Diamond Painting vs Paint by Numbers: Which to Choose
- by Paint by number online
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If you have been browsing craft kits online, you have almost certainly seen both: paint by numbers, where you fill in a numbered canvas with acrylic paint, and diamond painting, where you place thousands of tiny sparkling resin gems onto an adhesive canvas. They look similar in the thumbnails and are marketed to the same person — but they are genuinely different experiences once the box is open.
This guide compares the two honestly — what is in each kit, how they feel to do, how long they take, and what the finished piece looks like on a wall — so you can pick the one you will actually finish.
The short answer
Choose paint by numbers if you want to feel like you are painting, enjoy a bit of creative control, and want a finished piece that reads as a real painting from across the room.
Choose diamond painting if you want something almost entirely repetitive and meditative, you like sparkle and texture, and you would rather not deal with wet paint, brushes, or drying time.
Both are beginner-friendly. Neither requires any artistic experience. The real question is which kind of repetition you find relaxing.
What is paint by numbers?
A paint by numbers kit is a canvas pre-printed with faint outlined regions, each marked with a number. Every number corresponds to a pot of pre-mixed acrylic paint. You match paint 12 to region 12, fill it in, and the image emerges as you go.
What is in the kit
- A pre-printed, numbered canvas
- A numbered set of acrylic-based paints, pre-mixed so you never have to blend colours yourself
- A set of paint brushes
- Easy-to-follow instructions
Our standard canvas is 40x50cm, and frames are sold separately. If you are unsure which size suits your wall and your patience, our canvas size guide walks through the trade-offs.
What is diamond painting?
A diamond painting kit is a canvas coated in adhesive and printed with a colour-coded symbol grid. You pick up small faceted resin "diamonds" (also called drills) with a wax-tipped applicator pen and press them onto the matching squares. The finished piece is a mosaic that catches the light.
What is in the kit
- A pre-printed adhesive canvas, rolled to prevent creases in transit
- Colour-coded resin diamonds, sorted by number
- A diamond applicator pen and wax pad
- A sorting tray and instructions
Our diamond painting kits come in sizes from 25x30cm up to 50x60cm, and you can choose square or round drills. Square drills sit flush against each other for a crisp, fully tiled look; round drills are slightly easier to pick up and place, with small gaps between them that give a softer finish.
Paint by numbers vs diamond painting: side by side
| Paint by Numbers | Diamond Painting | |
|---|---|---|
| What you do | Brush acrylic paint into numbered regions | Place resin gems onto adhesive squares |
| Mess | Wet paint, brush rinsing, drying time | Dry and tidy, but loose drills can scatter |
| Creative control | Moderate — you control coverage, edges, blending | Minimal — placement is fixed by the grid |
| Can you pause? | Yes, but seal paint pots well between sessions | Yes, very easily — cover the canvas and stop |
| Fixing mistakes | Paint over it once dry | Lift the drill with tweezers and re-place |
| Finished look | Matte, painterly, reads as a painting | Sparkling, textured, reads as a mosaic |
| Eyesight demand | Lower — regions are larger than drills | Higher — symbols and drills are small |
Which is easier for a complete beginner?
Diamond painting has the lower skill floor. There is essentially no technique to learn: pick up a drill, press it down, repeat. Nothing can go visibly wrong the way a shaky brush edge can.
Paint by numbers has a slightly higher floor but a much higher ceiling. Your first kit teaches you brush control, how thickly to apply acrylic, and how to cover printed lines cleanly — skills that carry over to real painting. If that appeals, start with a design tagged easy and work up. Our difficulty level guide explains what easy, medium and hard actually mean on the canvas.
Which one takes longer?
For the same canvas size, diamond painting generally takes longer. A full-drill canvas is covered edge to edge with thousands of individual gems, and each one is placed by hand. Painting fills area much faster — a single brushstroke covers what would be dozens of drills.
That is not a drawback if slow is the point. Many people choose diamond painting precisely because it stretches across weeks of short evening sessions. If you want the satisfaction of a finished piece sooner, paint by numbers gets you there faster.
Which is more relaxing?
Both are absorbing in the way that quiets a busy head, but they relax you differently.
Diamond painting is almost purely repetitive. There is no decision to make after you choose your colour, which is exactly what some people want at the end of a long day. Paint by numbers asks a little more of you — where to start, how to handle an awkward edge — so it engages your attention rather than switching it off.
If you are choosing a craft specifically to wind down, it is worth reading our piece on why painting helps reduce daily stress.
How they look once they are on the wall
This is the difference most people underestimate, and it should probably drive your decision.
A finished paint by numbers piece is matte and painterly. From a few steps back, it reads as an actual painting — which is why reproductions of well-known works are so popular in our famous paintings collection. It sits comfortably alongside other art.
A finished diamond painting is reflective and textured. It changes as you move past it and as the light shifts through the day. It is a statement piece rather than a quiet one, and it works best where it can catch light — a hallway, a landing, a wall opposite a window.
What about cost?
The two are priced similarly. Our paint by numbers kits start at around $16 and our diamond painting kits at around $19, with price rising by canvas size in both cases. Neither includes a frame, so budget for framing if you plan to hang the finished piece — our guide to framing finished artwork covers the options.
Because both are complete kits, there is no hidden second purchase — though a few accessories genuinely improve the experience, such as a decent lamp for either craft and finer brushes for detail work in paint by numbers.
So which should you choose?
Go with paint by numbers if: you want to learn something that transfers to real painting, you like having some control over the result, you want a finished piece that looks like a painting, or you are buying for someone who finds very repetitive tasks boring rather than soothing.
Go with diamond painting if: you want maximum calm with minimum decision-making, you dislike mess and cleanup, you enjoy sparkle and texture, or you want a long project you can pick up and put down over many weeks.
Consider your eyesight and hands honestly. Diamond drills are small and the symbol grid is dense. If close detail work is tiring, a larger paint by numbers canvas is the kinder choice — bigger regions, bigger brushes, less squinting.
Can you do both?
Plenty of people do, and they suit different moods. A lot of customers keep a diamond painting going for evenings when they want to switch off entirely, and turn to a paint by numbers canvas when they want to feel like they are making something.
If you are buying a gift and genuinely cannot guess which they would prefer, paint by numbers is the safer choice. It is the more familiar format, it finishes sooner, and the result looks like a painting they can hang anywhere. Browse our best sellers for the designs that consistently do well, or create a custom kit from your own photo for something they cannot get anywhere else.
Frequently asked questions
Is diamond painting the same as paint by numbers?
No. Both use a numbered or coded canvas as a guide, but paint by numbers uses acrylic paint and brushes, while diamond painting uses resin gems pressed onto an adhesive surface. Only one of them involves paint.
Which is better for children?
Paint by numbers, generally. Diamond drills are small and loose, which is a concern with young children. Our kids paint by numbers kits use simpler designs with larger regions.
Do I need to seal a diamond painting?
Not necessarily — the adhesive canvas holds the drills. Many people frame theirs behind glass instead, which keeps dust off and protects the surface.
Ready to start?
Whichever you choose, the kit arrives complete and you can begin the same day it lands. Browse our diamond painting kits for sparkle and texture, or explore the full paint by numbers range — from animals to landscapes — to find a design worth spending your evenings on.
