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Both cover design & graphics. Here is what separates them on price, billing, what you can take with you, and coverage.
Interface design and prototyping in a browser
Free painting software built for drawing tablets
Figma | Krita | |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | From $16 | Free |
| Pricing model (they differ) | Free plan, paid tiers | Free |
| Free tier | Yes | Yes |
| Billing | Not stated | Not stated |
| Free trial | Not stated | Not stated |
| API | Not stated | Not stated |
| Data export | Not stated | Everything, in an open format |
| Their cut | None | None |
| Runs on (they differ) | Web, macOS, Windows |
Shaded rows are where the two answers disagree and both listings have answered. A row where one side has not stated a fact is left plain, because silence is not a difference.
Interface design and prototyping in a browser
Figma is where most interface design happens now, and creators arrive at it for brand kits, thumbnails and anything a developer has to build from later. Files live in the browser and several people can be inside one at the same time without anybody emailing a version. The free Starter plan carries unlimited drafts, which covers solo work. Seats are priced by what you actually do in the file.
Our note
The free tier is genuinely enough for one person maintaining their own brand assets, and the seat split is what makes bringing in an editor or a developer affordable. Penpot is the answer if self-hosting or open formats matter to you.
Free painting software built for drawing tablets
Krita is a painting application aimed at illustrators, concept artists and comic work rather than at photo retouching, and its brush engine is the reason people choose it. Pressure and tilt from any tablet the operating system already recognises work without a driver of its own. The application is free under the GPL, and the paid copies on the console and desktop stores buy automatic updates and put money back into development. A 4 GB machine will run it and a 16 GB one is what the project asks for.
Ratings are the average of reviews readers left. The facts are stated by each tool’s own listing and are not verified by CloutStack. How we make money.
| macOS, Windows, Linux |
| Covers | Design & Graphics | Design & Graphics, Photo Editing |
|---|
| Works with | Nothing in particular | Nothing in particular |
|---|
| Founded | Not listed | Not listed |
|---|
| Reader rating | No reviews yet | No reviews yet |
|---|
| Live deals | None right now | None right now |
|---|
Our note
Buy the store version if you want it to update itself and you would like the money to reach the developers, because the direct download and the paid build are otherwise the same program. Choose GIMP instead if the job is photo correction, since these two get confused for each other and are built for opposite tasks.
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