Krita vs ibisPaint X
Which is better in 2026? Five scores, side by side.
Krita is the better app overall, scoring 8.7 to 7.9. Krita wins on 3 of the 5 scores, ibisPaint X on 1, with 1 tied.
Digital painters and comic artists on a PC, Mac or Linux machine
Students and hobby artists who want a capable free app on an iPad or phone
Score by score
The details
| Feature | Krita | ibisPaint X |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Design & Creativity | Design & Creativity |
| Category rank | #5 of 10 | #10 of 10 |
| Developer | Krita Foundation | ibis inc. |
| Pricing | Free | Free + paid plans |
| Usable for free | Yes | Yes |
| iPhone & iPad | — | ✓ |
| Android | ✓ | ✓ |
| Mac | ✓ | ✓ |
| Windows | ✓ | ✓ |
| Linux | ✓ | — |
Common questions
Is Krita better than ibisPaint X?
Krita is the better app overall, scoring 8.7 to 7.9. Krita wins on 3 of the 5 scores, ibisPaint X on 1, with 1 tied.
Which is cheaper, Krita or ibisPaint X?
Krita: Free from krita.org; optional paid store versions and donations fund development. ibisPaint X: Free with ads; ad removal is $15.99 once, or Premium is $4.49 a month. On value for money, Krita scores higher.
Do Krita and ibisPaint X work on the same devices?
Only Krita runs on Linux. Only ibisPaint X runs on iPhone & iPad.
Which is more private, Krita or ibisPaint X?
Krita scores higher on privacy (9.9/10). Krita says it does not access, collect, use, share or transmit any personal information. The Mac App Store label reads Data Not Collected, and Google Play lists no data collected.
Strengths and weaknesses
Krita
- Free and open source, with nothing paywalled
- Collects no personal data at all
- Runs on Windows, Mac, Linux and Android tablets
- Interface can feel cluttered and slow to start
- Android version is a tablet-only beta
- No iPad or iPhone version
Krita gives Windows, Mac and Linux painters a serious studio for free. You get flexible brush engines with stabilizers, drawing assistants, animation with onion skinning, comic panel tools and PSD support, and the 2026 releases rewrote the text tool. It's open source and collects no data at all. Expect a busier interface than Procreate, and the Android build is still a beta for tablets and Chromebooks only.
Full Krita review
ibisPaint X
- Generous free version with a huge brush library
- Animation, vector and comic tools in one app
- Runs on iPhone, iPad, Android, Windows and Mac
- Ads in the free version unless you pay
- Privacy label lists data used to track you
- Free vector tool use is capped at an hour a day
ibisPaint X shows how deep a free drawing app can go. You get a huge brush library, layers with blend modes, vector and text tools, screentones, rulers, frame-by-frame animation and time-lapse recording, and it runs on phones as well as iPad. The catch is the business model: ads in the free version, Premium for the best filters and unlimited vector use, and a privacy label that lists data used to track you.
Full ibisPaint X review
