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.

31 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

Sweetie 16

16 colors

Sixteen balanced colors with clean dark-to-light ramps: a modern PICO-8 alternative.

GrafxKid

general
vibrant
high-contrast

Coral Reef

12 colors

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

MagicPixel

nature
water
vibrant

Tropical Sunset

10 colors

Hot sunset ramp with one sea-blue anchor so water still reads at dusk.

MagicPixel

sky
warm
vibrant

Slime Green

8 colors

A gooey green ramp for slimes, poison, ooze, and toxic pools.

MagicPixel

green
monsters
vibrant

Potion Shelf

12 colors

Distinct liquid hues on one neutral glass base so every potion reads at 16px.

MagicPixel

items
fantasy
vibrant

Sushi Bar

12 colors

Rice whites, salmon oranges, and nori greens: tuned for tiny food sprites.

MagicPixel

items
vibrant
general

Candy Shop

12 colors

High-sugar brights on a plum base for sweets, sprinkles, and cute UI.

MagicPixel

items
vibrant
pink

City Neon

12 colors

Saturated signage colors on near-black: night streets and neon glow.

MagicPixel

cyberpunk
dark
vibrant

Nebula Drift

12 colors

Deep-space violets rising to gas-cloud pinks for backdrops and starfields.

MagicPixel

sci-fi
purple
dark

Vaporwave

10 colors

Sunset pinks against pool cyan: 80s aesthetic backdrops and title screens.

MagicPixel

cyberpunk
pastel
pink

Synthwave

12 colors

Grid-horizon purples with hot pink and turquoise for synthwave scenes.

MagicPixel

cyberpunk
dark
pink

UI Accent Six

6 colors

Six evenly spaced accent hues at matched saturation: status icons and tags.

MagicPixel

ui
vibrant
low-color

High Contrast 8

8 colors

Eight maximally distinguishable colors: readable at 16×16 and for color-blind checks.

MagicPixel

high-contrast
ui
low-color

Six Color Jam

6 colors

A tiny six-color kit that still covers dark, light, warm, and cool: ideal for jams.

MagicPixel

low-color
general
starter

Twelve Color General

12 colors

A balanced twelve: full neutral ramp plus one clean hue per primary direction.

MagicPixel

general
vibrant
starter

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

Eyes & Accents

12 colors

Paired dark/light values for eye colors, gems, and small character accents.

MagicPixel

characters
accents
vibrant

Market Awnings

12 colors

Striped canvas colors over a wood-and-dirt base: busy market and bazaar tiles.

MagicPixel

town
environment
vibrant

Circus Tent

12 colors

Big-top reds, golds, and blues at full saturation: fairgrounds and carnival props.

MagicPixel

town
vibrant
bright

Fruit Stand

12 colors

Twelve ripe hues for produce, pickups, and inventory icons that must read at 16px.

MagicPixel

items
vibrant
bright

Gemstones

12 colors

Dark/light pairs for six gem colors: loot, sockets, and rarity coding.

MagicPixel

items
gold
vibrant

UI Status Colors

10 colors

Success, warning, danger, and info at two values each, over a neutral pair.

MagicPixel

ui
accents
accessible

Sixteen-Color Jam

16 colors

A balanced general-purpose 16: six neutrals, warm and cool ramps, one violet accent.

MagicPixel

starter
16-color
general

Thirty-Two Color Studio

32 colors

A full studio 32: ten neutrals plus five-step ramps for red, gold, green, blue, and violet.

MagicPixel

32-color
general
illustration

Plasma Cutter

7 colors

Hot cutting-arc ramp from violet core to spitting sparks.

MagicPixel

sci-fi
vfx
effects

Neon Noodle

7 colors

Signage pinks over deep night for late-hours street corners.

MagicPixel

city
cyberpunk
night

Arcade Carpet

7 colors

Loud pattern colors for arcades, party stages and toy packaging.

MagicPixel

retro
vibrant
city

Stained Glass

7 colors

Saturated leaded-glass jewels bound by dark lead lines.

MagicPixel

interior
vibrant
fantasy

Gemstone Cut

7 colors

Faceted amethyst ramp for loot sparkle and rare item rarity tiers.

MagicPixel

items
purple
gold

Acid Burn VFX

7 colors

Caustic greens for corrosion, sludge splashes and toxic pools.

MagicPixel

vfx
effects
green

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.