What is a pixel art color palette?

A pixel art color palette is a fixed, deliberately small set of colors you commit to for a sprite, a tileset, or a whole game. Limiting yourself forces clearer values and keeps every asset looking like it belongs to the same world, which is why hardware palettes like the Game Boy’s four greens still produce such readable art.

How many colors should a palette have?

For a single 16×16 or 32×32 sprite, 4 to 16 colors is plenty: one dark, one mid, one light per material, plus an outline. Reach for 32 or more only when a scene needs many materials at once. Fewer colors read better at small sizes and are far faster to shade consistently.

How do I use these palettes in MagicPixel?

Browsing and copying hex codes is free, and saving a palette takes a free account. Add a palette to your account here, then open the editor and it appears in the palette picker in the color sidebar. You can also snap an existing artboard to it from the palette button beside the canvas, which remaps every pixel to the nearest color in the set.

Can I import my own palette file?

Yes. The editor imports .gpl (GIMP / Aseprite), .pal (JASC and RIFF), and .hex files, so any palette file you download from a community site or export from another tool can be loaded as a custom palette.

How do I copy the hex codes?

Every palette has its own page listing each hex code. Click a single swatch to copy that one value, or use the copy button to grab the whole palette as a newline separated list you can paste into Aseprite, GIMP, Godot, Unity, or a CSS file.

Are these palettes free to use commercially?

Yes. Hardware and community palettes listed here are factual color sets or CC0 releases, and the MagicPixel-authored palettes are free to use in any project, commercial or otherwise. Colors themselves are not copyrightable.

Pixel art color palettes

Free palettes with every hex code listed: hardware classics like Game Boy, PICO-8 and NES, plus ramps built for dungeons, characters and tilesets. 256 palettes, one click to save any of them.

Every retro color palette here lists its full hex codes. Copy them straight off any palette page, or add a palette to your account and it shows up in the pixel art editor color sidebar, ready to draw with or to snap an existing sprite onto. Already have favourites from Aseprite or another editor? MagicPixel also imports .gpl, .pal and .hex palette files. New to working inside a limited set? Start with the color palette guide.

Chasing that 8-bit and 16-bit look? pulled straight from the consoles and computers that defined them.

Popular palettes: Game Boy DMG, PICO-8, NES, Commodore 64, CGA 16, ZX Spectrum.

57 palettes

Endesga 32

32 colors

A do-everything 32-color set: full skin, foliage, metal, and sky ramps in one palette.

Endesga

general
vibrant
warm

Dungeon Stone

8 colors

A cold blue-gray stone ramp for corridors, block walls, and flagstone floors.

MagicPixel

dungeon
cool
grayscale

Cave Depths

10 colors

A deep, desaturated blue ramp built for very dark interiors that still read clearly.

MagicPixel

dungeon
cool
dark

Arctic Tundra

8 colors

Cold blue-grays for snowfields, frozen rock, and overcast winter light.

MagicPixel

nature
cool
ice

Glacier Ice

10 colors

Translucent glacier blues with a white break for cracks and specular hits.

MagicPixel

nature
cool
ice

Ocean Depths

12 colors

A twelve-step descent from surface teal to abyssal near-black.

MagicPixel

nature
cool
water

Coral Reef

12 colors

Tropical reef colors: teal water against hot coral pinks and oranges.

MagicPixel

nature
water
vibrant

Night Sky

10 colors

Deep night blues rising to starlight: backgrounds that never fight the sprite.

MagicPixel

sky
cool
dark

Water & Foam

8 colors

One tight water ramp ending in foam white: rivers, waves, and splash frames.

MagicPixel

water
cool
texture

Smoke & Fog

8 colors

Neutral gray steps tuned for smoke puffs, dust clouds, and fog layers.

MagicPixel

effects
vfx
grayscale

Knight & Squire

12 colors

Steel plate with tabard reds and leather browns: ready-made knight sprites.

MagicPixel

characters
fantasy
metal

Ghost Veil

8 colors

Pale, cold translucency for spirits, mist forms, and phase-out frames.

MagicPixel

characters
horror
cool

Iron & Rust

8 colors

Cold iron with two oxide tones for weathered weapons, chains, and machinery.

MagicPixel

metal
items
texture

Steel Armor

8 colors

A blue-steel value ramp with enough steps for convincing specular edges.

