There’s a whole world of cool drawing apps, art apps, sketch apps, and painting apps out there. They make everything from children’s book illustrations to acing your online illustration class work super-easy, allowing you to express your creativity and create cool work that will really make your online illustration portfolio stand out to prospective clients and customers alike.
But what are the best drawing apps? We’ve assembled this list of the most powerful, interesting, and popular drawing apps and art apps on our radar for 2025. Let’s check it out!
Free Drawing Software
If you are a digital illustrator, finding intuitive and highly competent applications for drawing is crucial for your workflow. However, with all the offerings out there, it’s often not necessary to pay for great software. Here are some great applications for drawing that won’t cost you a penny to use.
Autodesk SketchBook
Autodesk’s Sketchbook is a comprehensive drawing app free to use on Mac and Windows. The tool boasts the ability to create a drawing space on any device, making it one of the most versatile sketchpad apps on the desktop. Sketchbook’s user interface stays incognito whenever you’re drawing so it allows you to stay focused when you’re bursting with creativity.
The tool has over 190 customizable brushes that allow you to create traditional art pieces, as well as illustrated digital art. Extremely versatile and perfect for any designer to use, this is a strong contender for the best free sketching software you can download.
Adobe Illustrator Draw
Adobe drawing apps have become a leader in the digital art industry. Drawing rich and vibrant sketches with vector art is rewarding: they’re clean, and art scales seamlessly. Adobe Illustrator Draw is a free online drawing app that allows you to make vector graphics from your sketches.
The interface is clean, responsive and intuitive, making this program easy to learn. Brushstrokes behave as expected, and the interface provides lots of cool features. Plus, as an Adobe product, you can count on established support and regular updates, in comparison to other sketch drawing apps. Easily save your creation and export as jpeg, png, SVG, and even pdf.
Adobe Fresco (previously Photoshop Sketch)
Adobe Fresco is one of those freemium drawing apps that just keeps on giving. Feature-rich and backed by years of Adobe expertise, Fresco will allow you to draw, paint and animate your work. From layering to masking and everything in between, this has to be among the best Ipad and Android drawing apps for free. A rarity in this world, especially among the expansive and pricey Adobe Suite. Its expressive painting tools make it stand out among the free drawing apps, allowing it to go toe-to-toe with the best-in-class options on the marketplace. It has something few others can offer, too: it really feels like you are interacting with the surface you draw on, and each different medium offers fantastic quality.
MediBang Paint
Built for iOS and Android MediBang Paint is among the best free online drawing apps available. It’s lightweight and handles comic art and manga as beautifully as it does painting, sketching, and digital design. The interface is straightforward and makes the entire package a joy to experiment with. It also sports numerous features that provide control over your brushes and layers, allowing you to customize the pressure sensitivity if you’re using a stylus.
Overall, a solid draw app free to use that can give you professional results on a nonexistent budget. With multiple export options, you can save your file as a jpeg, png, SVG, or pdf.
More Free Drawing apps for PC and Mac
Free drawing apps have come a long way over the years. Here are some of the most feature-rich and intuitive online drawing apps that are free to download and use to create stunning art. Whatever stage of your career, you can’t go wrong with any of these stunning art drawing apps.
GIMP
If you aren’t able to procure a license for Adobe Cloud but absolutely require something with Photoshop-esque features, GIMP is exactly the online drawing app you need. Not a flash in the tablet, GIMP has been around for decades, and has a wealth of features consistent with development and user-feedback shaping its evolution–it’s constantly being updated and improved.
Arguably one of the best free drawing apps available due to the advanced feature set. This online art app is easy to use and you can save your files in jpeg, png, SVG, or pdf. Why not try it for your next poster design?
Sketch I.O
Sketch Pad, by Sketch I.O., is a desktop app for Mac and PC. Though more basic than some of the other apps listed here, its strengths are the variety of brushes (18) and 800 Fonts. At just $4.99USD, this makes for a low-risk investment when exploring apps and features right for you.
The Best Drawing Apps for iPad
The iPad is a versatile machine, made even better by the Apple Pencil. However, with all that power and precision at your fingertips, you are probably wondering what is the best drawing app to use. From professional art apps to great drawing apps, we go through the coolest apps out there for iPad artists.
Procreate
Transforming your iPad into an art studio with a wide range tools and media styles, procreate offers sharp color clarity, ultra-responsive stylus control, and exceptionally powerful features. All at a decent price of 17.99USD. There’s very little you cannot do with this award-winning iPad drawing app, and, considering the affordability. Save your files as jpeg, png, svg, or pdf.
It’s high up on our list for illustrators and digital artists.
Wondering if the iPad is right for your art practice? We go through the pros and cons of the best drawing tablets out there.
iPastels
There are apps on our list that include pastel as media type, but if you’re medium-specific and like the idea of a dedicated digital studio for your pastel drawing, this free art app for the iPad replicates this look beautifully. It’s easy to use, as one of the simplest Apple Pencil apps available, so it’s a great way to get a feel for the device while creating unique sketches and paintings. You can save your files in jpeg, png, svg, or pdf formats for easy sharing.
