Krita is a great, free, open source digital art software, and available across many devices. It has a wide variety of brushes that allows to create paintings with various textures.
Many individuals use this art software for digital painting and other art/graphics related content.
But in order to run smoothly, it needs the right device. Anyone who has spent long time editing photos and drawing with a mouse will find that often, it’s just not the best experience.
As an artist, you need the best tools available to create your work. When it comes to digital art, that means having a good drawing tablet.
If you’re thinking about getting a drawing tablet to use with Krita, it’s important to do some research on what’s available.
There are a lot of models, types and brands on the market, so choosing the best one isn’t an easy task.
Should you go for a tablet with or without screen? What size? Do you need a specific number of shortcut keys to improve your productivity?
That’s why I provide this guide to help you pick the tool that best fits your needs. These devices are built for performance and can make a whole world of difference when illustrating or drawing.
Different Types of Drawing Tablets Overview
If you want to work at your desk with your desktop or laptop, then there are two types, you can go screen or no screen depending on budget and preference.
1. Non-Screen Graphics Tablets: Screenless graphics tablets are way cheaper , and depending on size, they are pretty portable. The greatest learning curve is in getting used to not looking at the tablet as you work, but at the computer screen instead.
2. Drawing Tablets with Screen: If you choose to go for a pen display monitor you’d be working on the display directly with the pen which makes it much more natural & speedy than a non-screen graphic tablet.
Wacom, Huion, and XP-Pen, are the most popular drawing tablet brands that all make tablets with and without screens.
3. Standalone Drawing Tablets: If you want the flexibility of an all-in-one drawing device for Krita, you have a handful of options: Windows, and Android tablets.
All-in-one Standalone drawing tablets combines a computer, screen and a stylus. They can run mobile drawing apps and OS itself. So you don’t need to connect it to an external computer.
You can take it out with you on the go. This will give you more portability. However, the prices of all-in-one tablets are usually on the expensive side.
Benefits of Using Drawing Tablets in Krita
Krita is available for Linux, macOS, Windows, and Android operating systems.
If you do digital illustration work or even photo editing in Krita, a graphics tablet could make your work a good deal easier and a lot more fun. A stylus offers a more natural way to draw, paint and retouch than a mouse could ever provide.
A mouse is a totaly crude and unnatural way to draw and paint. The ergonomic design of pen tablet reduces hand strain and RSI. you’ll never feel tired or get a soar wrist while working for long time.
While using a mouse you only have your wrist movements whereas while working with a pen you get hand movements which is way more comfortable & natural; Once you start using a pen tablet you can’t go back.
On a technical side the pen also beats the mouse. Far more precise as the points of the screen will always be at the exact points of the pad. A mouse judges this by its surface it has come in contact with which causes problems.
The greatest advantage of a drawing tablet over a mouse is that the former is sensitive to pressure—it registers how hard you press the pen to the tablet. Just like with a pencil, you can push harder to draw thicker, darker lines, and lighter to draw thinner, lighter lines.
Programmable buttons on the drawing tablet can increase your workflow by quite a good margin over a mouse. You can customize these buttons to suit your specific preferences, making it easier to access the tools you use the most.
12 Best Drawing Tablets for Krita in 2026
My list of top-rated tablets allows you to compare dozens of models side-by-side and make your choice. You’ll also find detailed specifications and the pros and cons of what each tablet offers.
1. One By Wacom
One by Wacom is a simple and affordable tablet for getting started. It comes with minimal features, but aren’t too expensive, and are guaranteed to last.
It is currently available in two sizes: small ( 6.0 x 3.7 inches active area) and medium (8.3 x 5.7inches). These smaller sizes makes it’s easy to pack up and take anywhere with you for working on the go.
With 2,048 levels of pressure sensitivity in its battery-free stylus and a wonderful 2,540 LPI resolution, it’s decent for a natural feel while drawing or editing photo.
Wacom is a leading brand name in the drawing tablet space ensures the confidence of no small issues such as lag, incompatibility and complicated setups occuring.
No more frustrating issues occur during the mid creation of art projects with this drawing tablet.
2. Wacom Intuos
The Wacom Intuos line is for beginners and budget conscious people.