MagicPixel

metal
armor
cool

Mecha Hangar

12 colors

Industrial grays with hazard orange and panel-light cyan for mechs and vehicles.

MagicPixel

sci-fi
metal
cool

Castle Banner

12 colors

Castle stone plus heraldic red, blue, and gold for flags, shields, and crests.

MagicPixel

fantasy
town
cool

Chrome & Glass

10 colors

Clean cool metals with a cyan tint for polished sci-fi surfaces and HUD frames.

MagicPixel

sci-fi
metal
cool

Space Station

12 colors

Corridor grays with alert red and console cyan for interior sci-fi tiles.

MagicPixel

sci-fi
cool
metal

UI Dark Mode

8 colors

A neutral dark-interface ramp for HUDs, menus, and pixel-art tooling.

MagicPixel

ui
cool
grayscale

Cool Ocean 16

16 colors

Blues and teals from abyss to foam, with two violet shadows for depth.

MagicPixel

cool
water
general

Monochrome Blue 6

6 colors

Six-step single-hue blue: perfect for one-color mockups and moonlight passes.

MagicPixel

monochrome
cool
low-color

Four Color Cool

4 colors

A four-tone cool set for moonlit, underwater, and winter constraint pieces.

MagicPixel

low-color
cool
monochrome

Game Gear Sampler

16 colors

Sixteen slightly hazy Game Gear tones: the softer, screen-washed cousin of the Master System set.

Sega (hardware)

console
retro
16-color

PC-98 Sampler

16 colors

The lilac-and-rose 16 that Japanese PC-98 art is remembered for: soft, painterly, unmistakable.

NEC (hardware)

retro
16-color
pastel

Sharp X68000 Sampler

16 colors

A 16-color slice in the X68000 arcade-port idiom: deep blues, hot reds, crisp highlights.

Sharp (hardware)

retro
16-color
illustration

Winter Pines

10 colors

Cold blue-greens and snow whites for evergreen slopes and frozen trails.

MagicPixel

environment
ice
cool

Blizzard

8 colors

Eight steps of cold gray-blue for whiteout weather, snowfall vfx, and frozen skies.

MagicPixel

environment
ice
cool

Crystal Cavern

12 colors

Deep blue rock lit by violet and teal crystal: glow-cave interiors and gem seams.

MagicPixel

environment
dungeon
purple

Mountain Pass

10 colors

Cool granite values with two greens for hardy alpine growth: cliffs, scree, and ridge lines.

MagicPixel

environment
stone
cool

Storm at Sea

10 colors

Slate waves and spray under a bruised sky: sea tiles that stay readable when everything is gray.

MagicPixel

environment
water
cool

Deep Starfield

10 colors

A near-black to white ramp built for star density, with one warm star for accent.

MagicPixel

environment
sky
night

Mecha Cockpit

12 colors

Panel grays with warning reds and readout cyans: cockpit interiors and HUD-heavy scenes.

MagicPixel

sci-fi
interior
ui

Android Porcelain

10 colors

Pale synthetic skin over cool grays, with cyan optics and one red fault light.

MagicPixel

sci-fi
characters
cool

Rainy Street

12 colors

Wet asphalt blues with sodium-lamp gold and one neon pink: noir-adjacent city nights.

MagicPixel

city
night
cool

Subway Tile

11 colors

Grimy white tile and shadowed grout, with station green and signage red for accents.

MagicPixel

city
interior
texture

Hologram

8 colors

One clean cyan ramp for holograms, scan lines, projected UI, and glow passes.

MagicPixel

sci-fi
ui
cool

Assassin

10 colors

Near-black blues that still separate at low light, with dried-blood reds and a cloth highlight.

MagicPixel

characters
dark
cool

Skin Tones Cool

8 colors

A cool-leaning flesh ramp for pale, undead, or moonlit characters without going gray.

MagicPixel

skin
characters
cool

Ice VFX

8 colors

Frost blues to white for freeze effects, ice shards, and cold-damage frames.

MagicPixel

effects
vfx
ice

Silver & Glass

8 colors

Neutral-cool metal values for blades, chrome, mirrors, and glass highlights.

MagicPixel

metal
cool
texture

Obsidian

8 colors

A very dark neutral ramp that still shades: obsidian, void tiles, and night silhouettes.