Zen Brush 2
Zen Brush is designed to produce art a la traditional East Asian calligraphy and art. Make stunning pieces in minutes for only a few dollars. This is a niche art program with features specific to this wet media type that you may not find in more generalized digital drawing apps.
Pixelmator Pro
A powerful app for photo-retouching, graphic design, painting, vector art, or just quick sketches, many users consider this to be the best drawing app for iPad Pro. Which is why Apple acquired this company. The wealth of features will support your needs across multiple media. You can save your files in jpeg, png, SVG, or pdf formats.
Graphic
Available on the app store, Graphic is a lightweight, easy to use but powerful iPhone illustration app that produces vector-based art. It works on Mac, iPhone, and iPad, so you can work from anywhere. You can even save your work easily as png, jpeg, SVG, pdf, or additional formats. Just $8.99USD, the quality of work this app can produce will help you improve your illustration portfolio!
Art Set
This little digital drawing app is only $3.99USD and comes with a decent set of art tools for sketching on the go. It’s lightweight and user-friendly, with a simple layout and responsive features that make it feel professional. It keeps things simple for those who don’t need expansive features.
ArtStudio
Illustrators and painters will find a robust feature set in ArtStudio for iPad. The pro version is $9.99per year or $39.99 for a lifetime subscription, it may be well worth it to you for the 450 brushes, multiple-layer support, and dozens of filters. Available on every mobile iOS device, this is a great option ranking up there with Procreate.
Brushes Redux
Offering some of the most responsive brushes available, thanks to a powerful open-GL engine, it works seamlessly across your various iOS devices. It offers layers, gesture controls, and a variety of painting-specific features it’s an excellent option for those looking for a simple, free sketchpad app.
Pixaki
Pixaki is definitely one of the coolest drawing apps on the list and is made specifically to create pixel art. It has numerous useful features, including a multi-touch interface, layers, animation support, color selection, and custom palette options. At $20USD it’s also affordable for its unique functionality.
The Best Drawing Apps for Android
Infinite Painter
Probably the best art app for Android (though there’s also a version for Apple!), with fantastic responsiveness, amazing brush selections to emulate a wide array of media, few other offerings exist on the Android platform that can rival this product. If you are looking for the best sketch app on the Google Play Store, look no further than Infinite Painter. At $9.99USD it’s a steal.
ArtFlow Studio
Artflow is an older, but feature-rich, ambitiously designed Android art app. With Adobe-like features like layers and layer blending and a wide selection of brushes, it’s also one of the drawing apps that supports Nvidia DirectStylus for ultimate precision. Artflow also has a free trial and is free to use if you have Google Play Pass.
Paper Color
Paper Color (previously known as Paper Draw) does the basics well with a beautiful interface that represents tools clearly. It’s reasonably priced and is free to download with a limited set of features. Paper Color’s claim to fame is that it is one of the only digital drawing apps that is able to make your screen canvas look as if it is real paper. While it’s certainly a strong contender among good art apps, its minimalist style has left us with mixed feelings on simplicity vs. functionality.
Android Drawing Apps For Free
Dotpict
Dotpict is among the most enjoyable art apps for free on the Google Play store, like Pixaki, Dotpict is a niche pixel art app. A great entry point into the world of digital art, with features such as ‘redo’ and ‘undo’, which are essential for working on technique. If you are on the lookout for art drawing apps free to download that can help you build your skills as an artist, Docpict is a great option to go with.
Paid Sketch Art Apps
ArtRage
Touted as “natural painting” software, ArtRage is a sketch art app renowned for its amazing quality and realistic painting tools. It’s available on Windows, Android, and iOS, and comes in a Lite version with limited features for those desiring a more basic approach, as well. This is a powerful app for any artist and one of the best sketch art apps available.
Marmoset Hexels 3
Marmoset Hexels 3 is a voxel-based drawing app that can create some truly outstanding drawings in a grid-based, pixel art environment. It introduces you to a new style of artistic creation that becomes second-nature once you get going—it feels a little like putting together a Lego set! The results are very cool. If you want something truly different to inspire new imaginative ideas, this is a great place to start.
Drawing Software for Professionals
Adobe Photoshop
No professional apps list is complete without the behemoth of art and design! Photoshop continues to hold it down among the best art apps on desktop and provides one of the most powerful creative suites on the market. It’s an industry standard for a reason as it handles any level of work. It features amazing brush controls, including mimicking the way real brushes and pencils operate on canvas and paper, and even offers a wonderful paint-blending mode to simulate oil painting via mixing. When it comes to art apps, Photoshop reigns supreme. If you are looking for an advanced drawing app that leaves no stone unturned, get Photoshop today. Pricing varies based on plan and Adobe Suite bundles.
