There is no other comparable pencil currently on the market. They are ink, not watercolor, and they can be layered, unlike watercolor pencils. Meaning you can mark with them, wet the mark to heighten the color, let it dry and mark again over it. When you wet the second marking, the first will not be affected at all. If you do that with watercolor pencils, the color turns muddy because the two layers blend together. They are worth their price, no doubt about it.