The Wacom Intuos is available in two sizes: Small with a 6.0 x 3.7″ drawing area, and Medium with an 8.5 x 5.2″ drawing area. Super portable and a great travel companion.
Besides that, the texture of the drawing surface is another awesome feature to mention. With 4,096 pen pressure sensitivity and around 60 degrees tilt support, you can create any 2D and even 3D drawings.
At the top of the tablet are 4 buttons that enable you to quickly access the settings. Driver settings also allow Quick Keys to be customized.
Thanks to Bluetooth connectivity, you will appreciate the flexibility to work wirelessly, which provides more freedom of movement and eliminates the need for additional cables.
3. XPPen Deco 01 V3
XPPen is well known for making quality products for the budget end of the market, and they don’t disappoint in the Deco 01 V3.
This model has a 10×6.25 inches working area so you have more space to create and get work done. But at only 8mm thick and lightweight, making it highly portable.
The battery-free stylus has 16,384 levels of pressure sensitivity, delivery is smooth. It even supports 60 degrees of tilt brush effect! The lines and strokes come out looking natural.
A stylus holder, which also houses 8 additional tips for the stylus, comes standard with the tablet.
The tablet is provided with eight express keys for shortcut mapping. If that’s not enough, the two programmable buttons on the stylus will suffice.
Available in three vibrant colors: black, green and pink. Whether you are sketching, colour painting, designing, or doing other creative work, it does a great job!
4. Huion Inspirory H1060P
Huion is another popular affordable drawing tablet brand. Their Inspirory H1060P is very similar to the XP-Pen Deco 01 v2 in most ways.
Most of the tablet is actually the active drawing area, which is 10 × 6.25 inches, That means you get plenty of space to draw without the need for zooming and panning.
The 12 express keys and 16 soft keys let you assign your favorite keyboard shortcuts and custom macros for a really fast workflow.
The pen is battery-free, very light and fits comfortably within your hand, aided by a rubber grip. ±60 degrees tilt recognition combined with high 8192 levels of pressure sensitivity offer more accurate and natural drawing experience.
Huion Inspirory H1060P is compatible with all platforms and works well with all mainstream digital art programs such as Photoshop, Gimp, Krita, Inkscape, Clip Studio paint, .
5. XPPen Artist 12 (3rd Gen)
The XPPen Artist 12 (3rd Gen) is a small, good, cheap, but powerful pen display for artists on a budget.
It’s durably-built, with a sturdy housing and a compact, portable design. You can connect it to your laptop to work via a single usb-c to usb-c cable.
8 customizable buttons and 2 dials on the tablet allow users to set up with their most used tools and commands for easy and smooth workflow when in use.
The tablet has a 11.9-inch IPS screen with 1,920 × 1,080 Full HD resolution atnd 97% Adobe RGB color gamut that looks sharp and vibrant, no obvious pixelation.
This display is fully laminated to minimize the parallax, and has a matte finish that carries an anti-glare coating and has a slight bit of texture to it, which replicates a drawing-on-paper feel.
The new X4 chip stylus is battery-free and boasts 16,384 levels of pressure, low initial activation force of 2g, and 60 degree tilt recognition, very accurate and responsive, no lag or latency at all.
6. Wacom One 14
The Wacom One 14 is an excellent entry-level pen display for artists who want an easier and more efficient method of drawing and editing.
It features a pristine 14-inch IPS screen with good, sharp, vibrant image quality, at a 1080p FullHD resolution and 99% sRGB color gamut.
Though not as good as cintiq pro, If you are not involved in photography professionally, the screen will be more than good enough for you.
The screen is fully laminated and is covered with a matte anti reflective etched glass surface, offering a natural paper-like drawing feel.
The pen supports 4096 levels of pressure sensitivity and 60 degree tilt angle, which is enough to detect your hand’s subtle, intricate movements and translate them into the digital sphere.
Wacom one 14 is thin. compact and portable. So you can easily take it around if you need to. And it comes with two legs, providing more comfort when working on a desk.
If you want to get better portability, Then the 13.3-inch Wacom One 13 (multi-touch) or 11.6-inch wacom one 12 is more suitable for you.
