How is this art ranking decided?

Mechanically. The 5 approved art listings on this page are sorted by their published rating, highest first, with the number of ratings behind each score as the tie-break and the product name as a final tie-break so the order is stable. Those ratings are aggregated from public sources, not collected from Softwr readers, this site hosts no reviews, so the order is a summary of what is already published elsewhere, not a verdict of our own. Nothing on this page is paid placement.

Is this list re-ordered for startups?

No, and it would be dishonest to imply otherwise. The catalogue records no data about which team sizes or roles each tool suits, so the ranking is the same published-rating order as the unsegmented list. What the startups framing changes is which of the figures below matter most. Startups are buying for a headcount they do not have yet, which makes the second and third tier of each ladder more important than the first. Check what the price becomes at ten people.

How much does art software cost?

Across the 5 art tools listed here, paid plans start between $5.99 and $5.99 a month, with a median entry price of $5.99. The most expensive single tier published in the category is $19.99 a month (Procreate).

What is the cheapest art software?

Among the ones that charge, Procreate has the lowest published entry price at $5.99 a month. Cheapest and best value are different questions: check which tier the capability you need actually appears in before you compare starting prices.

Is there free art software?

Not in this set. None of the 5 art tools listed here publishes a $0 plan, and the cheapest paid entry is $5.99 a month. Some vendors offer time-limited trials, which are listed on each product page rather than here.

How is art software usually billed?

one-time (2), subscription (1), counted across the 5 listings on this page. The distinction that costs money is per-seat versus flat: a per-user plan at the same headline price scales with your headcount and a flat subscription does not.

How many pricing tiers do art tools offer?

1 of 5 tools here publish a plan breakdown, and the median one has 3 tiers. 1 of 5 publish three or more. More tiers is not generosity, it usually means the capability you are buying for sits two rungs above the advertised price, so price your shortlist at the tier that contains it.

How many art tools are listed on Softwr?

5 approved art listings appear on this page, including ArtRage, Krita, Procreate, Procreate Dreams. Each links to a full breakdown with its pricing tiers and plan detail, and the category can be filtered by price and sorted by rating above. You can also read the shortlist view at /best/art, which ranks the same set by published rating.

Art · ranked shortlist

Best Art software for Startups in 2026

5 approved art listings, ordered by published rating with the method stated below rather than assumed. Startups are buying for a headcount they do not have yet, which makes the second and third tier of each ladder more important than the first. Check what the price becomes at ten people.

Tools ranked: 5
Entry price range: $5.99-$5.99
Publish a $0 plan: 0 of 5

How this ranking is derived

The sort key

Published rating, highest first. Ties break on the number of ratings behind the score, then on product name so the order never depends on what the API happened to return first. That is the whole rule, there is no weighting, no score of our own, and nothing paid: no sponsored slot runs on these pages.

Where the ratings come from

No listing in this set carries a rating, so the order falls back to name. Those scores are aggregated from public sources rather than collected here, Softwr hosts no reviews of its own, which is also why no rating on this page is marked up as ours in structured data.

What the pool is

Approved art listings, capped at 20 per page; 5 came back for this one. It is not the whole market, and a tool being absent means we hold no record of it rather than that it failed a test. The unranked full set is on the art category page.

The ranking

Each entry lists why it sits where it sits, drawn from its own published rating and pricing.

#1
ArtRage
Highest rated here
A digital artist studio with tools that look and work like the real things
- No rating on record, so it ranks below everything that has one.
Billing
subscription
ArtRage breakdown Compare with Krita
#2
Krita
Free and open-source digital painting software
- No rating on record, so it ranks below everything that has one.
Billing
Model not published
Tags
digital painting, Open Source, illustration, animation
Krita breakdown Compare with Procreate
#3
Procreate
Digital illustration app made for iPad
- No rating on record, so it ranks below everything that has one.
- Paid from $5.99 a month, with no free plan.
- 3 published tiers, topping out at $19.99.
Billing
Model not published
Published tiers
3 tiers
Tags
digital art, ipad app, apple pencil, illustration
Procreate breakdown Compare with Procreate Dreams
#4
Procreate Dreams
Edit. Animate. Create.
- No rating on record, so it ranks below everything that has one.
Billing
one-time
Procreate Dreams breakdown Compare with Rebelle
#5
Rebelle
Hyper-realistic painting software for oils, acrylics and watercolors
- No rating on record, so it ranks below everything that has one.
Billing
one-time
Rebelle breakdown

What art software costs

Counted from the published pricing of the 5 listings on this page. A tool counts as free only where it publishes a $0 plan, an open-source licence or a starting price of zero.