Concepts
This isn’t just a sketch app, this award winning program can support you in creating mockups and scribbles to sketches and finished product designs. Few options come close to Concepts when it comes to experimenting with clients and brainstorming, making this tool as professionally-relevant as it is fun. Available in a free version and pro for $39.99USD.
Comic Draw
In an intuitive and straightforward package, this wonderful sketch app does exactly what comic artists need. It includes lettering aids, inking features, sketch capability for rough pencils, robust painting options for colorists, and even panel layout functionality to ensure you never have to leave the app to complete your work from start to finish. For $14.99, this is a powerful—and affordable—tool.
Clip Studio Paint EX
Designed with manga and anime in mind, this specialized art tool provides a wealth of great features that can lead to awe-inspiring pieces of work. This is a serious tool for professionals, and the desktop application price of $54USD for lite and $237USD for pro, reflects this! If you have the funds to shell out for one of the top drawing apps this is a great contender for your money.
Tayasui Sketches
This wonderful sketch app is available for iPhone, iPad, Macs, and Android devices, and is known for offering some of the most realistic drawing tools available on the market. Media brushes are incredible and produce effects so close to the real thing, you’d have trouble distinguishing it as digital. The interface is bold, user-friendly and perfectly suited to a mobile-device.
$19.99 for the Pro version.
Paper by WeTransfer
Here’s a digital drawing app designed for the speedy creation of whiteboarding-style concepts, sketches, and thought processes. It encourages you to jot down things as they happen, and use its streamlined tools to present information to clients rapidly–which is why the file-transferring service WeTransfer purchased and integrated this app.
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Sketch Club
With a clean UI that wastes no screen space, and pen strokes are accurate and intuitive. It makes drawing a joy. The community element introduces a sense of motivation and inspiration to your digital drawing sessions. A wonderful little app, at $2.99, this is the best bargain.
Ibis Paint X
A “social drawing” program, Ibis allows you to sketch and publish your pieces for others to look at as you work on them. It’s easy to use and has a myriad of great brushes available. It provides tools perfect for manga art creation as well, such as frame dividers and text tools, half-tones, and more. The best part? It’s one of those painting apps free to use with no restrictions. Stop drawing alone, and see what collaboration brings to the table!
Adobe Illustrator
When it comes to vector-based art, topping Illustrator is tough. It’s been around for ages and is packed with every single feature you could require, allowing you to produce professional artwork. All these offerings mean it’s been one of the top drawing apps for well over a decade. It requires an Adobe Cloud subscription to use, however and is therefore probably suited more for professionals. Hobbyists can enjoy the free version we listed in the intro to this piece!
Aseprite
Aseprite is a powerful pixel art program that is both affordable and accessible. A few of its notable features include ghosting of frames to aid in the creation of high-quality sprite sheets and a “pixel perfect” feature for the tricky rounded edges that trip you up when working with pixels. Compile it for free from their Github page, or buy one of the best art apps for sprite work available.
Krita
Krita, a relative newcomer among free art apps, is quickly becoming unbeatable. Take a look at the amazing art you can create with this simple app. This free art app has no upsells or subscriptions, but there are donations and merch if you want to support the creators. The brush stabilizer reduces the pain of doing line art with shaky hands. It’s quickly become one of the best free digital art apps available.
3D Art Design Apps
ZBrush
ZBrush is a fantastic tool for serious 3D artists. Despite its steep learning curve, this program can produce amazing results. This app is a killer…but it isn’t cheap. This is an app for serious modelers only, and there are few that can compete with ZBrush. $516USD/year
Blender
Blender is one of the best free 3D drawing apps available. It includes animations, UVs, and any other feature you need to create production-ready models. It has a thriving online community and a plethora of plugins that multiply its power.
Simple and Easy Drawing Apps for Beginner Enthusiasts
For artists just getting started, or those looking for minimal distractions, feature-heavy art design apps can get in the way. Here are some simple drawing apps that will allow you to get drawing with little learning curve required.
Paint Free
Since the dawn of the desktop, this app has withstood the test of time. Constantly adapting to changes in technology while remaining simple and easy to use, Paint is one of those fun apps to draw that always brings back a bit of nostalgia to whoever uses it.
More Art Apps
If you are still unsure where to start, have a look at our comprehensive guide outlining the best creative apps for artists. Whether you are looking for a basic hand drawing app or a fully-fledged illustration system, we can help you discover the best tools for your workflow.
Don’t Forget to Add Your Creations to Your Online Portfolio
Once you’ve used some of these drawing apps and have some amazing sketch work ready to go, it’s time to display it on your online portfolio website. Don’t have an idea on how to create one? No worries—just use a website builder; you can make a professional-looking site in minutes. Choose one with gorgeous templates and fresh fonts to show off your new drawings, illustrations, and art as beautifully as possible. We can’t wait to see it!
