If would like to make pixel art for artwork and video games you will need a pixel art program to create your pixel sprites. We have a list of the best free pixel art software for creating pixel art for graphics as well as games.
What is Pixel Art Software?
Pixel art software, also called a pixel art program, is special type of program used by 2D artists and developers to create 2D pixel images also referred to as as sprites. Once made, these pixel art images can be used for several purposes such as graphics for video games and image stills for social media.
Check our list of free pixel art software below:
Piskel
Piskel is a free pixel art software for creating animated sprites & pixel art. Like Aseprite, Piskel is a pixel art software that was designed for pixel art and therefore makes it easy to pickup and all the tools you encounter in the editor are related to pixel art. As a exclusive pixell art program, one of its srong points is the animation editor, with live preview and animated GIF exports. And since the editor is based online, you can save your files online and access them anywhere you have access to a browser.
Features:
- Full Featured Pixel Art Software for creating pixel art images
- Store images online for access anywhere
- Run the editor on any browser
- Free to Use
Supported Platforms: Browser Based (macOS, Windows, Linux)
Price (Desktop): Free
Get the Pixel Art Sofware: Piskel
Want to learn how to create pixel art using Piskel? View our free Pixel Art Tutorials!
PixiEditor
PixiEditor is another simple, free pixel art software that is packed with several useful features for designing and exporting pixel art on Windows machines. This pixel art program comes with several common and useful pixel features such as layers, color selecting tools and a great toolset designed especially for pixel art.
Features:
- Free Pixel Art Software on PC for creating pixel art images
- Easy-to-use Layer Support built in
- Pixel Toolset designed Specifically for Pixel Art Creation
- Open Source on GitHub
Supported Platforms: Windows
Price (Desktop): Free
Get the Pixel Art Software: PixiEditor
Want to learn how to create pixel art using PixiEditor? View our free Pixel Art Tutorials!
Mega Voxels
Mega Voxels is a free pixel art software for designing and creating pixel art images. Unlike other pixel art programs or software, Mega Voxels also allows you to create a 3D version of pixels, known as voxels in addition to drawing pixel art. It only takes a few minutes to learn and the tools such as pencil, paint and eraser are similar to other popular pixel art software such as Aseprite and Piskel. So depending on your preference If you prefer to make only 2D pixel art, you can switch back and forth directly in the app the pixel editor and the voxel editor. Mega Voxels is currently available for a variety of phones, tablets and computers.
Read more about Mega Voxels
Features:
- Free Pixel Art Software for drawing pixel art images
- Dozens of Pixel Art Tools and Functions
- Massive library of Pixel Art templates
- Run the pixel art software on a variety of different devices
Supported Platforms: iOS, Android, macOS (Silicon), and ChromeOS
Price: Free
Get the Pixel Art Software on Android: Mega Voxels on Google Play
Get the Pixel Art Software on iOS: Mega Voxels on the App Store
Paint.NET
Paint.NET is an open source image and photo editing software for PCs that run Windows. Because of its large feature set, it makes it particulary fit for pixel art design and a common choice as a pixel art software. As a pixel art program it features an intuitive and innovative user interface with support for layers, unlimited undo, special effects, and a wide variety of useful and powerful tools. Because of its open-source nature it fosters a active and growing online community that provides help, tutorials, and plugins. Best of all its free to download and use.
Features:
- Complete Pixel Art Editor for creating, editing and painting pixel art
- Open Source and Free to Use for Personal and Commercial Projects
- Large Community that provide tutorials, help and plugins
Supported Platforms: Windows
Price: Free
Get the Pixel Art Software: Paint.NET
Ready to learn how to make pixel art with Paint.NET? Check out our free Pixel Art Tutorials!
GIMP
GIMP is a cross-platform image editor and software available for macOS, Windows and Linux. Because it is free and open source it has become one of the community’s favorite software for making pixel art making it a solid choice as a pixel art software. GIMP is a great choice for pixel art creation because it includes the common tools for adding, erasing and coloring pixels. And best of all it free to use for personal and commercial projects. Whether you are a graphic designer, photographer, illustrator, GIMP provides you with advanced tools to get your projects done. You can also customize GIMP thanks to many customization options and 3rd party plugins.
Features:
- Full Fledged Pixel Art Software with the ability to Add, Edit, Delete and Paint pixels
- Huge feature set including instance cloning and delinking, non destructive rotation, translation, flipping, object alignment and snapping
- 256x256x256 Build Area
- Apple Pencil support with pressure sensitivity
- 240 Color swatches with individual alphas
- 24-bit RGB color with 8-bit transparency
Supported Platforms: iOS, macOS (coming soon)
Price: Free
Get the Pixel Art Software: GIMP
Want to learn how to make pixel art with Adobe Photoshop? View our free Pixel Art Tutorials!
Krita
Krita is a free, open source painting program used for creating digital artwork and images. Because of its diverse toolset it is also a very powerful pixel art software when it comes to creating pixel art. Like other pixel art programs, you will find common tools such as pencil and bucket fill. One of the advantages of using Krita is that you will find features and tools not available in software dedicated to pixel art, which makes it possible to create some fantastic looking artwork. You will also find a variety of common export formats that make it ideal for artists and game developers alike. The software is free to download and use in personal and commercial projects.
Features:
- Full Fledged Painting program with pixel art editing toolset
- Export options for common file types such as JPG and PNG
- Open source, with periodic bug fixes and feature additions
Supported Platforms: Windows, macOS, Linux
Price: Free
Get the Pixel Art Software: Krita
Interested in learning how to use Krita? Try out our free Pixel Art Tutorials!
GrafX2
GrafX2 is a bitmap paint program and pixel art software primarily created to design pixel art graphics. Showcased as a pixel art program, it specializes in 256-color drawing making it particularly suitable for pixel art and game graphics. To make it even more useful the software includes a very large number of tools, effects and functions that speed up the process of designing pixel art images.
Features:
- Complete Bitmap and Pixel Art software with pixel art tools
- Classic pixel art tools: lines, circles, text, multiple undo/redo, built-in brushes and more
- Layers, for easier changes to large pieces of pixel art
- Shading mode to help you to anti-alias with your gradients
Supported Platforms: Windows, macOS, Linux, Haiku
Price: Free
Get the Pixel Art Software: GrafX2
Interested in learning how to use GrafX2? Try out our free Pixel Art Tutorials!
GraphicsGale
GraphicsGale is a freeware pixel art software made exclusively for designing pixel art images. Because it was made solely for creating pixel art, GraphicsGale is a great pixel art program with tons of pixel-art specific features to help you create your work quickly and easily, including palette control, selectively erasing colors, and tools for quickly replacing and trying new colors. Needless to say the software is free to use for projects of all kinds.
Features:
- Dedicated Pixel Art Software
- Dozens of tools designed for creating pixel art
- Built in timeline and animation editor
- Supports realtime preview of static and animated pixel art
Supported Platforms: Windows
Price: Free
Get the Pixel Art Software: GraphicsGale
Interested in learning how to use GraphicsGale? Try out our free Pixel Art Tutorials!
