Alternatives to Tux Paint
A free, open-source drawing program designed for children aged 3 to 12. The listings below can replace it for an important use case. Each note says what changes if you switch.
The original
Tux Paint
A free, open-source drawing program designed for children aged 3 to 12.
Replacements
Listings that take over the same core job as Tux Paint.
Microsoft Paint
Simple image editing and drawing app for Windows, distributed through the Microsoft Store.
Microsoft Paint is a free, familiar Windows drawing app with simple tools, but it is closed source and not designed specifically for young children.
KolourPaint
A simple KDE paint program for quickly creating raster images and doing basic touch-ups.
KolourPaint is a free, open-source KDE paint program for quick sketches on Linux and macOS, with a general interface not designed specifically for young children.
JS Paint
Browser-based remake of classic MS Paint with extra features and an optional desktop app.
JS Paint is a free MIT-licensed MS Paint remake that runs in any browser, with no child-focused interface or special effect tools.
Kleki
A free painting tool that runs in the web browser for quick sketches and drawings.
Kleki is a free browser painting tool that opens straight into a canvas, requiring no install but lacking Tux Paint's child-oriented design and special effect tools.
Sumo
Browser-based suite of creative apps for painting, photo editing, music, audio, 3D and coding.
Sumo is a freemium browser suite with a painting app of over 300 brushes plus music and coding tools, working on Chromebooks but closed source.
Pinta
A small painting and image editor modelled on Paint.NET 3, and the closest thing to it on macOS and Linux.
Pinta is a free MIT-licensed editor for Windows, macOS and Linux with layers and effects, aimed at adults making quick edits rather than children drawing.
Similar software
Related functionality, not a direct replacement.
Krita
A free digital painting program built for illustrators, with over a hundred brushes ready to use.
Pencil2D
A small, approachable program for traditional hand-drawn 2D animation, mixing bitmap and vector layers.
Piskel
A free, open-source editor for pixel art and animated sprites, online or offline.
MyPaint
A distraction-free painting app for graphics tablets, with an infinite canvas and deeply configurable brushes.
Drawpile
Draw and animate together on a shared canvas.
ibisPaint
A mobile drawing and painting app for illustration, manga and animation, with an online gallery.
