Dexes does not draw maps. You bring one, as a PNG or JPEG, and it becomes the ground your world stands on. These are the tools we would reach for to make it.
Harrowcap HillThe Titan StepsBrindlehookVarn HollowGloamwatch KeepSaint Orlen's FordHigh AsterCaldrisFor the map your whole campaign sits on: a continent, a kingdom, a stretch of coast.
Best fora first map, at any scale
The most popular browser-based fantasy map maker. Paint worlds, regions, cities, interiors, and battle maps with a huge library of hand-painted stamp assets, so no artistic skill is required. The free tier is a great way to make your first map; Pro unlocks HD exports and the full asset library.
Visit websiteBest forpainterly world and regional maps
A desktop app dedicated to world and regional maps. Generate landmasses procedurally or sculpt coastlines by hand, then brush in mountains, forests, rivers, and labels in a painterly style. Exports crisp high-resolution images that look beautiful as editor backgrounds.
Visit websiteBest fora whole world in one click
A remarkable in-browser generator that produces an entire living world in one click: landmasses, biomes, rivers, nation borders, cultures, religions, settlements, and trade routes. It also lets you edit every layer of it. Perfect when you want a rich starting point instead of a blank canvas.
Visit websiteBest forprecision, at every scale
The veteran professional mapping suite from ProFantasy. CAD-style precision with decades of art styles and add-ons covering everything from continents to city districts to dungeon floors. The steepest learning curve here, and the deepest toolbox once you climb it.
Visit websiteFor the places your players actually walk through. Each of these suits a sub-map, nested under the map of the region it belongs to.
Best fora town or city in seconds
A beloved collection of one-click procedural generators: the Medieval Fantasy City Generator plus villages, mansions, dungeons, and more. Instantly produces elegant, stylized settlement maps you can restyle and export. They are wonderful for filling out the towns your nations contain.
Visit websiteBest forinteriors and battle maps
Wonderdraft's sibling app, focused on interiors: dungeons, buildings, taverns, and encounter maps with walls, floors, lighting, and asset packs. Ideal for the battle-map and floor-plan scale, and for the locations your story visits often.
Visit websiteBest fora dungeon sketched in minutes
A browser tool, now part of Roll20, for fast, old-school dungeon line maps. Sketch rooms and corridors in seconds with a classic hatched, hand-drawn look. The free version exports the PNG you need here; Pro adds cloud saves and high-resolution export.
Visit websiteFor a map that looks like nobody else's.
Best fordrawing every line by hand
For total artistic control, nothing beats drawing the map yourself. Krita is a professional-grade, free painting app with excellent brush engines, and the community offers many free fantasy-map brush packs (mountains, trees, cartouches). The most work, and the most personal result.
Visit websiteAdd pins, regions, routes, labels, layers, and time-aware movement without giving up the map art you already love.
