# Krita Hacker Approved page: https://hackerapproved.com/p/krita/ 69 people recommended Krita in Hacker News comments, 6 had mixed feelings and 10 criticized it, November 2025 to October 2026. It was recommended in 12 of 12 months, in 47 threads. It meets the Hacker Approved badge rule. **Verdict:** Free, open source painting app praised for its modern interface, strong brush engine and stability. The common caveat is that it is mostly aimed at digital illustration and falls short of Photoshop for professional work. Summary written by Claude from 54 comments. ## Why people recommend it - Modern, consistent user interface (4 comments in the sample): "So much easier to use than Gimp, excellent for consistent and modern UI conventions, but currently missing important features." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50012274)) "its UI is of course a lot better than GIMP, but unfortunately it's mostly skewed towards digital illustration" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47901347)) "Blender and Krita seem to give UX a higher priority, so they're more likely to catch on." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45975491)) - Strong brush engine for painting (3 comments in the sample): "Krita is excellent for painting (specially its brush engine" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48893177)) "pretty much the only capable digital painting app in open source realm" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49373125)) "has been the FOSS flagship 2D bitmap editor for many years" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48892665)) - Stable and reliable on Linux (3 comments in the sample): "I had great experience with Krita, even with my display tablet it all "just worked" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47613594)) "both Gimp and Krita (very different tools) were rock-solid to me" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47816888)) "It's always worked flawlessly on my linux machine (Mint" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49540294)) - Replaces Photoshop for some users (2 comments in the sample): "Krita and Inkscape have successfully replaced Photoshop and Illustrator for me." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46581442)) "I say this as someone who switched to Krita and canceled CC subscription." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47320584)) ## What people warn about - Not enough for professional Photoshop work (2 comments in the sample): "If you think GIMP and Krita (especially Krita) can replace Photoshop in workplace I'm 100% sure you don't know what professionals pay Photoshop for" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49733150)) "Nope, Krita and GIMP are not good enough" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48181154)) - Clumsy selection and destructive transforms (2 comments in the sample): "Even basic stuff like rectangle select and selection manipulation is painful." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48194558)) "Most of the transfors you describe are still unfortunately destructive" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47507181)) - Heavy, slow and sometimes crashes (1 comment in the sample): "I don't think I've ever managed to finish something in it before it crashes." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47816407)) - Mostly aimed at digital illustration (1 comment in the sample): "Krita has a tremendous amount of potential to serve a free and open source application for several niche use cases" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47506951)) ## Other drawing apps people recommend - [Aseprite](https://hackerapproved.com/p/aseprite/): 22 recommend, 4 mixed, 3 criticize - [Procreate](https://hackerapproved.com/p/procreate/): 19 recommend, 3 mixed, 0 criticize - [LibreSprite](https://hackerapproved.com/p/libresprite/): 6 recommend, 3 mixed, 4 criticize - [LibreOffice Draw](https://hackerapproved.com/p/libreoffice-draw/): 5 recommend, 0 mixed, 1 criticize ## The badge A product earns the Hacker Approved badge when at least 10 people recommend it, recommenders outnumber critics at least 2 to 1 (mixed feelings count toward neither side), it was recommended in at least 4 of the 12 months and in at least 5 different threads, and no single thread supplies more than half of the people who recommend it. Health and money products are never badged. ## Cite as Hacker Approved, "Krita", https://hackerapproved.com/p/krita/ (69 recommend, 6 mixed, 10 criticize; Hacker News comments, November 2025 to October 2026). Counts updated 2 Nov 2026, with data through October 31, 2026.