5 Best Alcohol-Based Markers Reviewed and Rated in 2023

Deciding which alcohol markers to get can be a little tricky, especially for beginners. There are so many choices! Some alcohol marker sets are outrageously pricey but without guaranteed quality. Others are cheap but don't work as efficiently as you want them to. While reviews and ratings can be misleading, this blog post has a few suggestions that you might want to consider before you invest in any marker set.



Here are the *top 5 best alcohol-based markers to help you pick the perfect markers for your coloring needs.

*Please note that these are merely suggestions based on customer reviews and ratings, quality, and price of the markers.

1. Tropical Garden Artist Alcohol Markers Set E - Altenew

Altenew’s Artist Markers are slowly gaining attention in the arts and crafts industry. They are available in 60 rich and vibrant colors, with quality comparable to that of Copic Markers. Designed to be as close as possible to Altenew’s existing ink colors, the colors in this set help you take the color guessing game out of the way.

If you’re looking for the best way on how to use alcohol markers, these Artist Markers will help you blend colors to any stamped images beautifully. These are also perfect for mixed media art, cardmaking, scrapbooking, and even journaling! Altenew’s wide range of stamps is perfect for this alcohol markers set. You can also easily pair them with dye inks to take your coloring to the next level!

 

Features	Things to Love	Cons
Alcohol-based, non- toxic and acid-free  Dual tip - brush tip and fine tip on each end Ergonomically designed for easy gripping Color-coded caps Comes in a travel-friendly box Comes with FREE and downloadable color swatches that you can print out at home.	Beautiful colors that perfectly blend Color comes out quickly and seamlessly without applying too much pressure. Each color can be paired with Altenew’s existing ink colors Each set has 4 shades from each color family, making it easy to pick colors that can be blended together Environmentally-friendly - refills and nib replacements are available Flexible brush tip that lays down even color	Some of the boxes don’t have the markers’ colors indicated on the outside of the box.  Might need to refill it once in a while, especially if you use it a lot. Some colors are “too juicy” so it’s hard to control it while blending Some customers complain about duplicate colors in some sets

2. Ohuhu Double Tipped 40 Colors Alcohol Brush Markers

Known as the “best cheap Copic alternative”, these alcohol markers are receiving great customer reviews and ratings on various websites, blogs, and online stores such as Amazon. For only a fraction of the price of Copic Markers, you can get the same quality with these markers.

Features	Things to Love	Cons
Round barrels which are easy to grip Dual tips - brush tip and chisel tip Easy to blend No smudging Comes in sets of 24, 48, and 120 Comes with a colorless blender Color-coded caps	The little ridges on the caps prevent the markers from rolling all over your desk. It comes in a zippered carrying case. It comes with a small printed color chart. Cheap alternative to Copic Markers. It will never fade or smudge with time.	According to one review, “markers are shipped with the colors randomly distributed throughout the case, so it's up to you to organize them yourself.” Color chart isn’t very helpful so you might as well create your own color chart or organization system. The carrying case doesn’t have individual holders for each marker, making it hard to organize markers if you’re in a hurry.

3. Caliart Dual Alcohol-Based Tip Marker

The Caliart Dual-Tip Alcohol Markers is a set of 100 colors and a colorless blender marker. This set contains numerous flesh or skin tone markers. These alcohol-based markers are permanent, hence, ideal to use on paper and ceramics. The ink is smooth and dries quickly; the formula is built to last and goes for a long time, unfading. Carefully designed to endure, these markers can draw a minimum of 1,000 feet. And, like most alcohol markers set, they also bleed through regular paper. These are ideal alcohol-based markers for beginners, students, and hobbyists since they are cost-efficient.

Features	Things to Love	Cons
Variety of colors, including skin tones Includes a blending pen Dual Tip Includes a carrying case Color-coded caps	Long-lasting Inexpensive Wide color range	Some customer reviews complained about the fine tip drying out. Colors do not hold true for long periods.

So, if you are just getting into drawing and coloring and learning how to use alcohol markers, these are excellent and low-cost markers to start with.

4. Prismacolor Art Alcohol-Based Markers

Prismacolor Art Markers is one of the most popular, tried-and-tested brands in the art community. The markers are durable and render long-lasting, vibrant colors that have a wide range of variations. Individual barrels have corresponding color names and have a matching color strip to the ink inside. This makes it convenient to find the color you need. You can buy these alcohol markers individually or as a set. Some customers’ reviews stated that you might need to add a bit of alcohol to the markers because they tend to dry out. This issue won’t really affect the markers’ quality, but it’s something to keep in mind.

Prismacolor Art Markers are one of the highest-rated marker sets and are relatively inexpensive. Despite not having a brush tip, they can give you beautiful works of art. Perfect for coloring as a hobby, for professional artists, or even students. If you’re still wondering how to use alcohol markers for your projects, this is a set that you can try.

Features	Things to Love	Cons
Dual-tip: chisel tip and fine tip Rich saturation  Single source of ink for consistency 48 vivid markers Fade-resistant	Artist quality Great color variations Doesn’t streak and blends well Can supplement any marker set	Some markers dry up quicker. A bit pricey May need to add more colors to your collection.

These markers are high-quality and well-reviewed. So if the price doesn’t bother you, then you can give these a try.

5. Copic Markers

If you are new to coloring and you try to Google “What are the best alcohol markers?”, Copic Markers will most probably come up as the top recommendation. This Japanese brand has been around since 1987 and is well-known for producing the go-to alcohol markers set for both beginner and professionals. According to their official site, Copic Markers are “high-quality markers for industrial design, architecture design, fashion design, graphics, illustrations, craft, model design.”

While these are top-rated and well-reviewed by artists, they were simply too pricey for beginners and most hobbyists. Sure, the quality is excellent but there are a number of alcohol marker sets out there that could give Copic Markers a run for their money. Just like any other overpriced product, you are simply paying for the “brand name.”

Features	Things to Love	Cons
Alcohol-based markers that are non-toxic, acid free. Smooth and vibrant colors. Photocopy-safe markers. Quick-drying and permanent.	Ideal for all styles of art, design, illustration, crafts and more. Environmentally-friendly Refillable Replaceable nibs Over 350 colors which are organized in user-intuitive “Copic Color System” so that you can select colors easily.	Too pricey Some reviews stated blotchy and spotty inks Another review complained about the ink pooling onto the brush side Inks dry out when stored and not used for a long time

There you have it! Hopefully, this closer look at the five best alcohol-based markers can help you find the right alcohol markers for your coloring needs! Whether you’re still a beginner or already a professional, these must-have art tools are worth checking out.