The short answer. Krita is the free open-source application for illustrators and animators. Sketchbook is for concept design, comic art and sketching. Tayasui Sketches is the professional drawing app. Alchemy is the experimental one for conceptual drawing. Pencil2D is for hand-drawn animation. Paintbrush is the simple bitmap editor. The first question is illustration or animation, because the tools split sharply on that and switching later means relearning the brush engine.
This guide covers 7 digital drawing apps for macOS. Every fact below is drawn from the same verified records that back each app’s own page. The recommendations are our editorial judgment, not payment. Last verified 2026-10-05.
Quick comparison
| App | What it is | Pricing | Licence | Version |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alchemy | image editor | Open source | not published | — |
| Krita | image editor | Open source | GPL-3.0 | 5.3.4 |
| Monodraw | design tool | not published | not published | 1.7.1 |
| Paintbrush | design tool | Open source | not published | 2.6.0 |
| Pencil2D | design tool | Open source | GPL-2.0 | 0.7.2 |
| SketchBook | design tool | Free | not published | — |
| Tayasui Sketches | design tool | not published | not published | — |
What actually decides this
- Illustration or animation. Illustration tools optimise for a still image. Animation tools add a timeline and a frame model. A tool that does both usually does each less well.
- Brush engine. Pressure, tilt, stabilisation and custom brushes are what make a drawing tool usable. This is the part you feel on day one and cannot fix later.
- Layer and blend model. Non-destructive layers, masks and blend modes decide whether you can work the way you do in other art software. Import compatibility matters more than feature count.
- Tablet support. Pressure and tilt through the tablet driver, not just the app. Test with the tablet you own before committing.
Our picks
- Krita — Its record describes a free open-source painting application for illustrators and animators, which is the broad free case. Choose it when you want a free open-source application for illustration and animation.
- SketchBook — Its record describes drawing software for concept design, comic art and digital sketching, which names the use case precisely. Choose it when you do concept design, comic art or sketching.
- Tayasui Sketches — Its record describes professional drawing software, which is the focused case. Choose it when you want a professional drawing app with a restrained interface.
- Pencil2D — Its record describes a tool for making 2D hand-drawn animations, which is the animation case. Choose it when the work is hand-drawn animation.
- Alchemy — Its record describes an experimental open-source drawing application focused on conceptual work, which is the exploratory case. Choose it when you want an experimental tool for conceptual drawing.
The apps
Alchemy
Alchemy is an image editor for macOS. Experimental, open-source drawing application with an emphasis on creating conceptual art. It is open source.
What it does. Alchemy is an open drawing project aimed at exploring how we can sketch, draw, and create on computers in new ways.
Full profile and verified facts for Alchemy →
Krita
Krita is an image editor for macOS. Free and open-source digital painting application for macOS, Windows, Linux and Android tablets, aimed at concept art, illustration, comics, textures and 2D animation. It is released under GPL-3.0.
Strengths. Free software under the GNU GPL v3, with the source available to study, modify and redistribute. According to the developer, ships with over 100 professionally made brushes and nine separate brush engines to build custom ones from. According to the developer, three different brush stabilisers plus a Dynamic Brush tool with drag and mass settings.
Trade-offs. The Mac App Store build lagged the direct download — 5.3.2 against 5.3.4 — when Nuanyue checked both. Nuanyue could not establish from Krita’s own pages whether the macOS build runs natively on Apple silicon or through translation. According to the developer, the project states that Krita is not intended as a replacement for Photoshop, so image manipulation work may need a different tool. Version 6.0 is in development as nightly builds that the project labels for testing only.
Not for. Photographers who need a Photoshop replacement for image manipulation, which the project itself says Krita is not. Anyone who needs a vendor support contract or commercial backing behind the application. macOS users who expect an Apple-idiomatic interface, since Krita is a cross-platform Qt application.
What it does. Over 100 professionally made brushes preloaded. Nine brush engines, including Colour Smudge, Shape, Particle and Filter engines. Three different brush stabilisers, plus a dedicated Dynamic Brush tool with drag and mass. Wrap-around mode for painting seamless textures and patterns.
Krita is listed with current version 5.3.4.
Full profile and verified facts for Krita →
Monodraw
Monodraw is a design tool for macOS. Powerful ASCII art editor designed for the Mac. Its pricing is not published.