7. Huion Kamvas 13 (Gen 3)
The Huion Kamvas 13 (Gen 3) comes in as the best drawing tablet with screen for beginners due to the premium construction, a pen that feels like using a real pen, and affordable price.
It comes with a 13.3-inch IPS screen that supports 1080p resolution and 120% sRGB color gamut for crisp and vibrant pictures.
The laminated display with AG etched glass surface also makes the drawing experience really nice. There’s the tactile feeling of drawing on the paper surface and the lines appears directly beneath the pen tip without any gap.
It’s also equipped with 5 customizable ExpressKeys and 2 dials, allowing you to make the editing or drawing experience your own and get the tablet working exactly how you want it to.
The PW600L pen features most advanced pen tech 4.0, with 60 degree tilt response, low 2g IAF, and highest 16,383 levels of pressure sensitivity, delivering excellent drawing performance.
Huion also sells 15.8-inch models of this tablet – Kamvas 16 (Gen 3) with higher 2.5K QHD resolution in same design, which is ideal if you want the most room to work with.
8. Ugee UE16
Ugee UE16 is a moderately priced drawing display from Wacom, great for art students and pros on tight budgets.
Its 15.4-inch IPS LCD screen is a pleasure to work on, with FHD 1080p resolution and 94% Adobe RGB color spectrum.
The screen is fully laminated and does have a pre-installed AG screen protector with matte finish which makes it really nice to draw on.
You can use the battery-free U-Pencil to make your drawings with pleasingly precision, which gives you 8,192 levels of pressure sensitivity, and tilt-responsive.
You can easily connect Ugee UE16 pen display to any Android, Mac or Windows device with a single usb-c to usb-c cable.
The tablet is also available in a smaller 11.6-inch variant called Ugee UE12 which could be a great choice if you want to save some money.
9. Huion Kamvas Pro 16 V2
Huion Kamvas Pro 16 V2 is a really nice pen display monitor, perfect for both beginners and professional artists. The quality and the performance are fantastic!
The tablet has a 15.6 inch QLED screen, with FHD (1,920 x 1,080 pixels) resolution, and 120% sRGB color accuracy, that gives really crisp, clear and vibrant images.
The surface is anti-glare etched glass which gives it a paper-like texture to draw on. Furthermore, the full-laminated technology completely integrates glass with the screen to reduce parallax.
There are 8 customized express keys and a touch bar that helps in quick access to your favorite shortcuts like brush sizes, eraser, zoom, and more.
The PW600A battery-free pen features Huion’s most advanced PenTech 4.0 that brings more stability and sensitivity to the tip. With 16,384 pressure levels, low IAF of 2g, and a 60-degree tilt the stylus is responsive and accurate.
There’s also a ST200 adjustable tablet stand in the box that can be configured from 20° to 60° so you can find the most comfortable position.
If you want to get higher Clarity, you can get the 2.5K QHD version- Huion Kamvas Pro 16 (2.5K), or 4K version – Huion Kamvas Pro 16 (4K) with higher pixel density and Clarity.
10. Huion Kamvas 22 Plus (Gen 3)
The 21.5-inch Huion Kamvas 22 Plus (Gen 3) is large enough and can help you work on bigger drawings more simply without the need for zooming and panning.
Its QLED screen has a higher 2.5K QHD (2560 x 1440 pixels) resolution, and 90% of Adobe RGB color gamut that ensures sharp details, and vivid colors.
The screen is fully laminated and comes with a matte etched glass surface, which further improves the image quality and drawing performance.
The PW600L battery free pen uses huion’s lastest pen tech 4.0 that has 16,384 pressure levels, 60 degree tilt recognition, and low IAF of 2g, that make a drawing or photo-editing feel natural.
The adjustable tablet stand on the back is of great quality, solid and makes adjusting your preferred working angle a real breeze.
11. Samsung Galaxy Tab S10 Lite
Samsung Galaxy Tab S10 Lite is a mid-range android tablet that offers excellent value for money, with everything you need to get started.
The 10.9-inch TFT LCD screen looks bright, vivid and crisp with 2.1K QHD ( 2112×1320 pixels) resolution, 600 nits of peak brightness and 99% sRGB color gamut.
