Best Drawing Software in 2023 ✏️ For Your Creativity – The Designest

Best For

Adobe Photoshop CC

• Windows (10 64-bit (version 20H2) or later)
• macOS (macOS Big Sur (version 11.0) or later)
• iPadOS (14.0)

• Photo editing
• Graphic design
• Raster image editing
• Digital art

• Useful Plug-Ins, Filters, Textures, Overlays, and Actions
• Support of graphics tablet
• Cloud Storage
• Very versatile functionality among other drawing programs

• Expensive Creative Cloud subscription
• Steep learning curve
• Very space-consuming program
• Limited support for vector graphics

US$20.99/mo

10 / 10

Adobe Illustrator CC

• Windows (11 and 10 (64-bit) versions V21H1, and V20H2).
• macOS (version 12.0 — Monterey, version 11 — Big Sur, version 10.15 — Catalina).
• iPadOS 14 or later

• Vector illustrations

• Packaging design

• Logos

• Icons

• Infographics

• Versatile software for digital artists

• Best file recovery

• Wide variety of exporting options

• Awesome image tracing tool

   

• Takes up a lot of disk space

• It’s hard to learn for beginners

• Limited support for raster graphics

• Expensive CC monthly subscription when you need only Adobe Illustrator

   

US$20.99/mo

10 / 10

Affinity Designer

• Windows (7 (Service Pack 1; Platform Update KB2670838; Aero enabled), 8.1, 10 (1607 Anniversary update or higher), 11).
• macOS (10.9 — Mavericks or later).
• iOS (12 or above).

• Creating concept art
• Print projects
• Logos
• Icons
• UI designs

• Combines vector & raster design tools
• Handle 1000s of objects with no lag
• Affordable software with one-time purchase payment

• Graphics tablet support is still a work in progress
• No .ai file export

Affinity Designer — US$69.99

Affinity Designer for iPad — US$19.99

10 / 10

Procreate

• iPadOS (14.4 or later).
• iOS (15.4.1 or later).

• Digital art
• Character art
• Animation

• Affordable price
• Perfectly simulates real-life painting
• Lots of advanced drawing features

• Gets slower when there are a lot of paintings in the app
• Available only for iPhone and iPad users

Procreate — US$9.99

Procreate Pocket — US$4.99

10 / 10

Adobe Fresco

• Windows (11 version 22000 or later, 10 version 1903 or later).
• iPadOS (iOS version 14 or later.
• iPhoneOS (iOS version 14 or later).

• Digital art
• Concept art
• Character art
• Illustration

• Realistic brush, pen, and pencil physics
• Raster and vector tools support
• Easy to learn UI

• Expensive digital art software
• Lacking of basic editing features

US$9.99/mo

8 / 10

Rebelle 5

• Windows (10 64-bit)
• macOS (10.14 and newer)

• Digital art
• Illustration

• Affordable price, no subscription
• Realistic drawing physics simulation
• Easy to use program with shallow learning curve

• High hardware requirements
• Very specialized app

US$89.99

8 / 10

Krita

• Windows (8.1 version or higher)
• macOS (10.12 and higher)
• Linux

• Digital art
• Concept art
• Character art
• Comics
• Illustration

• Free drawing software
• Lots of free education resources
• Many brushes

• It’s very focused digital art software
• Some features may seem unintuitive

Free

9 / 10

Inkscape

• Windows (Windows 7 and higher).
• MacOS (10.13 and higher).
• Linux

• Vector graphics
• Logos
• Icons

• Free drawing software
• Extensive selection of supporting formats
• Large array of extensions

• Steep learning curve
• No CMYK color mode support
• Creating vector graphics only

Free

8 / 10

Clip Studio Paint Pro

• Windows (8.1, 10, 11)
• macOS (10.15, 11, 12)
• iPadOS (15)
• iPhone (15, 16)
• Android (9 or later)
• Chromebook (ChromeOS compatible with Android 9 or later)

• Character art
• Concept art
• Illustration
• Manga

• Advanced vector tools
• AI technology
• Wide selection of custom brushes

• Quite high pro & ex price
• Too many adjustions wrapped up in a complex UI
• Lack of options for manipulating fonts and texts

One-time purchase of US$49.99

OR

free trial for 3 months then monthly/annual plans

9 / 10

Corel Painter

• Windows (10 or 11 with the latest updates)
• macOS (12 or 11.0 with the latest updates)

