Adobe Fresco vs Limner
Adobe Fresco
adobe.com
Limner
limnerart.comSide by side
| Figure | Adobe Fresco | Limner |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | Free | Free |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | — | Yes |
| Open source | — | — |
| Windows | Yes | Yes |
| macOS | — | Yes |
| iOS | Yes | Yes |
| Plans published | 3 | 6 |
| Spec score · Digital Painting Software | 8.5 (#7) | 8.4 (#9) |
| Animation | Fresco supports frame-by-frame animation and motion paths. | Animation mode supports cel timelines, onion skinning, keyframed cameras, motion curves, parenting, audio, and GIF, APNG, MP4, PSD, and PNG-sequence output. |
| Brushes | The app includes pixel, vector, watercolor, and oil live brushes. | Brush Studio lets users create brushes and exchange Photoshop ABR files and Limner LBRUSH presets. |
| Company | Adobe says it was founded in 1982 by John Warnock and Charles Geschke. | Limner LLC is a Virginia limited liability company with an address in Virginia Beach, Virginia, United States. |
| Layers | Fresco allows unlimited layers. | It includes layers, masks, and live adjustments. |
| Security | Adobe says it integrates security activities into its software development practices, processes, and tools. | The site, license server, and update system use HTTPS; keys and activation leases are cryptographically signed and installers are code signed. |
| Support | Adobe directs Fresco users to its community forum for tips, answers, discussion, and feedback. | Support is provided by email for bugs, feature requests, keys, billing, and questions, and the studio says every message is read by the developer. |
| Supported devices | Adobe lists iPad, iPhone, Windows devices with Intel, Nvidia, or AMD processors, and specified Surface ARM devices as supported. | The download page supports Windows 10 or 11 64-bit, macOS 13 Ventura or later, and iPadOS 16 or later. |
Plans
Adobe Fresco
- Adobe FrescoPrice not published
- Adobe FrescoPriced on request
- Adobe Fresco Single App (Free)Free
Limner
- Free tierFree
- iPad betaFree
- iPad betaFree
- Limner FreeFree
- Limner PlusFree
- Limner PlusPriced on request
In their own words
Adobe Fresco
Adobe Fresco is a free drawing and painting app for stylus and touch devices. It offers pixel, vector, watercolor, and oil live brushes, plus frame-by-frame animation and motion paths. Artwork can use unlimited layers. Adobe lists support for iPad, iPhone, Windows devices with Intel, Nvidia, or AMD processors, and specified Surface ARM devices. Fresco work can move into Photoshop and sync as a Creative Cloud document. When connected, artwork syncs automatically to Adobe Creative Cloud; offline documents remain local and sync after reconnection. Publish & Export or Quick Export can send artwork to Dropbox or other cloud storage. The free plan includes 5 GB of cloud storage, while a paid Fresco plus Photoshop on iPad plan includes 100 GB. Adobe says paid upgrades add premium Adobe Fonts and more storage. Fresco is available on iOS and Windows, with desktop and mobile apps.
Limner
Limner is an app for painting, illustration, vector work, animation, and comics, with desktop versions for Windows and macOS and support for iPadOS. Drawing tools include pressure and tilt input, stroke stabilization, custom brushes, and Photoshop ABR brush importing. Layers, masks, and live adjustments support image editing. Animation mode provides frame-by-frame work with onion skin and exports to GIF, MP4, or numbered PNG sequences. The app can record drawing sessions and export timelapse videos up to 4K; the manual also lists PSD import and SVG export. The download page specifies Windows 10 or 11 64-bit, macOS 13 Ventura or later, and iPadOS 16 or later. Windows minimum requirements include a dual-core CPU, 4 GB RAM, and a GPU with a working Direct3D 12 or Vulkan driver. The desktop free tier needs no account or key, while vector, animation, and book projects on desktop are Limner Plus features. All features are unlocked during the iPad beta. Limner says artwork, documents, and settings stay on the device, and that the app has no analytics, telemetry, or crash reporting. The license permits personal and commercial creative work.