Ghostline alternatives
Five ways to make tattoo stencils if Ghostline is not the right fit — including the case for staying where you are.
We are one of the options below — Stencil AI, used by 5,000+ paying tattoo artists who have generated over 194,000 stencils. Each option below is described the way its own users would put it, and every entry says who should not pick it — including ours. Stencil AI is built by working tattoo artists — including an award-winning artist and convention judge with three decades of experience who sets its quality standards.
Written by the Stencil AI team. Verified 2026-09-25.
Why people look for an alternative
In roughly this order: they are on Android or want to work in a browser and Ghostline is Apple-only; they do a lot of realism and want more control over how mid-tones are handled; they want to stop paying a subscription; or they need something a single-artist tool does not cover, like studio seats.
What to judge them on
Four things separate these tools once you actually use them. Keep them in mind while reading the list below, then test with the hardest reference you have — a portrait, or an animal with fur — and compare the eyes, the direction of the fur, and the edge where light meets shadow.
- What survives the conversion. Does shadow direction and fine detail come through, or does everything below a brightness cutoff turn into a black blob?
- Where it runs. iOS only, or Android and web too — and what happens when you change phone.
- What happens after generating. Retouching, printing at exact size, fitting the stencil to a curved limb.
- Whether the licence covers client work. Rarely stated by free tools, and it is the one that can actually cost you.
The options at a glance
| Option | Runs on | Price | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Stencil AI (ours) | iOS, Android, web | From $13.99/mo | Portraits, realism, printing and studio use |
| Ghostline | iPhone, iPad | $5.99/mo | Simple references on Apple devices, at lower cost |
| Procreate | iPad | One-time purchase | Designing originals, not converting references |
| Free online converters | Any browser | Free | Bold line art, lettering, clean silhouettes |
| Newer App Store apps | Mostly iOS | Varies | A cheap second opinion on easy conversions |
| Photoshop or GIMP | Desktop | Subscription / free | Full manual control, if you already live there |
The options in detail
1. Stencil AI — the strongest option for realism
Ours — and the entry ends with who should skip it. What it does: reads the image rather than filtering it, so structural outlines stay clean, shadow direction survives, and fine detail like hair and iris texture is still there at print resolution. Three styles (Stencil AI's Outline, Standard and Hatching), a retouch editor with tone curves and tap-to-remove fills, true-to-size printing, warping a stencil to a shoulder or arm, LiDAR measurement on skin, studio seats, and a library of 1,000+ ready-made subjects. Runs on iOS, Android and web.
- Pick this if: you convert portraits and realism, need Android or web, or run a studio.
- Skip it if: price is your only consideration — it costs more than Ghostline.
- Full comparison with Ghostline
2. Procreate — if you design rather than convert
A one-time purchase and the best drawing app on an iPad, but not a stencil converter. The usual stencil route is Curves to raise contrast then the Threshold slider — a filter, with one brightness cutoff and no notion of structure. Fine on clean line art, slow and patchy on photographs.
- Pick this if: you design originals and only occasionally convert simple references.
- Skip it if: the bottleneck is client photos arriving mid-week.
- How the two workflows compare
3. Free online converters — for simple references
Browser tools that apply a threshold and hand back a black-and-white image. For bold line art, lettering and tribal work they are genuinely all you need, and paying for that would be silly. Watch for watermarks, resolution caps and silence about commercial rights.
- Pick this if: your references are already high-contrast and volume is low.
- Skip it if: you tattoo realism, or you need written commercial licensing.
- Where free converters break down
4. Newer App Store stencil apps
A cluster of apps has appeared in the last year — Stenstill, Tattoo Stencil Maker, StencilStudio, Tattoo Stencil Lab and others — mostly iOS-only, mostly free to download with a subscription behind the useful part. Some produce good results on straightforward references. Check two things before subscribing: what the output looks like on your hardest reference, and whether the listing says anything about commercial use.
- Pick one if: you want a cheap second opinion on simple conversions.
- Skip them if: you need Android, web, or a printing workflow beyond export.
5. Photoshop or GIMP — full manual control
Threshold, levels and manual masking on a desktop. Total control, no subscription in GIMP's case, and by far the slowest route. Worth it if you already live in these tools and treat stencil prep as part of the artwork.
When staying put is reasonable
- Your references are simple, the stencils it gives you already work, and $5.99 a month suits you. Switching tools costs time.
- You work only on Apple devices and none of the extras above — body-warping, on-skin measurement, studio seats, Android or web — would change your week.
What artists say about ours
Verbatim App Store reviews of Stencil AI. We have no reviews from artists who mention leaving another app, so none of these are presented as that.
“Saves me SOOOO much time tracing out the designs. And the stencils are exactly how I would picture them if I would of done it myself”
“Awesome tool for any busy artist! Highly recommend!”
Common questions
What is the best alternative to Ghostline?
Stencil AI is the closest match for realism work — portraits, fur and black-and-grey — because it keeps the shadow detail a filter removes, and it runs on Android and the web as well as iOS. It is also the more expensive option, so: if you only convert simple high-contrast line art a free online converter is genuinely enough, and if you already own Procreate and want no subscription at all, the Curves-and-Threshold method costs nothing but takes far longer.
Is there a free alternative to Ghostline?
Yes — free online stencil converters handle bold line art, lettering and clean silhouettes perfectly well, because those images only need a threshold pass. They fall down on portraits and anything with real tonal range, and most are unclear about commercial rights, which matters for client work.
Is there a Ghostline alternative for Android?
Ghostline is iPhone and iPad only, so anyone on Android needs a different tool regardless. Stencil AI runs on Android, iOS and the web on one account. Most of the newer stencil apps on the market are iOS-only too, so check the store listing before subscribing.
Should I switch from Ghostline at all?
If it produces stencils you are happy with, you work on Apple devices, and $5.99 a month is fine, there is no reason to move. It has been around since 2023. Both it and Stencil AI are built by working tattoo artists, so that is not the deciding factor. Switching to Stencil AI is worth considering if you need Android or web, do a lot of realism, want to warp stencils to body curves before printing, or need multiple artist seats.
How do I compare stencil apps fairly?
Take one reference you have already struggled with — a portrait or something with fur — and run it through each candidate. Look at the eyes, the fur direction, and the edge where light meets shadow. One difficult image tells you more than any feature list, including this one.
Test one of the options on your own reference
Upload the piece you had trouble with and see the stencil before deciding anything.
Create a stencil