LibreSprite
Ranked 4 of 6 drawing apps by recommenders
Free, open-source pixel art editor praised for its intuitive animation workflow and open license. Critics note it has far fewer recent updates and commits than Aseprite.
6 people recommended LibreSprite in Hacker News comments, 3 had mixed feelings and 4 criticized it, November 2025 to October 2026.
6 of the 6 people who recommend it commented in one thread, “LibreSprite – open-source pixel art editor”.
Summary written by Claude from 14 comments. It was written before the November 2026 recount, and 13 of those comments still count.
13 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 6
- mixed feelings
- 3
- warn against or regret it
- 4
The record
Recommended in 1 of 12 months
In 1 different thread.
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: not recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 6 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, not met.
- 1.5 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, not met.
- Recommended in 1 of 12 monthsNeeds 4 or more, not met.
- Recommended in 1 threadNeeds 5 or more, not met.
- 6 of its 6 recommenders came from one threadNeeds half or less, not met.
The same rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. Mixed feelings count toward neither side. How the badge works
What people say about it
Reasons grouped from a sample of 13 of the 14 opinions about it, picked in proportion to how many people recommend it, have mixed feelings and criticize it. Each mark is one comment in the sample. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Free, open-source software
“It's good to have open source software.”
Comment from 6 Mar 2026 in “LibreSprite – open-source pixel art editor” Accessible and easy for pixel art
“For the basics libresprite is a great entry into pixel art”
Comment from 6 Mar 2026 in “LibreSprite – open-source pixel art editor”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Fewer updates than Aseprite
“skip out on two major versions worth of bugfixes, updates, and new features in favor of the right source-code license”
Comment from 6 Mar 2026 in “LibreSprite – open-source pixel art editor” “LibreSprite has 5000 commits, 30 in the past year whilst ASEPrite has over 10000 at this point.”
Comment from 6 Mar 2026 in “LibreSprite – open-source pixel art editor” Looks dead, few recent commits
“I think this fork looks pretty dead.”
Comment from 6 Mar 2026 in “LibreSprite – open-source pixel art editor”
Other drawing apps people recommend
The four most recommended other drawing apps, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Mixed | Criticize | Approval | Months | Had for | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Krita | 69 | 6 | 10 | 87% | 12 | — | Approved |
| Aseprite | 22 | 4 | 3 | 88% | 6 | — | — |
| Procreate | 19 | 3 | 0 | 100% | 6 | — | Approved |
| LibreSpriteThis page | 6 | 3 | 4 | 60% | 1 | — | — |
| LibreOffice Draw | 5 | 0 | 1 | 83% | 5 | — | — |
What people said
13 of the 14 opinions about it, picked in proportion to the three counts, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“rather than one that undercuts that sustainability in favor of nominal openness”
“It's good to have open source software.”
“skip out on two major versions worth of bugfixes, updates, and new features in favor of the right source-code license”
“I think this fork looks pretty dead.”
“Weird mouse acceleration when it is over canvas and is replaced by crosshair icon.”
“I've used libresprite and generally think it's very nice”
“I love the MS-DOS feel to it”
“I'll shill this project again”
“For the basics libresprite is a great entry into pixel art”
“Libresprite is an important project because people can fork it and learn from it by extending it”
“has been the only editor I can use for over a decade”
“LibreSprite has 5000 commits, 30 in the past year whilst ASEPrite has over 10000 at this point.”
“ripping off Aseprite is not so much”
Counts come from 1,791,911 Hacker News comments labeled by Claude, November 2025 to October 2026, with data through October 31, 2026. Counts updated 2 Nov 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.