Aseprite is a pixel-art tool that helps you create 2-D animations, sprites, and all graphics for games. Aseprite was released in 2014 to run on Windows, Linux, and MacOS. It is easy to get started with Aseprite, making it a perfect tool for beginners.
The program features a graphic design interface with multiple brushes, blend modes, and a customizable color palette.
However, Aseprite is not the only pixel-art tool available. Apps like Pixelorama, Libresprite, Piskel, Grafx2, Pixen, PikoPixel, and PixBuilder are equally good. But out of all Aseprite alternatives, Pixelorama is my pick.
Pixelorama is still in its beta stage, but it’s already ahead of other tools, thanks to its clean interface and a list of robust features to help you easily get started with your pixel art project.
Pixelorama has improved brushes, more localization, and more themes.
Why Look for Aseprite Alternatives?
Aseprite was a creatives’ favorite until its license changed from FLOSS to a shared license, which does not allow redistribution of source codes.
Some users feel like its shading capability (lightening and darkening) is not the best.
And if you are like most users who struggle with Aseprite’s jarring pixel-styled interface, this article is for you.
I will discuss some of the best alternatives to Aseprite today.
Stay right here.
Free Aseprite Alternatives
1. Pixelorama
Pixelorama is one of the best alternatives to Aseprite. It is a free and open-source application, made entirely with Godot engine. It is an excellent sprite art editor with animation support, launched in 2019 by Orama Interactive.
Pixelorama has 16 tools that you can use to draw, mapping to your right and left mouse buttons. The tool supports onion skinning, cell linking, frame grouping with tags, and motion drawing.
You’ll definitely love Pixelorama’s custom brushes, including the random brushes. But what makes Pixelorama a top choice are its clean interface, multiple theme support (gray, dark, Godot, gold, and light), and multi-language support, including Italian, Spanish, Polish, and Greek, among others.
The multiple features are an indicator that the application is a heavy development. As earlier mentioned, Pixelorama is still in its early stages, and developers promise that more features are on the way.
2. LibreSprite
LibreSprite is another free and open-source Aseprite alternative that helps you create and animate your sprites. While Aseprite is more popular than LibreSprite, you’ll love LibreSprite for respecting your privacy.
LibreSprite is a feature-rich web platform. It gives you real-time animation previews, onion skinning, editing multiple sprites at once, layers and frames for sprites, and pixel-precise tools like polygon, filled contours, and shading mode
You can opt for the ready-to-use or create your own. The Mosaic drawing mode helps you draw useful patterns and textures. LibreSprite works offline, so you don’t have to worry about internet connectivity.
You’ll also be fascinated with LibreSprite’s unique themes, including neutral dark, purple tint, swamp dark, zero dark, and PlueCells, among others. LibreSprite is available on Linux, Windows, and MacOS.
3. Piskel
Piskel is a free online editor for animated pixel art and sprites that allows you to create animations from your browser. Piskel has all the necessary tools and features tailored for creating Indie games and retro-inspired objects.
It is perfect for beginner animators. It also provides a number of drawing and editing tools, including pencils, brushes, shape tools, erasers, and a color picker. Its custom color palettes allow you to create and save your choice of color scheme for easy access.
Piskel allows you to export your ready creation in various formats, including PNG, GIF, and Sprite sheets, which are compatible with most game engines and software.
The tool has a supportive community of users who provide inspiration, feedback, and tutorials to help improve your skills.
Piskel is a web-based application, therefore, you need an internet connection. The best part is that it works with all browsers and its sleek interface makes its navigation easy. If you wish to use the tool without the internet, you can download an offline version from its website.
Find out more alternatives to Piskel here.
4. GraphicsGale
If you are looking for an easy-to-use animation graphic editor that is simple but effective, then GraphicsGale is the tool to go for. GraphicsGale supports multiple file formats, including gif, ico, avi, and cur.
But what I love the most about this web tool is that you can preview your animation as you work.
The tool also simplifies the editing and drawing process by allowing you to use multiple layers through onion skinning. Onion skinning also allows you to output your layers to a single sprite sheet and export your file in a format of your choice.
GraphicsGale is also rich in pixel-art features to help you create quick designs. These features include palette control tools to selectively erase colors and quickly replace or try new colors.
While it might not be as popular as Aseprite, GraphicsGale is still an accessible program that you can use to pixel art and animation from scratch and edit images from your computer.
5. Pixen
Pixen is another excellent replacement for Aseprite. While Aseprite works well on multiple operating systems, including Windows, Linux, and MacOS, Pixen is a pixel art editor for MacOS and iOS only.
The professional pixel art editor is designed to work in low resolution, making it ideal for raster art, including the 8-bit sprites in old-school video games.
Pixen has all you need for a native and intuitive interface that supports high zoom levels, color palettes, and animation editing, among others.
Pixen has been a native MacOS app for over 15 years, featuring full-screen workspaces, Dark Mode, document tabs, and integration with technologies, such as Versions, Quick Look, Auto Save, and SideCar.
Pixen seamlessly syncs with iOS with MacOS over iCloud. It is specifically created for the iPad ecosystem with Apple Pencil support. Pixen for iOS also integrates with technologies such as the Files app and Quick Look.
6. MtPaint
Mark Twayne developed the MtPaint program to create pixel art and manipulate digital images. Mark created the program from scratch, using the GTK+toolkit for its 1,2, and 3rd version.
MtPaint runs on PC through Linux and Windows operating systems. What puts the MtPaint web tool ahead of Aseprite is the efficient design that allows it to run even on ancient PC hardware, including a 200MHz CPU and 16MB free RAM.
