Krita review

Krita is a painting program first, which is exactly why many beginners use it to learn animation. Switching to the animation workspace gives you a timeline that handles thousands of frames, playback with scrubbing, onion skinning for in-betweens, adjustable start and end times and frame rate, and drag and drop frame timing. Krita also tweens opacity and position changes, imports audio for lip sync practice and exports to video or still images. Around it sit the drawing tools: over 100 preloaded brushes, more than nine brush engines, three stabilizer modes for shaky hands, vector tools and layer management. Krita says there are no trials and no subscriptions, and it runs on Windows, macOS, Linux and Android, with paid store versions on Steam and the Microsoft Store for people who want to fund development. The limits are on the animation side. There are no bones or cut-out rigs and no xsheet, so longer productions will feel easier in OpenToonz or Tahoma2D.

Who it is for

Illustrators and beginners who want to draw frame-by-frame animation with strong painting brushes.

Price

Free and open source; no paid plan.

Krita is a professional FREE and open source painting program.
Quoted from the vendor pricing page on November 10, 2026.

Key features

• Animation workspace with a timeline that supports thousands of frames
• Onion skinning to help draw in-betweens
• Tweening for opacity and position changes
• Audio import and export to video or image sequences
• Over 100 preloaded brushes and brush stabilizers for clean lines

Strengths and weaknesses

• Strength: No trials and no subscriptions, licensed under GNU GPL
• Strength: Painting tools are among the strongest of any free app
• Strength: Available for Windows, macOS, Linux and Android
• Weakness: Animation tools are simpler than dedicated 2D studios like OpenToonz
• Weakness: No rigging or bone tools for cut-out animation
• Weakness: Apple iPads and iPhones are not supported

Key facts

• Price: Free, GNU GPL v3; paid store versions also offered
• Animation type: 2D frame-by-frame with opacity and position tweening
• Platforms: Windows, macOS, Linux, Android
• Current release: Krita 5.3.4.1, released October 7, 2026

Where it ranks

Krita is No. 2 in our Best Free Animation Software verdict.