Comparison

Zen Brush 2 vs RYUKIN

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Zen Brush 2

This app offers a drawing experience inspired by East Asian ink brush art. Its intuitive interface and new engine provide a fluid and expressive way to create unique artwork, with options to share and edit your creations.

Highlights
  • East Asian ink brush simulation
  • New expressive brush engine
  • Gallery for saving work
  • Red ink option
  • Ink dispersion effect
  • 92 background templates
  • Pressure sensitive stylus support
Features
Read full description

Zen Brush 2 is a drawing app focused on the strong yet beautiful feel of the East Asian ink brush. With a new drawing engine that brings to life a feeling of silky fluent painting and the delicacy of an ink brush, providing a simple and intuitive user interface imbued with the Zen spirit, this app is designed to be optimal for performing Zen art. Simply start the app and you are immediately ready to draw. Anyone can create superb Zen art anywhere and at any time with this app’s uniquely rich expressiveness. You can publish your work to Facebook and Twitter with the "Share" and "Open in" functions. You can also share or edit your images by opening them in other apps such as Instagram, WhatsApp, LINE, Photoshop Mix, etc. - The next step in the evolution of the Zen Brush app which achieved more than 1.5 million downloads on all platforms combined. - Includes a new brush engine providing an even stronger, beautiful expressiveness. - Includes a gallery feature that makes it possible to save your work in progress. - Includes red ink in addition to the black ink (*). - Ink dispersion effect enables a three-dimensional feeling of depth. * Actual colors vary depending on the template. Features: - 92 background style templates. - Simple brush size adjustment with slider. - Simple main tools: Ink brush, red brush, eraser brush. - 3 levels of ink dispersion. - 3 levels of ink tone. - Canvas zoom (zoom in and out with pinch gestures). - Guide lines (9 types). - Undo / redo (5 levels). - Save your work to the photo library. - Open in other apps (Formats: JPEG, PNG, transparent PNG (no background)). - Share artwork (Facebook, Twitter, etc.). - Simulated finger pressure. - Support for pressure sensitive styluses. * Apple Pencil / Wacom Bamboo Stylus / Adonit / Scriba / SonarPen - Support for iPad Pro. - Support for 3D Touch. - Adjustable brush pressure sensitivity (5 levels). - Adjustable tilt sensitivity (5 levels). * Requires a pen that supports tilt. - Supports multitasking (Slide Over / Split View). - Support for iMessage App.

About

RYUKIN

Experience the serene beauty of a virtual goldfish aquarium. Customize your tank, interact with the fish, and enjoy soothing sounds. Features a special mode for young children and a sleep timer for relaxation.

Highlights
  • Interactive goldfish that respond to touch
  • Customizable tank shape and background
  • Soothing water sounds and visuals
  • Cat & Baby Mode for safe play
  • Sleep timer for bedtime
  • Clock and date display
Features
Read full description

~ Gracefully Fluttering Goldfish ~ Goldfish glide gracefully through crystal-clear water, their fins fluttering gently as they swim. Their charming gestures and soft, delicate fin movements have been carefully recreated. Enjoy the beauty of goldfish anytime, anywhere — without the need for water changes or feeding. App Highlights - Fish respond to your touch and follow your finger - Customize tank shape, background color, and floating objects - Soothing water sounds and clear, refreshing visuals - "Cat & Baby Mode" for safe play with kittens and toddlers - Sleep timer for relaxing bedtime use - Play your favorite music while watching the aquarium - Clock and date display - White and black goldfish included; colorful and themed fish available via in-app purchase Settings & Customization - Camera options (Free position / Follow fish / Auto-rotation) - Screen orientation - Tilt sensitivity - Sleep timer - UI size - Toggle water surface, bubbles, and other effects - Adjust brightness, saturation, contrast, and color tone - Quality settings (resolution and various effects) - Volume settings (water sounds, bubble sounds) - Clock & date options (font, position, size) Other Features - Fish, objects, and the water surface respond to touch and device tilt - Fish may whimsically swim toward your finger - Tap too much and the fish may faint! - Feed the fish - Adjust the size of fish and objects - Display up to six fish at once ‥∴ Bringing the Allure of Goldfish Closer ∴‥ This app was born from a childhood dream of recreating goldfish through programming. Fifteen years after the release of the original app *Wa Kingyo*, countless refinements have been made to capture the graceful and charming nature of these fish. From the gentle movement of their fins to the way they chase and munch on food, experience the beauty and warmth that goldfish bring. News and Support X: @m_hakozaki TikTok: @m_hakozaki Instagram: @masataka.hakozaki

Screenshots

Zen Brush 24 screens
RYUKIN4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: RYUKIN at 4.9 against Zen Brush 2's 3.9. RYUKIN also leads on review sentiment (94% vs 67%) and update cadence (every 8 days vs monthly). Zen Brush 2's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 38) and iOS requirement (12.0 vs 16.0). On price, ratings volume, ads and device support there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Zen Brush 2 costs $2.99 and RYUKIN $3.49 up front. RYUKIN sells 35 one-off in-app purchases. Zen Brush 2 asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

RYUKIN holds the better App Store score, 4.9 against 3.9. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 129 and 62 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 67% of Zen Brush 2's written reviews are positive against 94% of RYUKIN's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Zen Brush 2 ships an update monthly, RYUKIN every 8 days. The most recent releases landed on November 1, 2026 and October 30, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 4 level
Zen Brush 2 versus RYUKIN: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterZen Brush 2RYUKIN
Price$2.99 — better$3.49
Rating3.9 (129 ratings)4.9 (62 ratings) — better
Positive reviews67.1% of reviews94.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings129 — better62
Update frequencyMonthlyEvery 8 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree — betterPaid
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS12.0 — better16.0
Further details — not scored
Size72 MB229 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperPSOFTMasataka Hakozaki

