One of the best innovations for artists is the Procreate app which works on iPads and iPhones. Sketching, drawing, painting, redoing/undoing, advanced level blending, auto-saving, and with its unique set of tools, brushes, and filters, Procreate provides nothing short of a magnetic and magical drawing experience on iPad Pro. It is quirky and has impressive touch sensitivity. Before exploring why you should look out for Procreate alternatives, understand what Procreate is and all Procreate alternatives you have.
What Is Procreate?
Procreate is one of the most amazing illustration apps available for iOS and iPadOS only. The app helps beginners as well as professionals with graphics editing, digital painting, and drawing programs. It has intuitive controls that give you almost a natural experience while drawing and sketching. It offers 130 advanced brushes, unique filters, more than 100 redos/undo options, advanced layers and masks, digital art tools, and many more.
Why Should You Look Out for Apps Like Procreate?
It is high time you search for free Procreate alternatives. There are two significant reasons for this.
- There is no Procreate for Windows, Mac, or Android. You need to find the best Procreate alternative to these popular operating systems.
- The Procreate app has no free or trial versions that will feed your decision-making. It demands a one-time fee of $9.99 and is, therefore, a paid app.
So, we will even list some apps like Procreate that are free or economical. You can go through each of them and choose the best alternative to Procreate.
15 Best Procreate Alternatives for Windows, Mac, and Android in 2023:
1. Krita
Krita is one of the open-source Procreate alternatives for Windows surface. It offers default and custom brushes, comics, and textures, a color wheel with an integrated reference panel, conceptual art, and various tools to develop abstract art and complex illustrations. The app is free and allows new, additional features considering the community’s needs and stiff competition. It is available on Linux, macOS, Windows, and iOS.
Pros of Krita:
- Krita is one of the best drawing apps for the surface.
- It is open-source.
- Supports PSD editing too.
Cons of Krita:
- Not available on Android.
Krita Pricing:
- Totally free to use.
Related: SketchUp Alternatives | Free 3D Modeling Software
2. Adobe Fresco
Adobe Fresco is one of the unique Procreate alternatives for iPad, iPhone, and Windows PC. The app allows seamless integration of all Adobe products, including Photoshop’s brush features, graphite pencil, ink pen, and blending markers. Since the program is vector-based, the files are smaller in size and, thus, easily portable and shareable across media. You can even export your work to Lightroom and Photoshop.
Pros of Adobe Fresco:
- The interface is well-designed.
- 14+ advanced-level brush options.
Cons of Adobe Fresco:
- Not available for Android.
- There is no third-party login/plugin option.
- No image editing tools.
Adobe Fresco Pricing:
- You can get the premium version of Adobe Fresco just at $9.99/month after a 30-day trial
3. Autodesk Sketchbook
Autodesk Sketchbook is the closest thing to Procreate which works on Android, Windows, Mac, and iOS. It is one of the best professional digital painting apps that offers designing and modeling suites. They are well known for providing AutoCAD solutions.
Similar to Procreate, Sketchbook offers a pen-friendly interface along with brushes, colors, mirror images, and other notable tools to auto-save your pictures and task progress. Procreate has 128 brushes, each with more than 50 customizable settings. The Sketchbook lacks those many brushes. Also, the size option is smaller than what Procreate offers.
Pros of Autodesk Sketchbook:
- Fully-featured Sketchbook is now freely available.
- A varied collection of professional tools is available.
- You can use Sketchbook on Android, Windows, Mac, and iOS.
Cons of Autodesk Sketchbook:
- The learning curve is steeper than in the case of Procreate.
Autodesk Sketchbook Pricing:
- Not disclosed on their website.
4. Concepts
Concepts is another vector-based Procreate alternative app known to help professional artists and, thus, excellent aid for precision measurement drawing instead of freehand sketching for beginners. It has all the needful tools and is one of the Procreate alternatives that lets you draw on an infinite canvas using touchscreen controls. The only thing that separates Concepts from Procreate is its different versions.
Pros of Concepts:
- Supports Android, iOS, iPadOS, Windows, and ChromeOS.
- As flexible as Procreate, allowing you to enjoy different add-ons.
- Offers you an infinite canvas.
Cons of Concepts:
- Just like Sketchbook, Concepts has a steep learning curve.
Concepts Pricing
- There is a free version of the Concepts app that allows you to use a limited set of brushes and layers. You can also switch to paid versions where you can pay a monthly fee of $4.99 and get access to all the tools or choose the Essential pack by paying a one-time fee of $9.99.
5. Adobe Illustrator
If you are an Adobe user and looking for a professional illustration app, what could be better than Adobe Illustrator? It is the ideal drawing app for touchscreen laptops. Known for its fantastic UI and intuitive controls package, Illustrator, too, is vector-based and thus, meant for professional graphic designers.
As a user, you can even rasterize, just like in Procreate, and design everything from web icons to illustrations and billboards. You can use the tools for typography, vector graphics, logos, and freehand drawing too. Adobe Illustrator is a reliable Procreate alternative for PC.
