# klad — AI Coding Tool Review & Pricing

> klad is a 2D painting and animation app built for collaboration between a person and a coding agent. The agent paints through the klad command line with the same brushes, layers and timeline you use in the editor, and every stroke stays editable data, so either of you can change any stroke later instead of regenerating an image.

Source: https://ai.dosa.dev/tools/klad · Updated Nov 12, 2026 · Category: Developer Productivity & Workflow · Published by dosa.dev

## At a glance

- **Tool**: klad
- **Company**: Indicode BV
- **Category**: [Developer Productivity & Workflow](https://ai.dosa.dev/category/productivity)
- **Pricing model**: Free
- **Official website**: https://klad.studio/

## Key features

- `klad` CLI that lets Claude Code, Codex or any command-running agent paint on the drawing you have open
- Strokes, shapes and fills stored as editable data with path, pressure, brush and colour
- Agent skills printed by `klad skill` and `klad skill drawing`
- Pinned canvas notes and selections that the agent reads as instructions
- Drawings saved as folders of plain files that diff and merge in git
- 23 brushes, layers, masks, a timeline with in-betweens, bones and IK
- Export to PNG, sprite sheets or straight into Godot

## Pricing

**Model**: Free

klad is source-available, not open source. Building and using it is free for personal use and inside companies with less than 500,000 euros in revenue in their last tax year; larger companies need a bought licence per user. The drawing file format is documented under the MIT licence. Pre-built signed releases are planned and not yet available.

## Who it is for

- **Best for**: Game and app developers who want their coding agent to draft editable illustrations, sprites and animations that they can then refine by hand.
- **Not ideal for**: Users who need a pre-built installer today, Windows or Linux tablet pressure support, or an OSI open-source licence.

## Verdict

An inventive, early tool that gives coding agents real brushes rather than an image model; promising for agent-assisted game art.

## Recent updates

Shown on Hacker News on November 11, 2026; v0.2.0 was released on November 12, 2026, the first public version built from source.

## Frequently asked questions

### Is klad free?

Yes - klad is Free. klad is source-available, not open source. Building and using it is free for personal use and inside companies with less than 500,000 euros in revenue in their last tax year; larger companies need a bought licence per user. The drawing file format is documented under the MIT licence. Pre-built signed releases are planned and not yet available.

### Is klad open source?

klad is not listed as open source on ai.dosa.dev - it is Free.

### Who is klad best for?

Game and app developers who want their coding agent to draft editable illustrations, sprites and animations that they can then refine by hand.

### Who is klad not ideal for?

Users who need a pre-built installer today, Windows or Linux tablet pressure support, or an OSI open-source licence.

### What are the best klad alternatives?

The closest klad alternatives on ai.dosa.dev are Pieces for Developers, agenttrace, Vibe Kanban - all listed under Developer Productivity & Workflow.

### Who makes klad?

klad is developed by Indicode BV. It is listed in the Developer Productivity & Workflow category on ai.dosa.dev.

## Top alternatives

- [Pieces for Developers](https://ai.dosa.dev/tools/pieces-for-developers) (Paid) — Developers who work across multiple tools, IDEs, and environments and need to maintain a persistent, searchable history of code snippets, research, and workflow context.
- [agenttrace](https://ai.dosa.dev/tools/agenttrace) (Open Source) — Developers and teams needing to monitor and debug the efficiency, cost, and health of AI coding agents across multiple workflows.
- [Vibe Kanban](https://ai.dosa.dev/tools/vibe-kanban) (Open Source) — Software engineers who use multiple AI coding agents and need a structured environment to manage, plan, and review their output in parallel.
- [ai-memory](https://ai.dosa.dev/tools/ai-memory) (Open Source) — Developers or teams using multiple AI coding agents who need consistent context and project history persistence across different tools, machines, and sessions.
- [smolvm](https://ai.dosa.dev/tools/smolvm) (Open Source) — Running isolated coding agent sandboxes, untrusted code, and persistent local development environments that require a real Linux kernel boundary.
- [coop](https://ai.dosa.dev/tools/coop) (Open Source) — Running autonomous AI coding agents that require broad system access while maintaining a strong security boundary for the host machine.
- Full alternatives guide: https://ai.dosa.dev/tools/klad/alternatives