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Design · head to head

Krita vs Photopea

Krita logo

Krita

Design

Free and open-source digital painting software

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Photopea logo

Photopea

Design

Free online photo editor

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Krita not portable across Windows/macOS/Linux with consistent performance; Photopea performance becomes sluggish and prone to crashes with high-resolution images or multi-layered files
  • They diverge on capability: Krita covers Digital painting, Photopea covers Photo editing.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Krita and Photopea actually diverge.

Attributes where Krita and Photopea differ
AttributeKritaPhotopea
PlatformsWindows, macOS, LinuxWeb
Founded19992013

Identical on both: starting price (Free), pricing model (Unknown), free tier (Yes), user rating (Not yet rated), category (Design).

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 Krita

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

Only in Photopea

  • Photo editing
  • PSD compatibility
  • Layer support
  • Selection tools
  • Filters and effects
  • Google Drive
  • Dropbox
  • Adobe fonts

Both cover

  • Local processing

What people use each for

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

Krita

  • Digital paintingnot Photopea
  • Concept artnot Photopea
  • Character designnot Photopea
  • 2D animationnot Photopea
  • Texture paintingnot Photopea

Photopea

  • Quick photo editsnot Krita
  • PSD file editingnot Krita
  • Web designnot Krita
  • Social media graphicsnot Krita

Where each one falls short

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

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

Photopea

  • Performance becomes sluggish and prone to crashes with high-resolution images or multi-layered files
  • Risk of losing work due to browser crashes or save failures
  • Aggressive advertising that can slow down the entire computer
  • No local installation option, always requires browser access
  • Basic file organization and version tracking compared to professional tools

Pricing, plan by plan

Krita

Free

No published plan breakdown. See the Krita review.

Photopea

Free

No published plan breakdown. See the Photopea review.

Which should you pick?

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

Choose Photopea if

  • You need photo editing.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You also want psd compatibility.
Photopea review

Questions people ask

Is Krita or Photopea better?
Neither clearly leads. Krita starts at Free and Photopea at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Krita or Photopea?
Krita starts at Free and Photopea at Free.
Does Krita or Photopea run on more platforms?
Krita runs on Windows, macOS, Linux. Photopea runs on Web.
Can I use Krita for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is Krita best used for?
Krita is most often used for digital painting, concept art, character design, 2d animation. Of those, digital painting and concept art are not what Photopea is typically brought in for.
What can Krita do that Photopea cannot?
Krita covers Digital painting, Brush engines, Layer management, Animation. Photopea covers Photo editing, PSD compatibility, Layer support, Selection tools. Both handle Local processing.

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
Photopea: Is Photopea free to use?

Yes, Photopea is completely free and supported by ads displayed within the browser. No subscription or payment is required to use the full feature set.

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
Photopea: Does Photopea support Photoshop PSD files?

Yes, Photopea fully supports Photoshop PSD files including layers, masks, text, and effects. It can read and export files back to PSD, PNG, JPG, PDF, SVG, or GIF format.

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
Photopea: What platforms does Photopea run on?

Photopea is a web-based editor accessible through any modern browser including Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Edge, and Opera. It can be added to desktop as a shortcut or Chrome extension.

Source
Photopea: Does Photopea upload my files to servers?

No. Photopea processes images entirely within your browser and does not upload files to external servers, keeping your work private and secure.

Source
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