Procreate offers a mesmerizing and spectacular drawing experience for iPad Pro, including sketching, drawing, painting, redoing/undoing, advanced level blending, auto-saving, and its unique range of tools, brushes, and filters.
It was one of the few iPad-only apps that didn’t make it to Windows 10. Perhaps Windows 10 isn’t seen as a tablet-friendly operating system. However, a handful of laptops in the Windows environment have touchscreen capabilities and are convertible. It’s odd and has a lot of touch sensitivity.
Before we go through why you should seek the best Procreate alternatives for windows, it’s essential to grasp what Procreate is and what Procreate choices you have.
Procreate – A Quick Overview
Although Procreate is a widely used application for illustration in varying degrees, it is not compatible with all operating systems as aforementioned. Therefore, it is essential to choose your best pick that is friendly to your OS and serves the purpose you want it to.
One of the more critical factors while considering alternatives is the learning tools and availability. Ease and cost-effectiveness also come into play while exploring your options for the same.
The evolution of artistic styles and the mediums used for said art also has a crucial role; ergo, you need software to match the level of realness and intricacy that you wish to achieve.
The software assists both novices and pros with graphics editing, digital painting, and drawing applications. It includes straightforward controls that provide a natural drawing and sketching experience using an Apple pencil. It has freehand drawing tools, 130 complex brushes, one-of-a-kind effects, over 100 redo/undo choices, advanced layers, masks, digital painting tools, etc.
The shift from traditional to digital art deems it essential for artists to access illustrating software almost on any device, which is why more and more apps and programs are generated overnight. Procreate is inaccessible for many thriving and potential artists, with the price tag accentuating their discontent with it.
Depending on your requirements, we have curated a list of programs that can work just as well, sometimes even better than Procreate.
While Adobe Fresco is a flexible option – providing the freedom to better work with layers under the exact pricing, Adobe Illustrator has overpowered most programs due to the wide range of advanced features.
We will attempt to acquaint you with some of the most popular and solid alternatives to Procreate on Windows and Android devices.
Top 15 Procreate Alternatives for Windows
Check these top 15 Procreate alternatives for Windows.
- Adobe Illustrator Draw– Highly Recommended For Beginners And Pros
- Corel Painter 2022 – Top Choice Of Professional Players
- Adobe Fresco – Uniquely Flexible With Most Devices
- Affinity Designer – Feasible And Vector Alternative
- Autodesk Sketchbook – Creative And Free-of-Cost
- ArtRage – Most Realistic For Painters
- Clip Studio Paint –The Comic Art Maestro
- Krita – Open-Source Yet Best For Professionals
- FireAlpaca – Underrated App For Mac And Windows
- Inkscape – Excellent & Free Software For Quality Work
- Concepts – On-Point Accuracy For Drawing
- MediBang Paint Pro – Quick Sketcher
- PaintTool SAI – Limited Tools For Easy Accessibility
- Leonardo – New Software & Great For Beginners
- MyPaint – Suitable For First-Time Players
Let’s explore each of these brilliant Procreate alternatives for Windows.
1. Adobe Illustrator – Highly recommended for beginners and pros
Adobe Illustrator is a vector-based design application for individuals who work in graphic design. Illustrator provides a comprehensive range of tools, filters, and effects for graphic designers to produce drawings, typography, and several other illustrations for all kinds of devices.
Illustrators can deal with vector and raster graphics, are resolution-independent, and mathematically designed for quality control.
Designers can use Adobe Illustrator to create everything from company logos to complex graphics to animation concepts because of its distinctive style.
Users may make visual designs for print, internet, video games, corporate logos, general item packing, letterheads, posters, bus wraps, and clothing.
When you use Adobe Illustrator, you may also save time by using its in-panel editing feature. You may also utilize numerous artboards at the same time.
What did we like?
- All sizes are manageable, making your work easier.
- Since Creative Cloud is constantly synchronized, users can explore and access colors, font styles, images, brushes, and more from Illustrator and mobile applications like Sketch and Draw.
What we didn’t like?
- The Teams version has price restrictions.
- Raster graphics are only partially supported.
2. Corel Painter 2022 – Top choice of professional players
Corel Painter 2022, an excellent Procreate replacement for Windows 10, comes with a slew of graphics that complete your task with ease. Corel Painter is marketed as a tool for professionals, made by professionals. You’ll get many brushes (over 900) and fine particles, pattern pens, thick paintbrushes, and other goodies.
If there’s one thing that annoys creators about creating digital art of any type, a digital painting looks digital. Painter has made some valiant attempts to replicate ‘impasto’ mark-making or the wetting and drying of watercolor on textured paper. Still, the introduction of stamp-type brush customization heralds a sharp increase in what’s possible with variation in mark-making, just when you thought Painter had plateaued in recent years.
What did we like?
- There are almost 900 brushes in all.
- A program with a lot of features
- Paints of several sorts.
- There are video lessons available for beginners.
What we didn’t like?
- The app has a steep learning curve.
- It is a paid app.
