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Krita Review

Worth it

Should I use Krita?

Free and open-source digital painting application - krita.org

· 4 days ago

Buy if you paint, illustrate, or storyboard and want serious tools for $0. Skip it if you need Photoshop-standard studio workflows, vendor support, or a dead-simple sketch app.

Confidence

Medium. Based on 30+ public sources; many snippets truncated, so CVE specifics were hedged.

Ratings

  • Value for money
  • Ease of use
  • Feature depth
  • Support quality
  • Security posture

Pricing

Free

Desktop (open source)

ModelNot disclosed
Monthly feesNot disclosed
HardwareNot disclosed
Free tierYes
Steam version$9.99 one-time

Best for

  • Hobbyist digital painters
  • Comic and concept artists
  • Students and art beginners
  • Linux users

Not for

  • Photoshop-centric studio pipelines
  • Teams needing vendor SLAs or official support
  • Casual users wanting a one-button sketch app
  • Vector-first logo designers — CorelDRAW/Illustrator fit better

Gotchas - check before you buy

high

Scam sites impersonate Krita and pushed ransomware; download only from.

high

was exposed as a scam clone of the real project.

low

Two download paths (free site vs $9.99 Steam) confuse buyers; same app.

low

Project itself warned fans about counterfeit Krita merchandise.

Pros and cons

Pros

  • Completely free and open source
  • Rated 4.4/5 (83 reviews) on Capterra
  • Praised as robust and professional-grade by reviewers
  • Optional $9.99 Steam purchase funds development
  • Cross-platform: Windows, macOS and Linux

Cons

  • Steep learning curve trips up beginners
  • Workflow friction annoys even experienced artists
  • Rarely the industry studio standard; Photoshop/CSP dominate

Sources & method

- 12 sources - Open source with a security page; no major confirmed Krita CVEs in these snippets, but scam downloads are a real consumer risk.

official x3review x5security x2news x2
  • CVE-2025-59819 — path traversal (CVSS 6.5), Surfaced in Krita-related CVE searches; applicability to Krita is unclear from truncated snippets.
  • Krita appears in distro security trackers and 2025 CVE digests, Debian tracks a krita source package; digest CVEs list Krita alongside other packages.

Key stats

  • Value for money: 5/5

    Rating

  • Free

    Starting price

  • 12

    Sources

  • Analyzed

  • Value for money: 5/5. Full painting suite, zero cost
  • Ease of use: 3/5. Users report confusion and workflow friction
  • Feature depth: 4/5. Robust, professional-grade brush tools
  • Support quality: 3/5. Community forums and Q&A only
  • Security posture: 3/5. Open source, public security page; CVEs appear in trackers
  • $0 Price Free, open source
  • $9.99 Steam version One-time, funds development
  • 4.4/5 Capterra rating 83 reviews
  • Donation-backed Funding No VC round found

Pricing

Desktop (open source)

Free

  • Full painting application
  • All platforms

Steam version

$9.99 one-time

  • Same application
  • Supports development

Security

Open source with a security page; no major confirmed Krita CVEs in these snippets, but scam downloads are a real consumer risk.

  • CVE-2025-59819 — path traversal (CVSS 6.5)Surfaced in Krita-related CVE searches; applicability to Krita is unclear from truncated snippets.12
  • Krita appears in distro security trackers and 2025 CVE digestsDebian tracks a krita source package; digest CVEs list Krita alongside other packages.11

What users say

Users love the brush engine and zero price but gripe about workflow friction and a steep learning curve.

“krita is a great digital art software!!!😍😍😍”
Reddit, r/krita
“Just discovered how powerful Krita is”
Reddit, r/linux4noobs
“Ranting about how great but also annoying kritas workflow”
Reddit, r/krita
Full analysis

Based on 30+ public sources; many snippets truncated, so CVE specifics were hedged.

Pro-grade free painting app; steep learning curve, and fake clone sites are the real danger.

Methodology

Based on 30+ public sources; many snippets truncated, so CVE specifics were hedged.

Read how a report is made.

Sources

  1. Krita.org — official sitekrita.org
    official
  2. KDE/krita on GitHubgithub.com
    official
  3. Krita Review: Features, Pricing, Pros & Consfirstsales.io
    review
  4. Steam community reviewssteamcommunity.com
    review
  5. Reddit r/krita — workflow rantreddit.com
    review
  6. Capterra listing (4.4/5, 83 reviews)capterra.com.au
    review
  7. Krita price tracker (Steam $9.99)steambase.io
    official
  8. Krita vs Photoshopxp-pen.com
    review
  9. Krita.io scam exposureekiwi-blog.de
    news
  10. Ransomware scammers target artists with fake Kritamalwarebytes.com
    news
  11. Debian security tracker — krita packagesecurity-tracker.debian.org
    security
  12. CVE-2025-59819 (path traversal, CVSS 6.5)strix.ai
    security

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