Illustrator Alternatives Filtered by 'Portable'

The best alternative to Adobe Illustrator is Inkscape, which is both free and Open Source. If that doesn't suit you, our users have ranked more than 50 alternatives to Adobe Illustrator and eight of them are so hopefully you can find a suitable replacement. Other interesting alternatives to Adobe Illustrator are MyPaint, Karbon, LazPaint and sK1.

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Adobe Illustrator alternatives are mainly Vector Graphic Apps, but if you're looking for Digital Painting Tools or Color Picker Tools you can filter on that. Other popular filters include Open Source, Android, Mac, Linux, Free, iPad and Online + Free. You can also filter by region, for example EU-based alternatives if you prefer software developed in the European Union. These are just examples - use the filter bar below to find more specific alternatives to Adobe Illustrator.
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Alternatives list

  1. Inkscape icon

    Inkscape

     2315 likes

    Unlike Illustrator, Inkscape is completely free and open source, and it uses Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) as its native format. This lightweight app is usually recommended if you don't have a powerful computer, as it also has many of the useful features from illustrator, including layers, grouping objects, drawing, shape, calligraphy, pencil tools, path simplification with variable threshold, bitmaps, and boolean operations. Plus, you can open or import a wide range of file formats including SVG, PDF, EPS, CDR, or even AI (Adobe Illustrator).

    124 Inkscape alternatives

    Cost / License

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • BSD
    • Snapcraft
    • Flathub
    • PortableApps.com
    • Haiku
    Inkscape screenshot 1
     
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    38
    Inkscape vs Adobe Illustrator Comments
    Top Positive Comment
    Paulo Coghi
    13

    It's feature complete, professional and as capable (or even more capable) than Illustrator

    Top Negative Comment
    arlenwh
    0

    Slows Down and lags if the file your working on is too large. So if you go ahead and turn a bitmap image into a vector and that image requires too many paths. The application basically becomes useless. Look else where if you need to turn large bitmap images into vector images.

    Guest
    Negative
    0

    I love how fast it operates and some of the cool color palettes (Munsell) but the functionality made it almost useless. Too many steps to change and quick copy objects. Like changing font or color and weird tool names/keyboard shortcuts.

    Review by a new / low-activity user.
    3 of 38 comments
    • Inkscape is Free and Open SourceAdobe Illustrator is Paid and Proprietary
    • Inkscape is Customizable, Privacy focused and LightweightAdobe Illustrator is not according to our users
  2. MyPaint icon

    MyPaint

     388 likes

    The biggest difference with Illustrator is that MyPaint works with bitmaps instead of vector graphics. It's open source software designed mainly to illustrate and draw with a digitizer tablet. It has a simple interface, where almost all the basic drawing functions are assigned to keyboard shortcuts, which improves workflow speed. In addition, you can hide the entire graphical interface and focus all attention on the drawing without being distracted by unnecessary or complex buttons or palettes. It's a good option if you are interested in digital illustration without too many overwhelming features.

    127 MyPaint alternatives

    Cost / License

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • PortableApps.com
    MyPaint screenshot 1
     
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    6
    MyPaint vs Adobe Illustrator Comments
    Top Positive Comment
    Dmitrii Kunicin
    -2

    the application is suitable for use by children, simple

    Review by a new / low-activity user.
    Top Negative Comment
    lauraess
    2

    Illustrator is a vector image editing app. I can import bitmaps but those are more likely to be traced as vectors. This is a drawing program and is bitmap based.

    thniels
    Negative
    0

    Vector and bitmap illustration are two completely different usecases.

    3 of 6 comments
    • MyPaint is Free and Open SourceAdobe Illustrator is Paid and Proprietary
    • MyPaint is LightweightAdobe Illustrator is not according to our users
  4. Karbon icon

    Karbon

     57 likes

    Karbon is a vector drawing application with a user interface that is easy to use, highly customizable and extensible. That makes Karbon a great application for users starting to explore the world of vector graphics as well as for artists wanting to create breathtaking vector art.

    43 Karbon alternatives

    Cost / License

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Linux
    • KDE Plasma
    • Flathub
    • Flatpak
    Karbon screenshot 1
     
  5. LazPaint icon

    LazPaint

     46 likes

    Raster & vector graphic editor with many tools and filters, written in Lazarus. Portable, 32bit & 64bit versions, ORA format & 16384x16384 image support. In app 3D import & rendering.

    Cost / License

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • BSD
    • PortableApps.com
    • Flathub
    • Flatpak
    Main UI
     
  6. sK1 icon

    sK1

     37 likes

    sK1 is an open source cross-platform vector graphics editor like CorelDRAW, Adobe Illustrator, or Freehand. The major feature of sK1 is a professional precise printing and prepress ready PDF output.

    33 sK1 alternatives

    Cost / License

    Application types

    Alerts

    • Discontinued

    Platforms

    • Windows
    • Linux
    sK1 screenshot 1
     
  7. Expressive Canvas icon

    Expressive Canvas

     11 likes

    Expressive Canvas makes creating eye-catching vector illustrations, pixel-perfect icons, and other digital assets more straightforward than ever before.

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Proprietary

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Online
    Expressive Canvas (2023.0.1 BETA)
     
  9. RealWorld Paint icon

    RealWorld Paint

     23 likes

    RealWorld Paint is an free portable image/photo/animation editor. It supports layers with styles and can import and export Photoshop, GIMP and Paint.net images with layers.

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Proprietary

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Windows
    RealWorld Paint screenshot 1
     
  10. Torapp guilloche designer icon

    Torapp guilloche designer

     19 likes

    Torapp guilloche designer is a full-featured web-based vector graphic editor for security printing. It runs in Chrome on all major OSes including linux, OSX and all versions of windows, and is the most innovative and flexible tool available to design guilloche patterns against...

    32 Torapp guilloche designer alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Proprietary

    Application types

    Alerts

    • Discontinued

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Online
    • Windows Mobile
    Rosettes in Torapp guilloche designer
     
8 of 8 Adobe Illustrator alternatives