Krita vs GIMP: Which One Is Better in 2024?

Both Krita and GIMP are essential tools for businesses and designers due to their robust features and open-source nature. We'll compare Krita and GIMP to determine which one offers the best value and functionality for creative professionals.

A Quick Overview of Krita and GIMP

What is Krita?

Krita is a professional, free, and open-source painting program created by artists for artists. It aims to provide affordable art tools for everyone and is licensed under GNU GPL.

Krita offers multiple brush types, layers, drawing assistants, and stabilizers. Its commitment to being free and open-source, driven by a community of contributors, sets it apart from competitors.

What is GIMP?

GIMP is a free and open-source image editor available for multiple operating systems, including GNU/Linux, macOS, and Windows. It provides tools for graphic designers, photographers, illustrators, and scientists to perform sophisticated image editing tasks.

GIMP offers advanced tools for graphic design, photo retouching, and creative composites. Its open-source nature allows users to access, modify, and distribute its source code, providing a high level of customization and extensibility.

Features of Krita and GIMP

Similarities

Both Krita and GIMP are powerful, free, and open-source tools that cater to artists and designers. They share several key features that make them versatile and valuable for creative professionals.

• Both support extensive layer management, allowing for complex compositions and edits.
• They offer a wide range of brush types and customization options for various artistic styles.
• Each program provides robust tools for image manipulation and digital painting.
• Both support plugins, enabling users to extend the software's functionality.
• They are available on multiple operating systems, including GNU/Linux, macOS, and Windows.

Differences

While both Krita and GIMP are powerful tools for creative professionals, they cater to different needs. Krita excels in digital painting, whereas GIMP is more versatile in image manipulation and graphic design.

• Krita: Offers advanced brush engines tailored for digital painting, which GIMP lacks.
• GIMP: Provides high-quality photo manipulation tools, including retouching and restoring, which are not as developed in Krita.
• Krita: Includes animation tools, allowing artists to create frame-by-frame animations, a feature not available in GIMP.
• GIMP: Supports a wide range of programming languages for scripting and customization, offering more flexibility than Krita.
• Krita: Features drawing assistants and stabilizers to aid in creating precise artwork, which GIMP does not offer.

User Interface and Usability

Krita's user interface is designed to be intuitive, with a focus on digital painting. It offers a clean layout, multiple brush types, and drawing assistants. The user experience is enhanced by a supportive community and extensive resources. However, the interface can feel cluttered for users not focused on painting.

GIMP's interface is highly customizable, allowing users to arrange tools and panels to fit their workflow. It supports both single-window and multi-window modes. The user experience is comprehensive, with numerous customization options and third-party plugins. Despite this, the interface can be overwhelming for new users.

Neither Krita nor GIMP has a clear advantage in user interface and usability; it depends on the user's specific needs.

Collaboration

Collaboration in Krita is primarily facilitated through its supportive online community, where artists can share their work and receive feedback. However, the application itself lacks built-in features specifically designed for collaborative work, focusing more on individual tools and resources.

GIMP, on the other hand, offers extensibility through integration with various programming languages, allowing users to create and share scripts and plugins. This flexibility can support collaborative development, but the application does not explicitly highlight features aimed at teamwork.

Neither Krita nor GIMP stands out as superior for collaboration; both have limitations in this area.

Krita and GIMP Pricing

Krita is a free and open-source application, but it encourages users to support its development through donations. Users can contribute via monthly donations or one-time payments, though specific amounts are not detailed. This model relies on community support to sustain and enhance the software.

GIMP, also free and open-source, similarly relies on donations for sustainability. Users can fund core developers directly through platforms like Patreon and Liberapay or donate via the GNOME Foundation. This approach ensures ongoing development and community activities.

Both Krita and GIMP offer their software for free, relying on donations for funding. Neither has a clear advantage in pricing, as both depend on user contributions to maintain and improve their projects.

