The Best Paint for Miniatures (2026)

There is no single "best" miniature paint - the right range depends on your budget, what you paint, and how you like to work. But a few ranges dominate the hobby for good reason. Here is how the main options compare, and what to buy first.

The main paint ranges

• Citadel (Games Workshop) - the default for Warhammer painters. Excellent coverage and a huge, well-organised range (Base, Layer, Shade, Contrast), but the most expensive per pot and only sold in small pots. Browse the full Citadel paint chart.
• Vallejo - superb value in dropper bottles (no drying out), with two big lines: Game Color (fantasy/bright) and Model Color (realistic/military). The painter's workhorse. See the Vallejo paint chart.
• The Army Painter - great starter sets and the Warpaints Fanatic range; dropper bottles, good value, strong metallics and washes. See the Army Painter chart.
• Scale75 and Kimera - artist-grade, high-pigment paints for experienced painters chasing smooth blends.

What to buy first

For a beginner, a starter set beats buying individual pots - you get a curated spread of colours, often with a brush, for far less than buying separately. The Army Painter and Citadel starter sets are both solid first buys. Add a wash (shade), a metallic and a couple of bright highlight colours and you can paint almost anything.

Mixing brands

You do not have to commit to one brand. Most painters mix - a Vallejo base, a Citadel shade, an Army Painter metallic. If a guide calls for a paint you don't own, the cross-brand converter finds the closest match in a range you do.

Tips

• Dropper bottles save money and paint - Vallejo and Army Painter don't dry out like pots.
• Contrast/Speedpaint ranges are a fast track for beginners - see our best contrast paints guide.
• Buy a wash early - a single shade improves every model you own.