The included S Pen has a slim design, offering 4096 levels of pressure sensitivity, tilt detection and palm rejection, there’s hardly anything this pen cannot handle.
Under the hood, the Exynos 1380 Octa-core processor paired with 6GB of RAM is powerful enough for most people as it can do drawing, gaming, and Multitasking well.
The tablet runs on android 14, so you download android drawing apps like Krita from play store. Battery life is pretty good via 8000mAh capacity, lasting about 8 to 9 hours.
Krita has many UI elements, so if your budget is sufficient, you can consider the larger 13.1-inch Samsung Galaxy Tab S10 FE+ Plus.
12. Surafce Pro 12
The Microsoft Surface Pro 12 was supposed to be the perfect device that combines power, portability, and drawing precision. It runs on windows 11 so you can drawing in krita on the go.
The tablet itself has a nice minimalistic design with a slim form factor. It is available in four colors: Sapphire, Dune, Platinum, and Black.
Surface Pro 12 comes with a 12-inch PixelSense LCD display with a 2K (2196 x 1464 pixels) resolution, 90Hz refresh rate and 96% of sRGB color gamut.
The touch screen is impressive, and offers a lot of deatils, the animations across-the-board are smooth to the touch and eyes. So whether you’re sketching or painting the art, this display will never disappoint you.
Its powerful Snapdragon X Plus 8-core processor with 16gb of RAM ensures everything runs quickly and smoothly.
The Slim Pen 2 (sold separately) comes with a flatter design, has 4,096 levels of pressure sensitivity and precision tilt detection, Artists who do digital coloring and shading will like that.
Surface Pro 12 is portable, fast, with a long-lasting battery life, and the pen works fine to creat artwork in the full version of Krita.
How to Choose a Drawing Tablet for Krita?
Krita is available for Windows, macOS, Linux, and Android operating systems.
All of the deditated drawing tablets on the market are compatible with Windows, and Mac OS computer. so you don’t need to worry about compatibility at all.
If you want a standalone drawing tablet, avoid get a apple ipad as krita is not available on IPadOS, you can get a standalone tablet runs on windows or Android.
Other factors need to consider include tablet size, tablet type, pressure sensitivity, tilt sensitivity, hotkeys, build quality, and more.
How to Set Up and Use a Drawing Tablet in Krita?
Wondering how to use a drawing Tablet in Krita? We’ve got you covered.
Once you’ve unboxed your tablet, be sure to visit their brand’s official site and download the most recent drivers for your tablet and operating system.
Drivers are software that allow the tablet to talk to your computer. It’s a good practice to restart your computer once driver changes have been made.
Once you’ve installed the most recent drivers and support software for your tablet, it’s time to creat a krita profile and Custom all the settings to suit your precise needs.
For example, Drawing tablets have various buttons, which you can map to different functions for maximum functionality and efficiency.
You can click on the “pen” tab, select “tip feel” to adjust the pen’s pressure sensitivity when it comes into contact with the tablet.
You can also adjust the pressure sensitivity in Krita Program.
Open Krita, go to Settings, Configure Krita, Tablet settings. Here you will see a wide variety of brushes and settings that can be adjusted to respond to varying levels of pressure.
The detailed customization allows you to feel like you’re really holding a pen, marker, or brush while you work and apply effects in Krita. This tends to result in more natural-looking results. You can even layer and smooth out results in real as you’re doing.
In Conclusion
A good Pen tablet can make your work in Krita much easier and more effective. Drawing and coloring are the best examples.
These 12 drawing tablets are all worthy options for any level of artists out there. The best tablet will depend on your specific requirements and budget.
The simple drawing pen tablet without a screen is ideal for beginners and is less expensive. You can start your artistic career with this type.
A pen display monitor is suitable for both amateurs and experts. They are a little pricey. But there is a wide range of budgets accessible for these tablets.
Furthermore, standalone drawing tablets are the most portable but quite pricey. If money is not an option and your whole work life depends on content creation, then they are substantial and absolute quality buys.
A quality drawing tablet can help you have a better drawing experience. But you still need to keep in mind that you have to keep practicing and developing your skills.
In addition, You can always upgrade down the road when you’re more comfortable and know what you need.
