Independent guide · LibreSprite 1.3

The free sprite editor, documented.

LibreSprite is a free, open-source program for drawing and animating pixel art. It is the community fork of Aseprite’s last GPL version from 2016, and it runs on Windows, macOS and Linux. This site is its missing manual: install guides we tested on real machines, complete documentation for 1.3, fixes for every common error, and free tools.

Download LibreSprite 1.3 Start the tutorial

Latest: 1.3 (October 2, 2026)Licence: GPL-2.08,703 GitHub stars

Draw on Sprout, our demo sprite. The keys are LibreSprite’s own: B, E, G, F3, Enter, ← →.

What it is

A complete pixel-art studio, free for good

LibreSprite draws sprites pixel by pixel, animates them frame by frame, and exports sprite sheets and GIFs for games. You can use it for commercial work; the GNU General Public License covers the program, not your art.

DrawPixel-precise toolsPencil with pixel-perfect strokes, line, curve, shapes, contour, fill, spray, blur, symmetry, Tiled Mode for seamless patterns. AnimateFrames and onion skinA timeline of layers and frames, onion skinning, per-frame duration, tags for several animations in one file. ShipSprite sheets and GIFsPNG, GIF and sprite sheets with JSON for Godot, Unity and GameMaker, from a dialog or the command line. Colour38 palettes built inPICO-8, Game Boy, NES, DawnBringer and more, plus .gpl import, colour replace and indexed mode. AutomateJavaScript scriptingScripts in the Scripts menu, a scripting console, and a headless command line for batch export. RunWindows, Mac, LinuxOfficial builds for Windows (installer or portable), macOS (Apple Silicon and Intel) and Linux (AppImage).

The one idea to learn

Layers × frames = cels

Every LibreSprite file is a grid. Layers stack from bottom to top, like sheets of glass. Frames run left to right in time. The picture on one layer in one frame is a cel. Sprout here has two layers, Body and Leaf, and four frames, so eight cels.

LayerDraw the leaf on its own layer and you can recolour or hide it without touching the body.
FrameEach frame has its own duration; Sprout uses 120 ms, so the walk cycle plays at about 8 frames a second.
Linked celOne drawing reused in several frames: change it once, every frame updates.

Working with layers · Animation

The layer images and the four frames above were exported from sprout.ase by LibreSprite 1.3 itself.

Honest scope

What LibreSprite does well, and what it does not

Strong

Free and open source (GPL-2.0): no account, no built-in telemetry or update check
Light: the Windows installer is about 30 MB
Pixel-perfect drawing, symmetry, Tiled Mode for seamless tiles
Sprite sheets with JSON, and a scriptable command line for build pipelines
Opens and saves Aseprite’s .ase / .aseprite format
Runs on Linux, Windows and macOS; an Android build exists (1.2)

Missing

No layer groups (layers inside groups in an .aseprite file become plain layers)
No tilemap layers, no slices
No gradient tool (dithering works instead)
Aseprite’s Lua scripts and extensions do not run; LibreSprite scripts use JavaScript
macOS builds are not notarized, so Gatekeeper needs a one-time fix

Need the missing pieces? LibreSprite vs Aseprite compares them feature by feature, and Is Aseprite free? explains the legal ways to get Aseprite.

Is it maintained?

Yes. 1.3 shipped on October 2, 2026

LibreSprite went years between releases, which is why some pages still call it dead. It is not: 1.3 brought security fixes, signed Apple Silicon and Intel builds and new symmetry options, and the main branch moved 50 commits further in the weeks after.

From fork to todayEvery LibreSprite release since the 2016 fork, from the GitHub releases page

Show the data

Date	Event	Note
August 26, 2016	Aseprite leaves the GPL	LibreSprite forks the last GPLv2 commit
November 17, 2021	LibreSprite 1.0	release
September 14, 2024	LibreSprite 1.1	release
March 2, 2025	LibreSprite 1.2	pre-release
October 2, 2026	LibreSprite 1.3	latest
October 29, 2026	master	50 commits since v1.3

8,703GitHub starschecked November 1, 2026

144kFlathub installsall time

206Keyboard shortcutsin data/gui.xml

38Built-in palettes.gpl files

Start here

Pick your next step

InstallWindowsInstaller or portable zip, and the Windows on Arm catch. InstallMacApple Silicon or Intel, and the “damaged” fix. InstallLinuxAppImage, Flatpak or your distro’s package. LearnYour first animationA 15-minute tutorial with our screenshots. ReferenceKeyboard shortcutsAll 206 bindings, searchable and printable. FixTroubleshootingWon’t open, crashes, lag, huge interface.

Quick answers

LibreSprite FAQ

Is LibreSprite free?

Yes, completely. LibreSprite is free and open-source software under the GNU General Public License version 2. There is no paid version, no trial and no account.

Can I use LibreSprite for commercial projects?

Yes. The GPL covers the program itself, not what you make with it. Sprites, sheets and animations you draw are yours to sell or ship in a game.

Is LibreSprite the same as Aseprite?

No. LibreSprite started as a copy of Aseprite’s last GPL-licensed code in August 2016 and has been developed separately since. Aseprite moved on (layer groups, tilemaps, Lua scripting); LibreSprite stayed free. See the full comparison.

Is LibreSprite on Steam?

No. LibreSprite is distributed on GitHub, Flathub and Linux distribution repositories. The Steam listing you may have seen is Aseprite, which is paid.

Does LibreSprite work on Mac?

Yes. 1.3 has separate downloads for Apple Silicon (M1–M4) and Intel Macs. The builds are not notarized by Apple, so the first launch needs a one-time fix. Install on Mac.

Is LibreSprite safe?

Downloaded from the official GitHub releases, yes. We hashed every 1.3 file and Microsoft Defender found no threats. What we checked.