Adobe Illustrator vs Graphite
Adobe Illustrator
adobe.com
Graphite
graphite.artSide by side
| Figure | Adobe Illustrator | Graphite |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | — | Free |
| Free plan | — | Yes |
| Free trial | Yes | — |
| Open source | — | — |
| Web | Yes | Yes |
| Windows | Yes | Yes |
| macOS | Yes | Yes |
| Linux | — | Yes |
| iOS | Yes | — |
| Plans published | 9 | 1 |
| Spec score · Vector Graphics Software | 9.1 (#3) | 8.1 (#18) |
| Spec score · Graphic Design Software | 9.1 (#13) | 7.9 (#93) |
| Spec score · Design tools | 9.1 (#13) | 7.9 (#91) |
| Desktop app | Yes | Yes |
| Free plan | No | Yes |
| Illustration tools | Yes | Yes |
| Platforms | Adobe offers Illustrator for desktop, iPad, and web; desktop system requirements list Windows and macOS. | The web app is live, and Windows, Mac, and Linux desktop apps are in release-candidate testing. |
| Real-time collaboration | No | No |
| Support | The teams plans include 24x7 dedicated technical support, and Adobe links to its Help Center and Adobe Community from the Illustrator product page. | The user manual directs users to the Discord user-help channel or the GitHub discussion board for help. |
Plans
Adobe Illustrator
- Illustrator — Annual, billed monthlyPrice not published
- Illustrator — Annual, billed monthlyPriced on request
- Illustrator — Annual plan, prepaidPriced on request
- Illustrator — Annual plan, prepaidPrice not published
- Adobe Illustrator (students and teachers)$19.99 a month
- Illustrator$22.99 a month
- Illustrator for teams$37.99 a month
- Creative Cloud Pro for teams$99.99 a month
- Illustrator$263.88 a year
In their own words
Adobe Illustrator
Adobe Illustrator creates vector graphics such as logos, icons, drawings, typography, and illustrations for print, web, video, and mobile. Its artwork uses points, lines, and curves, so it can scale up or down without pixel blurring. Pen, Curvature, Pencil, and Shape Builder tools create and edit lines, curves, and complex shapes. Generative Shape Fill and Text to Vector Graphic add AI-assisted creation, while Text to Pattern and Generative Recolor support custom patterns and color palettes. The Font Browser offers filtering, and font libraries sync across Adobe apps. Illustrator vectors can be imported into After Effects while preserving layer structure. The product has desktop and mobile apps and is listed for iOS, macOS, web, and Windows. Illustrator requires a membership and has no free plan. The individual Illustrator plan is $22.99 a month, billed annually monthly, and lists 100GB cloud storage, 25 monthly generative credits, Adobe Express Premium, and a seven-day free trial. Desktop use requires an internet connection at least once every 99 days to validate membership. Desktop requirements for version 30.0 and later include Windows 10/11 or macOS 13 through 26, with 8GB RAM minimum and 16GB recommended.
Graphite
Graphite is a free, open-source vector graphics editor and animation engine available in alpha. Its current emphasis is vector art and graphic design, while raster editing remains a limited, experimental set of tools. Users can switch between layer-based editing and a procedural node graph, where artwork is represented so parameters can be adjusted and workflows reused or shared. The site says artwork can be zoomed and exported at any size, with raster brushes, masks, filters, and effects rendered in full detail. Graphite runs locally on the user’s hardware without a server and is described as a lightweight offline web app; a desktop app is also available. Supported platforms are Linux, macOS, web, and Windows. Scalable raster compositing remains experimental, and real-time collaboration is not available. Graphite describes itself as a community-built free-software project funded by its community. Its manual points users to Discord or GitHub discussions for help, and GitHub also hosts project discussions and source code.