Pros of Adobe Illustrator
- Reliable interface.
- Beautiful typography.
- Varied professional tools.
- Supports Windows and macOS.
Cons of Adobe Illustrator
- It is expensive.
- Not available for Android devices.
Adobe Illustrator Pricing
- Offers a free 7-days trial period. You will have to pay $239.88 per year to use Illustrator.
6. Corel Painter 2022
Corel Painter is a perfect Procreate alternative for Mac and Windows. You can use it as an advanced-level artist and designer. It gives you options to draw and paint using various colors, such as water paints and oil paints. It is available on Windows and macOS.
Pros of Corel Painter 2022
- Customizable UI
- Multiple tools and brushes (more than 900)
- Different types of paint
- Has video tutorials that are helpful for beginners
Cons of Corel Painter 2022
- It is a paid app.
Corel Painter 2022 Pricing
- You need to pay $199 per year to use the app. Also, it offers a 15-day free trial period.
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7. Affinity Designer
Affinity Designer is a simple yet powerful Procreate alternative for Windows, Mac, and iPad used chiefly as a vector illustrator and graphic designer for novices and professionals. It is user-friendly in terms of its cool features and end-user-based tools, easy to learn and use.
You can create icons, printing projects, branding material, logos, mockups, graphic designing, and all kinds of shapes and designs. Using this Procreate alternative for PC, you can be good at both vector and raster-based graphic designing.
Pros of Affinity Designer
- User-friendly UI that supports Windows, Mac, and iPadOS.
- All-in-one graphic designing.
- Vector and raster-based illustrations.
Cons of Affinity Designer
- The app does not support any plugins.
Affinity Designer Pricing
- It will cost you a one-time fee of $49.99. It also offers you a 30-day free trial period.
8. ArtRage
As a beginner, ArtRage is an ideal graphic editing app just like Procreate but not for professionals. It is suitable for old-school artists who use watercolors and oil colors. If you wish to get Procreate on Windows and draw as naturally on a digital platform as accurately, ArtRage lets you mix colors for real and control the thickness, wetness, and lighting direction. ArtRage is a Procreate alternative that runs on Android, Windows, macOS, and iOS.
Pros of ArtRage
- Friendly for beginners.
- The UI is simple and intuitive.
- Offers a natural and real-life experience to draw and paint on a digital surface.
Cons of ArtRage
- It is not ideal for professionals for lacking efficient and advanced tools.
- It will cost you to upgrade it to a more advanced level.
ArtRage Pricing
- It costs $79 generally, but it is currently on sale for $47.
Also Read: Photoshop Alternatives for Windows, Mac, Linux, Web
9. Clip Studio Paint
If you wish for a realistic painting experience, you can use Clip Studio Paint which offers you a natural brush usage experience with its robust brush engine. The technology also lets you work with pinpoint precision and choose from hundreds of brushes and controls from its library. You have Clip Studio Paint as the best drawing app on the surface with its varied options of creative tools.
Clip Studio Paint is a feature-packed Procreate alternative that supports Windows, Android, macOS. iOS, iPadOS and ChromeOS. You can personalize your tools and customize your brush to sync your artwork with your brand of style.
Pros of Clip Studio Paint
- The powerful and creative line of brushes.
- Cross-device syncing.
- Feature-packed application.
Cons of Clip Studio Paint
- The UI is not intuitive.
Clip Studio Paint Pricing
- You can use the app for a one-time fee of $49.99 after a 3-months trial period.
10. Inkscape
You can get many Procreate alternatives but using a well-efficient vector graphic editor like Inkscape should be your first priority. The professional drawing app, Inkscape runs on Linux, FreeBSD, macOS X, and Windows PC. So, if you are looking for a Procreate for Mac for free, your search ends here.
Nevertheless, Inkscape is a free and open-source Procreate alternative for PC where you get professional tools, such as smart navigation, anchor, and flyout. It offers you advanced level controls for complex designs, logos, paintings, arts, color profiles, etc. you can use spiro curves, layers, bezier, and powerful text tools. It is an excellent app for vector designing.
Pro of Inkscape
- Free and open-source.
- Supports Windows, FreeBSD, Linux and macOS.
- Advanced level controls and tools.
Cons of Inkscape
- Not ideal for raster-based designing.
Inkscape Pricing
- It is totally FREE to use but you can contribute to support developers.
11. MediBang Paint
MediBang Paint is an excellent Procreate alternative for Android, iOS, macOS, and Windows for free if you are into manga and comic creations. It offers more than 800 tones, over 50 types of brushes, and 20+ font styles. The app is ideal for beginners who are interested in sketching comics and animated characters.
Pros of MediBang Paint
- Ideal for manga lovers.
- Beginner-friendly.
- It is free and supports Android, iOS, macOS, and Windows.
Cons of MediBang Paint
- Has limited features.
MediBang Paint Pricing
- Free for personal use but businesses need to send an inquiry email to get the quote.