Customer experience

Zen Brush 2

All ratings129 ratings
Positive67.4%
Neutral14.7%
Negative17.8%
Written reviews289 reviews
Positive67.1%
Neutral11.8%
Negative21.1%

RYUKIN

All ratings62 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews100 reviews
Positive94.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative6.0%

User reviews

Zen Brush 2

From 129 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🎨 Realistic brush simulation and stroke quality
  • 😌 Meditative and relaxing user experience
  • ⚡ Quick and responsive performance
  • 🎯 Simple, minimalist interface design
  • ✍️ Excellent for calligraphy and character practice

Room to improve

  • 🎨 Limited color options (primarily black and red)
  • 📱 No iCloud sync or cloud backup support
  • 🐛 Occasional app crashes and freezes
  • ⚠️ Confusing interface for new users
  • 🗑️ Delete button placement causes accidental deletions

RYUKIN

From 62 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 💎 Gorgeous and lifelike fish
  • 🎨 Beautiful and customizable environments
  • 🎶 Soothing water sounds
  • 🕰️ Useful clock feature
  • 👍 Immersive and relaxing experience

Room to improve

  • 🔋 High battery consumption on max settings
  • 💰 Additional fish require paid purchases
  • 🌱 Lack of plant/natural decor options
  • 🐟 Limited variety of standard goldfish

Bugs and requests

Zen Brush 2

Reported bugs

9 issues
  • Background menu freezes
  • App crashes during export/save operations
  • Blank canvas loads despite recent saves
  • Unable to export artworks (ALAssetsLibraryErrorDomain error)
  • Brush stroke continues in straight line after stylus lift
Show 4 more
  • Performance issues on newer iPad Pro models
  • Inconsistent undo button behavior
  • File loading issues with previously saved images
  • Pressure sensitivity not working with certain styluses

Requested features

19 requests
  • Expanded color palette beyond black and red
  • iCloud synchronization across devices
  • Layer support for more complex artwork
  • Import background photos for tracing and reference
  • Custom guides and grid overlays
Show 14 more
  • Zoom functionality
  • Ability to adjust canvas/paper size
  • Move and scale drawing tools
  • Increased undo/redo history (25-30 steps)
  • Landscape mode support with adaptive layouts
  • Tutorials and user guidance documentation
  • Option to disable finger input when using stylus
  • Disappearing ink effect option
  • Pre-wet paper option for ink interaction
  • Numeric brush size adjustment
  • Save default brush size settings
  • Landscape orientation paper backgrounds
  • More brush variety and customization
  • EPS, SVG, and PDF export formats

RYUKIN

Reported bugs

1 issue
  • Occasional crashing on high-end devices

Requested features

5 requests
  • Ability to change fish colors
  • Add more fish species (e.g. bettas, tetras)
  • Implement fish breeding/growth mode
  • Allow customizing fish placement in tank
  • Add desktop/widget mode for always-on display

In-app purchases

None

Zen Brush 2

No in-app purchases

35 purchases

RYUKIN

One-time35
  • WIREFRAME RAINBOW$0.99
  • ROBO FISH 02$1.99
  • ROBO FISH 04$1.99
Show 32 more
  • ROBO FISH 06$1.99
  • GHOST BRIDE$1.99
  • BAT FISH$1.99
  • CALICO ORANGE/WHITE/BLACK$1.99
  • BLACK WHITE KITTY FISH$1.99
  • GHOST TRANSLUCENT$1.99
  • BLACK KITTY FISH$1.99
  • WHITE KITTY FISH$1.99
  • ROBO FISH 03$1.99
  • GHOST BLACK$1.99
  • ROBO FISH 01$1.99
  • ORANGE & WHITE KITTY FISH$1.99
  • RED RYUKIN$1.99
  • RED-WHITE RYUKIN$1.99
  • CALICO RED/WHITE/BLACK$1.99
  • ORANGE/WHITE$1.99
  • CALICO RED/GRAY/BLACK$1.99
  • YELLOW GOLD RYUKIN$1.99
  • RED CAP ORANDA$1.99
  • RED/WHITE II$1.99
  • LIONHEAD ORANGE/WHITE/BLACK$1.99
  • GHOST LUMINOUS$1.99
  • BLACK RYUKIN$1.99
  • CALICO KITTY FISH$1.99
  • GRAY WHITE KITTY FISH$1.99
  • WHITE VAMPIRE$1.99
  • BLACK VAMPIRE$1.99
  • BLACK WITCH$1.99
  • WHITE WITCH$1.99
  • ZOMBIE FISH$1.99
  • SKELETON FISH$1.99
  • PANDA TELESCOPE$1.99

Questions

Is Zen Brush 2 free?
Zen Brush 2 costs $2.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is RYUKIN free?
RYUKIN costs $3.49, and also offers in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Zen Brush 2 or RYUKIN?
RYUKIN is rated higher. Zen Brush 2 averages 3.9 out of 5 from 129 ratings, while RYUKIN averages 4.9 from 62 ratings.
Do Zen Brush 2 or RYUKIN have ads?
Neither Zen Brush 2 nor RYUKIN shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Zen Brush 2 or RYUKIN?
Zen Brush 2 ships an update monthly, and RYUKIN every 8 days. Most recently, Zen Brush 2 was updated on November 1, 2026 and RYUKIN on October 30, 2026.

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