Krita Vs Medibang: Which Software Is Better For Artists? (2024)

This is a blog post for artists wondering which software is best for them: Krita vs Medibang. For both beginner and professional artists, it makes sense to use both Krita and Medibang, as both softwares prove to be amazing for creating digital art.

However, each digital painting app has its own advantages and disadvantages. This article will help you figure out if Krita or Medibang is the best app for you. For this blog post, we tested both software in depth.

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We will compare Krita and Medibang in terms of painting features and toolbars, drawing tools, photo and editing tools, brushes, and more.

It is a common request from our audience to compare Clip Studio vs Krita, which we have also included in this comparison review of graphic design apps in addition to Medibang Paint.

This article will also look at the community, documentation, and pricing of the apps.

By the end of this read, you will know if Krita or Medibang is the ideal digital drawing app for you as an artist.

Medibang vs Krita: Which is better?

Answering the question of which app is better is not easy, as both Medibang and Krita have excellent reviews and a large following. For this reason, it is better to first analyze the features of each app separately.

Regarding Krita, we have used this app and can say with confidence that this app has been around for more than a decade for a a very good reason.

The app is developed by the Krita Foundation and it does a great job of covering the needs of artists. Although Krita is a free software, it offers numerous advanced features for painting and retouching graphics. Therefore, Krita is considered as a top-notch app when it comes to painter style artwork.

Related: Krita vs Photoshop: Which software is better for artists?

Moreover, Krita is a very powerful image editor. Of course, it does not have as many image editing features as Photoshop, for example. Still, Krita lets you edit photos with filters, layers, retouching tools, and much more.

So if Krita offers all these advanced drawing and photo editing features, how can Medibang win this battle? Well, Medibang also has features that Krita does not have. This free software was developed by MedibangInc in 2014. Since then, it has been gaining more and more fans for many reasons.

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• The most important feature of Medibang is that it is specifically designed for creating comics and manga.
• That’s why many beginners and advanced cartoonists prefer Medibang over any other drawing app.
• In fact, Medibang allows cartoonists to quickly manage the pages of their comic using layers and offers a large collection of brushes.

Finally, Medibang is the best way to create color frames over images. This is done with an advanced tool called Snap to Grid.

All in all, it’s clear that both Krita and Medibang have special features that artists should definitely try. Fortunately, both software are free, so you can try them out and find the best one for you. In general, we can say that Krita is the best app for photo editing and painter-style artwork. On the other hand, Medibang is the best app for caricature artists.

Core differences between Krita and Medibang for digital art

Now that we have explored Krita and Medibang features individually, we can highlight their main differences. Price-wise both apps are completely free to use. However they can’t be used on all operating systems.

Krita can be used on Windows, Mac and Linux devices. Medibang on the other hand, can also be used on IOS and Android mobile devices.

For this reason Medibang is by far the best solution for artists that work on both desktop and mobile devices.

Related: 7 Best Digital Art Tablets for Beginner Artists

When it comes to the system requirements both Medibang and Krita aren’t very demanding. Most modern laptops and desktops can cope with both software pretty easily. To make sure that your PC is powerful enough, you can check the system requirements for Krita and Medibang before downloading them.

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Finally, Krita and Medibang offer numerous editing and drawing features and tools. Some of the features they offer are similar and some are unique. Since drawing features and tools are the most important aspect for artists, let’s have a look at the unique features Medibang and Krita offer.

Features and tools – Comparison

As a software designed specifically for artists and designers, Medibang paint has many basic and advanced drawing features. With a detailed “layers” toolbox, Medibang makes it easy to edit graphics. Medibang is also ideal for cartoonists, as it offers the ability to crop and edit comic pages in seconds.

Finally, as far as brushes go, Medibang paint is reminiscent of very expensive premium software like Adobe Illustrator. Apart from the pre-installed brushes, you can easily import brushes from your personal collection.

Related: Sketchbook vs Photoshop: Which Software is Better?

The same goes for Krita as well. The software has more than 150 brushes that you can choose from. During our testing, Krita proved to be a beginner-friendly, modern user interface. In addition, Krita has many advanced features such as layer effects, masks, fill areas, HDR painting, editable backgrounds, and more.

Summing up, Krita is a more advanced drawing software that also lets you edit photos. On the other hand, Medibang is by far the best option for character drawing and cartoonists.

Comparison table: Krita vs Medibang

Also check out the best iPad Alternatives for drawing

Is Krita or Medibang better for Cartoon and illustration work?

In a few words Medibang is better than Krita when it comes to cartoon work. To be more precise, Medibang allows artists to use various brushes and manage their comics more efficiently.

On the other hand, Krita is a more comprehensive software with an extended helpful community. Also, Krita has more painting and scripting tools than Medibang. For this reason, Krita is relatively better than Medibang concerning advanced illustration work.

Since both apps are free to use, we recommend you download and try both to identify the best one for your needs and preferences.

Who should use Medibang over Krita?

Even Though Krita is an amazing painting and photo editing software, there are tasks that Medibang is simply better at. For example, Medibang is developed to match a cartoonist’s needs. This is why it is by far the best software when it comes to cartoon work.

Also Medibang is better than Krita when it comes to supported operating systems.

