Adobe Illustrator vs Clip Studio Paint
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Adobe Illustrator
Create logos, illustrations, and graphics on your iPad with intuitive Apple Pencil support. Design vector art, manipulate type, and create patterns on the go, even offline. Seamlessly sync your work across devices and other Adobe apps.
- Vector drawing with Apple Pencil
- Advanced typography tools
- Pattern creation
- Image vectorization
- Cross-device syncing
- Gradient and color tools
Read full descriptionHide full description
Create logos, illustrations, graphics and more. Illustrator on the iPad works intuitively with your Apple Pencil so you can design on the go from anywhere, even offline - it’s never been easier to take your creativity to new places. Design with precision, as naturally as you would with pen and paper. Create vector lines, shapes, type, gradients, and effects. Merge or cut graphics with quick, intuitive Pencil gestures to remove unwanted areas. Make your graphics pop with effects, and access over 18,000 fonts, 20+ color palettes, up-to-the-minute live streams from famous creatives, and guided tutorials. Work on a project across Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop, and Fresco. Plus, your Illustrator work is automatically synced to the cloud, so you and your team can always access the latest version from your desktop or iPad. This app is part of Adobe Creative Cloud. It’s free for Creative Cloud members who have a plan that includes Illustrator. INTUITIVE AND PRECISE DRAWING WITH APPLE PENCIL • Natural ways to draw — Make lines and curves using the Pen, Pencil, and Brush tools • Art and Calligraphic Brushes — Create and apply brush strokes to add artistic elements to your artwork. • Pinpoint editing — Create perfect graphics without quality loss with Smart Delete, Simplify Path, and more • Point precision — Edit graphics down to the point, radius, or angle level NEW WAYS TO MAKE STUNNING PATTERNS AND SHAPES • Vectorize — Convert raster images or paper sketches into vector images. • Radial, grid, and mirror repeat — Turn graphics into sophisticated patterns • Polygon shape creation — Make objects out of circles, triangles, squares, and stars • Transform as Shape — Transform paths and curves without manual manipulation of anchor points. • Blend Tool — Smoothly blend one shape into another across a specified number of steps. THE MOST COMPREHENSIVE TYPE TOOLKIT FOR IPAD • 18,000+ fonts — Use one of the thousands of high-quality fonts included in the Adobe Fonts library • Fonts of your own — Upload and design with any of your own licensed fonts and use them on both desktop and iPad • Type on a path — Bend and flow text onto the surface of lines and shapes • Outlined text — Turn text into an editable format that can be modified without limits • Variable fonts — They’re infinitely customizable • Color fonts — Explore gorgeous color variations and gradients that are built into the font BRILLIANT COLORS AND GRADIENTS • Point gradients — Drag and drop colors to create dynamic blends of diffused colors • 20+ color books — Use industry-standard color swatches or incorporate your own SEAMLESS MOVEMENT BETWEEN DEVICES AND APPS • File syncing between Illustrator on the desktop and on the iPad — Projects are automatically synced and accessible across devices • Photoshop import — Easily place a Photoshop image into your Illustrator design • Standard file format export — Create, save, and open Illustrator (AI) files with no loss of quality, and export in the most common formats, including SVG, PDF, PNG, and PSD. KEEPING TABS ON THE LATEST CREATIVE TRENDS • Livestreaming — Watch and learn from top design-industry creatives daily, right within the app • Trends to discover — Explore projects by other creatives Terms & Conditions: Your use of this application is governed by the Adobe General Terms of Use http://www.adobe.com/go/terms_linkfree_en and the Adobe Privacy Policy http://www.adobe.com/go/privacy_policy_linkfree_en Do Not Sell My Personal Information: www.adobe.com/go/ca-rights-linkfree
Clip Studio Paint
Create digital art with a vast array of brushes, textures, and colors. This app offers tools for drawing, painting, comic creation, and animation, with features like 3D models for reference and advanced layer options. It provides a free trial and subscription plans for full access.
