Charcoal AlternativesOnly apps categorised as Image Editors

The best Image Editor alternative to Charcoal is Krita, which is both free and Open Source. If that doesn't suit you, our users have ranked more than 50 alternatives to Charcoal and many of them are Image Editors so hopefully you can find a suitable replacement. Other interesting Image Editor alternatives to Charcoal are Paint.NET, Procreate, Clip Studio Paint and MediBang Paint.

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Charcoal alternatives are mainly Digital Painting Tools but may also be Image Editors or Photo Editors.  Filter by these or use the filter bar below if you want a narrower list of alternatives or looking for a specific functionality of Charcoal.
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  • Charcoal is incredibly easy to use: Just create or open a sketch and start drawing. There are no layers, properties panels or confusing settings. Instead, Charcoal features rich tools and beautiful color palettes.
More about Charcoal
Charcoal alternatives page was last updated Jan 27, 2021
  1. Krita icon
     1321 likes

    Krita is a professional Free and open source (FOSS) painting program. It is made by artists that want to see affordable art tools for everyone within concept art, texture and matte painters, illustrations and comics.

    142 Krita alternatives
    Main Window

    License model

    • FreeOpen Source

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Android Tablet
    • Epic Games Store
    • PortableApps.com
    • Steam

    Properties

    1.  Lightweight

    Features

    1.  Digital Drawing
    2.  Blending brushes
    3.  Keyframe Animation
    4.  Drawing 2D
    5.  Advanced brush settings
    6.  Drawing Tablet Support
    7.  Digital-painting focused
    8.  Sketching
    9.  Color blending
    10.  Support for Layers
    11.  Texture painting
    12.  Dark Mode
    Krita iconCharcoal Icon

    Krita VS Charcoal

    Is Krita a good alternative to Charcoal?
     
    • Krita is the most popular Windows, Mac, Linux & Android Tablet alternative to Charcoal.

    • Krita is the most popular Open Source & free alternative to Charcoal.

    • Krita is Free and Open SourceCharcoal is Free and Proprietary
    • Krita is LightweightCharcoal is not according to our users
  2. Paint.NET icon
     1626 likes

    Paint.net is a free and very capable image editing software for Windows. Great alternative to Photoshop for people that do not need all the stuff PS offers.

    164 Paint.NET alternatives
    Paint.NET screenshot 1

    License model

    • FreeProprietary

    Platforms

    • Windows
    • .NET Framework

    Properties

    1.  Lightweight
    2.  Minimalistic
    3.  User friendly

    Features

    1.  Support for Layers
    2.  Extensible by Plugins/Extensions
    3.  Dark Mode
    4.  Support for image plugins
    5.  Community-based
    6.  Transparency
    7.  History Panel
    8.  Ad-free
    9.  Portable
    10.  Built-in Color Picker
    11.  Works Offline
    12.  No registration required
    Paint.NET iconCharcoal Icon

    Paint.NET VS Charcoal

    Is Paint.NET a good alternative to Charcoal?
     
  3. Procreate icon
     158 likes

    Procreate is a versatile, award-winning app for creative digital drawing and painting on iOS. It delivers a robust, professional toolset with hundreds of configurable brushes, a powerful layering system, vector graphic tools, and comprehensive design capabilities, ensuring desktop-level flexibility and power.

    57 Procreate alternatives
    Procreate screenshot 1

    License model

    Platforms

    • iPhone
    • iPad

    Top Procreate Features

    1.  Apple Pencil support
    2.  Texture for brushes
    3.  Custom Brushes
    4.  Drawing 2D
    5.  Love
    6.  Dark Mode
    7.  Ad-free
    8.  Support for Layers
    9.  No registration required
    10.  Support for 4K
    11.  Works Offline
    12.  Drawing Tablet Support
    Procreate iconCharcoal Icon

    Procreate VS Charcoal

    Is Procreate a good alternative to Charcoal?
     
    • Procreate is the most popular iPhone & iPad alternative to Charcoal.

    • Procreate is the most popular commercial alternative to Charcoal.

    • Procreate is Paid and ProprietaryCharcoal is Free and Proprietary
  4. Clip Studio Paint icon
     122 likes

    Professional software for comic and manga creation, optimized with panel layouts, perspective rulers, sketching, inking, toning, vector support, and 3D model import, suitable for artists seeking advanced drawing and coloring tools.

    102 Clip Studio Paint alternatives
    Blank Canvas

    License model

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Android
    • iPhone
    • Chrome OS
    • Android Tablet
    • iPad
    • Samsung Galaxy Store

    Properties

    1.  Lightweight
    2.  Optimal performance

    Features

    1.  Support for Layers
    2.  Pressure Sensitivity
    3.  Texture for brushes
    4.  Open PSD files
    5.  Tablet support
    6.  Smooth lines
    7.  Keyframe Animation
    8.  Cloud Sync
    9.  Drawing Tablet Support
    10.  Built-in 3D model viewer
    11.  Add-ons
    12.  Vectorgraphic support
    Clip Studio Paint iconCharcoal Icon

    Clip Studio Paint VS Charcoal

    Is Clip Studio Paint a good alternative to Charcoal?
     
    • Clip Studio Paint is the most popular Android alternative to Charcoal.

    • Clip Studio Paint is Paid and ProprietaryCharcoal is Free and Proprietary
    • Clip Studio Paint is LightweightCharcoal is not according to our users
  5. MediBang Paint icon
     114 likes

    MediBang Paint is a lightweight software for illustration and making comic books on Windows and Mac OS.