MagicPixel

texture
dark
stone

UI Light Mode

10 colors

A light interface ramp with one action blue and one danger red: menus, HUDs, and dialogs.

MagicPixel

ui
accents
general

Duotone Teal & Orange

8 colors

The film-grade complementary pair, ramped for pixel art without muddying the mids.

MagicPixel

low-color
high-contrast
illustration

Four-Color Noir

4 colors

A cool four-value set for high-contrast noir sprites and silhouette-first layouts.

MagicPixel

low-color
grayscale
cool

Tide Pool

7 colors

Shallow saltwater greens for rock pools, kelp and wet stone.

MagicPixel

environment
water
cool

Frozen Lake

6 colors

Blue-grey ice shelf tones with a bright cracked surface highlight.

MagicPixel

environment
ice
cool

Stormcloud Grey

7 colors

Neutral cloud ramp for overcast skies and rain-soaked backdrops.

MagicPixel

environment
sky
cool

Aurora Veil

7 colors

Deep polar night lifted by ribbon greens for aurora skies.

MagicPixel

sky
night
cool

Harbor Morning

7 colors

Soft dockside blues and warm haze for early-morning port scenes.

MagicPixel

environment
water
town

Bio Lab

7 colors

Sterile containment greens for labs, vats and specimen lighting.

MagicPixel

sci-fi
green
interior

Void Runner

7 colors

Faster-than-light purples for deep-space hulls and warp interiors.

MagicPixel

sci-fi
purple
night

Gravlift White

7 colors

Clean-room whites and greys for polished sci-fi architecture.

MagicPixel

sci-fi
ui
cool

Rune Frost

7 colors

Frozen glyph blues for ice magic, wards and enchanted steel.

MagicPixel

fantasy
ice
cool

Lich Frost

7 colors

Grave-cold greens for undead sorcerers and cursed flame.

MagicPixel

monsters
horror
dark

Glass Vials

7 colors

Cool apothecary glass tones for bottles, flasks and liquids.

MagicPixel

items
water
cool

Wind VFX

7 colors

Low-contrast streak tones for gusts, dust trails and slashes.

MagicPixel

vfx
effects
cool

UI Cool Slate

7 colors

Balanced dark-UI slate ramp with an accessible top contrast step.

MagicPixel

ui
cool
dark

Provenance and licensing. Hardware and system palettes here (Game Boy, PICO-8, CGA, C64, ZX Spectrum, NES and friends) are factual color sets from the machines themselves, credited on each card. Community palettes are included only when released CC0, credited to their authors. Every other palette is authored by MagicPixel. All of them are free to use in your projects, commercial work included, and color values themselves are not copyrightable.

Pixel art color palettes, explained

What is a pixel art color palette?: A pixel art color palette is a fixed, deliberately small set of colors you commit to for a sprite, a tileset, or a whole game. Limiting yourself forces clearer values and keeps every asset looking like it belongs to the same world, which is why hardware palettes like the Game Boy’s four greens still produce such readable art.
How many colors should a palette have?: For a single 16×16 or 32×32 sprite, 4 to 16 colors is plenty: one dark, one mid, one light per material, plus an outline. Reach for 32 or more only when a scene needs many materials at once. Fewer colors read better at small sizes and are far faster to shade consistently.
How do I use these palettes in MagicPixel?: Browsing and copying hex codes is free, and saving a palette takes a free account. Add a palette to your account here, then open the editor and it appears in the palette picker in the color sidebar. You can also snap an existing artboard to it from the palette button beside the canvas, which remaps every pixel to the nearest color in the set.
Can I import my own palette file?: Yes. The editor imports .gpl (GIMP / Aseprite), .pal (JASC and RIFF), and .hex files, so any palette file you download from a community site or export from another tool can be loaded as a custom palette.
How do I copy the hex codes?: Every palette has its own page listing each hex code. Click a single swatch to copy that one value, or use the copy button to grab the whole palette as a newline separated list you can paste into Aseprite, GIMP, Godot, Unity, or a CSS file.
Are these palettes free to use commercially?: Yes. Hardware and community palettes listed here are factual color sets or CC0 releases, and the MagicPixel-authored palettes are free to use in any project, commercial or otherwise. Colors themselves are not copyrightable.