Icons8 vs Procreate Comparison 2026
Both cover design & graphics. Here is what separates them on price, billing, what you can take with you, and coverage.
Icons, photos and AI generators on one plan
Paint on an iPad for the price of one lunch
At a glance
- Icons8 starts cheaper, at $6.50.
- Neither has a free tier.
Side by side
Icons8 | Procreate | |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price (they differ) | From $6.50 | From $12.99 |
| Pricing model (they differ) | Paid subscription | One-time purchase |
| Free tier | No | No |
| Billing (they differ) | Monthly or annual | One-time purchase |
| Free trial | Not stated | Not stated |
| API | Yes | Not stated |
| Data export | Not stated | Not stated |
| 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.
Icons8
Icons, photos and AI generators on one plan
Icons8 sells one subscription across icons, illustrations, photos, music and a set of AI generators, which is a wider spread than an icon library usually covers. The cheapest plan is the AI tools on their own and buys credits rather than downloads. Hand-drawn graphics begin on the tier above that. There is an API, a desktop app and a design tool called Lunacy in the same account.
Our note
Read the credit costs before the plan prices, because a generated icon is 200 credits and that arithmetic decides which tier you actually need. Envato Elements is the better buy if you want video and audio in the same subscription.
Only on this side
- Covers stock footage & assets
Procreate
Paint on an iPad for the price of one lunch
Procreate is the drawing app most illustrators on an iPad already own, and it is bought once rather than rented. The brush engine is the reason: it responds to pressure and tilt closely enough that people who trained on paper stop noticing the screen. Animation, perspective guides and a time-lapse recording of every session come with it, and that last one has quietly become how artists prove a piece is theirs. It runs on iPad only, and the company has said plainly that it will not add generative image tools.
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.