Love adult coloring, but not the cost of all those markers?
Coloring books are bestsellers again, and a marker collection can grow fast. A look at digital coloring on a phone or tablet, with a finger, an Apple Pencil or an S Pen, and how to start for free.
There's a particular kind of happiness in a new set of markers. The click of the caps, the color chart you swatch on the first evening, the row of barrels in their tray. If you color on paper, you know it, and you probably also know how quickly one set becomes three.
Why is adult coloring so popular again?
It never quite went away, but it's back on the bestseller lists. A decade ago, intricate books like Secret Garden sold in the millions. Now the big sellers are "cozy" books with simpler, friendlier pages: two of Australia's ten bestselling books of 2025 were adult coloring books, and one Australian artist's own coloring book sold 50,000 copies, as The Conversation reported in February 2026. On BookTok, people share their finished pages and their collections of books and pens.
It's easy to see why. Coloring gives your hands something absorbing to do and asks nothing of you but attention. There's no blank page to be scared of.
What makes paper and markers so appealing?
The feel of it, mostly. Alcohol markers blend on good paper in a way that's genuinely satisfying, colored pencils have a tooth you can feel through the page, and a finished book on the shelf is a lovely thing to own. Plenty of colorists love the tools as much as the pages, and there's nothing wrong with that.
How much can a coloring collection cost?
More than you might expect, once it gets going. A single 72-piece set of Copic Sketch markers, a favorite among colorists, is listed at several hundred Australian dollars by one Australian art shop (when we checked in October 2026), and that's one set of one brand. Add a few premium pencil tins, blending tools, good paper and a stack of books, and some enthusiasts have hundreds of dollars sitting on their desk. Then there's the question of where to keep it, and whether it fits in a bag.
None of that is a reason to stop. It's just a reason some people never start, or only color at home.
Is digital coloring a real alternative?
It's a different experience rather than a copy of paper, and it has a few things paper can't do. On a phone or tablet there's nothing to buy, sharpen or run dry, and every color is there at once, with a color wheel for any shade you can't find. You can undo. You can zoom right into a tiny shape. And the page comes with you, on the bus or on the couch.
In PencilDrop, every shape on a competition page is mapped before the page goes out, so a stroke never spills over an edge and a single tap fills a whole shape. That makes a finished page possible in a few minutes, which is a nice change from the hour it takes to get the markers out.
Can I color with my finger, an Apple Pencil or an S Pen?
All three. With a finger, you tap shapes to fill them or color by hand; you won't get pressure, but you'll get a finished page. With an Apple Pencil, pressing harder gives richer color, tilting shades, and hovering previews the brush. On Android, the S Pen and other styluses work too, with pressure, tilt and hover wherever the pen reports them. Pencil, marker, crayon and airbrush are there for everyone.
Where do the free coloring challenges come in?
This is the part paper can't do. PencilDrop gives everyone the same new page each day, with a bigger scene each week and a showpiece each month, and you can enter your finished page in a free competition. Other people judge the entries two at a time with the names hidden, so the coloring is all that counts. It's the coloring competition many of us remember from childhood, made for grown-ups. We wrote about why that's so much fun.
How do Ink rewards work?
You earn Ink for taking part: entering a competition, judging pairs, reaching streak milestones and placing near the top. You spend it in the app's Ink shop on new palettes, frames, backdrops, extra pages and more, each at its own price, so your collection grows as you color without spending money. Ink is never sold on its own and has no cash value. PencilDrop Plus, an optional subscription, adds extra brushes and palettes and some Ink each paid month, but you never need it to earn Ink or to compete, and it never changes how entries are judged.
Can digital and paper coloring go together?
Easily. Plenty of people color on screen during the week and on paper at the weekend. Try a palette on a tablet before you commit your good markers to it. Or go the other way: past PencilDrop pages are on our free coloring pages, ready to print, so you can color one on proper paper with the pens you love.
How do I get started for free?
Get PencilDrop, open today's page and tap a few shapes. It's free to start and free to enter, and a finger is all you need. Keep the markers for the weekend.
These are our own examples of what a page can become, each colored to a written color plan. They aren’t competition entries.
Quick answers
Can I do adult coloring without buying markers?
Yes. A coloring app gives you every color at once on a phone or tablet, with pencil, marker, crayon and airbrush tools and nothing to buy. PencilDrop is free to start, and a tap fills a shape with color.
Is there a free adult coloring app for iPad and Android?
Yes. PencilDrop is made for iPad and iPhone and for Android tablets and phones. It’s free to start, and every daily, weekly and monthly coloring competition is free to enter.
Do I need an Apple Pencil to color on an iPad?
No. You can color with a finger by tapping shapes to fill them or coloring by hand. An Apple Pencil adds pressure, tilt and hover for shading and detail.
Apple Pencil and iPad are trademarks of Apple Inc., Galaxy and S Pen of Samsung Electronics, and Android of Google LLC; other names are their owners’ trademarks. PencilDrop isn’t made or endorsed by any of them.