• Digital art

• Concept art

• Illustration

• Huge set of brushes
• Various AI tools
• Easy to use program with intuitive interface

• No tablet or mobile apps
• Performance issues on weak computers

Full version — US$429

OR

Subscription US$14.08/mo

8 / 10

Artweaver 7

• Windows (7, 8, 10, or 11 each with latest service pack)

• Photo manipulation
• Image editing
• Sketching

• Plug-in support
• Lots of raster painting tools
• Affordable price for Plus edition

• Available only for Windows users, no mac OS version
• No open type fonts support
• Outdated interface

Free version

OR

Artweaver Plus — €34

7 / 10

MediBang Paint Pro

• Windows (7 SP1, 8, 8.1, 10)
• macOS (10.9-10.15 versions)
• iPadOS (11.0 or later)
• iPhoneOS (9.1 or later)
• Android (8.0 or later)

• Comics or manga drawing

• Free drawing software
• Easy to use interface even for beginners
• Available on all platforms
• Perfect for manga artists

• Lacking of advanced features
• Creating new brushes can be difficult

Free

7 / 10

ArtRage

• Windows (7 or higher)
• macOS (10.9 or later)
• iPad and iPhone (iOS 10 or later)
• Android (4.0 or higher)

• Digital art
• Concept art
• Illustration

• Realistic drawing process & real world color blending
• Affordable digital painting software
• All the features put into intuitive interface

• Lacking of advanced editing features
• Demand powerful computer to work efficiently at larger print sizes

ArtRage Vitae Desktop — US$80

ArtRage 6 — US$59

ArtRage Lite — US$29.90

ArtRage Vitae for Android — US$4.99

ArtRage Vitae for iOS — US$4.99

7 / 10

MyBrushes Paint for Mac

• macOS (10.10 or later, 64-bit processor)
• iOS (iPhone and iPad compatible, for iOS 7.0 or later)

• Digital art

• Unlimited layers
• Easy to use interface
• Quite low price

• Needs an update badly
• Not much for advanced professional features

• Desktop version US$29.99
• Mobile version US$4.99

4 / 10

Paintstorm Studio

• Windows (Vista, 7, 8, and 10 versions)
• macOS (10.7 and higher)
• iPad (iOS 12.0 or later)
• Linux

• Digital art
• Concept art
• Comics
• Manga
• Illustration

• Provides the finest level of control
• Wide personalization options
• Fast GPU Engine

• Steep learning curve
• Crowded default interface

Paintstorm Studio — US$19.00

Paintstorm for iPad — US$12.99

7 / 10

Sketch

macOS

• UI designs
• Logos
• Icons

• Very quick learning curve
• Powerful tools for vector graphics
• Perfect for UX/UI design

• Only available for mac os
• Not the first choice for professional digital artists

For individuals and teams — US$9.00 per editor monthly or US$99.00 yearly

For businesses — US$20.00 per editor monthly

6 / 10

SketchBook

• Windows (10 version17763.0 and higher)
• macOS (10.14.0 or later)
• iPad (iPadOS 11.0 or later)
• iPhone (iOS 11.0 or later)
• Android (OS 5.0 and higher)

• Digital art
• Concept art
• Character art
• Comics
• Manga
• Illustration

• Extremely responsive to a stylus or apple pencil
• Advanced color editor and custom color palettes
• Lots of professional painting tools

• Some features take longer to load up
• No more Copic markers after separation from Autodesk

SketchBook Pro — US$19.99

SketchBook — Free

9 / 10

MyPaint

• Windows
• macOS
• Linux

• Digital art
• Concept art

• Superior media emulation
• Nice symmetry tool
• Free drawing software

• Focuses only on digital art
• Too techie to install
• Latest releases may be unstable

Free

5 / 10

TwistedBrush Pro Studio

• Windows (7, 8, and 10)

• Digital art
• Illustration
• Photo editing

• Tons of pre-made brushes
• Extended export options
• Low basic learning curve

• A bit outdated UI
• Lack of customization

Version License — US$109

Perpetual License — US$199

5 / 10

GIMP (GNU image manipulation program)

• Windows (Windows 7 and higher).
• macOS (10.12 Sierra or newer).
• Linux

• Digital art
• Illustration
• Photo editing

• Free open source software

• Nice exporting options

• Large number of tools at your disposal

• Dubious credibility of 3rd party plugins
• The UI should be revamped
• Lack of customer support, since it’s open source

Free

5 / 10