12 Best Procreate Alternatives for Android

If you‘re a digital artist, you‘ve probably heard of Procreate. This powerful, intuitive sketching and painting app has taken the creative world by storm since its launch in 2011. With a vast library of highly-customizable brushes, an infinite canvas, and an array of professional-grade tools, it‘s no wonder Procreate has become the go-to choice for everyone from hobbyists to top studio artists.

However, there‘s one big catch: Procreate is only available on iOS. If you‘re one of the 2.5 billion+ Android users worldwide, you‘re out of luck… or are you? The good news is that Android has no shortage of exceptional drawing and painting apps that can give Procreate a run for its money. In this comprehensive guide, we‘ll introduce you to the 12 best Procreate alternatives for Android and help you choose the perfect app to unleash your creativity.

Key Considerations When Choosing a Procreate Alternative

Before we dive into our top picks, let‘s explore some of the key factors to consider when evaluating Android drawing apps:

• Drawing and painting features: Look for an app with a wide range of brushes, layers, blend modes, and precision tools to suit your art style and workflow.
• Brush engine and customization: The best apps let you tweak brush settings like size, opacity, flow, and texture to create your perfect tools.
• Canvas size and resolution: Aim for an app that supports high-res canvases (at least 300dpi) for print-quality artwork.
• Precision tools and assists: Handy features like rulers, perspective guides, symmetry, and stabilization make creating polished art a breeze.
• Ease of use and UI: The app should feel intuitive to navigate with a clean, well-organized interface that keeps your canvas front and center.
• Stylus and pressure sensitivity: To get the most out of these apps, pair them with an active stylus that supports pressure and tilt sensitivity for natural, responsive strokes.
• Sharing and exporting: The ability to easily share your process and finished work to social media or export files to your preferred formats is a must.
• Price and value: While some premium apps are worth the investment, there are also excellent free and low-cost options available.

With these criteria in mind, let‘s explore the top contenders for the best Procreate alternative on Android.

The Top 12 Procreate Alternatives for Android

1. Concepts

• Standout features: Infinite canvas, vector brushes, shape guides, grid/isometric/perspective tools
• Platforms: Android, Windows, Chrome OS
• Price: Free 7-day trial, $4.99/month, $29.99/year, or $29.99 one-time purchase

Concepts is a powerful, vector-based sketching and design app that offers unparalleled precision and flexibility. With its infinite canvas and customizable brushes, it‘s perfect for everything from quick ideation to polished illustrations and UI designs.

Concepts‘ shape guides, rulers, and perspective grids make it easy to create crisp, accurate drawings, while the infinite layering system and export options (including SVG, PSD, and DXF) allow for seamless integration with your professional workflow. It also boasts the best pen-and-touch control of any app we tested, with silky-smooth lines and palm rejection that actually works.

While Concepts has a steeper learning curve than some other apps on this list, it‘s an outstanding choice for artists and designers seeking a truly professional-grade tool. As digital artist Jason Poley puts it, "Concepts is the closest thing I‘ve found to a fully-featured desktop design program on a tablet. It‘s my go-to app for client work and personal projects alike."

2. Infinite Painter

• Standout features: 160+ natural media brushes, brush customization, PSD support, perspective guides
• Platforms: Android, Windows
• Price: Free with in-app purchases, or $9.99 one-time purchase for Pro version

If you‘re looking for an app that can replicate the look and feel of traditional art supplies, Infinite Painter is a perfect choice. This powerful painting app offers over 160 brushes that mimic everything from oil paint and acrylics to pastels, pencils, and markers. You can even import your own brushes or download packs created by the community.

Infinite Painter stands out for its natural media emulation, with convincing blending, smudging, and textures that respond to pressure and tilt. It also supports full PSD file import/export with preserved layers, making it a great companion to desktop software like Photoshop.

Teoh Yi Chie, artist and founder of Parkablogs.com, raves that "Infinite Painter is the best Android app for those switching from traditional to digital art. The brushes feel incredibly lifelike, and the app strikes a great balance between powerful features and ease of use."

3. Clip Studio Paint

• Standout features: desktop-class tools, 10,000+ brushes, templates/posable 3D models for illustration and comics
• Platforms: Android, Windows, macOS, iOS, Chrome OS
• Price: $4.49/month, $24.99/year, or $219.99 one-time purchase on desktop

Clip Studio Paint is a true powerhouse that brings the full capabilities of its industry-leading desktop software to Android tablets. Beloved by professional manga artists, illustrators, and comic creators, CSP offers an astonishing array of brushes, tools, and assets to streamline your workflow.

With features like posable 3D reference models, perspective rulers, multi-page management, and CMYK separations, CSP is built for artists creating print-ready, publication-quality work. It‘s hands-down the most robust option for professional illustrators and sequential artists.

Mitch Kocen, a comic artist who has inked for Marvel and DC, says "Clip Studio Paint is an essential part of my comic creation process. The inking and coloring tools are top-notch, and the app syncs seamlessly across my Android tablet and desktop."

*Note: Listed prices are for the full Pro/EX versions at the time of writing. Free or lower-cost tiers with limited features are available for most apps.

