You've decided to try paint by numbers — good call. It's one of the few hobbies that reliably quiets the brain: sit down, match a number to a color, and three hours later you're calmer and you own half a landscape. No classes, no talent requirement, no screen.
The tricky part isn't the painting. It's the buying.
Search for a kit online and you'll find dozens of stores that look nearly identical, all selling canvas-plus-paint kits in roughly the same $15–$50 range. Most are perfectly fine. A few are excellent. And several specialize in things you might not know existed — like turning your dog into a numbered canvas, or painting a black-and-white James Dean portrait.
So here's a field guide to 24 of the best paint by numbers stores online right now, grouped by what each is actually good at. Every shop below sells complete kits — pre-printed numbered canvas, matched acrylic paints, brushes — and all prices are USD as of September 2026. Treat them as starting points; sales in this niche run constantly.
Want even more options? PassionPaints keeps a live, daily-refreshed directory of paint by numbers suppliers — more on that at the end.
First, What Every Good Kit Should Contain
Before you spend money anywhere, know what you're entitled to:
- A pre-printed canvas with clear, legible numbers (a cotton or linen texture holds paint better than glossy synthetic)
- One pre-mixed acrylic pot per number — usually 24 to 36 colors
- At least three brushes: fine, medium, and broad
- Hanging hooks, if the canvas comes framed
Anything less and you'll be improvising with craft-store supplies by hour two. Now, the stores.
Group 1 — The All-Rounders: Big Catalogs, Everyday Prices
These five are the department stores of paint by numbers: deep shelves, familiar themes, and standard kits mostly in the $24–$50 band.
1. Paint by Number Sale
Sales are the entire personality of this store. The catalog is big and steadily refreshed — new arrivals, animals, landscapes, seascapes, famous faces, cartoons — and markdowns of 40% or more are routine rather than seasonal. Standard kits list around $27–$48, but almost nothing stays at list price for long. Ideal if you like stocking up.
2. PaintingbyNO
PaintingbyNO sells "masterpiece" kits for adults and backs the word up with premium paints and instructions a complete beginner can follow. The fun part is the range: one scroll takes you from a snowy tower in Prague to a koi pond, a basketball star, or a vintage anime robot. Clear categories (towers, sport, seascape, cartoon, animals) make marathon browsing easy.
3. Paint by Number for All
The name is the promise: kits built "for adults of all skill levels," with guided patterns and saturated colors. Expect national parks, waterfalls, stadiums, holiday characters, and beloved cartoon faces. If you want one store that works equally well for your first painting and your fifteenth — or for a family paint night — this is that store.
4. ProPaintbyNumber
This shop sells relaxation first and art second — its own words are "relaxation, creativity and pleasure." The catalog mixes serenity staples (sunflower fields, highland cows) with left-field concepts like jellyfish drifting through a pine forest. Free-shipping and returns offers appear regularly, which takes the risk out of a first order.
5. Paint by Numbers for Sale
A dependable generalist. Animals, cities, birds, landscapes, and botanicals fill the catalog; the custom-kit service is pitched squarely at gift-givers ("the perfect personalized gift for any occasion"); and the celebrity corner — Elton John, Seinfeld's Kramer — is more fun than most. Mid-range prices, frequent markdowns.
Group 2 — The Style Shops: Décor, Fine Art & Modern Looks
These stores care how the finished piece will look on a wall — which, if you're honest with yourself, is half the reason you're doing this.
6. PaintingDeco
PaintingDeco comes at the hobby from an interior-design angle. Its oil-style kits are built to be hung, not filed away: lighthouse seascapes, softly toned portraits, and artist-inspired pieces like a Chagall-style portrait. If the finished object matters as much as the process, put this store near the top of your list.
7. PBNartist
The tagline is "Be an artist with paint by number," and the selection feels hand-picked to match: Yosemite landscapes, romantic couples, still-life florals, portraits of icons. It's a curated shelf rather than a warehouse, and flash discounts sometimes push kits down to around $14.
8. Modern Paint by Number
Aimed squarely at contemporary interiors. The custom service pairs a personalized canvas with matched paints and brushes, and the pre-designed catalog includes something most stores don't have: a typography-led quotes collection ("Make Every Day Count"). Great for minimalist walls and hard-to-shop-for recipients.
9. NumPaints
Quality canvases and a custom service framed around "heartfelt gifts or cherished keepsakes." The pre-designed range is strongest on masterpiece adaptations — Van Gogh's Starry Night Over the Rhône is a standout — plus snow scenes and animation classics. Sale prices dip to about $14.