3. Adobe Fresco – Uniquely flexible with most devices
Adobe Fresco for iPad, iPhone, and Windows PC is one of the few Procreate alternatives. Adobe Fresco is a tablet and mobile-friendly digital painting program. Live brushes, vector, raster choices, layering, stylus optimization, and other features.
All Adobe products, including Photoshop’s brush tools, graphite pencils, ink pens, and blending markers, are seamlessly integrated into the program. The files are smaller because the application is vector-based, making them readily portable and shared across media. You may also export your work to Lightroom and Photoshop.
What did we like?
- Works effectively with both vector and raster graphics in the development of projects
- More devices are supported, and the Creative Cloud syncs seamlessly with other Adobe apps.
- There are a lot of tools and a vibrant community to help with technical and artistic concerns.
What we didn’t like?
- Android isn’t supported.
- There is no possibility for a third-party login/plugin.
- It’s a pricey monthly service, and it rapidly adds up.
4. Affinity Designer – Feasible and vector alternative
Affinity Designer, which was first published solely for Mac devices in 2014, came to Windows in 2016, intending to be a superior replacement to Illustrator. Affinity Designer makes it simple to create artistic headers and borders for commercial body content. Illustrations, UI designs, typography, print projects, mockups, and more are all possible with this program.
It was risky to compete with an industry giant like Adobe, which has decades of expertise. Affinity made it feasible in some way. Thanks to the program, users may also employ dynamic symbols and responsive products and get a pixel preview of their creations.
When developing a user interface, a website, or an app, these qualities are crucial. Finally, owing to its asset management capability, Affinity Designer aids in the structuring of your outputs.
What did we like?
- It’s best for vector graphics.
- An application that allows you to alter visuals in a variety of ways.
- Make a variety of pictures.
- Beginner-friendly user interface.
What we didn’t like?
- The app supports no plugins.
5. Autodesk Sketchbook – Creative and free-of-cost
Autodesk Sketchbook, which works on Android, Windows, Mac, and iOS, is the nearest approximation to Procreate. It’s one of the most outstanding creative digital painting software with modeling and design tools. They’re well-known for their AutoCAD services.
The most significant thing is that, unlike Procreate, which costs $9.99, this sophisticated tool is now accessible to everyone for free. Sketchbook, like Procreate, has a pen-friendly interface with brushes, colors, mirror images, and other significant capabilities for auto-saving your artwork and job progress.
What did we like?
- Sketchbook is now available for download for free.
- There is a wide range of professional tools accessible.
- Sketchbook is available for Android, Windows, Mac, and iOS.
What we didn’t like?
- In comparison to Procreate, the learning curve is higher.
6. ArtRage – Most realistic for painters
For traditional digital painters and artists who enjoy watercolor and oil painting, ArtRage is one of the most acceptable Procreate alternatives.
It comes with various realistic painting tools that you may use to create stunning paintings and artworks. The program has checked off the most critical boxes to make drawing a pleasurable experience for novices and experts, from cleanly constructed pencils to oil painting brushes.
The program has a lot of digital advantages since it allows users to segment the artwork and work on different areas individually using layers.
What did we like?
- For professional artists, the most user-friendly and flexible applications are available.
- Artists may work with various materials and methods on this digital painting platform.
What we didn’t like?
- Sometimes slow.
- There aren’t many sophisticated tools included.
- Upgrades aren’t always cheap.
7. Clip Studio Paint – The comic art maestro
This software has its origins in Japan. Intended to be used with a stylus on either a tablet or a computer, the software is highly potent in drawing and illustrating 2D comics. Due to its intended use to curate comic art and its roots in Japan, the software was initially marketed in North America as Manga Studio.
Furthermore, the program includes one of the largest libraries of brushes, allowing you to select your tools based on the type of art you want to make. Overall, Clip Studio Paint is a powerful alternative to Procreate that you should check out.
What did we like?
- Brushes that are both strong and artistic.
- Syncing across multiple devices.
- A program with a lot of features.
What we didn’t like?
- The critical binding process is not convenient
- There is no audio support for animations
- An overwhelming number of options and choices
- Lackluster collection of font styles
- The significant price gap between the Ex and Pro versions
8. Krita – Open-source yet best for professionals
Krita is yet another excellent Procreate option for Windows 10. It’s a free and open-source drawing application with professional capabilities. It includes textures, comics, and brushes that you may use to create many types of art.
It even has a color wheel as well as a well-coordinated reference panel. Because it is an open-source Procreate alternative, the creators of this program have always considered the needs of the public as a whole and have been very swift in introducing new features.
What did we like?
- Krita is a fantastic drawing software for the iPad.
- It’s free and open-source.
- It also supports PSD editing.
What we didn’t like?
- Sometimes, there are lags.
- There is no Android support.
- The user interface is not user-friendly enough.
9. FireAlpaca – Underrated app for Mac and Windows
FireAlpaca is a free-of-cost creative painting software that supports both Mac and Windows and is available in ten languages. You can quickly draw illustrations using simple tools and settings.
FireAlpaca is dependable and fast, allowing users to complete their tasks even on an outdated computer. Selection tools, hand tools, the move tool, bucket, brushes, pencil, eraser, and eyedropper are all included in the digital art package. The form, gradient, and pen tools may all be used to adjust symmetry and shapes. There is no need for extensive training or complicated controls. Thus it is simple to learn.
