Drawpile vs Krita

Drawpile is a drawing, painting, sketching and animation app for people working together on one canvas, with offline use also available. It runs on Windows, macOS, Linux, Android and the web; on iPhone and iPad, the browser version works, but there is no native iOS app. Its toolkit includes more than 200 built-in brushes, several brush engines, a brush editor and stroke stabilization. Layers and layer groups support blend modes, alpha preserve, clipping groups, masking and alpha lock. Animation tools include a timeline and onion skins. Canvases can be saved as OpenRaster or PSD, and images can be pasted from files or other programs. Users can join official community servers without arranging their own infrastructure, or operate a server themselves. External authentication can let users access potentially untrusted third-party servers without sharing their password with those servers. Drawpile says it does not transfer information to other networked systems unless a user or operator specifically requests it. The free plan costs nothing.

Krita is free, open-source software for digital painting and artwork creation, with tools for illustration and 2D animation. Its brush collection includes more than 100 preloaded options and over nine engines for customizing brushes. Animation tools support audio, onion skinning, extensive timeline frames, and export to video or still images. For color workflows, Krita supports ICC management through LCMS, OpenColorIO for EXR, HDR painting, and OpenEXR. It can open and save PSD files and uses SVG for vector work. C++ and Python plugins can extend the application; plugins distributed for Krita must use the GNU GPL, though creators may charge for downloads. Krita lists Windows, macOS, Linux, and Android, but not iPads or iPhones. The maker says no registration or internet connection is required for use. The listed minimum RAM is 4 GB, with 16 GB recommended. Krita is free and open source, with no subscriptions or trials.