10. Magic of Color
One of the few stores here that designs and manufactures its own kits, which means tighter quality control than a pure reseller. The catalog runs from museum walls — Bruegel's Hunters in the Snow — to anime heroes and modern icons. If you want to repaint a painting you studied in school, start here.
Group 3 — The Fandom Stores: Pop Culture, Music & K-Pop
Generic landscapes are fine. But if what you actually want is your favorite band, show, or fictional universe in numbered form, these four are your stores.
11. Komking
Possibly the most gloriously uncurated catalog in the category: Broadway's Wicked, Narnia's Aslan, Hogwarts, a Navy aircraft carrier, Dublin's Liberties, and Citizens Bank Park all share the shelves. Its military and landmark designs are genuinely hard to find elsewhere. Kits run roughly $16–$50.
12. Any Paint by Number
Two things you won't easily find elsewhere: a real black-and-white collection (monochrome James Dean, anyone?) and a deep music section running from Bob Dylan to Led Zeppelin. Fill out the catalog with birds, city skylines, and Tintin. A haven for specific tastes.
13. ColourSilo
Markets its kits as a stress-reducing activity with high-quality materials, and the designs have more personality than most: Peaky Blinders, The Blues Brothers, Pride and Prejudice's Mr. Darcy, and a strong anime shelf. It also currently tops the PassionPaints wholesale ranking — quiet proof of steady demand behind the storefront.
14. GATYZTORY
Unusually transparent about what's in the box: a textured pre-printed canvas, high-coverage acrylic paints, and three professional-grade brushes. Design-wise, it's the K-pop and mandala capital of this list — BTS portraits and intricate geometric art — plus travel posters from Helsinki to Guatemala.
Group 4 — The Memory Painters: Custom Kits from Your Photos
The most personal corner of the hobby: these stores convert your photographs into numbered canvases, turning a wedding, a pet, or a childhood home into a painting you made yourself.
15. Paint by Numbers DIY
The whole store is built on one seductive idea: paint your memories. Email a photo — wedding, pet, childhood home — and a human team converts it into a numbered canvas, with advertised 5–9 day shipping to the US. Bonus points for non-toxic, eco-friendly paints, and for being one of the few shops that also sells easels and travel storage cases.
16. DiyPaintbyNumber
The tech-forward take on custom: upload a photo under "Make Your Own" and its conversion software generates the numbered design — no email ping-pong required. Pre-designed themes cover animals, cartoons, portraits, and cities, with kits running about $22–$55.
17. Go Paint by Number
Custom kits made from your own photos or designs, with a size ladder that climbs to around $100 for the biggest canvases — one of the more generous large-format options among custom shops. The regular catalog covers cartoons, animals, portraits, landscapes, and florals.
18. NumeralArt
Personalization is the front page and the point: send a photo, get back a numbered canvas with matched paints. The ready-made range leans giftable — Highland cows, Frida Kahlo wreathed in butterflies, Spirited Away's Chihiro and Haku — and the store cheerfully promises you need zero experience.
19. Amphol
Sells the sentiment as much as the kit: "transform your cherished photos into a relaxing paint-by-number project." Think memorial portraits, family snapshots, and favorite places, alongside a standard catalog of animals, animation, landscapes, and florals.
Group 5 — The Custom Pros: Big Canvases, Spare Paint & Bespoke Kits
Still custom-focused, but with the extras that matter once painting becomes a habit.
20. AdultPaintbyNumber
Unapologetically for grown-ups. There's a custom service that runs "from photo to finished artwork," categories spanning abstract to sport — and two practical extras worth knowing about: individual spare paint pots starting around fifty cents (touch-ups without rebuying a whole kit) and regular coupon codes.
21. ThePaintByNumbers
The pitch is "Relax & Create Stunning Art!" Bestsellers include a rainbow-hued John Lennon and classic lighthouse scenes; the custom service turns cherished memories into hand-painted pieces, scaling to roughly $123 for the largest formats — among the biggest canvases in this guide.
22. PBN Canvas
The store that puts canvas quality in its name. Its custom service converts your photo into a pre-printed, numbered canvas with matching paints — "no artistic skill required, just relaxation" — and there's a bespoke tier for special projects. It also currently ranks #2 among wholesale suppliers on the PassionPaints directory.