    73 MediBang Paint alternatives
    Great for anime or comics

    License model

    • FreemiumProprietary

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Android
    • iPhone
    • Android Tablet
    • iPad

    Properties

    1.  Lightweight

    Features

    1.  Multi-choice brushes
    2.  Pressure Sensitivity
    3.  Digital-painting focused
    4.  Color blending
    5.  Pen Stabilization
    6.  Keyframe Animation
    7.  Support for Layers
    8.  Dark Mode
    9.  Drawing Tablet Support
    10.  Custom Brushes
    11.  Category Filters
    12.  Texture for brushes
    MediBang Paint iconCharcoal Icon

    MediBang Paint VS Charcoal

    Is MediBang Paint a good alternative to Charcoal?
     
  6. PaintTool SAI icon
     135 likes

    PaintTool SAI is high quality and lightweight painting software, fully digitizer support, amazing anti-aliased paintings, provide easy and stable operation, this software make digital art more enjoyable and comfortable.

    91 PaintTool SAI alternatives
    PaintTool SAI screenshot 1

    License model

    Platforms

    • Windows

    Top PaintTool SAI Features

    1.  Pen Stabilization
    2.  Texture for brushes
    3.  Color blending
    4.  Sketching
    5.  Support for Layers
    6.  Pressure Sensitivity
    7.  Audio lessons
    8.  Stabilizing
    9.  Brush Stabilizers
    10.  Out Of The Box
    11.  Drawing 2D
    PaintTool SAI iconCharcoal Icon

    PaintTool SAI VS Charcoal

    Is PaintTool SAI a good alternative to Charcoal?
     
  7. ibis Paint X icon
     39 likes

    ibis Paint is an easy yet powerful drawing app made with tools for sketching manga right at your fingertips.

    46 ibis Paint X alternatives
    ibis Paint X screenshot 1
    ibis Paint X screenshot 2
    +3
    ibis Paint X screenshot 3

    License model

    • FreemiumProprietary

    Platforms

    • Windows
    • Android
    • iPhone
    • Android Tablet
    • HUAWEI AppGallery
    • iPad

    Top ibis Paint X Features

    1.  Color blending
    2.  Extract Drawing
    3.  Text tool
    4.  Pressure Sensitivity
    5.  Custom Brushes
    6.  Realtime magic wand tool
    7.  Support for Layers
    8.  Texture for brushes
    9.  Blur Filter
    10.  Brush Stabilizers
    11.  Pen Stabilization
    12.  Gradients
    ibis Paint X iconCharcoal Icon

    ibis Paint X VS Charcoal

    Is ibis Paint X a good alternative to Charcoal?
     
  8. Pixelitor icon
     26 likes

    Pixelitor is an open source image editor with an intuitive interface and with a special emphasis on non-destructive editing.

    118 Pixelitor alternatives
    Pixelitor screenshot 1

    License model

    • FreeOpen Source

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux

    Properties

    1.  Lightweight

    Features

    1.  Works Offline
    2.  Ad-free
    3.  Support for Layers
    4.  Image Filters
    5.  Photo effects
    6.  Image Processing
    7.  Retouch photos
    8.  Photographic filters
    9.  Java based
    10.  Sketching
    Pixelitor iconCharcoal Icon

    Pixelitor VS Charcoal

    Is Pixelitor a good alternative to Charcoal?
     
  9. FireAlpaca icon
     79 likes

    FireAlpaca is the image editor that can be used readily and easily. We made it possible to provide the completely free download, in order for our products to be experienced by more users from all over the world. It is available for both Mac and Windows users!

    129 FireAlpaca alternatives
    FireAlpaca screenshot 1

    License model

    • FreeProprietary

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows

    FireAlpaca Features

    1.  Support for Layers
    2.  Smooth lines
    3.  Digital Drawing
    4.  Blending brushes
    5.  Multi-choice brushes
    6.  Tablet support
    7.  Drawing Board
    FireAlpaca iconCharcoal Icon

    FireAlpaca VS Charcoal

    Is FireAlpaca a good alternative to Charcoal?
     
  10. Corel Painter icon
     67 likes

    Corel Painter is a raster-based digital art application created to simulate as accurately as possible the appearance and behavior of traditional media associated with drawing, painting, and printmaking.

    77 Corel Painter alternatives
    Painter on Mac OS X

    License model

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows

    Corel Painter Features

    1.  Paint simulation
    2.  Sketching
    3.  Conditional styles
    Corel Painter iconCharcoal Icon

    Corel Painter VS Charcoal

    Is Corel Painter a good alternative to Charcoal?
     
  11. Artrage icon
     66 likes

    A simple but lovely natural media painting and sketching program. Art oriented, but capable of loading/saving photoshop files.

    60 Artrage alternatives
    Artrage screenshot 1

    License model

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Android
    • iPhone
    • Android Tablet
    • iPad

    Top Artrage Features

    1.  Support for Layers
    2.  Works Offline
    3.  Support for 4K
    4.  Drawing Tablet Support
    5.  Apple Pencil support
    6.  Texture painting
    7.  Multi-choice brushes
    8.  MultiTouch
    9.  Color blending
    10.  Upload directly to Dropbox
    11.  Sketching
    12.  Colour control
    Artrage iconCharcoal Icon

    Artrage VS Charcoal

    Is Artrage a good alternative to Charcoal?
     
  12. Pixia icon
     11 likes

    Pixia is a freeware bitmap graphics editor program for Windows, created by Isao Maruoka. It was originally designed for the anime/manga community but has also been used in other branches of art.

    45 Pixia alternatives
    Main window.

    License model

    • FreeProprietary

    Platforms

    • Windows

    Pixia Features

    1.  Extensible by Plugins/Extensions
    2.  Support for Layers
    3.  Custom Brushes
    4.  Drawing Tablet Support
    5.  Sketch
    6.  Sketching
    Pixia iconCharcoal Icon

    Pixia VS Charcoal

    Is Pixia a good alternative to Charcoal?
     
12 of 24 Charcoal alternatives