It's the first question almost every new painter runs into: should you buy watercolors in tubes or in pans? The short version is that they contain the exact same paint in two different forms, and the right choice comes down to how and where you paint. Below is the honest breakdown after years of using both in the studio and on location.
If you only take one thing away: pans are the easier, lower-waste starting point, tubes are the stronger, more economical choice for serious washes, and a good all-in-one kit blurs the line between the two.
Same Paint, Two Formats
Pans are small blocks of dried watercolor that sit in a tin. You wet your brush, swirl it on the surface, and lift color. Tubes hold the same pigment in a moist, toothpaste-like form that you squeeze onto a palette and dilute with water. Here's the part that surprises people: pans are literally tube paint that was poured into wells and dried at the factory. The pigment and binder are identical. That's why you can refill an empty pan by squeezing tube paint into it and letting it harden overnight.
So the debate isn't really about paint quality. It's about convenience, waste, color strength, and portability.
Head-to-Head
Setup & convenience
Edge: PansPans: Open and paint — zero prep. Ideal for short sessions and quick studies.
Tubes: Squeeze out, then wait for it to become workable. More friction to start.
Color strength
Edge: TubesPans: Takes more swirling to lift a rich, saturated load, especially for darks.
Tubes: Instant, intense colour straight from the tube — best for deep darks and vivid work.
Large washes
Edge: TubesPans: Slow to build enough pigment for a big sky or background wash.
Tubes: Mix a large puddle in seconds. The clear winner for anything big.
Waste
Edge: PansPans: Almost none — dried paint keeps for years and you use only what you lift.
Tubes: Squeeze out too much and the leftover dries on the palette (though it rewets).
Cost per ml
Edge: TubesPans: More expensive per ml as sold, but refillable from tubes.
Tubes: Cheaper per ml; better value if you paint a lot.
Portability
Edge: PansPans: Self-contained tin with a built-in mixing lid. Built for travel.
Tubes: Loose tubes need a separate palette and can leak in a bag.
Which Should You Buy?
Choose pans if you're a beginner, you paint in short sessions, you sketch on location, or you want the lowest-hassle way to start. Nearly every beginner I teach starts on pans and never feels held back by them. Our best watercolor sets for beginners and best travel sets are almost all pan-based for this reason.
Choose tubes if you paint larger pieces, you want the deepest, most saturated darks, or you're building a custom palette from specific single-pigment colors. Professional-grade lines like the Daniel Smith Essential set shine here.
The best-of-both option: a kit built around tube paints you set into a palette. Our top overall pick, the Tobios Watercolor Kit, does exactly this — 12 tube paints you squeeze into a walnut wood palette once, then use like pans, plus a water brush and a cotton-paper sketchbook. You get the strong, fast-mixing colour of tubes with the open-and-paint convenience of pans, which is why it's our #1 overall set.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are tube or pan watercolors better for beginners?
Pans are the easier starting point for most beginners. They need no setup — you open the box, wet a brush, and paint — and there's no waste because you only pick up the pigment you use. Tubes give you stronger, faster-mixing color and are better for large washes, but they require squeezing paint into a palette and letting it dry (or wasting what you don't use). A good compromise is an all-in-one kit like the Tobios Watercolor Kit, which gives you tube paints you squeeze into a wooden palette once and then use like pans.
Do tube watercolors and pan watercolors use different paint?
It's the same paint. Pans are simply tube paint that's been poured into little half- or full-pan wells and left to dry at the factory. That's why you can refill an empty pan by squeezing tube paint into it and letting it harden. The pigment and binder are identical — the only difference is the form it's sold in.
Which is cheaper, tubes or pans?
Per millilitre of paint, tubes are usually cheaper — you get more pigment for your money, and you can refill pans from tubes. But pans win on waste for beginners, since dried pan paint keeps indefinitely and you never squeeze out more than you use. For occasional painters, a pan set lasts longer; for anyone doing big washes regularly, tubes work out cheaper over time.
Can you travel with tube watercolors?
You can, but pans (or a kit built around a palette) are far more travel-friendly. Loose tubes are messy in a bag and need a separate palette to use. The practical travel setup is a compact palette pre-filled with your own tube colors, or a self-contained kit. See our best travel watercolor sets for options built for painting on location.
Still Deciding?
See exactly which sets we recommend at every budget — tested by Maria Garcia across multiple sessions, no sponsored placements.