--- title: "PaintTool SAI Software Reviews, Demo & Pricing - 2026" description: "Review of PaintTool SAI Software: system overview, features, price and cost information. Get free demos and compare to similar programs." source_url: "https://www.softwareadvice.com/graphic-design/painttool-sai-profile/" page_type: "product" language: "en" --- [Home](https://www.softwareadvice.com/) / [Graphic Design Software](https://www.softwareadvice.com/graphic-design/) / PaintTool SAI Software Advice offers objective insights based on verified user reviews and independent product and market research. When our advisors match you to a software provider, we may earn a referral fee. Overview # PaintTool SAI Review From $50.81/one time 1 plan On this page - Overview - User Interface - Popular Alternatives - Pricing and Plans - Features - User Reviews ## Overview PaintTool SAI 4.3 [(9)](https://www.softwareadvice.com/graphic-design/painttool-sai-profile/#reviews) Pricing Starting at $50.81 flat rate one time Top Alternatives ### About PaintTool SAI PaintTool SAI is a graphic designing solution that helps painters create different types of illustrations such as anime and cartoons. It offers an anti-aliased drawing functionality that allows artists to minimize distortions across low-resolution images and drawings. Teams can view the entire spectrum of the light and dark versions of various colors on a unified interface. PaintTool SAI provides layer tools, enabling operators to erase, transfer or combine specific portions of multiple drawings. Additionally, teams can transform brushes into erasers and remove hard edges. Pricing is based on a one-time license and support is extended via email and FAQs. Do you work for PaintTool SAI? [Manage this product listing](https://www.g2.com/products/painttool-sai/claim_requests/new?auto=true) ## PaintTool SAI User Interface ## Popular PaintTool SAI Alternatives Main Product PaintTool SAI 4.3 [(9)](https://www.softwareadvice.com/graphic-design/painttool-sai-profile/#reviews) Ratings Breakdown - 4.22Ease of use - 4.25Value for money - 3.50Customer support - 4.11Functionality Pricing Starting at $50.81 one time Alternative Product [Adobe Creative Cloud](https://www.softwareadvice.com/video-editing/adobe-creative-cloud-profile/) 4.7 [(7346)](https://www.softwareadvice.com/video-editing/adobe-creative-cloud-profile/reviews/) Ratings Breakdown - 4.23Ease of use - 4.16Value for money - 4.17Customer support - 4.67Functionality Pricing Starting at $19.99 per month Alternative Product [Adobe Express](https://www.softwareadvice.com/product/354910-adobe-express/) 4.6 [(1244)](https://www.softwareadvice.com/product/354910-adobe-express/reviews/) Ratings Breakdown - 4.50Ease of use - 4.42Value for money - 4.37Customer support - 4.37Functionality Pricing Starting at $4.99 per month Alternative Product [Canva](https://www.softwareadvice.com/graphic-design/canva-profile/) 4.7 [(13458)](https://www.softwareadvice.com/graphic-design/canva-profile/reviews/) Ratings Breakdown - 4.69Ease of use - 4.61Value for money - 4.40Customer support - 4.55Functionality Pricing Starting at $10.00 per month Alternative Product [Adobe Photoshop](https://www.softwareadvice.com/graphic-design/adobe-photoshop-profile/) 4.8 [(2471)](https://www.softwareadvice.com/graphic-design/adobe-photoshop-profile/reviews/) Ratings Breakdown - 4.18Ease of use - 4.29Value for money - 4.26Customer support - 4.77Functionality Pricing Starting at $22.99 per month Alternative Product [GIMP (GNU Image Manipulation Program)](https://www.softwareadvice.com/graphic-design/gimp-gnu-image-manipulation-program-profile/) 4.4 [(3500)](https://www.softwareadvice.com/graphic-design/gimp-gnu-image-manipulation-program-profile/reviews/) Ratings Breakdown - 3.88Ease of use - 4.78Value for money - 3.99Customer support - 4.34Functionality Pricing Available upon request ## PaintTool SAI Pricing and Plans Starting price: $50.81 one time Free Trial Free Version Basic $50.81 flat rate, one time No plan information available ## PaintTool SAI Features - Popular features found in Graphic Design Collaboration Tools Content Library Custom Fonts Design Management Pattern, Color & Art Storage - More features of PaintTool SAI CAD Tools Image Editing ## PaintTool