Aseprite

The best pixel art program, easy to use and does everything I need it to.
Don't buy this on Steam, buy it on itch.io or Humble Bundle, since you'll get DRM free downloads as well as a Steam key.

If you are interested in doing pixel art, this is definitely the Software I would recommend using.
I started doing Pixel Art a few months back and I went in with no experience in art or drawing in general. I was always bad with drawing and I felt you need some sort of "talent", but in reality everyone can learn anything. You just have to put time and effort into it. I have improved a lot since then and I get better everyday.
Its very easy to learn and it has everything you need for doing pixel art. You can use your mouse or a drawing tablet. I started out with a mouse, but got myself a drawing tablet recently (XP-Pen Deco 01 V2) and it works well in Aseprite. You can do basic static pictures or animations (perfect for game development).
When I first opened it up, I thought it looks very basic and there isnt that many tools available, but actually there is a lot you can do and it isnt overwhelming to learn like other drawing software.
There is a bunch of tutorials on Youtube that I would recommend watching that give you a lot of tips, tricks and shortcuts that are very useful. But at first I would just play around a bit and see what you can find on your own,
I got the hang of it pretty quickly, but I always learn new stuff that the Software has to offer.
They keep updating it freequently and hopefully their are gonna add a bunch new stuff in the future.
I would also recommend checking out "Pixel_Dailies" on Twitter if you want to challenge yourself. They post a theme everyday and you have to make pixel art out of it. It is rly fun and you can learn a lot from the community there.
If you decide to buy it I would recommend getting it on their offical website since it is gonna be DRM free + you will get a steamkey there anyways (thats what I did) So in case it will not be available on steam anymore (for whatever reason) you still have access to it.
My goal is to make a 2d platformer game in the future and I will definitely use Aseprite for my art.
Anyways if you made it that far, thanks for reading, go make some pixel art and have a nice day (:

I have many, many years of experience with Photoshop and using Photoshop for pixelart. Within a day or two I was already more productive and having more fun with Aseprite for pixelart creation than I ever was with Photoshop. Aseprite is simply THE tool for the task.

So, it looks like I have a lot of hours, but a large part of is just that i leave it open.
Still, a fair few bit is genuine use. It's really the gold standard for pixelart animation. Through the thousands of hours, i've found use for pretty much every tool. All super useful, and a bunch of plugins available too. If the 20$ pricetag is a bit too much, check out graphicsgale, but you really don't need anything other than this. It's great.
Also has constant updates, most of which are useful.

I'm here to buy dev a coffee.
Spent 200+ hrs taking a bite: it's powerful and light enough AND OPEN-SOURCED (let's not talk about the royal pain in compilation). A handy army knife which helps you directly dive into the world of pixel art without any bloating issues - launch and paint whenever you want (also possible to shoehorn it into your unity/godot workflows).

From the perspective of a game developer, Aseprite for pixel art is essential for a few reasons.

- It is lightweight and has almost no overhead, unlike full-featured programs like photoshop. You can switch between creating art and developing almost instantly.
- It is highly customizable, with extremely good hotkey options. Saves me a ton of time.
- It has incredible animation and layer systems.
- It has been around for a long time, so everything is well documented in any form you need to learn

If you are a game developer making pixel art, this program can save you hours every week if you customize it to your workflow. Absolutely worth every dollar!

for someone with 3000 hours of grind. this is truly for those who are dedicated to pixel art styles, and its easy to learn! and cozy