What did we like?
- The most prominent advantage of FireAlpaca is that it’s beginner-friendly, the usability is smooth, and there are various brushes to pick from.
- It is helpful for advanced designers if they want to create simple designs swiftly.
What we didn’t like?
- Nothing more than average editing tools.
10. Inkscape – Excellent free software for quality work
While there is a wide range of efficient and effective editing software in the market, most of them have a hefty price tag attached to them. On the other hand, Inkscape is a free and open-source software designed to edit vector graphics.
It is available for GNU/Linux, Windows, and macOS X. It is entirely free and boasts a variety of features. Artists and graphic designers can use it to edit and curate vector art, diagrams, logos, clip art, and many more elements. While the primary file format supported for it is SVG, other configurations are also supported.
What did we like?
- As it is free, a large number of struggling artists and individuals who are financially struggling can easily benefit from the software.
- The software is highly versatile as it is available on all major platforms.
- Inkscape boasts several features that otherwise would require the user to pay for.
What we didn’t like?
- The software has a steep learning curve. If you can’t go through a plethora of tutorials, you might be left in the dark about the software and its capabilities.
- Inkscape is not user-friendly. It can cause the user to get confused and disoriented.
- When a user imports a non-SVG file, they can notice inconsistencies.
11. Concepts – On-point accuracy for drawing
Concepts are among the few Procreate competitors that provide an endless canvas with a comparable degree of touchscreen capabilities. For novices, it’s an excellent tool for accurate measurement drawing instead of freehand sketching.
It comes with all of the necessary tools and is one of the Procreate alternatives that allows you to sketch on an endless canvas using touchscreen controls. Concepts and Procreate are only distinguished by their various versions.
What did we like?
- Android, iOS, iPad, Windows, and ChromeOS are all supported.
- As versatile as Procreate, allowing you to experiment with various add-ons.
- It provides you with an unlimited canvas.
What we didn’t like?
- Users may face different experiences on various Windows laptops
12. MediBang Paint Pro – Quick Sketcher
MediBang Paint Pro is another excellent Procreate replacement for Windows 10, especially if you’re a manga or comics artist. It has over 800 tones, 50 brush kinds, and 20 typeface styles. The program is perfect for novices who want to learn how to draw comics and animated characters.
One of the most delicate features of this program is that it allows you to save any incomplete tasks so that you may resume them later from where you left off.
What did we like?
- All of the pieces utilized by app users are kept in a logical order.
- The program is elementary to download and use.
- The app’s user interface is straightforward to use.
What we didn’t like?
- Advertisements are displayed directly at the start. It may be aggravating.
13. PaintTool SAI – Limited tools for easy accessibility
PaintTool SAI is a Procreate alternative that provides a raster graphic editing platform, digitized anti-aliased painting, and rudimentary vector tools. The gadget is a portable painting program similar to Microsoft’s Procreate for Windows. As a result, it will run smoothly on Microsoft Surface.Â
Art enthusiasts are using this program to make their digital art. Because of its comprehensive digital support, you can use PaintTool SAI on desktop PCs, laptops, and mobile devices. Distortions in the drawings and pictures are minimized when a lower-resolution image is utilized in the painting software.Â
What did we like?
- Best tool for new designers in the field
- User-friendly
What we didn’t like?
- Limited tools
- Experienced players may find it unuseful
14. Leonardo – New software great for beginners
Leonardo is another drawing application that doesn’t require a lot of processing power to run. Leonardo, like FireAlpaca, is resource-light and can operate on a Windows PC that is many years old. Sketching, drawing, painting, tracing, and whiteboarding. It has a simple user interface, is straightforward, and has a quick response time.
What did we like?
- Resources are scarce.
- There’s no end to the possibilities.
- The brush engine has a lot of power.
- It’s best for Windows tablet computers.
What we didn’t like?
- The features aren’t as extensive as those offered by competitors.
15. MyPaint – Suitable for first-time players
MyPaint is yet another free software that holds various brushes and strokes. It is optimized for tablet use as one of its features is pressure-sensitive graphics tablet support. Even though the software hasn’t been updated in a few years, it’s still one of the most sophisticated sketching tools for Wacom tablets.
myPaint features a wide range of brushes to choose from, so there’s something for everyone. Although the app is designed for Wacom-style graphics tablets, you won’t be disappointed if you use it on your desktop computer. If you want to make art without breaking the budget, myPaint is your program.
What did we like?
- A drawing program that is both free and open-source
- The Wacom graphics tablet is the best option.
- It’s simple to use.
- Standard features are included.
What we didn’t like?
- No updates since 2020
The Final Words
Your digital painting and sketching experience will be a pleasure with the selection mentioned above of some of the top Procreate alternatives for Windows. They will immediately assist you in getting on board with the digital art platform.
Nonetheless, it would help if you exercise caution when utilizing these programs. Your requirements will determine the best app for you. The way they employ their features is entirely up to them. You can use or not use the functionalities of these programs.