SAI User Reviews ## PaintTool SAI customer ratings - Overall rating: 4.3/5 - Total reviews: 9 ### Rating distribution - 5 stars: 4 reviews (44%) - 4 stars: 4 reviews (44%) - 3 stars: 1 reviews (11%) - 2 stars: 0 reviews (0%) - 1 star: 0 reviews (0%) ### Secondary ratings - Ease of use: 4.2/5 - Value for money: 4.3/5 - Customer support: 3.5/5 - Functionality: 4.1/5 --- Have you used PaintTool SAI and would like to share your experience with others? ### The drawing software for digital artists. - Overall rating: 4/5 - Reviewer: Souleymane D. - Verified reviewer: Yes - Industry: Mining & Metals - Company size: 1001-5000 employees - Product usage: Used weekly for less than 12 months - Reviewed: August 2023 - Review source details: This review was submitted organically. No incentive was offered PaintTool SAI is indeed a wonderful drawing software that assists its users in various ways, such as the line stabilizer feature, which allows for smooth drawing by reducing hand tremors. #### Ratings breakdown - Ease of use: 4/5 - Value for money: 4/5 - Customer support: 3/5 - Functionality: 4/5 #### Pros PaintTool SAI offers a variety of drawing tools that are highly favorable for illustrators and manga artists. It also supports layers, allowing users to combine or overlay elements without complexity. #### Cons What I like least is perhaps the coloring tool, which, in my opinion, doesn't assist me much with my fillings or flat colors. --- ### A really impressive lightweight art program - Overall rating: 5/5 - Reviewer: Mercedes L. - Verified reviewer: Yes - Industry: Arts and Crafts - Company size: Self-Employed - Product usage: Used daily for more than 2 years - Reviewed: May 2024 - Review source details: This review was submitted organically. No incentive was offered I love this program so much and I am incredibly grateful to the man who made it and continues to work hard on it. If he ever sees this review I want to say thank you very much for the decades of SAI that I have enjoyed #### Ratings breakdown - Ease of use: 5/5 - Value for money: 5/5 - Customer support: 4/5 - Functionality: 5/5 #### Pros I live for their lineart tool, it's my favourite implementation I've seen of it in any art program. I also really appreciate how there are always improvements being made. I feel honored to get to work with SAI #### Cons I think the selection tool could possibly use some more tweaking as it felt like it worked a bit better around SAI 1.2 but the gap tolerance slider is a really lovely addition #### Reasons for switching to PaintTool SAI I had student pricing with Adobe but when I finished school I found that their monthly price was very expensive and I saw a post online from someone who used SAI and that it cost less to fully buy SAI than to subscribe to Adobe CC --- ### An Introductory Software - Overall rating: 3/5 - Reviewer: Travis O. - Verified reviewer: Yes - Industry: Arts and Crafts - Company size: Self-Employed - Product usage: Used monthly for less than 12 months - Reviewed: June 2022 - Review source details: This reviewer was invited by us to submit an honest review and offered a nominal incentive as a thank you. I learned so much using this program, and it worked well with multiple drawing peripherals. But at it's current price point, I cannot recommend it over other options. #### Ratings breakdown - Ease of use: 3/5 - Value for money: 2/5 - Customer support: 3/5 - Functionality: 2/5 #### Pros The basic tools in SAI are intuitive and easy to use out of the box. It is a great way to learn the basics of digital art. #### Cons The software has some clever tools and features, but isn't as robust as a program like Clip Studio Paint. Anymore, I'd recommend GIMP as an introductory software. GIMP's open source model really broadens the capabilities and versatility of an ever changing art scape. --- ### Benefits and struggles of Paintool SAI - Overall rating: 4/5 - Reviewer: Gal G. - Verified reviewer: Yes - Industry: Design - Company size: 5001-10000 employees - Product usage: Used weekly for less than 2 years - Reviewed: January 2022 - Review source details: This review was submitted organically. No incentive was offered #### Ratings breakdown - Ease of use: 3/5 - Value for money: 4/5 - Functionality: 