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Design · head to head

Procreate vs Spacelift

Procreate logo

Procreate

Design

Digital illustration app made for iPad

From
$12.99/one-time
Free plan
No
Visit ProcreateFull review
Spacelift logo

Spacelift

Developer Tools

Infrastructure-as-code orchestration for Terraform, OpenTofu, Pulumi and Kubernetes

From
Free
Free plan
Yes
Visit SpaceliftFull review

The short version

  • Procreate is a raster graphics editor app for digital painting.
  • Spacelift is free; Procreate starts at $12.99 one-off.
  • Only Procreate lists digital painting; only Spacelift lists multi-tool orchestration.
  • Where Procreate falls short: iPad-only application with no desktop version for Windows or macOS.
  • Where Spacelift falls short: three of the five tiers are quote-only, so a shortlist cannot be costed without entering a sales process with each vendor on it.
  • Prices and features on this page were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Procreate and Spacelift actually diverge.

Attributes where Procreate and Spacelift differ
AttributeProcreateSpacelift
Starting price$12.99/one-timeFree
Free tierNoYes
PlatformsiOSWeb, Self-hosted
CategoryDesignDeveloper Tools

Not yet recorded: pricing model for Procreate, founded for Spacelift.

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 Procreate

  • Digital painting
  • Brush library
  • Layer management
  • Selection tools
  • Time-lapse recording
  • Apple Pencil
  • iPad Pro
  • Cloud services

Only in Spacelift

  • Multi-tool orchestration
  • Policy as code
  • Private workers
  • Spaces
  • Blueprints
  • Drift detection

What people use each for

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

Procreate

  • Digital illustrationnot Spacelift
  • Concept artnot Spacelift
  • Character designnot Spacelift
  • Educational artnot Spacelift
  • Hobby drawingnot Spacelift

Spacelift

  • Platform teams running infrastructure changes through approval gates rather than through application CInot Procreate
  • Organisations standardising Terraform and OpenTofu across many teams with policy enforcementnot Procreate
  • Estates needing private runners so cloud credentials never leave the networknot Procreate
  • Teams wanting drift detection and reconciliation rather than plan-time checks alonenot Procreate

Where each one falls short

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

Procreate

  • iPad-only application with no desktop version for Windows or macOS
  • Requires Apple hardware investment (iPad and Apple Pencil)
  • Cannot export to cloud storage natively, limiting cross-device workflows
  • High upfront cost when accounting for required iPad hardware

Spacelift

  • Users are unlimited and private workers are metered, so deployment concurrency rather than headcount drives the bill, which inverts how most engineering budgets are built and is easy to under-forecast
  • There is no affordable paid entry point. The free tier stops at two users and the next tier is a five-figure commitment with nothing in between
  • Three of the five tiers are quote-only, so a shortlist cannot be costed without entering a sales process with each vendor on it
  • The self-hosted build lags the hosted one, has no public worker pool and lacks the Azure and Google Cloud integrations available in the SaaS product, with OIDC federation offered as the workaround
  • Stacks, Rego policies, Blueprints, Spaces and Spacelift-managed state are proprietary constructs, so leaving means rebuilding the orchestration layer rather than pointing it at a different runner

Pricing, plan by plan

Procreate

$12.99/one-time
  • Procreate$12.99 one-off
    • 200+ brushes
    • Unlimited layers
    • Advanced blending modes
  • Procreate Pocket$5.99 one-off
    • iPhone version
    • Touch-optimized interface
  • Procreate Dreams$19.99 one-off
    • Animation tool
    • Frame-by-frame animation

Spacelift

Free
  • FreeFree
    • Two users
    • Public workers only
    • No private workers
  • Starter PlusOn request
    • Unlimited users
    • Two public workers
    • One to two private workers
  • BusinessOn request
    • Unlimited users
    • Three private workers
    • Quoted
  • EnterpriseOn request
    • Unlimited users
    • Five to thirty private workers
    • Self-hosted option

Which should you pick?

Choose Procreate if

  • You need digital painting.
  • You work on iOS.
  • You also want brush library.
Procreate review

Choose Spacelift if

  • You need multi-tool orchestration.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, Self-hosted.
  • You also want policy as code.
Spacelift review

Questions people ask

Is Procreate or Spacelift better?
Neither clearly leads. Procreate starts at $12.99/one-time and Spacelift at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Procreate or Spacelift?
Spacelift has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at $12.99/one-time for Procreate and Free for Spacelift.
Does Procreate or Spacelift run on more platforms?
Procreate runs on iOS. Spacelift runs on Web, Self-hosted.
Can I use Spacelift for free?
Yes. Spacelift has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Procreate starts at $12.99/one-time.
What is Procreate best used for?
Procreate is most often used for digital illustration, concept art, character design, educational art. Of those, digital illustration and concept art are not what Spacelift is typically brought in for.
What can Procreate do that Spacelift cannot?
Procreate covers Digital painting, Brush library, Layer management, Selection tools. Spacelift covers Multi-tool orchestration, Policy as code, Private workers, Spaces.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Procreate: Does Procreate work on desktop or only iPad?

Procreate is iPad-only. There is no desktop version for Windows or macOS, requiring users to purchase iPad hardware and Apple Pencil for use.

Source
Spacelift: How is Spacelift priced?

By tier and by private worker count rather than per user. Users are unlimited on every paid plan. The published figure on the pricing page carries no period label, and the FAQ describes the tier as an annual subscription, so confirm the period in writing.

Procreate: What companion apps are available for Procreate?

Procreate Pocket is an iPhone version at $5.99, and Procreate Dreams is an animation tool at $19.99, both one-time purchases.

Source
Spacelift: Does it support OpenTofu?

Yes, and Spacelift sponsors the OpenTofu project, which is a substantive hedge for anyone avoiding Terraform under the Business Source Licence.

Spacelift: Is there a self-hosted version?

Yes, described as carrying Enterprise functionality, but it is priced on request and lags the hosted product on cloud integrations.

Spacelift: Why not just use the CI system we already have?

That is the real comparison. General purpose CI handles state, drift, approval gates and concurrency control for infrastructure poorly, and whether that is worth a five-figure floor depends on how much infrastructure change your organisation actually ships.

Spacelift: What happens to our pipelines if we leave?

They do not port. Rego policies, Blueprints, Spaces and managed state are Spacelift constructs and the orchestration has to be rebuilt elsewhere.

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