12. Tayasui Sketches
If you are looking for free apps like Procreate for Mac, Tayasui Sketches is a reliable drawing app. It lets you create drawings on macOS, iOS, Android, and tablets too. And, it offers pencils, brushes, pens, erasers, and the File Transfer function that helps you fill a shape, create a pattern and provide an overlapping effect without requiring more colors. It has a free as well as a paid version. Go for the paid version if you are an expert in order to get access to all the tools the app offers.
Pros of Tayasui Sketches
- Clutter-free, Inexpensive with more layers.
- More brushes, markers, pencils, and new variations for the tools.
- Watercolors blend easily, giving a stunning effect.
- Offers you gradients and patterns.
- Provides cloud services to sync all your artwork across different devices.
Cons of Tayasui Sketches
- The Pro version offers layers. It is not available in the free version.
- Limited type of brushes.
- The canvas is inflexible.
Tayasui Sketches Pricing
- The Pro version will cost you $1.99.
See Also: Best PicMonkey Alternatives
13. PaintTool Sai
PaintTool SAI is a Procreate alternative offering a platform for raster graphic editing, digitized anti-aliased painting, and simple vector tools to work with. The device is a lightweight painting software much like Procreate for Microsoft Windows. So, it will work well on Microsoft Surface.
Pros of PaintTool Sai
- Beginner-friendly.
- Easy and simple to use.
Cons of PaintTool Sai
- Available only for Windows.
- Offers limited tools.
PaintTool Sai Pricing
- It offers a 31-day free trial period, after which you will have to purchase the software license at $50.81.
14. Infinite Painter
Infinite Painter is a Procreate alternative for Android and iOS that works only on mobile phones. It is an advanced painting app offering brushes, realistic blending, and an efficient toolset. It is affordable and is a reliable and handy alternative to Procreate.
And, it has four-star reviews on Google Play Store for its 160+ brush sets and realistic brush touches that change as per the paper texture, layers and photoshop blending modes, selection and clipping masks, and many more superior features. You can download it on your iPhone and iPad from the App Store.
Pros of Infinite Painter
- Superior interface with organized workflows.
- Gradient and pattern fill feature.
- Has Liquify tools, Pattern tools, Transform tools, and many more advanced features.
- Can even import and export PSD layers and offers easy sharing across media.
Cons of Infinite Painter
- Available for Android and iOS only.
Infinite Painter Pricing
- It is free to use.
15. ArtFlow Studio
ArtFlow Studio is an app like Procreate for Android users that can give you a digital sketchbook experience. It offers 80+ brush strokes, dozens of layers, masks, high-resolution canvases, several gradients, customized sizes, flows, etc. It is a powerful drawing app that lets you save your art in PSD, PNG, and JPG formats. And, it has a 3.7 rating on Google Play at the time of writing this article.
Pros of ArtFlow Studio
- Fast and intuitive drawing application.
- Supports pressure-sensitive pens.
- It is free.
Cons of ArtFlow Studio
- It is a Procreate alternative for Android only.
- No PSD support.
- Offers only three layers and undoes up to six times only.
Conclusion
With the above 15 Procreate alternatives, you can now lookout for a Procreate for mac or an app like Procreate that runs on Windows or mobile phones. You have options to go for a free Procreate alternative too. Good luck with your art!
Is there a free alternative Procreate?
There are several free Procreate alternatives such as Krita, AutoDesk Sketchbook, and Concepts that are available for free.
What app can you use instead of Procreate?
You can use Adobe Illustrator or Sketchbook as a Procreate alternative that works on Windows and several other platforms.
What is similar to Procreate for Windows?
You can rely on Corel Painter 2022, ArtRage, or Sketchbook if you are looking for alternatives as to how to run Procreate on Windows.
Is Procreate available for Windows?
There is no Procreate for Windows. However, you can always go through the above 15 Procreate alternatives and see how to get Procreate for Windows.
Is there an app like Procreate for Mac?
Inkscape, Adobe Photoshop Sketch, and ArtRage are some of the Procreate alternatives for Mac.
What is the best drawing app for Mac?
The best drawing apps for Mac include Procreate, Corel Painter 2022, Inkscape, Tayasui Sketches, and Krita.
What is the best alternative to Procreate for Android?
Infinite Painter is an ideal alternative to Procreate for Android phones.
Will there be Procreate for Android?
There are some Procreate alternatives for Android, such as MediBang Paint, ArtFlow Studio, Adobe Photoshop Sketch, and Autodesk Sketchbook.
Hi there! I’m Nick Cullen. As the Senior Content Editor with Solution Suggest, my responsibility is to scrutinize and refine our articles and reviews, focusing on software solutions, games, apps, and websites. I’m dedicated to delivering reliable and enlightening content that offers viable alternatives to your current digital tools. If you have any suggestions or inquiries, you can reach me at editor@solutionsuggest.com. Also, I invite you to connect with me on LinkedIn!