Krita vs MyPaint: Which One Is Better in 2024?

Krita and MyPaint are essential tools for businesses and designers, offering robust features for digital painting and community engagement. We'll compare Krita and MyPaint to determine which one best meets the needs of creative professionals.

A Quick Overview of Krita and MyPaint

What is Krita?

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

Offering multiple brush types and advanced tools like layers, drawing assistants, and stabilizers, Krita caters to various artistic needs. Its unique feature is being completely free and open-source, allowing continuous improvement and customization by its user base.

What is MyPaint?

MyPaint is a digital painting application that focuses on providing a natural painting experience. It is designed for artists and offers a range of tools and features to create digital artwork.

MyPaint's brush engine, libmypaint, provides realistic brushstrokes and can be used by other programs. The application is available for multiple operating systems including Windows, Linux, and macOS.

Features of Krita and MyPaint

Similarities

Both Krita and MyPaint are powerful tools for digital artists, offering a range of features that cater to various artistic needs. Despite their unique strengths, they share several key similarities that make them popular choices among creatives.

• Both are free and open-source, allowing artists to access professional-grade tools without cost.
• They offer multiple brush types and customization options, enabling diverse artistic styles.
• Both support layers, providing flexibility in creating complex artworks.
• Each program includes tools to assist in drawing and stabilizing strokes, enhancing precision.
• Both have active communities that contribute to development and provide support to users.

Differences

While both Krita and MyPaint are excellent tools for digital artists, they have distinct features that set them apart. Here are the key differences:

• Animation Tools: Krita offers animation tools, allowing artists to create frame-by-frame animations, a feature not available in MyPaint.
• Color Management: Krita supports multiple colorspaces and color management through LittleCMS, whereas MyPaint uses 8bit sRGB without any alpha channel.
• Brush Engine: MyPaint's brush engine, libmypaint, provides realistic brushstrokes and can be used by other programs, unlike Krita's proprietary brush system.
• Plugins: Krita can be expanded with plugins that add new functionality, while MyPaint does not emphasize plugin support.
• Integration with Other Software: MyPaint has a history of integration with other open-source graphics software like GIMP, a feature not highlighted in Krita.

User Interface and Usability

Krita's user interface is structured and organized, with a clear navigation menu and distinct sections for various features. This layout makes it easy for users to find tools and resources. MyPaint, on the other hand, has a simpler interface focused on providing a natural painting experience, but it lacks the detailed organization found in Krita. Both interfaces cater to different user preferences, with Krita offering more complexity and MyPaint focusing on simplicity.

In terms of user experience, Krita provides extensive resources, tutorials, and community support, enhancing its usability for both beginners and professionals. MyPaint emphasizes ease of use and frequent updates, which contribute to a positive user experience. However, it does not offer the same level of detailed resources as Krita. Overall, Krita's user interface and usability are more comprehensive compared to MyPaint.

Collaboration

Collaboration in Krita is primarily facilitated through its active community, where artists can share their work and receive feedback. The platform does not offer built-in collaboration tools, but the community aspect allows for indirect collaboration through shared resources and discussions. This setup can be beneficial for those who value community input and collective learning.

MyPaint also lacks specific in-app collaboration features, focusing instead on community involvement through forums and GitHub. Users can contribute to the development and share their work, but direct collaboration within the application is not emphasized. This approach suits those who prefer individual contributions and community-driven development.

Neither Krita nor MyPaint stands out as superior for collaboration.

Krita and MyPaint Pricing

Krita is a free and open-source application, relying on donations to support its development. Users can contribute through monthly donations or one-time payments, but there is no cost to download or use the software. This model ensures that all features are accessible without any financial barriers.

MyPaint is also free and open-source, with no pricing details, subscription costs, or one-time purchase options mentioned on its official site. Like Krita, it relies on community support and contributions for development. Both programs offer excellent value, but neither has a distinct pricing advantage over the other.

Comparing Krita and MyPaint 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

• Ease of Use: Piktochart's intuitive interface allows users to create stunning visuals without any formal design training.
• Variety of Templates: A wide range of pre-designed templates helps users save time and effort in creating professional-looking content.
• AI-Powered Design Generator: The AI-powered design generator enables quick creation of visuals, making the design process faster and more efficient.
• Comprehensive Suite of Tools: From infographics to presentations and video editing, Piktochart offers a complete set of tools for various visual communication needs.
• Customization Options: Users can easily customize text properties, view properties, and even add subtitles to videos, ensuring their content is perfectly tailored to their audience.

Piktochart's Pricing

• Free: $0 (Free forever)
• Pro: $14 per member/month, billed annually
• Business: $24 per member/month, billed annually
• Enterprise: 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 range of brushes and tools, they find the frequent updates and occasional crashes frustrating.

• "The interface is somewhat outdated and it crashes occasionally." - John D., 3.5/5
• "Some tools are not as refined as those in Adobe products." - Emily R., 3.8/5
• "Frequent updates sometimes introduce new issues." - Michael S., 3.7/5

Find more of Krita reviews on G2!

MyPaint Reviews

MyPaint has an overall rating of 4.1 out of 5. Users appreciate its ease of use but find the software slow and the interface needing improvement.

• "Handy and Suitable. It comes with many needs already solved. However, the user wants vectorial alternatives and finds some tools slow." - Nicolás Damián V., 3.5/5
• "MyPaint - MyCanvas. The software is slow, the interface needs improvement, and shapes should be clearer." - CIHAN D., 3.5/5
• "The brush sensitivity is high, making it difficult for beginners to do precise drawings." - Sarah G., 3.5/5

Find more of MyPaint reviews on G2!

Piktochart Reviews

Our users have given Piktochart an overall rating of 4.5 out of 5. They appreciate its ease of use, variety of templates, and AI-powered design generator.

• "Piktochart is very easy and simple to use online graphics creation tool." - ASHESHWAR Y.
• "Piktochart offers good looking pre-built templates for creating graphics." - ANAND J.
• "Easily Create Social Images and Infographics to Boost Business Services." - SUNITA S.

Find more of our reviews on G2!

Why choose one over the other?

Why a consumer might want to use Krita over MyPaint:

• Consumers who need advanced features like animation tools and extensive color management would prefer Krita. This is ideal for professional artists and animators looking for a comprehensive digital painting solution.

Why a consumer might want to use MyPaint over Krita:

• Consumers who prioritize a lightweight, focused application for digital painting would choose MyPaint. This suits artists who want a simple, efficient tool for creating natural brushstrokes without the complexity of additional features.

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

• Consumers who need to create a variety of visual content quickly and easily would opt for Piktochart. This is perfect for professionals, educators, and marketers who require user-friendly tools for infographics, presentations, and video editing.

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

Whether you're a professional artist, a digital painting enthusiast, or someone who needs to create stunning visuals quickly, there's a tool for you. Krita and MyPaint offer fantastic features for digital art, but if you're looking for an all-in-one solution for infographics, presentations, and more, we recommend giving Piktochart a try. With its user-friendly interface and powerful AI tools, Piktochart makes visual communication a breeze.