Free Illustrator Alternatives
The best free alternative to Adobe Illustrator is Inkscape, which is also Open Source. If that doesn't suit you, our users have ranked more than 50 alternatives to Adobe Illustrator and loads of them is free so hopefully you can find a suitable replacement. Other interesting free alternatives to Adobe Illustrator are Linearity Curve, Figma, MyPaint and Vectr.
Adobe Illustrator alternatives are mainly Vector Graphic Apps but may also be Digital Painting Tools or Image Editors. Filter by these if you want a narrower list of alternatives or looking for a specific functionality of Adobe Illustrator.Inkscape
Is this is a good alternative?YesNo- Free • Open Source
- Vector Graphic App
- Image Editor
- Digital Painting Tool
137 Inkscape alternatives- Mac
- Windows
- Linux
- BSD
- Snapcraft
- Flathub
- PortableApps.com
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).
- - Inkscape is the most popular Windows, Mac & Linux alternative to Adobe Illustrator.
- - Inkscape is the most popular Open Source & free alternative to Adobe Illustrator.
Inkscape Features
Comments about Inkscape as a Alternative to Adobe Illustrator
Paulo CoghiIt's feature complete, professional and as capable (or even more capable) than Illustrator
9If your end product is svg files, Inkscape is just better, it's built around the SVG standard and supports nearly all of it.
8ShnitzelKillerInkscape has very bad performance (especially on mac), due to jank in the rendering code, and being optimized for CPU rather than GPU rendering, probably due to being a very old piece of software. It doesn't seem like this will be fixed anytime soon, based on the discussions taking place which are years old at this point.
-2arlenwhSlows 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.
0banlogicsThe best software for vector art. A fully featured and professional software.
3Linearity Curve
Is this is a good alternative?YesNo- Free • Proprietary
- Vector Graphic App
- Digital Painting Tool
- UI Design Tool
32 Linearity Curve alternatives- Mac
- iPhone
- iPad
Vectonator is a very complete free vector editing app, known mainly for its iPad apps, focusing on simplicity and ease of use. You can export to JPG, PNG, SVG and PDF. Also, unlike Illustrator, you can render a time-lapse video of your project to share on social media (with some limitations). Cloud syncing allows you to continue work started on iPad and finish it directly on macOS.
- - Linearity Curve is the most popular iPhone alternative to Adobe Illustrator.
Linearity Curve Features
Opinions about Linearity Curve as a Alternative to Adobe Illustrator
Figma
Is this is a good alternative?YesNo- Freemium • Proprietary
- Prototyping Tool
- UI Design Tool
- Wireframing Tool
70 Figma alternatives- Mac
- Windows
- Online
- Chrome OS
- Software as a Service (SaaS)
Figma has a bigger focus on UI design, wireframing and collaborative work. Like Sketch, its interface is cleaner and easier to understand than Illustrator. It's can also be used throught web browsers and collabore with more members of your team in real time. It features automatic cloud synchronization so you can use your files on the platform you want, in addition to unique features such as arc tools and vector networks, which allow non-designers to format their templates easily. Animated prototypes are definitely a great advantage to interact with your design before coding.
- - Figma is the most popular Web-based & SaaS alternative to Adobe Illustrator.
Figma Features
Comments about Figma as a Alternative to Adobe Illustrator
RCLeahcarFigma places a heavier focus on user interface design, while Illustrator is a general vector graphics editor.
6With a focus on UI, it is a much better tool to use for UI design and prototyping
2MyPaint
Is this is a good alternative?YesNo- Free • Open Source
- Digital Painting Tool
- Image Editor
- Photo Editor
127 MyPaint alternatives- Mac
- Windows
- Linux
- PortableApps.com
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.
MyPaint Features
Comments about MyPaint as a Alternative to Adobe Illustrator
richcarreraIt works with bitmap, Illustrator with vector graphics. it has more similarities with photoshop than with Illustrator.
0Dmitrii Kunicinthe application is suitable for use by children, simple
0Illustrator is a vector graphics tool, MyPaint is a raster graphics tool.
1Vectr
Is this is a good alternative?YesNo- Free • Proprietary
- Vector Graphic App
- Image Editor
- Graphic Design Tool
89 Vectr alternatives- Online
- Chrome OS
Vectr is completely free and browser-based, offering a quick and easy way to get started with vector editing through an intuitive interface. Since it's browser based, each image has a custom URL that you can share with others to be reviewed and collaborate in real time with multiple people. You can export your finished work as an SVG, PNG, or JPEG file. Its features are much more simple than those offered by Illustrator, so it's really not recommended for very complex projects. However, it is an excellent choice if you are a beginner with vector editing software.
Vectr Features
Comments about Vectr as a Alternative to Adobe Illustrator
Ibuddy66Vectr has a great user interface and has lots of tools to fine tune designs. They have plenty of numerical value boxes to get better results with what you want and have an easy to learn interface. I have used it for quite a few projects. Great to make new icons with too! Love it!
0Cannot open existing ai- and eps-files. Exporting is very limited.
-4Graphite
Is this is a good alternative?YesNo- Free • Open Source
- Vector Graphic App
- Image Editor
- Graphic Design Tool
50 Graphite alternatives- Online
Graphite is an open source, cross-platform, 2D vector and raster general-purpose graphics editor with AI image generation features and a non-destructive node-based effects compositing engine.
Graphite Features
LazPaint
Is this is a good alternative?YesNo- Free • Open Source
- Image Editor
- Digital Painting Tool
43 LazPaint alternatives- Mac
- Windows
- Linux
- BSD
- PortableApps.com
Raster & vector graphic editor with many tools and filters, written in Lazarus (Free Pascal). Portable, 32bit (under 3mb) & 64bit (3.55mb) versions, ORA format & 16384x16384 image support. In app 3D import & rendering.
LazPaint Features