For this to be clear we should note that artists can use Medibang from Windows, Mac, iOS and Android devices. So if you usually create artwork from both desktop and mobile devices, Medibang is the best app for you.

Related: How to Use an Old Tablet as a Digital Picture Frame

Krita vs Medibang Paint: Which is better for student artists & designers?

Considering that both Krita and Medibang paint are completely free apps, they are both very popular among art and design students. However, each app has its own pros and cons.

During our testing Krita proved to be more powerful than Medibang. It has more advanced editing and drawing tools and it is by far better when it comes to photo editing. Therefore if painter style artwork and photo editing is a priority for you as a student, Krita is the best way to go.

Of course, Medibang paint is also a reliable digital artwork software. We can safely say that Medibang is better than Krita for cartoonists. Therefore if drawing characters and comic figures is important to you, you should definitely give Medibang a shot.

What Software is better than Medibang Paint?

In a few words Medibang paint is a very reliable drawing app that has an extended fan base. However, it is reasonable that as a freeware, Medibang lacks some advanced drawing features.

This is why professional illustration software like Adobe illustrator and Procreate are favored by professional designers and artists. In fact such software offers more advanced drawing and editing features that allow you to fully-manipulate raster and vector graphics.

Related: Is Procreate worth it for beginner Artists? (costs, features, and more)

Is Medibang Paint good for drawing?

Absolutely. When it comes to free drawing software Medibang paint is definitely among the best ones. More precisely, Medibang Paint has everything a beginner artist needs. It can be handled by almost any device out there and has an extended brush collection.

This allows artists to have a precise drawing experience. Apart from that Medibang is a perfect free choice for cartoonists and students that love character creation. Summing up, Medibang has all the drawing features needed and this is why it is very good for digital drawing.

Medibang vs Krita – Best digital art software alternatives

Medibang and Krita are both free to use. This is why they are an amazing choice for artists on a budget. However, if you want to fully-edit graphics and photos and generate top tier digital artwork, you can go for a premium app like:

1. Adobe Illustrator
2. CorelDRAW
3. Adobe Photoshop
4. Affinity Designer
5. Figma

On the other hand, if you are looking for a great free alternative to Medibang and Krita you can opt for:

1. Sketchbook
2. GIMP
3. Inkscape

All the drawing software above prove to be trustworthy alternatives to Krita and Medibang. Choosing the best one always comes down to your personal needs and preferences.

Also see: 5 Best Wireless Drawing Tablets

Brushes – Medibang vs Krita

Both Medibang and Krita have extended collections of brushes. During our testing we didn’t encounter any issues when drawing with an active pen on Krita and Medibang. Of course, also both apps allow users to manually insert more brushes.

Therefore, Medibang and Krita prove to be very comprehensive when it comes to brushes. Finally, you won’t have any problem controlling the color, size and opacity of brushes on both Krita and Medibang.

If you’re using Procreate and iPad, you’ll see theres a difference in brushes. However, if you’re using a Wacom tablet you’ll have a smooth experience overall.

Related: iPad vs Wacom: Which is Better for Digital Art? (Full Review)

How to use Medibang Paint

Since Medibang Paint is a free to use app, using it is very simple. In fact, all you have to do is:

1. Visit the Medibang webpage
2. From the main menu, select the type of operation system your device is running on
3. Click on download
4. Install Medibang on your device
5. You are all set! Medibang is installed on your device and you can start using it

Medibang vs Clip Studio vs Krita

Krita, Medibang and Clip Studio are 3 of the most popular painting apps on the market. We tested all 3 apps and concluded that Krita is the most comprehensive free software. In fact Krita is more powerful when it comes to manipulating graphics and editing photos.

On the flip side, Clip Studio Paint and Medibang are very powerful when it comes to comic creation. Medibang is very popular for cartoonists and offers many advanced cartoon creation features.

However, Clip Studio is a premium drawing software that artists have to purchase before buying (free trial is available). Likewise, the app is also very powerful when it comes to 2D animation and precise drawing. It has numerous brushes and is constantly updated.

Krita vs Gimp

Krita and Gimp are 2 of the most well-known drawing apps on the market. When it comes to the price both Krita and Gimp are completely free to use. Also both apps have numerous editing and drawing features for artists and designers to explore.

A big difference between them is that Gimp is an open base free software that can be used on any device (Windows, MacOS, Linux, Android and IOS). On the flip side, Krita is only available on PCs (Windows, Mac and Linux).

All said, both Gimp and Krita are very popular for good reasons. During our testing we concluded that Krita has a more fun-to-use modern interface and offers a better drawing experience. Still that doesn’t mean that Gimp isn’t a good drawing app for beginners and professionals.

Conclusion

In a few words, when you compare Krita vs Medibang you will find that both apps have similar drawing features. However, Krita proves to be a better solution when it comes to photo editing and advanced drawing tools.

On the other hand, Medibang is by far the best choice when it comes to comics and manga creation as it is specially developed for this task.

Although both Krita and Medibang are pretty lightweight, Medibang is by far the best choice when it comes to cross-platform drawing. In fact, Medibang paint supports Windows, Mac, Linux, Android and iOS devices.

When it comes to students, both Krita and Medibang are very reliable solutions. It all comes up to your personal needs and preferences. In a few words we can safely say that both Krita and Medibang are two free, yet powerful drawing apps that all artists have to use.