Hobby Lobby vs Michaels vs Walmart: Paint by Numbers Compared

Hobby Lobby, Michaels, and Walmart all sell paint by numbers. What you actually get at each one varies more than the price tags suggest.

Hobby Lobby, Michaels, and Walmart are the three most common in-store options for paint by numbers in the United States. All three carry kits. All three have real limitations that are worth understanding before you drive to a store or add to a cart. This guide covers what each retailer actually stocks, what the prices look like at the shelf rather than the listing headline, and what a dedicated online kit offers that none of them can match.

Hobby Lobby Paint by Numbers

Hobby Lobby is one of the most popular craft retailers in the US, and their paint by numbers section is well-stocked by in-store retail standards. The range includes standard canvas kits and wood-base kits in a rotating selection of designs, typically priced around $9.99 for a basic kit. Hobby Lobby runs a consistent 40% off coupon that applies to a single regular-priced item, which can bring an individual kit down further, though the coupon applies to one item per visit and does not stack with sale prices.

The canvas kits at Hobby Lobby are a reasonable entry point for a first-time buyer who wants to try the hobby with minimal commitment. The design range is limited and changes seasonally, stock varies by location, and the product pages rarely state canvas dimensions or paint pot count. At $9.99 for a basic kit, you are getting what the price reflects: a modest canvas, a small set of paint pots, and two brushes. The wood-base kits are a different format entirely, with paint applied to a wooden panel rather than a canvas, which produces a different finished result and is not the same category as a standard adult paint by numbers kit.

Michaels Paint by Numbers

Michaels has the widest paint by numbers range of any major US craft retailer, with adult kits running from $23.98 at the lower end up to $38.99 for larger canvases and more detailed designs. The 12x16 inch canvas kits around $23.98 are the most comparable to what you find at Hobby Lobby in terms of size, while the $30 to $38 range covers 16x20 inch canvases that are closer in scale to a dedicated online kit.

Michaels also stocks framed kits, where the canvas arrives pre-stretched on a frame, at around $23.52 to $26.49. At that price point, a framed Michaels kit is actually competitive with the entry level of a dedicated unframed kit online, which makes Michaels the one US retail option where the comparison to an online purchase is worth making honestly rather than dismissing outright. The specific brands at Michaels are third-party import labels rather than dedicated paint by numbers suppliers, which affects paint quality and canvas material, but the price and size range is more serious than Hobby Lobby or Walmart.

Walmart Paint by Numbers

Walmart's paint by numbers range sits across a wide price band, from import kits at $12.74 on the low end up to $24.99 for a 40x50cm canvas from a named brand. The in-store selection is thinner than online, and the online Walmart listings aggregate dozens of third-party sellers, which creates a product page quality problem: canvas dimensions, paint pot counts, and colour counts are inconsistently disclosed, and a listing with thousands of reviews may reflect a different version of the product than what is currently in stock under that listing.

The convenience argument for Walmart is strongest if you need a kit today rather than in five to eight days. For in-store pickup or same-day delivery, Walmart is a practical option. If the specific design, size, or colour count matters to you, the range and transparency limitations make it the weakest of the three retail options despite having a competitive price band.

A Note on Amazon

Amazon is technically not an in-store option but it shows up in most US searches for paint by numbers, so it is worth addressing directly. Amazon's selection is vast and the price range runs from under $15 to $40 for adult kits. The specific problem with Amazon paint by numbers is listing integrity: the same kit is frequently sold under multiple brand names with consolidated review counts, which means a listing showing 4,000 five-star reviews may be for a version of the product that is no longer being sold under that listing. Searching "paint by numbers Amazon best sellers" returns a different result each month depending on which third-party seller is currently winning the listing. For a one-time purchase where you can return it if the quality disappoints, Amazon is fine. For a gift or for anyone who cares about what arrives, the lack of brand consistency is a real issue.

Side by Side Comparison

When the Retail Option Makes Sense

There are two situations where buying from Hobby Lobby, Michaels, or Walmart is the right call. The first is when you need a kit today, for a last-minute gift or an activity happening this weekend. No online kit ships same-day, and the retail option is the only one that can get something into your hands immediately. In that case, Michaels is the strongest choice because it has the widest design range and the most transparent pricing of the three.

The second is when you genuinely just want to try the hobby once with no particular attachment to the design or the result. A $9.99 Hobby Lobby kit is a low-risk way to find out whether you enjoy paint by numbers before investing more. If you finish it and want to continue, the next purchase is almost certainly going to be online.

What a Dedicated Kit Offers That Retail Cannot

A dedicated kit states the canvas size, colour count, and paint material on the product page before you buy. Most retail listings do not.

The standard adult kit from a dedicated supplier starts at $29.99 for a 40x50cm canvas without a frame. That is slightly more than a Walmart kit and comparable to the lower end of the Michaels range, but the product page tells you exactly what you are getting before you buy: canvas dimensions, colour count, canvas material (linen blend), and frame option. That transparency is almost entirely absent at retail, where listings regularly omit at least two of those four details.

The colour count choice, 24, 36, or 48, is the other difference that matters at the painting stage. A retail kit gives you whatever colour count the manufacturer decided on, which is usually not stated on the box. A dedicated kit lets you match the colour count to the complexity of the subject: 24 for a landscape or floral, 36 for anything with skin tones or water, 48 for portraits and detailed scenes. Our adult buyer's guide covers how to make that decision for any specific subject.

The custom kit option starts at $34.99 and is not available at any US retail store at any price. You upload a photo, a real artist designs the numbered canvas from it, and the kit ships to your address. If a specific subject matters more than convenience, that is the only path to it. Our photo selection guide covers what makes a good upload before you order.

Common Questions

About the Author

William Murdock is the Founder of Paint On Numbers, based in Cheyenne, Wyoming. He checked current Hobby Lobby, Michaels, and Walmart listings before writing this comparison so the prices and product details here reflect what is actually available, not what was available six months ago.