Drawing & Digital Art Software · Tool Face-Off

Adobe Fresco vs Krita

Quick answer

Krita is the powerhouse free option for serious digital artists, while Adobe Fresco shines for iPad users who want live brushes and seamless Creative Cloud integration — but it costs you.

Our pick

Adobe Fresco

Live brushes meet the cloud — painting reimagined for touch screens.

4.4★

Krita

Pro-grade open-source painting — free forever, no asterisks.

3.6★

Price

Free limited / ~$9.99/mo (All Apps) or Fresco-only plan

100% free & open-source

Platform

iPad, iPhone, Windows

Windows, macOS, Linux

Live/Real Media Brushes

Yes — signature Live Brushes (oil, watercolor)

No live brushes; excellent simulated media

Brush Library Size

~1,000+ brushes included

1,000+ default; unlimited community packs free

Animation Support

Basic frame-by-frame animation

Full animation suite with onion skinning & timeline

Vector Tools

Basic vector drawing

Full vector layer support

Photoshop Integration

Native PSD roundtrip, CC Libraries

PSD import/export (good, not perfect)

Max Canvas Resolution

Unlimited (device RAM-limited)

Stabilization/Smoothing

Yes, basic

Yes, advanced (multiple algorithms)

Offline Use

Yes (limited features without CC)

Fully offline, no account needed

Custom Brush Engine

Limited customization

Deep, multi-engine brush customization

Cloud Storage

100GB+ via Creative Cloud

None built-in

Adobe Fresco

Features★★★★☆

Ease of Use★★★★½

Brush Quality★★★★★

Value for Money★★★☆☆

Community & Resources★★★★☆

Mobile/Tablet Experience★★★★★

Creative Cloud Integration★★★★★

Krita

Features★★★★★

Ease of Use★★★½☆

Brush Quality★★★★½

Value for Money★★★★★

Community & Resources★★★★☆

Mobile/Tablet Experience★★☆☆☆

Creative Cloud Integration★☆☆☆☆

Worth knowing

Fresco's Live Brushes actually simulate fluid dynamics — oil paint blends and bleeds like the real thing.
Krita has been in active development since 1999 and is backed by the KDE community.
Adobe Fresco is free to download on iPad with a solid feature set, but advanced brushes and cloud sync require a subscription.
Krita raises funds via Steam sales (paid there) but remains free on its official site — Steam purchases just support devs.
Fresco does not have a full desktop feature set — heavy illustration work still pushes you back to Illustrator or Photoshop.

Krita's mascot is a little creature called 'Kiki the Cyber Squirrel' — because apparently even professional-grade painting software needs a mascot with a jetpack.

If you want

You work primarily on an iPad and live inside Adobe's ecosystem

Fresco's Live Brushes and seamless Photoshop handoff make it the slickest tablet painting experience money can buy.

→ Pick Adobe Fresco

If you want

You want zero cost with maximum features on a desktop

Krita matches or beats paid software in brush engines, animation, and vector tools — completely free, no strings.

→ Pick Krita

If you want

You're into animation alongside illustration

Krita has a full timeline and onion-skinning; Fresco's animation is bare-bones in comparison.

→ Pick Krita

If you want

You're a hobbyist already paying for Adobe Creative Cloud

Fresco is likely bundled in your plan already — no extra cost and Live Brushes are genuinely magical to use.

→ Pick Adobe Fresco

ProcreateVSKrita

Digital Drawing Apps

Clip Studio PaintVSAdobe Fresco

Digital Drawing Apps

ProcreateVSAdobe Fresco

Digital Drawing Apps

Some links on this page are affiliate links. If you sign up through them, we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you.

Adobe Fresco vs Krita

Adobe Fresco

Krita

Worth knowing

More face-offs like this