3/5 #### Pros Great variety of tools and modifiers to each allows you to customize your brushes, erasers, etc to your liking. Paintool SAI has a more lightweight feel compared to other painting softwares, allowing you to have a more fluid workflow #### Cons Lacks the variety of tools other softwares in the industry have. Its interface looks a little outdated, despite its tools being a good match against other softwares. #### Reasons for switching to PaintTool SAI Its one-time payment makes it a lot more affordable than the industry standard --- ### Great option for graphic design - Overall rating: 5/5 - Reviewer: Sukesha W. - Verified reviewer: Yes - Industry: Education Management - Company size: 51-200 employees - Product usage: Used weekly for less than 2 years - Reviewed: December 2022 - Review source details: This review was submitted organically. No incentive was offered Overall it has been a good experience using PaintTool SAI #### Ratings breakdown - Ease of use: 5/5 - Value for money: 5/5 - Functionality: 5/5 #### Pros The feature i like best on paint tool SAI is the user friendly interface, it is very easy to edit images using this software, it is much better than the microsoft paint that comes preinstalled on windows. #### Cons The only feature they can improve on is giving more editing options for images, other than that i did not find any issues using the software. --- ### Intuitivo - Overall rating: 4/5 - Reviewer: Lorenzo P. - Verified reviewer: Yes - Industry: Performing Arts - Company size: Self-Employed - Product usage: Used weekly for less than 2 years - Reviewed: January 2024 - Review source details: This review was submitted organically. No incentive was offered Ho utilizzato questo software quando ancora ero uno studente e soprattutto quando mi sono approcciato per la prima volta al disegno digitale con tavoletta grafica e mi sono trovato benissimo #### Ratings breakdown - Ease of use: 5/5 - Value for money: 5/5 - Customer support: 4/5 - Functionality: 4/5 #### Pros Il software è molto semplice da utilizzare ed e’ perfetto anche per i principianti o studenti che si stanno approcciando al disegno per cartoni animati o fumetto #### Cons Un po limitato dal punto di vista dei menu’ e tools --- ### It's good - Overall rating: 5/5 - Reviewer: Claudia P. - Verified reviewer: Yes - Industry: Public Relations and Communications - Company size: 501-1000 employees - Product usage: Used weekly for less than 6 months - Reviewed: November 2023 - Review source details: This reviewer was invited by us to submit an honest review and offered a nominal incentive as a thank you. #### Ratings breakdown - Ease of use: 4/5 - Functionality: 4/5 #### Pros PaintTool SAI proved to be a safe ally, always allowing me to recover works etc. Not all softwares have this option and I find it really life-saving. #### Cons I think PaintTool SAI isn't that permissive in fact on brushes compared to other softwares. Others allow more, but this one is kinda restrictive. --- ### PaintTool SAI - Overall rating: 5/5 - Reviewer: Asif K. - Verified reviewer: Yes - Industry: Education Management - Company size: 1001-5000 employees - Product usage: Used daily for free trial - Reviewed: June 2022 - Review source details: This reviewer was invited by us to submit an honest review and offered a nominal incentive as a thank you. #### Ratings breakdown - Ease of use: 4/5 - Value for money: 4/5 - Functionality: 5/5 #### Pros It's a very lightweight application and rarely crashes. #### Cons It is lacking more options for image editing. --- ### PainTool SAI for digital artists - Overall rating: 4/5 - Reviewer: Sabina H. - Verified reviewer: Yes - Industry: Design - Company size: Self-Employed - Product usage: Used monthly for less than 6 months - Reviewed: November 2022 - Review source details: This review was submitted organically. No incentive was offered #### Ratings breakdown - Ease of use: 5/5 - Value for money: 5/5 - Functionality: 5/5 #### Pros It is really great software for digital art. I enjoy drawing in it with my wacom tablet. It is easy to use and learn. #### Cons It would be nice if the design would be updated a little bit more. --- Showing 1 - 9 of 9 Reviews ## See what companies are saying about Software Advice