Software Alternatives & Reviews

Roll20 VS Inkarnate

Compare Roll20 VS Inkarnate and see what are their differences

Roll20 logo Roll20

Roll20 is a suite of easy-to-use digital tools that expand pen-and-paper gameplay.

Inkarnate logo Inkarnate

A free-form map editor for role-playing games, focusing on overland and continental maps.
  • Roll20 Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-10-20
  • Inkarnate Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-03-12

Roll20 videos

Roll20 Overview 2019 (Play 5th Edition Dungeons & Dragons Online)

More videos:

  • Review - Why I Quit Roll20
  • Review - Roll20 Vs Fantasy Grounds | Which is REALLY the Cheapest?

Inkarnate videos

Inkarnate Review (2020)

More videos:

  • Review - Wonderdraft - Inkarnate Killer? (map-making app review)
  • Review - Inkarnate - Let's Make a Fantasy Map! (free version)

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Roll20 and Inkarnate)
Gaming
78 78%
22% 22
Game Engine
54 54%
46% 46
Maps
20 20%
80% 80
Online Games
100 100%
0% 0

User comments

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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare Roll20 and Inkarnate

Roll20 Reviews

  1. When it works, its mediocre

    As a DM for homebrew games, I used Roll20 for 2+ years. When it works, its OK. When it doesn't, its frustrating. I use a lot of custom rules and they are simply not supported due to a lack of modularity within the system. A simple variant of Proficiency Dice in 5e is outlined in the rules, and even it is hacky and not well supported on Roll20.

    The format feels like it was made two decades ago, and the web console spits out warnings and errors left and right. There has even been some conspiracies / drama with some of the higher-ups at Roll20, showing a lack of leadership.

    Please, let's let Roll20 die. Support another system.

    👍 Pros:    Can purchase modules like curse of strahd and tomb of annihilation|Free for dms and players|Use with a variaty of systems|Many features
    👎 Cons:    Not modular enough for me|Hacky programming|Ugly|Features feel clunky and slow|Some features do not work well at all|Buggy
  2. Not very easy to learn

    Not easy to learn, not friendly controls

    🏁 Competitors: digitald20.com Digital d20
    👍 Pros:    The most famous
    👎 Cons:    User experiance|Design|Costly pro plan

10 Best Sites Like Roll20 Alternatives For Tabletop Gaming
These tools aide gamers during online games. Both Roll20 and the Roll20 alternatives can be best described as table-top games. Launched in 2012, Roll20 has received a lot of positive feedback.
Roll20 Alternatives, Similar Games, Apps 2020
Roll20 is a set of easy-to-use digital tools that extend the pencil and paper set. It is the easiest and free way to play board games (such as paper and pencil role-playing games) online with others. Roll20 is completely online, so it runs directly in your browser.
7 Best Roll20 alternatives 2020
Programs like Roll20 and Best Roll20 alternatives are quite similar. So you can play and try one of them and easily download from play store, app store and Roll20 official Website.

Inkarnate Reviews

The Best Map Makers For 2022
There is a free version of Inkarnate but the paid version unlocks a massive library of graphics and is not very expensive— just $25 per year.
10 Best Sites Like Roll20 Alternatives For Tabletop Gaming
Inkarnate also supports fantasy races. A whole of maps is also provided for the ease of the user.

Social recommendations and mentions

Roll20 might be a bit more popular than Inkarnate. We know about 334 links to it since March 2021 and only 307 links to Inkarnate. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

Roll20 mentions (334)

  • Friend screwed 3/4 of the table out of 1/2 the game.
    There are other options: https://roll20.net/. Source: 5 months ago
  • Looking for a DND/TTRPG group
    I've used roll20.net up until now. They have a find group feature and a virtual table top with character sheets and dice roller included, so everything you need to play virtually is all on the one site. Source: 5 months ago
  • I’m here to giveaway $1,500 in RPG goodies to celebrate 1 Year of Roll20 x DriveThruRPG! [Mod Approved]
    1 Year Roll20 Pro Subscription ($109 value!) – use it yourself or give it to your GM! Source: 6 months ago
  • Looking for advice on running DnD game on stream!
    There are plenty of D&D software programs out there that are free and paid versions. Many of them with the ability to have friends join and interact with the table. As basic as Tabletop Simulator to Fantasy Grounds (both on steam that I have experience with, not an endorsement). roll20.net being a popular browser based version. Source: 6 months ago
  • I'm looking for someone to teach me how to Play DnD
    I have made a character on roll20.net that maybe border line iffy/OP, so I may have to make one that's not. My free time can be a bit unusual at times(it's 12:24AM as I write this)so someone who has similar free times as I do(if your interested let me know and we can talk times), basicly I've been listening to a DnD podcast and I think it sounds fun and I want to try it out Edit: I'm in PST timezone in... Source: 6 months ago
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Inkarnate mentions (307)

  • CC0-licensed fantasy map brushes based on historical cartography
    Adding to the other answers, there are also -besides Photoshop, Gimp, etc- specialized tools to draw fantasy maps. The site mentions Wonderdraft [0], but there are a bunch of others though not all of them support using external brushes. Some other tools in this space may be Watabou's tools [1], Azgaar's tools [2], Inkarnate [3], Mapforge [4], or quite a few more which you can find links to in this list [5]. Again:... - Source: Hacker News / 4 months ago
  • [PF2E][FoundryVTT][Saturday][CST-12:30PM][PAID] -|- Experienced GM seeking both new and experienced players! Explore a personalized fantasy world that is slowly changing as the Planes Converge! -|- [3-week trial period at (5$) per session. After that it's just (10$)!][2/5 slots open]
    Two, it incentivizes me to be best I can be, as I can as well as enabling me to more easily afford things like Dungeondraft or Inkarnate to create custom maps or battles for you guys! Also I kinda need more food money lol. Source: 10 months ago
  • Mapping Software
    Inkarnate for pretty, colourful maps. Has free and paid tiers. Source: 10 months ago
  • Temperate rainforest
    Erm. What do you mean? Like a map maker kinda deal that lets you place all the plants + details? Inkarnate allows users to make detailed maps of that extent. Source: 10 months ago
  • Blank Map/Grid Asset
    As a side note - I have been using https://inkarnate.com/ and it has a lot of cool features for making maps. The Portrait or Landscape options with a 10x13 or 13x10 grid is pretty similar to the hero kids grids and prints well on regular letter sized paper. There's also a huge gallery of maps created by others you can browse through for ideas. There's a pretty limited free version to play around with but if you're... Source: 10 months ago
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What are some alternatives?

When comparing Roll20 and Inkarnate, you can also consider the following products

Foundry Virtual Tabletop - A self-hosted, modern, and developer-friendly roleplaying platform.

Dungeon Scrawl - A dungeon scrawling tool by ProbableTrain

Astral Tabletop - Create, host, and manage your tabletop role-playing games — online or in person

donjon.bin.sh - Freely accessible online collection of random generators for tabletop games.

D&D Beyond - Official online toolset for Dungeons & Dragons tabletop gaming

Campaign Cartographer - Campaign Cartographer is the leading map making software for games (RPGs, miniatures and wargaming).