- Unlimited custom brushes
- Realistic color mixing
- Artist-made materials
- 3D model references
- Comic creation tools
- Animation features
- Advanced layer editing
Read full descriptionHide full description
Start drawing and painting in a free 30-day trial. ・Up to 3 months free with your first plan ・Subscribe for the time you want to use it. Get all the latest features, materials, and cloud storage (10 GB)! *Please note that after your trial, you will need to make an in-app payment to save and export. Clip Studio Paint makes drawing a piece of cake, in any style! Whether you are a beginner or a pro, Clip Studio Paint will improve your creative experience while helping you grow. Now with new, powerful features! Unlimited amount of brushes at your fingertips to recreate any style - Use brushes with the same textures as real art materials - Adjust details such as brush shape and paper quality to your liking - Make unique colors with realistic color mixing, like traditional paints - Draw with transparency to erase, so no need to switch brushes Countless artist-made materials - Level up your art with free materials, for backgrounds and more - Discover community-made brushes from creators worldwide - Add details with materials like frills and more Coloring made easy - Easily color even with line gaps using the magnetic lasso tool - Lock transparency to paint over layers without affecting other areas - Set light source and shadow position with Shading Assist - Instantly reference and apply colors from an image to your art using Color Match - Enhance your art with filters like Chromatic Aberration, Retro Film, Pencil, and more Learn alongside other creators - Loads of official tutorials and creator tips available - Watch tutorials on our YouTube channel, for step-by-step advice - Ask questions on the Clip Studio Ask community Create the perfect reference with 3D models - Use 3D drawing figures to help with drawing anatomy - Customize character face and body models with beginner-friendly tools - Attach 3D objects like hats and shoes to characters for more specific references - Use 3D shapes to draw perspective Adjust after you draw - Liquify to make adjustments to the balance of your illustrations - Mesh Transformation allows you to transform to different shapes - Change up the poses of your character drawings with Puppet warp - Non-destructive color adjustment layers to get your art just right - Gradient maps give color to your grayscale illustrations Stress-free layer features - Assign colors and make multiple columns of layers to browse them at a glance - Enjoy the freedom of masking and clipping on multiple layers to edit and move your work - Add various effects to apply to the layer in a non-destructive way The ultimate comic creation app - All the tools you need for comic creation, from storyboard to finishing touches - Panel frames, speech balloons, text, effect lines, and screen tones in an instant - Make data for prints, web comics, manga, or webtoons (6 GB+ memory recommended) - Manage multi-page projects Professional animation, on any device - Use all the same tools as animation studios - Unique features allow you to draw your frames as you like - Enjoy a pencil and paper look and feel, but digitally - Expand your drawings to 4K resolution without losing quality by saving it as vector data ●Grade features ・PRO: All the tools you need to create stunning illustrations & short animations ・EX: All the above + multi-page functionality for comic/manga artists and unlimited animation frames *Clip Studio account needed to buy a plan. ● Target Devices and Specifications ・Minimum free storage space: 3GB, 4GB recommended ・Recommended display size: 10.5"+ Please see the following for supported devices. https://support.clip-studio.com/en-us/faq/articles/20200153 Supported pressure-sensitive pens ・Apple Pencil ● In-app purchases ・Required to save the canvas and export it to various file formats on iPad. Note: You will be charged to the Apple ID used for subscription. Terms of Service https://www.celsys.com/en/information/csp/ https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/
Verdict
Adobe Illustrator and Clip Studio Paint both sit at 4.5 stars, but that hides the real split: 46% of Clip Studio Paint's written reviews are positive against 13% of Adobe Illustrator's. Clip Studio Paint also leads on update cadence (every 3 weeks vs every 2 months). Adobe Illustrator's advantage is iOS requirement (14.0 vs 18.0). On price, rating, ratings volume and ads 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
Both are free to download. Adobe Illustrator sells 4 in-app purchases, starting at $9.99 per month and Clip Studio Paint sells 10 in-app purchases, starting at $4.89 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
Clip Studio Paint holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 4.5. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 38K and 15K respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 13% of Adobe Illustrator's written reviews are positive against 46% of Clip Studio Paint's.
