FreeProfessional open-source digital painting application
About Krita
Krita is a professional digital painting application built with C++ and Qt, designed for illustration, concept art, and animation — not photo editing. Around 8K GitHub stars on the main mirror; the project lives on KDE infrastructure. It ships with over 100 brush presets organized by type (inking, painting, texture), a full animation timeline with onion skinning, HDR painting support, and non-destructive layer styles. The brush engine competes with Clip Studio Paint for line quality on a Wacom tablet. Minimum specs are 4GB RAM and an SSD; 8GB is more realistic for large canvases. Photoshop users frequently get confused because Krita doesn't do photo retouching — there's no healing brush, content-aware fill, or photo adjustment presets. The UI changed significantly in v5, which divided longtime users. Tablet support on Linux is excellent. The community is active, documentation is solid, and it's genuinely free with no subscription or feature gating.
Key Features
Pricing Plans
Free
- Full feature set
- All platforms
- No restrictions
- Animation tools
Pros
- Completely free
- Excellent brush engine
- Great for digital art
- Active community
Cons
- Not ideal for photo editing
- Resource heavy
- Limited vector tools
Best For
- Digital illustration and concept art
- Comic and manga creation
- Frame-by-frame animation
- Students learning digital painting on a budget
Not Ideal For
- Photo editing and retouching workflows
- Teams needing reliable PSD round-trip compatibility
Potential Deal Breakers
- Needs 4GB+ RAM minimum for smooth performance
- Not suited for photo editing workflows
- v5 UI overhaul frustrated many longtime users
Data & Privacy
Open-source desktop painting application. All files stored locally. No cloud, no telemetry, no accounts. Complete privacy. No data collection of any kind.
Who Is This For?
Hands-on tested May 2026
Signup Experience
Free download from krita.org -- no account, no signup, no cost. Available for Linux, macOS, and Windows. The app launches immediately after install. Drawing tablet detection is automatic on all platforms. New users should explore the brush preset library and workspace layouts before diving into a project.
For Home Users
Completely free with no feature limits -- the best starting point for anyone learning digital painting or illustration. The brush engine and animation tools match paid tools at zero cost. Students, hobbyists, and indie artists doing illustration, comics, or concept art have no reason to pay for Clip Studio Paint before evaluating Krita thoroughly. Requires 4GB+ RAM for smooth performance on large canvases.
For Business Users
Free with no per-seat licensing costs for commercial use. Illustration studios and freelancers doing digital painting, concept art, and comic production can use Krita professionally. The brush quality holds up against Clip Studio Paint in head-to-head tablet tests. Not a photo editing replacement -- teams needing Photoshop-style retouching workflows still need a separate tool. Animation production teams get a capable frame-by-frame animation tool included at no additional cost.
Our Verdict
Krita is the best free option for digital painting and holds up against Clip Studio Paint at $0. It's a painting app, not a photo editor — that distinction matters. If you draw, try it before paying for anything else.