23. Paint by You
The most custom-obsessed shop on this list: dedicated product lines for pet portraits, family photos, kids' kits, and your own snapshots, each turned into a numbered canvas with matched paints. Custom pricing runs about $28–$123 depending on size.
24. Artist by Numbers
Closes the list with a promise of completeness: every kit ships with all the materials you need to finish it. The design range covers movies, nature, and cartoons, and the store addresses "beginners and experts alike" — a low-drama choice for a very first kit.
Not Enough Options? Browse the PassionPaints Directory
When 24 stores still isn't enough choice — or you're considering selling kits yourself — PassionPaints is worth a bookmark. It isn't a shop; it's a live directory of paint by numbers suppliers: 65 listings at last count, split into 30 wholesale suppliers and 35 custom photo-to-canvas studios.
The clever part is how it ranks them. Every listing is ordered by real outbound clicks from the directory, refreshed on a rolling 24-hour cycle, with no sponsored slots and nothing you can pay to boost. The order simply reflects where shoppers actually go. Each supplier page lays out the details that matter before you order, and the site's guides cover the unglamorous-but-crucial stuff: canvas weight, paint quality, and how legible the printed numbers actually are.
Five Buying Tips from the Trenches
- Start at 40×50 cm. It's the industry-standard size — detailed enough to impress, small enough that you'll actually finish it.
- Count your colors. A 24-color kit reads clean and graphic; 30+ colors add realism but can double your painting hours.
- Framed beats rolled for a first kit. A pre-stretched canvas is taut, nicer to paint on, and ready to hang the moment it dries.
- Going custom? Get a proof. Any decent custom studio will show you the numbered design before printing. Faces are where conversions go wrong — check them closely.
- Match your photo's shape. Ordering a square canvas for a wide landscape photo guarantees cropping. Pick the size with the same aspect ratio.
FAQ: What People Ask Before Buying
Is paint by numbers good for adults?
Absolutely — adults are the core market now. The numbered structure removes the blank-canvas paralysis that stops most people from ever painting, and the repetitive fill-in motion is genuinely meditative. Several stores here, including ColourSilo, ThePaintByNumbers, and ProPaintbyNumber, build their entire pitch around stress relief.
How do I turn a photo into a paint by numbers kit?
Pick a custom studio — fourteen of the stores above offer the service, including Paint by You, PBN Canvas, NumeralArt, Amphol, and Paint by Numbers DIY — then upload or email your photo and choose a canvas size. Two tips: match the canvas aspect ratio to your photo so nothing gets cropped, and ask for a proof of the numbered design before it's printed, especially for faces.
How much should a kit cost?
Standard pre-designed kits run $14–$50 at these stores. Custom photo kits cost more — roughly $28–$123 depending on size — because each canvas is printed for one person. With promotions running almost permanently across this niche, the realistic price is usually the discounted one.
Rolled or framed canvas — which is better?
Rolled canvas ships cheaper and survives transit easily, but you'll need to mount or flatten it before painting. Pre-framed (stretched) canvas arrives taut, paints better, and goes straight onto the wall — at a higher shipping cost. Beginners almost always enjoy the framed version more.
Are these paint by numbers stores safe to order from?
All 24 are established storefronts with published catalogs, working contact routes, and policies — and several are cross-verified on the PassionPaints supplier directory, which ranks stores by measured click-through activity rather than ad spend. Standard online hygiene still applies: pay by card or PayPal, and screenshot the listed price at checkout.
Where can I find even more paint by numbers stores?
Bookmark PassionPaints. It's a daily-updated directory of 65+ paint by numbers suppliers — wholesale suppliers and custom studios alike — ranked by real shopper clicks, with buying guides on canvas weight, paint quality, and number legibility.
The 30-Second Cheat Sheet
- Cheapest way in: Paint by Number Sale, or NumPaints' sale section (kits from ~$14)
- A statement wall piece: PaintingDeco, Modern Paint by Number
- Museum classics and anime: Magic of Color, NumPaints, PBNartist
- Fandom, music, K-pop: GATYZTORY, Any Paint by Number, Komking, ColourSilo
- Your own photo on canvas: Paint by You, PBN Canvas, NumeralArt, Amphol — plus ten more in Groups 4 and 5
- Buying in bulk or comparing suppliers: the PassionPaints directory
Twenty-four stores, one hobby, and no wrong doors. The best kit is whichever design makes you want to clear the kitchen table tonight — so pick one, order it, and when you finish painting number one and immediately start hunting for number two (you will), you already know where the directory is.