Adobe Illustrator ships an update every 2 months, Clip Studio Paint every 3 weeks. Both last shipped on November 12, 2026.
| Parameter | Adobe Illustrator | Clip Studio Paint |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.5 (38K ratings) | 4.7 (15K ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 13.3% of reviews | 46.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 38K — better | 15K |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months | Every 3 weeks — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPad | iPad |
| Requires iOS | 14.0 — better | 18.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 856 MB | 583 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Adobe Inc. | CELSYS,Inc. |
Customer experience
Adobe Illustrator
Clip Studio Paint
User reviews
Adobe Illustrator
From 38K App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🚀 Smooth and intuitive
- 👍 Great for on-the-go vector work
- 🚀 Seamless sync with desktop Illustrator
- 👍 Useful for quick sketches and illustrations
Room to improve
- 🐛 Frequent crashes and freezes
- 🔍 Missing key desktop features
- 🔍 Buggy layer and selection handling
- 🔍 Limited export options and quality
- 🔍 Unintuitive interface in some areas
Clip Studio Paint
From 15K App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🚀 Best drawing software for iPad
- 🎨 Powerful features like vector layers
- 💻 Seamless transition from desktop to iPad
- 👍 Great for comics and illustrations
- 🎨 Diverse brushes and materials
Room to improve
- 💰 Expensive subscription model
- 🔍 Confusing interface for beginners
- 🔒 Requires internet connection to save
- 🐛 Frequent crashes and bugs
- 💻 Lacks full desktop feature parity
Bugs and requests
Adobe Illustrator
Reported bugs
4 issues- Layers disappearing or not updating properly
- Eraser tool behaving inconsistently
- Pasting content causing unexpected issues
- Frequent crashes when working on complex files
Requested features
5 requests- Ability to rotate canvas
- More brush and stroke customization options
- Implement Gaussian blur and other effects
- Add support for keyboard shortcuts
- Improve file management and cloud sync
Clip Studio Paint
Reported bugs
4 issues- Inability to save work without subscription
- Laggy performance with large files
- Unreliable auto-save and recovery
- Issues with brush and tool responsiveness
Requested features
4 requests- One-time purchase option
- Improved file management and cloud integration
- Simplified interface for casual users
- More animation and 3D tools
In-app purchases
Adobe Illustrator
- Illustrator on iPad : Monthly1 Month trial$9.991 Month
- Adobe Design Mobile: Monthly1 Month trial$14.991 Month
- Illustrator on iPad : Yearly1 Month trial$79.991 Year
Show 1 moreShow fewer
- Adobe Design Mobile: Yearly1 Month trial$149.991 Year
Clip Studio Paint
- PRO Monthly$4.891 Month
- PRO Monthly Single-Device Plan3 Days trial$4.891 Month
- PRO Monthly Single-Device Plan3 Months trial$4.891 Month
Show 7 moreShow fewer
- PRO Monthly Dual-Device Plan3 Days trial$7.991 Month
- EX Monthly3 Months trial$9.691 Month
- EX Monthly Single-Device Plan3 Months trial$9.691 Month
- EX Monthly Single-Device Plan3 Days trial$9.691 Month
- EX Monthly Dual-Device Plan3 Days trial$13.491 Month
- PRO Annual Single-Device Plan3 Days trial$28.901 Year
- PRO Annual Single-Device Plan3 Months trial$28.901 Year
Questions
Is Adobe Illustrator free?
Is Clip Studio Paint free?
Which has better reviews, Adobe Illustrator or Clip Studio Paint?
Do Adobe Illustrator or Clip Studio Paint have ads?
Which is updated more often, Adobe Illustrator or Clip Studio Paint?
Other comparisons















