Picture an illustrator who needs to sketch a character concept on a Windows PC and has no budget for software. Krita fits that job. It is a painting program from the Krita Foundation, released under the GPL-3.0 licence, and it costs nothing.
Who Krita suits: concept artists, illustrators and texture painters
Krita is aimed at concept artists, illustrators, matte and texture artists, and the VFX industry. It helps both amateurs and professionals, so a beginner can start with simple drawing and sketching.
The project was started by artists who wanted affordable art tools for everyone. That origin explains why the program is free and open source.
Painting and sketching tools in version 5.3.4.1
The catalog tags for Krita are art, draw, drawing, paint, painting and sketching, which shows where its focus lies. It offers common features alongside innovative ones. For details such as brush engines or animation support, check the official site.
Krita has been in development for over 10 years and has grown quickly in recent times. The current build is version 5.3.4.1, updated on October 1, 2026.
Size, category and alternatives
The Windows installer is 157.8 MB, which is a moderate download for a full painting program. Krita sits in our game-development category, though its focus is illustration and concept art rather than building games.
Alternatives in the same category include Godot Engine, GDevelop, Unity Hub, LOVE, LDtk and Tiled, but those are mostly engines and level tools rather than painting software.
Krita pros and cons
Pros
- Free to use
- Open source under the GPL-3.0 licence
- Made for concept art, illustration and texture work
- Downloaded from the official server download.kde.org
- Version 5.3.4.1 was updated on October 1, 2026
Cons
- Few visual previews of the interface
- Specific tools and file formats are best checked on the official site
- The 157.8 MB download is sizeable for a casual sketch
Is Krita safe?
The Windows installer for Krita comes straight from download.kde.org, the official KDE server, rather than from a copy kept on our side. The publisher is the Krita Foundation, and the GPL-3.0 license means the source code is open for anyone to read. The price is zero. Version 5.3.4.1 is about 157.8 MB.
How to install Krita
- Press the download button to get the official file.
- Run the installer you saved and confirm the Windows security prompt if the publisher matches.
- Follow the setup steps, then start Krita from the Start menu.
