Softwr

Software · head to head

Adobe Illustrator vs Krita

Adobe Illustrator logo

Adobe Illustrator

Software

Professional vector graphics software

From
$22.99/month
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Krita logo

Krita

Software

Free and open-source digital painting software

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Krita has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: Adobe Illustrator listed on UK G-Cloud as part of Adobe Creative Cloud (which bundles Illustrator) at £58 to £80 per licence per month, via reseller ServiceKey; Krita not portable across Windows/macOS/Linux with consistent performance
  • They diverge on capability: Adobe Illustrator covers Vector drawing, Krita covers Digital painting.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Adobe Illustrator and Krita actually diverge.

Attributes where Adobe Illustrator and Krita differ
AttributeAdobe IllustratorKrita
Starting price$22.99/monthFree
Pricing modelsubscriptionUnknown
Free tierNoYes
PlatformsWindows, Macos, IosWindows, macOS, Linux
Founded19821999

Identical on both: user rating (Not yet rated), category (Unknown).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Adobe Illustrator

  • Vector drawing
  • Bezier tools
  • Shape tools
  • Typography
  • Gradients & effects
  • Symbols & instances
  • Artboards
  • 3D capabilities

Only in Krita

  • Digital painting
  • Brush engines
  • Layer management
  • Animation
  • Vector tools
  • OpenEXR
  • PSD files
  • Graphics tablets

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Adobe Illustrator

  • Logo designnot Krita
  • Vector illustrationnot Krita
  • Icon designnot Krita
  • Print designnot Krita

Krita

  • Digital paintingnot Adobe Illustrator
  • Concept artnot Adobe Illustrator
  • Character designnot Adobe Illustrator
  • 2D animationnot Adobe Illustrator
  • Texture paintingnot Adobe Illustrator

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Adobe Illustrator

  • Listed on UK G-Cloud as part of Adobe Creative Cloud (which bundles Illustrator) at £58 to £80 per licence per month, via reseller ServiceKey

Krita

  • Not portable across Windows/macOS/Linux with consistent performance
  • Performance limits on large projects with many layers compared to professional software
  • Requires system administrator privileges for installation on managed systems
  • Limited professional support compared to commercial alternatives

Pricing, plan by plan

Adobe Illustrator

$22.99/month
  • Single App$22.99/month
    • Illustrator desktop app
    • 100GB cloud storage
    • Adobe Fonts
  • All Apps$59.99/month
    • All Creative Cloud apps
    • 100GB cloud storage
    • Adobe Stock trial

Krita

Free

No published plan breakdown. See the Krita review.

Which should you pick?

Choose Adobe Illustrator if

  • You need vector drawing.
  • You work on Windows, Macos, Ios.
  • You also want bezier tools.
Adobe Illustrator review

Choose Krita if

  • You need digital painting.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Windows, macOS, Linux.
  • You also want brush engines.
Krita review

Questions people ask

Is Adobe Illustrator or Krita better?
Neither clearly leads. Adobe Illustrator starts at $22.99/month and Krita at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Adobe Illustrator or Krita?
Krita has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at $22.99/month for Adobe Illustrator and Free for Krita.
Does Adobe Illustrator or Krita run on more platforms?
Adobe Illustrator runs on Windows, Macos, Ios. Krita runs on Windows, macOS, Linux.
Can I use Krita for free?
Yes. Krita has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Adobe Illustrator starts at $22.99/month.
What is Adobe Illustrator best used for?
Adobe Illustrator is most often used for logo design, vector illustration, icon design, print design. Of those, logo design and vector illustration are not what Krita is typically brought in for.
What can Adobe Illustrator do that Krita cannot?
Adobe Illustrator covers Vector drawing, Bezier tools, Shape tools, Typography. Krita covers Digital painting, Brush engines, Layer management, Animation.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Krita: Is Krita free and open source?

Yes, Krita is completely free and open source software developed by the KDE community. It is distributed under the LGPL license with no licensing fees.

Source
Krita: What platforms does Krita support?

Krita is available for Windows, macOS, and Linux. It can be downloaded from krita.org or installed via package managers on Linux distributions.

Source
Krita: What animation capabilities does Krita have?

Krita supports frame-by-frame animation with onion skin view, timeline management, and export to video formats for creating animated sequences.

Source
ShareXLinkedInRedditWhatsAppEmail

Related pages

More on Adobe Illustrator

More on Krita

Keep looking

Other head to heads