Don’t be fooled by its basic appearance. MtPaint is one of the best graphic editors that offer better than ordinary paint replacements. It allows you to open images in several popular formats and design your creations from scratch.
Its powerful zoom tool ensures that you create pixel art with utmost precision. MtPaint has other advanced features, such as filters, layer support, and special effects, among others.
7. PixBuilder Studio
I encourage you to try out the PixBuilder software if you are more interested in an Aseprite alternative that does a better job of editing digital images.
The tool allows you to use color management functions, including color balance, contrast management, and level manipulation.
You can manipulate your image using color channels to achieve more professional results in PixBuilder. PixBuilder is an excellent choice as it is fast and stable. It works with high-resolution images with low memory requirements.
The tool is designed to match every skill set. So whether you are just getting started with the basic resizing of photos or have serious image correction to do, its familiar and intuitive interface makes things easier for you.
Its well-written Help file might not teach you everything about the program but will explain the basics of navigating the program.
8. GrafX2
GrafX2 is a bitmap paint program specializing in 256-color drawing. This robust paint program by Amiga programs draws its inspiration from Deluxe Paint and Brilliance.
Similar to Aseprite, GrafX2 has multiple tools and effects that make it ideal for game graphics, pixel art, and any detailed graphics that you can paint with a mouse. GrafX2 works well on Linux, Haiku, and Windows operating systems, but is also portable on other platforms.
You’ll be fascinated by its image-editing features indexed up to 256 colors with the palette. Some of its notable classic tools include lines, circles, multiple undo/redo options, and built-in brushes.
But what particularly caught my eye with GrafX2 is its extensive and customizable shortcuts that allow you to control everything with a keyboard and disable the menu to work on a full screen.
Another feature that will make you pick GrafX2 over Aseprite is its unusual screen modes. These modes include wide and tall pixels and constrained palettes, which make it useful for pictures made for 8 to 16-bit computers.
Like Aseprite, GrafX2 supports the organization of elements in hierarchical order, which can be manipulated or viewed independently. GrafX2 is a web program and app that you can download for free from Google PlayStore.
9. Pixilart
Pixilart is another free Aseprite alternative that promises a seamless online pixel drawing experience. It has a simple and easy-to-use interface with a number of outstanding features that set it apart from other pixel art editors.
Pixilart’s functionality is slightly different from Aseprite. While Aseprite primarily focuses on helping you create 2D-pixel art sprites, Pixilart introduces a new aspect of social networking, to engage art learning and networking.
Its primary audience is the younger generation particularly interested in creative learning. Its robust tools promote a technology-based future, which fosters programming, digital art, and computers.
As mentioned earlier, Pixilart has exciting features to help you create gaming sprites, icons, and beautiful pixel art. Some of these features include a pencil, brush tool, eraser tool, select tool, line tool, square tool, stamp tool, bucket tool, and text tool.
Pixilart also added layers to elevate editing complicated images. Layers allow you to duplicate, move, merge, or change the opacity of images.
Its frames are useful in creating GIFs, while its Pixel Perfect feature comes in handy when drawing freehand to achieve clean stroke lines.
Pixilart is web-based but also has a free mobile app for iOS and Android. The Pixilart mobile app helps you unleash your creativity from anywhere, and connect with other art enthusiasts as you create outstanding art on the go.
10. PaintCAD
PaintCAD is a small and creative platform for drawings, creative design, and digital art. The free platform helps you create a collection of illustrations, architectural plans, or single drawings, resources for 3D modeling, and multiple vector images.
The PaintCAD idea was born in 2014 by a team of creatives who love creating multiple art and design products. Each team member has a passion for painting, design, architecture, and all things related to art.
The idea behind this royalty-free site is to create a database of files with drawings and illustration themes that can be used professionally. All files are organized into categories and subdivided based on their file formats.
It also features a database of optional stock illustrations. Therefore, before using the platform, read through its licensing information to ensure that the features you are using are indeed free of charge.
11. PixiEditor
PixiEditor is an outstanding and fast pixel art editor packed in an eye-friendly dark theme. The free open-source program is easy to use and believes that its features are quite friendly to work with.
If you have interacted with other graphics editors, you’ll find it easy to create, edit, and organize PixiEditor’s layers. Its color tools are built to help with adjusting light and darker color variations.
But what will captivate your attention is its pixel-perfect tools that smartly edit your creations without questions. Its multiple document editing support ensures that it edits documents side by side creating columns, rows, float windows, and tabs.
12. GIMP
Last on my list of free Aseprite alternatives is GNU Image Manipulation Program (GIMP). GIMP is an open-source cross-platform image editor for Linux, Windows, and MacOS operating systems.
Whether you are a budding graphics designer, illustrator, or scientist, this platform offers sets of sophisticated tools to get the job done fast. Its many customization options and third-party plugins allow you to enhance your productivity.
With GIMP, be sure to achieve high-quality image manipulation. From retouching and restoring to creative composites, you can only be limited by your imagination. Its top-notch color management features give you high-fidelity color across digital and print media.
GIMP provides flexibility and extensibility through integration with multiple programming languages, including Python, Scheme, and Perl, among others.
This function gives the tool high-level customization as demonstrated by multiple scripts and plugins created by the GIMP community.
Also Read: Photopea vs GIMP
Final words
That is it for now.
These free pixel art alternatives to Aseprite will be a great add-on to your creative journey. You don’t have to worry about cost as the programs are free to use.
While all these tools are similar in many ways, each of them has a unique way of meeting your needs. So don’t feel shy to use a separate program for different projects.
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