BeforePixel vs Piskel
Both draw pixel art in the browser. Piskel is free for everything, animation included, and needs no account. BeforePixel adds blur, text, mirror drawing and tile preview; its still art is free with a Galactrex account, and animation needs the Creative plan.Animation and price
Piskel is free and Apache-2.0 open source. It shows a live preview of the animation while you draw and exports animated GIF and PNG sprite sheets. Its site does not ask you to sign in.BeforePixel needs a Galactrex account. Still art is free, with unlimited project saves and 3 PNG exports a day. Its frame timeline, onion skin, GIF and sprite sheets are part of the Creative plan.Drawing tools
BeforePixel has a blur brush, a text tool, mirror drawing, a tile preview for repeating art, and up to 32 layers on a canvas up to 512 by 512 pixels. It saves a .beforepixel project with the palette and layers.Piskel's home page and source page do not list its full tool set, so we only compare what they state.Side by side
| Workflow | BeforePixel | Piskel |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free with a Galactrex account: every still-art tool, unlimited project saves and 3 PNG exports a day. Animation, GIF and sprite sheets need the Creative plan. | Free. Apache-2.0 open source. |
| Where it runs | Website edition, in your browser. Nothing to install. | Browser, plus offline apps for Windows, macOS and Linux. |
| Account | A Galactrex account. | Not needed to start. |
| Drawing | Pencil, eraser, blur, text, fill, line, rectangle, ellipse, eyedropper and selection. Palettes, mirror drawing and tile preview. | See Piskel's editor. Its site does not list the tools. |
| Animation | Creative plan: frame timeline, onion skin and a duration for each frame. | Free, with a live preview and frame delay. |
| Export | PNG. Creative adds GIF and sprite sheets. Saves a .beforepixel project. | Animated GIF and PNG sprite sheet or ZIP. |