Best Drawing Apps for Android Tablets 2026

Procreate, the iPad’s best-known painting app, is available only on Apple devices, but Android tablets have strong alternatives of their own, from free open-source painting software to subscription tools used for professional comics. This guide covers nine drawing apps that are currently listed on Google Play, what each one is best at, and how each is paid for.

The picks draw on the apps’ Google Play listings (checked November 1, 2026), the developers’ own pages and Creative Bloq’s guide to Android drawing apps. In-app prices vary by country and change often, so check the current price in the Play Store before you subscribe.

Best Free Pick: Krita

Krita, from the Krita Foundation, is free and open-source, and Creative Bloq names it the best Android drawing app for most people, praising the lack of ads and subscription nags. Its Google Play listing describes brush engines for sketching and painting, stabilizers for inking, drawing assistants for complex scenes, non-destructive filter and transform masks, PSD support, animation with onion skinning, comic project management and Python scripting.

There are two caveats. Krita’s own listing calls the Android version a beta “not suitable for real work yet,” and it is available only for tablets and Chromebooks, not phones, because the interface is designed for large screens.

Best Procreate Alternative: Infinite Painter

Creative Bloq recommends Infinite Painter, from Infinite Studio, as the closest Android equivalent to Procreate. Its listing highlights hundreds of built-in brushes with full pressure and tilt support, five perspective guides plus isometric drawing, gradient maps and color curves, layer masks and clipping masks, CMYK print presets, and export to layered PSD files.

The free version is genuinely usable: it includes three layers at the device’s resolution, all built-in brushes and brush editing, and the basic fill, selection and symmetry tools. Pro adds high-resolution canvases, many more layers, adjustment and filter layers, layer groups and masks, and more than 40 extra tools. Infinite Painter is also included with a Google Play Pass subscription, according to its listing.

Best for Comics, Manga and Animation: Clip Studio Paint

Clip Studio Paint, from Japan’s Celsys, is the most professional option here, especially for comics. Its listing describes up to 10,000 layers, posable 3D models for reference, vector layers, line stabilization, perceptual color mixing and access to more than 70,000 brushes from other artists on its asset store. Celsys’s comparison page says the EX edition adds comic and animation features such as multi-page projects and PDF and e-book export to the PRO feature set.

It is the one app here that needs a subscription for serious use. On tablets, you get a free 30-day trial, but you need an annual or monthly plan to save or export your work; the listing says your first plan includes up to three months free, and subscribers get 10GB of cloud storage. Celsys sells its pay-once perpetual licenses only for Windows and macOS.

Best Free Sketching App: Sketchbook

Sketchbook, originally developed by Autodesk, is a long-running sketching app that Google Play currently lists as an Editors’ Choice. Its listing describes pencils, markers, airbrushes and smear brushes that look and feel like their physical counterparts, guides and rulers for precision, and layers with blend modes, all in an uncluttered interface. Creative Bloq calls it the best free drawing app for professional and semi-professional artists, and notes that a one-off Premium Bundle unlocks advanced brush, color and layer features.

Best for Beginners and Cartoonists: ibis Paint X

ibis Paint X is free with ads and in-app purchases. Its developer lists more than 130,000 brushes, 30,000 materials, 3,000 fonts, 46 screentones, 27 layer blend modes, vector tools and frame-by-frame animation, and says the series has passed 500 million downloads. Creative Bloq singles it out for cartoonists. It is a good first app because the free version covers so much.

Best for Comics on a Budget: MediBang Paint

MediBang Paint is free with ads, and its listing is built around comics: panel tools, screen tones, speech bubbles and more than 60 fonts, plus more than 180 brushes (subscribers get 700 more). It supports PSD files and CMYK for print, and cloud sync lets you work across devices or share a canvas with collaborators.

Best for Design Sketches: Concepts

Concepts, from TopHatch, is a vector-based sketchpad with an infinite canvas, suited to storyboards, product sketches, mind maps and design ideas. Because every stroke is a vector, you can nudge, slice or resize a line without redrawing it. Its listing describes pens and brushes that respond to pressure, tilt and velocity, an infinite layering system and HSL, RGB and Copic color wheels.

Simple Painting: PaperColor

PaperColor, from Eyewind, imitates real brushes, rulers and erasers, and lets you place a translucent photo underneath your canvas to trace from. It is simpler than the apps above and suits casual doodling. It is free with in-app purchases.

Already on Galaxy Tablets: Samsung Notes and PENUP

Samsung tablets come with two pen apps. Samsung Notes handles handwritten notes, sketches, PDF annotation with the S Pen and notes with voice recordings, according to its listing. On the Galaxy Tab S11 Ultra, GSMArena describes an S Pen menu with Drawing Assist, which turns rough doodles into finished images in a chosen style, and PENUP, Samsung’s app for drawing and coloring.

Comparison

App	Developer	How you pay (Google Play, Nov. 2026)	Best for
Krita	Krita Foundation	Free; in-app purchases listed	Free full-featured painting (tablets only, beta)
Infinite Painter	Infinite Studio	Free with Pro upgrade; in Play Pass	Procreate-style painting
Clip Studio Paint	Celsys	30-day trial, then plan required to save on tablets	Comics, manga, animation
Sketchbook	Sketchbook	Free; in-app purchases	Sketching and concept art
ibis Paint X	ibis inc.	Free with ads; in-app purchases	Beginners, cartoon art
MediBang Paint	MediBang Inc.	Free with ads; in-app purchases	Comics on a budget
Concepts	TopHatch	Free; in-app purchases	Vector design sketches
PaperColor	Eyewind	Free; in-app purchases	Simple painting, tracing
Samsung Notes	Samsung	Free	Notes and sketches on Galaxy tablets

Choosing a Tablet for Drawing

A pressure-sensitive pen matters more than any single app. Samsung includes the S Pen with its Galaxy Tab S tablets, including the Tab S10 FE ($549.99 on Samsung’s U.S. store on November 1, 2026), which Android Central names its best S Pen value for drawing; its top drawing pick is the Galaxy Tab S11 Ultra. The OnePlus Pad 3 works with the OnePlus Stylo 2, which is sold separately, Android Central notes.

Screen size matters too: Krita runs only on tablets, and complex apps such as Clip Studio Paint and Infinite Painter benefit from room for their palettes and panels. Our Galaxy Tab S11 Ultra review, Galaxy Tab S10 review and best Android tablets of 2026 cover the hardware, and our Android tablet vs iPad comparison explains what you give up without Procreate.

Sources

Google Play — Krita — accessed November 1, 2026
Google Play — Infinite Painter — accessed November 1, 2026
Google Play — Clip Studio Paint — accessed November 1, 2026
Celsys — Clip Studio Paint purchase options and PRO/EX comparison — accessed November 1, 2026
Google Play — Sketchbook — accessed November 1, 2026
Google Play — ibis Paint X — accessed November 1, 2026
Google Play — MediBang Paint — accessed November 1, 2026
Google Play — Concepts: Sketch, Note, Draw — accessed November 1, 2026
Google Play — PaperColor — accessed November 1, 2026
Google Play — Samsung Notes — accessed November 1, 2026
Creative Bloq — The best drawing apps for Android (updated November 4, 2024) — accessed November 1, 2026
Android Central — Best Android tablets for drawing (updated September 17, 2026) — accessed November 1, 2026
GSMArena — Samsung Galaxy Tab S11 Ultra review: Software, performance — accessed November 1, 2026
Samsung US — Buy Galaxy Tab S10 FE — price checked November 1, 2026