Calligraphy Alternatives

Calligraphy is described as 'Turns short texts into large, impressive banners made up of ASCII Characters, ready to be copied or exported to images. Spice up your online conversations by adding some extra oompf to your messages' and is an app. There are more than 10 alternatives to Calligraphy for a variety of platforms, including Windows, Linux, Mac, Web-based and Flathub apps. The best Calligraphy alternative is Monodraw. It's not free, so if you're looking for a free alternative, you could try Playscii or Ascii Generator 2. Other great apps like Calligraphy are Letterpress ASCII, PabloDraw, MonoSketch and ASCII Art Paint.

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Alternatives list

  1. Monodraw icon
     6 likes

    Monodraw allows you to easily create text-based art (like diagrams, layouts, flow charts) and visually represent algorithms, data structures, binary formats and more. Because it's all just text, it can be easily embedded almost anywhere.

    18 Monodraw alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Pay once
    • Proprietary

    Platforms

    • Mac
     
    • Monodraw is the most popular Mac alternative to Calligraphy.

    • Monodraw is the most popular commercial alternative to Calligraphy.

    • Monodraw is Paid and ProprietaryCalligraphy is Free and Open Source
  2. Playscii icon
     14 likes

    Playscii is a powerful, open-source ASCII-based art, animation, and game creation tool. Advanced layer-based tools and import and export options are available through a familiar window system with the appeal of classic DOS development tools like QBasic.

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
     
    • Playscii is the most popular Windows & Linux alternative to Calligraphy.

    • Playscii is the most popular Open Source & free alternative to Calligraphy.

    • Playscii is Free and Open SourceCalligraphy is also Free and Open Source
  3. Ascii Generator 2 (Ascgen2) is an application to convert images into high quality ASCII art - text that accurately represents the original image. The only program of its kind to support variable width fonts and real-time output adjustment and more.

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Platforms

    • Windows
     
  4. Letterpress converts your images into a picture made up of ASCII characters. You can save the output to a file, copy it, and even change its resolution! High-res output can still be viewed comfortably by lowering the zoom factor.

    Cost / License

    Platforms

    • Linux
    • Flathub
    • GNOME
     
  5. PabloDraw icon
     10 likes

    PabloDraw is a cross-platform text editor designed for creating ANSI and ASCII art, similar to that of its DOS-based predecessors; ACiDDraw (1994) and TheDraw (1986).

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Proprietary

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
     
  6. MonoSketch icon
     7 likes

    MonoSketch is a powerful ASCII sketching and diagramming app that lets you effortlessly transform your ideas into visually stunning designs.

    Cost / License

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Online
     
    • MonoSketch is the most popular Web-based alternative to Calligraphy.

    • MonoSketch is Free and Open SourceCalligraphy is also Free and Open Source
  7. free and open-source web-based application for creating and editing images consisting of text characters and hieroglyphs (ASCII graphics / Shift_JIS art / Kaomoji and many others).

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source (MIT)

    Platforms

    • Online
     
  8. JavE icon
     13 likes

    JavE (Java Ascii Versatile Editor) is a free Ascii Editor. Rather than for editing texts, it is intended for drawing simple diagrams by using Ascii characters.

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
     
  9. Charaster icon
     5 likes

    Charaster is a browser-based editor for ASCII grahics and art. It provides a robust set of raster-style editing tools such as Line, Rectangle and free-hand drawing tool; all configurable by specifying the character, color and styling to use while drawing.

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Platforms

    • Online
    • Self-Hosted
     
    • Charaster is the most popular Self-Hosted alternative to Calligraphy.

    • Charaster is Free and Open SourceCalligraphy is also Free and Open Source
  10. A program for creating ASCII graphics from images and text.

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Proprietary

    Platforms

    • Windows
     
  11. ASCII Draw icon
     1 like

    This app lets you draw diagrams, tables, tree view, art and more using only characters. There are many stiles to choose from and multiple tools available to use such as:

    Cost / License

    Platforms

    • Linux
    • Flathub
     
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