For beginners just wanting to dip their toes in the water and don’t want to fork out a lot for software, there are a few good digital drawing apps available for free. They make great alternatives to something like Adobe’s Photoshop, ideal for artists on a budget or artists just starting out with digital.
I often see people ask which program is best and easiest for beginners, but the reality is that they all have a learning curve. You’ll need to take the time to get familiar with the tools and functions available before you jump into your drawing.
With that said, most of these apps have tutorials and guides on their website so that you can get familiar with the software.
If you’re looking for free apps for animation, check these out: 6 Free Animation Apps for PC/Mac
Autodesk Sketchbook
(Available on Windows, Mac, Android, and iOS)
(Aug ‘21 – Desktop version appears to no longer be free with the release of Sketchbook Pro recently)
Sketchbook is usually one of the first free digital drawing apps I recommend for mobile devices and PC. It’s interface is neat and not at all cluttered. With selecting tools, the icons are of the actual tool like a marker pen, flat brush etc which is a little different from other apps.
Whether you want to do more line art or painterly work, this app has a lot to offer.
Check out Trent Kaniuga’s Autodesk for Absolute Beginners video if you decide to give this program a go…
Here you can find Autodesk Sketchbook Tutorials.
10 Concept Art Tips for Sketchbook Pro from Trent Kaniuga (Blizzard and Riot Games).
You can find more and download here.
Medibang
(Available on Windows, Mac, Linux, Android, and iOS)
If you are into comics and manga style work, then Medibang is a really good option. It has a good range of features even on the mobile version
Medibang has cloud features which can be quite handy especially if you tend to use multiple devices. What you also get access to are different tools (fonts, brushes, backgrounds etc) that you can simply download as you need them.
In the download page, you’ll find tutorial links to help you start drawing on any type of device.
Krita
(Available on Windows, Mac and Linux)
This is the program for computer that I’m more inclined to recommend for painterly work. If you have a Microsoft tablet, this could be an option but the interface might be a little too cluttered.
Krita is one of the free options that also has animation features. The nice thing here also is that you pretty much get use of all the drawing tools available for drawing your animations as well. This could mean some really interest possibilities for painterly animations.
You can find out more and download here.
Krita also has an extensive guide and tutorial page so if you needs some help navigating the program or figuring out how to do certain things, they’ve got you covered.
IbisPaint X
(Available on Android and iOS)
Ibis Paint X on for mobile devices 
IBIS Paint is one of the free apps that relies a bit more on advertising. So you will see banner ads as well as needing to watch one in order to unlock something like different brushes. The effect of that last a few hours at least after which you’ll have to watch again. But this isn’t too big of a deal for an good app with a solid range of brushes and textures.
Like Medibang, it’s also a good option for doing things like comics, with nice line art brushes and an easy comic panel maker.
You can find more and download here.
Magma Studio
(Browser-based drawing app)
Ok, it’s not a downloadable app but it is worth mentioning. It may not have all the features and capabilities of Medibang or Krita for example, but it has something else. With MagmaStudio, you can gather up to 30 friends to draw together online on the same canvas.
The Pro version does give you a bit more in the way of brush shapes and such. So if you see yourself hosting live drawing sessions with Patreon subscribers, teaching drawing classes, or do collaborative work with other artists, that may be something you want to look in to.
You can see more in our post about Magma Studio, and go give it a try yourself here.
Recommended Paid options
I’ll do another post in future with paid options for digital drawing apps, but in the mean time I recommend looking at:
Procreate (iOS) is only $10 and available exclusively to the App Store. It’s become the go-to app for digital art on iPad and can also be used for making animations.
InfinitePainter (Android and iOS) which has a 7 day free trial, after which you lose a chunk of features. You can still draw freely in there but you wont be able to export or save the image.
ClipStudioPaint (mobile and PC) comes with at least a 30-day free trial (6 months on Galaxy store). CSP Pro is $50 for the PC and Mac version. Keep an eye for occasional specials where it comes down by 50%.
Smartphone plan is $1 per month subscription.
Wrapping up…
There are more free digital drawing apps out there and all will need you to spend some time getting familiar with the program before you get on to creating your next masterpiece.
In future I do intend to do a couple of slightly more in-depth reviews of the different programs to see just how easily I can create my usual style of digital painting.
Once you have your app of choice, you can find more posts with art inspiration and learning resources around on the DrawYourWeapon site.
If you are looking for a drawing tablet, you might want to take a look at these lists of drawing tablets under $100 and affordable graphics displays.
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