The only paid entry price: $5.99Procreate

Only Procreate publishes a paid entry price here, at $5.99.

Entry price is not the ceiling. The dearest published tier anywhere in this category is Procreate's at $19.99 a month, 3.3× the highest entry price on the page. Read the top of each ladder as well as the bottom, because that is where you land after two years of growth.

Nothing in this category publishes a $0 plan, all 5 listings are paid from the first day.

Procreate pricing

How these vendors bill

The billing model each of the 5 art listings publishes, counted. Two tools at the same headline price are not the same purchase if one of them charges per seat.

one-time: 2
subscription: 1

How to choose between them

Four things the numbers above should change about your shortlist.

Budget for day one, because nothing here is free

No listing in this category publishes a $0 plan, and the cheapest way in is $5.99 a month with Procreate. That changes how you evaluate: ask for a trial in writing before you shortlist, and treat any tool you cannot try as a tool you cannot verify.

Read the spread before you read the features

$5.99 to $5.99 is a $0 spread on entry price alone, and a spread that wide is never about polish, it is about who the vendor built for. Tools at the bottom of this ladder are priced for one person or a small team; tools near $5.99 are priced for a department with a procurement process. Decide which of those you are before you compare capability, or you will shortlist four tools that were never competing for the same buyer.

Check which tier you actually land on

1 of 5 tools here publish three or more tiers, and the median vendor in this category ships 3 of them. The advertised price is the first rung. Price your shortlist at the tier that contains what you need, not at the tier on the pricing page's left edge.

The billing model matters more than the headline number

This category splits across 2 billing models: one-time on 2 listings, subscription on 1, and nothing else. A per-user price and a flat subscription at the same headline figure are not the same purchase, the first one grows with headcount and the second does not. Multiply by your real team size before you compare two numbers side by side.

Compare art tools directly

Every pairing below is a full comparison: the same checklist applied to both, so a gap in one is a gap in the other.

Go straight to the numbers

Build your own comparison See the shortlist instead

Questions people ask about art software

Answered from the listings on this page, and nowhere else.

How is this art ranking decided?: Mechanically. The 5 approved art listings on this page are sorted by their published rating, highest first, with the number of ratings behind each score as the tie-break and the product name as a final tie-break so the order is stable. Those ratings are aggregated from public sources, not collected from Softwr readers, this site hosts no reviews, so the order is a summary of what is already published elsewhere, not a verdict of our own. Nothing on this page is paid placement.
Is this list re-ordered for startups?: No, and it would be dishonest to imply otherwise. The catalogue records no data about which team sizes or roles each tool suits, so the ranking is the same published-rating order as the unsegmented list. What the startups framing changes is which of the figures below matter most. Startups are buying for a headcount they do not have yet, which makes the second and third tier of each ladder more important than the first. Check what the price becomes at ten people.
How much does art software cost?: Across the 5 art tools listed here, paid plans start between $5.99 and $5.99 a month, with a median entry price of $5.99. The most expensive single tier published in the category is $19.99 a month (Procreate).
What is the cheapest art software?: Among the ones that charge, Procreate has the lowest published entry price at $5.99 a month. Cheapest and best value are different questions: check which tier the capability you need actually appears in before you compare starting prices.
Is there free art software?: Not in this set. None of the 5 art tools listed here publishes a $0 plan, and the cheapest paid entry is $5.99 a month. Some vendors offer time-limited trials, which are listed on each product page rather than here.
How is art software usually billed?: one-time (2), subscription (1), counted across the 5 listings on this page. The distinction that costs money is per-seat versus flat: a per-user plan at the same headline price scales with your headcount and a flat subscription does not.
How many pricing tiers do art tools offer?: 1 of 5 tools here publish a plan breakdown, and the median one has 3 tiers. 1 of 5 publish three or more. More tiers is not generosity, it usually means the capability you are buying for sits two rungs above the advertised price, so price your shortlist at the tier that contains it.
How many art tools are listed on Softwr?: 5 approved art listings appear on this page, including ArtRage, Krita, Procreate, Procreate Dreams. Each links to a full breakdown with its pricing tiers and plan detail, and the category can be filtered by price and sorted by rating above. You can also read the shortlist view at /best/art, which ranks the same set by published rating.

Keep reading

Neighbouring categories

Adjacent in the same taxonomy, not a ranking.