Other Leading Contenders

4. Sketchbook: Autodesk‘s feature-rich sketching app with an unbeatable price (free!)
5. Tayasui Sketches: A beautifully minimal yet powerful drawing app for a natural, paper-like feel
6. MediBang Paint: A free, beginner-friendly option with tools tailored for manga/comics
7. Krita: An open-source painting powerhouse with a desktop-class engine and UI
8. ArtFlow: A full-featured painting app with a focus on realism and natural media
9. ArtRage: Offers ultra-realistic paints and textures with a tactile, analog feel
10. Adobe Illustrator Draw: A vector drawing app that syncs with Creative Cloud for smooth workflows
11. ibis Paint X: A popular, well-rounded painting and drawing app with an active social community
12. Zen Brush 2: A beautifully minimalist ink painting app for expressive, pressure-sensitive brushwork

Essential Companion Apps and Accessories

To take your Android art setup to the next level, consider adding these handy apps and accessories to your toolkit:

• Adobe Capture: Easily create custom brushes, palettes, and patterns from photos to import into your drawing apps
• PureRef: Keep your visual references neatly organized in a flexible floating window as you work
• Astropad Studio: Mirror your Android device to a Mac/PC and draw in any desktop creative software
• Wacom One: A premium 13" drawing display that connects to Android devices for a desktop-like experience on the go

Artist-Approved Tips and Tricks

To help you make the most of your new Procreate alternative, we‘ve compiled some expert advice from professional artists who use these apps daily:

1. Customize your brush settings: Don‘t be afraid to dive into the brush editor and tweak every parameter to your liking. Save your custom brushes so you can quickly access them later. –Mitch Kocen, Comic Artist

2. Use layers strategically: Organize your artwork with layers for lines, flats, shading, etc. Lock transparency on line layers to keep your colors inside. Use clipping masks to shade quickly and non-destructively. –Teoh Yi Chie, Artist and Educator

3. Master shortcuts and gestures: Most apps have built-in shortcuts for common actions like undo/redo, zoom, and brush size. Learn the gestures for your app to speed up your workflow dramatically. –Jason Poley, Illustrator and Designer

4. Take advantage of symmetry tools: For design work, illustrations, or just practicing your skills, reflect or radial symmetry guides are a huge time-saver. –Madeleine Bellwoar, Freelance Illustrator

5. Back up your work: Avoid losing your masterpiece to a crash by saving incremental versions to the cloud. For extra peace of mind, export a flattened copy to Google Drive after each session. –Toby Schachman, Developer and Generative Artist

The Future Looks Bright for Android Artists

As drawing tablets like the Samsung Galaxy Tab S series continue to close the hardware gap, it‘s an exciting time for digital art on Android. Mobile processors are faster than ever, stylus tech has improved by leaps and bounds, and professional-grade drawing apps are being updated all the time.

We reached out to Andrew Smith, Product Manager at Concepts, who shared his thoughts on the future of art and design tools on Android:

"As mobile hardware becomes more powerful and portable, we expect to see even more creators making the switch to Android as their primary platform. Our goal is to keep pushing the boundaries of what‘s possible and bring desktop-class tools to everyone."

With promising developments like the Wacom One drawing display and ongoing Android optimizations from major software developers, digital artists can expect the options and experience on Android to keep getting better.

Android Drawing Apps: Frequently Asked Questions

Q: Can I use the same brushes in Procreate and Android apps?
A: Many Android apps like Infinite Painter support importing and exporting ABR brush files, so you can transfer your favorite Procreate brushes. Others have similar default brushes or allow you to create custom ones.

Q: Are Android drawing apps compatible with a stylus?
A: Yes, most high-end Android tablets support active styluses with pressure and tilt sensitivity. Look for an S Pen, Wacom EMR, or N-trig compatible device for the best experience.

Q: Which Android apps are best for beginners?
A: Tayasui Sketches, MediBang Paint, and Sketchbook are all excellent options for beginners thanks to their simple, intuitive interfaces. Infinite Painter is also very beginner-friendly but offers more room to grow.

Q: How do Android apps compare to Procreate in terms of features?
A: The gap is closing fast, with Android apps like Concepts and Clip Studio Paint matching or exceeding Procreate in terms of brush libraries, layer options, vector tools, and precision aids. However, Procreate still has a slight edge in overall polish and ease of use.

Conclusion: Android Users Have Never Had More Creative Power at Their Fingertips

While Procreate may be the most well-known digital art app, it‘s clear that Android users have a wealth of incredible options to choose from. Whether you‘re a professional illustrator, comic artist, designer, or hobbyist, there‘s an app (or three) on this list that can help bring your creative visions to life.

From the infinite canvas and clean UI of Concepts to the natural painterly feel of Infinite Painter and the desktop-class power of Clip Studio Paint, Android creatives are truly spoiled for choice. By weighing the strengths of each app and considering your own artistic needs, you‘re sure to find the perfect Procreate alternative for your Android device.

Of course, the only way to know which app truly clicks for you is to dive in and start creating! So pick an app, grab your stylus, and embark on your digital art journey. We can‘t wait to see the incredible work you‘ll make on Android.