Pigment is one of the best-known adult coloring apps, with a huge library and more than 30 coloring tools. Paint Alive is a much smaller studio that focuses on one thing: coloring that looks and feels like real crayon, with color that never leaves the lines. Here is how they compare, including where Pigment is the better pick.
How do Paint Alive and Pigment compare?
| Paint Alive | Pigment | |
|---|---|---|
| Library | 250+ original canvases | 10,000+ illustrated pages, including Marvel content |
| Free content | Membership needed for the full studio | 800+ pages for free users and a free daily page |
| Tools | Crayon, colored pencil, marker, watercolor and airbrush that stay inside each shape; tap to fill | 30+ tools including pencil, marker, pastel, airbrush and watercolor; tap to fill or color freely |
| Color help | Several palettes made for each canvas, and an optional color guide | Color wheel and shade slider |
| Community | None; your paintings stay on your device | Community gallery and sharing |
| Ads | None | Not mentioned in the listing |
| US price | $7.99/week, $15.99/month or $39.99/year | $4.99/week, $9.99/month or $59.99/year, with a 7-day free trial |
| App Store rating | Too new to show a rating yet | 4.6 from 219K ratings |
Sources: the US App Store listings for Pigment and Paint Alive, checked on October 24, 2026. Prices change; check the listing before you subscribe.
Where is Pigment stronger?
- A far bigger library, with new books every week and a large free selection.
- More tools and modes, with detailed Apple Pencil pressure and stroke control.
- Community features for sharing finished pages and seeing what others made.
- Lower weekly and monthly prices, and a free trial on its premium plan.
Where is Paint Alive different?
- Real crayon texture. Strokes keep the grain of a crayon or colored pencil, so a finished page looks hand-colored rather than digitally filled.
- No tidying edges. Every brush stays inside the shape you start in, so you can paint quickly and zoom in close.
- Palettes made for each canvas. You can preview every palette painted on the canvas before you begin, and turn on a color guide that shows where each color goes.
- Choose your level of detail with Relaxed, Detailed and Intricate filters.
- Cheaper yearly plan at $39.99, and no ads.
Which should you choose?
Choose Pigment if you want the widest choice of pages, lots of free content, or many different tools to experiment with.
Choose Paint Alive if you would rather have fewer, carefully paired canvases and a coloring feel close to crayon on paper, without fussing over edges.
Every Paint Alive canvas is also a free printable coloring page, so you can see the artwork first.
Pigment is a trademark of its owner. Paint Alive is not affiliated with Pigment or Pixite.