Alternatives to Adobe drawing and painting software
This is a user contributed list.
If you know of any good software that's not on the list, let me know in the comments section.
Software listed below are arranged alphabetically (sort of). Links are to the product pages and respective app stores. Please report broken links.
Legend:
- sub - subscription
- 1x - one time payment
- free - free/open source
- freemium - free to use but with some tools locked
| Software | Windows | Mac | Linux | iPad | Android |
| DIGITAL PAINTING | - | - | - | - | - |
| Adobe Photoshop (sub) | Windows | Mac | iPad | ||
| Adobe Fresco (sub) | iPad | ||||
| Affinity Photo (1x) | Windows | Mac | iPad | ||
| Artstudio Pro (1x) | iPad | ||||
| Clip Studio Paint Pro (sub/1x) | Windows (sub/1x) | Mac (sub/1x) | iPad (sub) | Android (sub) | |
| Corel Painter (1x/sub) | Windows | Mac | |||
| Firealpaca (free) | Windows | Mac | |||
| IbisPaint (sub)/IbisPaint X (free) | Android | ||||
| Krita (free) | Windows | Mac | Linux | Android | |
| Medibang Paint (freemium/sub) | Windows | Mac | iPad | Android | |
| Paintstorm Studio (1x) | Windows | Mac | iPad | ||
| Paint Tool SAI (1x) | Windows | Mac | |||
| Procreate (1x) | iPad | ||||
| Medibang Pro (1x) | iPad | ||||
| Rebelle (1x) | Windows | Mac | |||
| Sketchbook (1x) | Windows | Mac | iPad | Android | |
| ILLUSTRATION / SKETCHING (fewer painting tools) | - | - | - | - | - |
| Concepts (freemium/1x/sub) | Windows | Mac | iPad | Android | |
| Sketchbook (1x) | Windows | Mac | iPad | Android | |
| Tayasui Sketches Pro (1x) | Mac | iPad | Android | ||
| PHOTO EDITING | - | - | - | - | - |
| Adobe Photoshop (sub) | Windows | Mac | iPad | ||
| Affinity Photo (1x) | Windows | Mac | iPad | ||
| GIMP (free) | Windows | Mac | Linux | ||
| PaintShop Pro (1x) | Windows | ||||
| PhotoLine (1x) | Windows | Mac | |||
| Photopea (free) | Windows | Mac | Linux | ||
| Pixelmator Pro (1x) | iPad | ||||
| Pixlr (free) | Windows | Mac | Linux | ||
| Sumo Paint (free) | Windows | Mac | Linux | ||
| VECTOR | - | - | - | - | - |
| Adobe Illustrator (sub) | Windows | Mac | iPad | ||
| Affinity Designer (1x) | Windows | Mac | iPad | ||
| Boxy SVG (sub/1x) | Windows | Mac | Linux | ||
| Corel Draw (1x) | Windows | Mac | |||
| Gravit Designer (freemium/sub) | Windows | Mac | Linux | ||
| Inker (free) | Windows | Mac | Linux | Android | |
| Inkscape (free) | Windows | Mac | Linux | ||
| Vectornator (1x) | Mac | iPad | |||
| Vector Ink (1x) | Windows | Mac | Linux | Android | |
| Xara Designer (sub) | Windows | ||||
| PAGE PUBLISHING | - | - | - | - | - |
| Affinity Publisher (1x) | Windows | Mac | |||
| QuarkXPress (1x) | Windows | Mac | |||
| Scribus (free) | Windows | Mac | Linux | ||
| ANIMATION | - | - | - | - | - |
| Adobe Animate (sub) | Windows | Mac | |||
| Blender 3D (free) | Windows | Mac | Linux | ||
| Cacani (sub) | Windows | ||||
| Clip Studio Paint EX (sub/1x) | Windows (sub/1x) | Mac (sub/1x) | iPad (sub) | Android (sub) | |
| Moho (1x) | Windows | Mac | |||
| OpenToonz (free) | Windows | Mac | |||
| Synfig (free) | Windows | Mac | Linux | ||
| Toonboom (1x) | Windows | Mac | Linux | ||
| TVPaint (1x) | Windows | Mac | Linux | Android | |
| Wick Editor (free) | Windows | Mac | Linux |
Comments
Thanks for the guide! I would
Thanks for the guide! I would add also Infinite Painter for Ipad and Android, it's a great app used also by some Pros.
I have ArtRage Vitae, which
I have ArtRage Vitae, which is available from the Mac App Store. I paid £34.99 a month ago, but that may have been an offer. It is a good natural media art program.
Very nice list! I've moved
Very nice list! I've moved from Adobe to Affinity (Photo, Designer, Publisher) and have been very happy with the change.
A couple of notes: Adobe InDesign seems to be missing from your list. Under Animation you have Adobe Animate which is essentially a reworking of Flash, an application that I used some years ago. When I was looking for an alternative to Flash/Animate I found Hype by Tumult (https://tumult.com/hype/) which is Mac only.
Excellent list, thanks for
Excellent list, thanks for making it.
It looks like you have forgotten Rebelle 4 an excellent watercolour/drawing app for Windows and Mac.
I use Clip Studio Paint for all of my work and have migrated from InDesign to affinity publisher with great success.
Thanks
Tomas
Thank you for the list. I
Thank you for the list. I would like to see Heavypaint added. Its an awesome painting app! Check it out here: http://heavypaint.app
I would posit Leonardo for
I would posit Leonardo for digital painting on Windows. It's nowhere near as feature heavy as something like Photoshop or Clip Studio, but it's very very fast and great for quick sketches.
Another vector software app
Another vector software app for your list is VectorStyler. It’s available (1x) for both Mac and Windows. https://www.vectorstyler.com/
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