Monodraw is listed with current version 1.7.1.
Full profile and verified facts for Monodraw →
Paintbrush
Paintbrush is a design tool for macOS. Bitmap image editor. It is open source.
Paintbrush is listed with current version 2.6.0.
Full profile and verified facts for Paintbrush →
Pencil2D
Pencil2D is a design tool for macOS. A easy, intuitive tool to make 2D hand-drawn animations. It is released under GPL-2.0.
What it does. An easy, intuitive tool to make 2D hand-drawn animations.
Pencil2D is listed with current version 0.7.2.
Full profile and verified facts for Pencil2D →
SketchBook
SketchBook is a design tool for macOS. Drawing software for concept design, comic art, and digital sketching. It is free.
Full profile and verified facts for SketchBook →
Tayasui Sketches
Tayasui Sketches is a design tool for macOS. Professional drawing software. Its pricing is not published.
Full profile and verified facts for Tayasui Sketches →
How to choose
- Free of charge. SketchBook — no payment is required.
- No licence fee, source available. Alchemy, Krita, Paintbrush and Pencil2D — the source can be read and, under the terms of each licence, reused.
- Pricing not published in our data. Monodraw and Tayasui Sketches — check the developer’s own site before assuming anything about cost.
Open source: Alchemy, Krita, Paintbrush and Pencil2D (4 of 7).
Common mistakes
- Choosing on feature count. Brush feel decides whether you will use it, and that is not a checklist.
- Expecting an illustration tool to animate. The timeline and the onion-skinning are the product in the other category.
- Testing with a mouse and concluding the pressure support is poor.
- Importing a PSD and assuming layers survive. Most of these read a flattened image, and that is stated in the documentation.
How this guide was put together
Each app’s facts come from its own record: the developer’s own pages and repository, the App Store listing where one exists, and the documentation, each with a source grade and an access date. Where a fact rests on the developer’s own statement rather than on something we verified independently, the sentence says so. Where our data has no value for something, the guide says “not published” instead of guessing.
A price appears here only where the record carries one from a stated source; the guide never estimates one, and it records the pricing model alongside so the two can be read together. Prices change and vary by region, so each app links to its own page for the current detail.
The facts and the recommendations are kept apart on purpose. Everything in the app entries, the comparison table and the answers above is composed from the records. The short answer, the criteria and the picks are our editorial judgment: they reflect what we would choose and why, and they are not paid for. Where we make a recommendation we name the condition it applies under, because we do not call anything “the best” without explaining the criteria.
Verified 2026-10-05.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I choose between these digital drawing apps?
There is no single answer — it depends on what you need. This guide covers 7 digital drawing apps: Alchemy, Krita, Monodraw, Paintbrush, Pencil2D, SketchBook and Tayasui Sketches. They differ mainly in pricing model, licence and the trade-offs each one carries. Pick by the trade-off you care about rather than by rank.
Are these digital drawing apps free?
Pricing across this group: open source (Alchemy, Krita, Paintbrush and Pencil2D), not published (Monodraw and Tayasui Sketches) and free (SketchBook). Where we list pricing as not published, the developer does not state a model we could verify — check their own site before assuming anything about cost. We quote a price only where the record carries one from a stated source, and we never estimate one. Prices change and vary by region and by store, so always check the developer’s own page for the current figure.
Which of these digital drawing apps are open source?
Alchemy (not published), Krita (GPL-3.0), Paintbrush (not published) and Pencil2D (GPL-2.0) are open source.
Do these digital drawing apps support Apple Silicon?
Our data does not carry an explicit Apple Silicon statement for any app in this group, so we do not claim one. The absence of a statement is not the same as the absence of support.
How do I choose between them?
Start with how you pay: the guide groups these apps by pricing model, because the budget is the constraint most people actually have. Then check the trade-offs listed for each app: the limitations are the part that decides most people’s choice, because they describe what the app will not do for you.
Who should not use these apps?
Krita each list an audience they are explicitly not aimed at. Those notes come from the same verified records as the rest of this guide, and they are worth reading before you install anything.
When was this data last verified?
The facts in this guide were last confirmed on 2026-10-05. Every app page carries its own verification dates and source list, so you can check any individual claim.
