A few thoughts on everything I tried that was worth remembering about.
Free
- ibisPaint (Android/iOS/Windows/Mac)
- There’s also PC version that can be used via a one time purchase or a subscription, but I genuinely don’t know if anyone uses this. I feel like the $60+ USD is a bit much for a port of a mobile app.
- FireAlpaca (Windows/Mac/Linux)
- It’s still free. I believe this and Medibang are built on the same engine or whatever. I always liked this one more between the two. Really easy for beginners.
- Medibang Paint (Android/iOS/Windows/Mac)
- The more commercial one. I heard that the new version is paywalled, but I still have memories in my mind of using an old version that just had ads sometimes…
- Autodesk Sketchbook (Free*, Android/iOS/Windows/Mac)
- Mentally I still categorize this as free even though the PC versions are paid nowadays. You can still find older versions of this software floating around before it was paid. I think this is the easiest one for someone who wants an experience more comparable to traditional drawing.
- Krita (Windows/Mac/Linux)
- I always personally thought Krita felt kind of lacking every time I tried to use it, but I respect their vision.
Paid
- PaintTool SAI 2 (Windows)
- The legacy version also still has a lot of users. I always really liked this one, it’s not super customizable, but I think the brush engine is really good. Using this, it has a unique feel to it. SAI is developed by one guy, so I do think you should support the developer, especially since there is absolutely no subscription model.
- Clip Studio Paint (Android/iOS/Windows/Mac)
- The most customizable. There’s a mandatory subscription model on mobile devices, so I don’t really like it on there, although its functionality cannot be denied. The downside is that it is immensely confusing and tedious to transfer assets to a different device even though cloud features are literally integrated into this application. There’s also an optional subscription model besides the one-time-purchases and optional update passes. However, it is very fully featured. It goes on sale often enough. There’s a more deluxe version better suited for commercial comics artists and whatnot. I think CSP is better on Windows to be honest.
- Photoshop (Android/iOS/Windows/Mac)
- The classic. However, I do not like Adobe and do not wish to give them money.
- Procreate (iOS)
- The most gated software on this list as it’s basically assumed that you have an iPad and pencil, but I believe it was $10 just to use it forever. I think if you are really picky with how your brush engine feels, you might not like this. This is currently my most used software out of just how easy it is to open it up and do something, anything. The functions are a bit limited sometimes and feature updates are rare.
