Who Owns Procreate?

Procreate's origins trace back to 2010 when Australian developer James Cuda and co-founder Alanna Kelly founded Savage Interactive in Hobart, Tasmania. The company was established with a specific vision to create professional digital art tools for the recently launched iPad. After approximately 10 months of development, the first version of Procreate was released on the App Store in March 2011, priced at $4.99.

The initial release introduced a custom brush engine designed specifically for touch devices and a layer system that brought desktop-caliber digital art capabilities to the iPad. The app quickly gained traction among early iPad adopters and digital artists seeking mobile creation tools.

A major moment in Procreate's history came in June 2013 when Savage Interactive received an Apple Design Award for Procreate, significantly raising the app's profile within the iOS ecosystem. That same year, the company launched Procreate 2, which introduced 64-bit support, 4K canvas resolution, and a redesigned interface optimized for iOS 7. This version established many of the core user experience elements that would define the application in subsequent years.

By 2016, Procreate had entered the top ten best-selling iPad apps on the App Store. By 2018, it had claimed the position of best-selling iPad app overall, a remarkable achievement for a paid professional application in a marketplace dominated by free and gaming apps. This commercial success enabled Savage Interactive to expand its development team while maintaining its independence and focus on artist-centric development.

In 2019, the company released Procreate 5, which introduced its proprietary Valkyrie graphics engine, delivering significant performance improvements and new creative capabilities including animation features and the Dual Brush system. This major update reinforced Procreate's position as the leading professional digital art application for iPad.

The COVID-19 pandemic period (2020-2022) saw accelerated adoption of Procreate as remote work and digital creation surged globally. During this time, Savage Interactive maintained its one-time purchase business model, resisting industry trends toward subscription pricing, which further endeared the brand to its core user base of professional and hobbyist artists.

In late 2022, Procreate 5.3 introduced 3D painting capabilities, allowing artists to import and texture 3D models directly within the app. This expansion into 3D workflows represented a significant evolution beyond Procreate's 2D illustration roots.

In April 2024, Savage Interactive released Procreate Dreams, the company's second major application focused on 2D animation. This expansion demonstrated Savage Interactive's commitment to growing beyond its flagship product while maintaining its artist-first development philosophy.

In August 2024, Savage Interactive publicly announced that Procreate would never incorporate generative AI. CEO James Cuda stated, "We're here for the humans. We're not chasing a technology that is a moral threat to our greatest jewel: human creativity." This stance differentiated Procreate from competitors like Adobe Photoshop and Fresco, which were integrating AI features. The announcement was met with strong support from the artist community.

In October 2025, Savage Interactive released Procreate 5.4, a major update featuring 180 new hand-crafted brushes and a complete overhaul of the brush management system. The update introduced Brush Libraries for organizing collections, Brush Search, iCloud support for brush management, and reworked color panels. The 5.4.5 update later that month introduced a refreshed interface inspired by Apple's Liquid Glass design language for iPadOS 26, giving Procreate a modernized look while maintaining its familiar workflow.

As of 2026, Procreate remains at version 5.4 (with incremental patches up to 5.4.10), priced at $12.99 as a one-time purchase with no subscription or in-app purchases. The app has been the best-selling iPad app since 2018 and continues to receive regular updates.