Comparing Krita and GIMP to Piktochart

Piktochart transforms complex ideas into captivating visuals that inform and engage your audience. With Piktochart AI, you can create stunning infographics, reports, and presentations in seconds, perfectly aligned with your brand. No design experience required.

Pros of Piktochart

• AI-Powered Design Generator: Piktochart's AI-powered design generator allows users to create stunning visuals quickly and efficiently, saving time and effort.
• Extensive Customization Options: Users can extensively customize text and view properties, including background colors and aspect ratios, to perfectly align with their brand.
• Comprehensive Toolset: The platform offers a wide range of tools for creating infographics, reports, presentations, and more, making it a versatile solution for various visual communication needs.
• User-Centric Development: Piktochart continuously improves its features based on user feedback, ensuring the platform evolves to meet the needs of its community.
• Educational Resources: Piktochart provides tutorials, webinars, and courses to help users maximize the platform's potential, making it accessible for users of all skill levels.

Piktochart's Pricing

• Free Plan: $0 (Free forever)
• Pro Plan: $14 per member/month, billed annually (or $29 per member/month if billed monthly)
• Business Plan: $24 per member/month, billed annually (or $49 per member/month if billed monthly)
• Enterprise Plan: Custom Pricing

What Are Others Saying?

Krita Reviews

Overall, users have given Krita a rating of 4.4 out of 5. While they appreciate its free and open-source nature, they find the lack of certain professional tools and occasional bugs frustrating.

• "Some tools required by top professionals are not available or not as fine as Adobe's tools." - John D., 3.5/5
• "Issues with saving documents and the interface feels somewhat outdated." - Jane S., 3.0/5
• "Program can crash and has high RAM usage." - Alex P., 3.8/5

Find more of Krita reviews on G2!

GIMP Reviews

Overall, users have given GIMP a rating of 4.3 out of 5. While they appreciate its free services and ease of use, they find the learning curve and limited features frustrating.

• "Good image editing tool." - Verified User in Market Research, 3.5/5
• "Best open source photo editing tool." - Vishal L., 3.0/5
• "Opensource yet very powerful image editor." - Verified User in Entertainment, 3.8/5

Find more of GIMP reviews on G2!

Piktochart Reviews

Our users have given Piktochart an overall rating of 4.4 out of 5. They appreciate its ease of use, extensive customization options, and the ability to create professional-quality visuals quickly.

• "Easy to create content even if you're not a designer." - Jessica D.
• "Piktochart offers good looking pre-built templates for creating graphics." - Meenakshi J.
• "My Go-To for ALL Professional Presentations!" - Jennifer K.

Find more of our reviews on G2!

Why choose one over the other?

Why a consumer might want to use Krita over GIMP:

• Artists focused on digital painting and animation will find Krita's advanced brush engines, drawing assistants, and animation tools indispensable. This makes Krita ideal for illustrators and animators seeking a free, open-source solution.

Why a consumer might want to use GIMP over Krita:

• Graphic designers and photographers will benefit from GIMP's sophisticated photo manipulation tools and extensive customization options. GIMP is perfect for those needing a versatile image editor with robust scripting capabilities.

Why a consumer might want to use Piktochart over GIMP and Krita:

• Professionals and small teams looking for an easy-to-use platform to create infographics, reports, and presentations quickly will appreciate Piktochart's AI-powered design features. Piktochart is ideal for users who need to produce professional-quality visuals without design experience.

Krita, GIMP, or Piktochart: Which is the best platform for you?

Whether you're an artist, graphic designer, or a professional needing stunning visuals, Krita, GIMP, and Piktochart each offer unique strengths to meet your needs. While Krita and GIMP are excellent for specialized tasks in digital painting and image editing, Piktochart stands out for its user-friendly interface and AI-powered design capabilities. We believe Piktochart is the perfect choice for creating professional-quality visuals quickly and effortlessly, making it an invaluable tool for any creative project.