Comparison

Paintwork vs Super Simple Draw

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

Head to head
About

Paintwork

Create handwritten notes, diaries, and drawings with a vast array of tools. Features include customizable brushes, vector graphics, a rich color palette, and image import. Export your creations as PDFs or images.

Highlights
  • Customizable brushes and erasers
  • Extensive vector graphics tools
  • Rich color palette
  • Image and material import
  • Handwriting assistance
  • PDF and image export
  • Customizable backgrounds and canvas
Features
Read full description

Paintwork is a simple and powerful software for handwritten notebooks, diaries, and hand drawn images. It includes functions such as: brush list (hundreds of brush effects, customizable brush thickness, color, transparency, dynamic strength weights, etc.), eraser list (each brush effect can be used as an eraser), Vector graphics tools (including lasso, vector eraser, vector pen, annotation pen, highlighter, wavy pen, double line pen, text box, illustration, dashed line, horizontal and vertical dashed line, curve, closed shape, text pen, rectangle, ellipse, straight line, arrow, triangle, pentagram, polygon, etc.), and also include many related attribute settings, Color list (with a rich color palette and customizable manual configuration of commonly used colors), copy and cut the content of specified areas on the page, import images or materials, as well as a simple calculator, handwriting assistance, and photo scanning of document files. Unlimited writing, ruler, recognition of text, printing of text, filling, and the ability to export PDF files or images. Supports custom background functionality, custom canvas paper, and more. It can be used to write for classroom or book learning notes, handwritten notes for work meetings, hand drawn mind maps, hand drawn account creation, hand made account book making, writing diaries, recording life thoughts, calligraphy practice, handwritten brush and pencil characters, hand drawn artistic characters, and so on. Supports Apple pencil. Can export images or PDFs. If you have any comments or feedback, please feel free to contact us. Contact email: pw_team@163.com If you like our application, please give us a good review. Thank you.

About

Super Simple Draw

A minimalist drawing application designed for quick sketches and notes, offering seamless integration with Apple Pencil and widgets. It supports various iPad features and standard iOS sharing, making it as easy to use as a physical whiteboard.

Highlights
  • Home screen widgets
  • Apple Pencil gesture support
  • iPad multitasking
  • Grid and lined backgrounds
  • Draw on images
  • Save for Instagram
  • Undo/redo functionality
Features
Read full description

Minimalist drawing app. Supports Apple Pencil (new & old), widgets, both portrait & landscape, iPad multitasking, standard iOS share, the latest devices. Pick up & use. Like a white board or scratch paper. Features: • Widget to show case the latest or favorite drawing on the home screen • Apple Pencil gesture support • Multi-window and multitasking support on iPadOS • Original Apple Pencil support • Grid background and lined background • Draw on top of another picture • Save square images for Instagram submission • Draw in either landscape or portrait • Undo and redo • Standard iOS share/action button (copy, save, send to other messaging/social apps) Perfect for: • Jotting down notes • Illustrate something to friends/coworkers through drawing • Draw/sketch something casually • Tell stories to kids with quick illustrations • Play quick random games with friends (e.g. draw and guess, or any simple board game you just invented) • Practice some basic drawing skills (drawing straight line, parallel lines, circles, faces, etc) Draw for a better world: Super Simple Draw started as a way to reduce the use of papers because we believe that the current environmental degradation and the climate change are pressing issues that demand urgent actions. Now we took a step further: for every ~2000 lines you draw, we plant a tree through a partnership with Trees for the Future. More than ten thousand trees have been planted so far. Learn more at https://trees.theiosapp.com

Screenshots

Paintwork4 screens
Super Simple Draw4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is ads: Paintwork at none against Super Simple Draw's shown. Paintwork also leads on update cadence (weekly vs every 5 weeks) and ratings volume (17K vs 4K). Super Simple Draw's advantage is review sentiment (82% vs 65%). On price, rating, in-app purchases and monetization model 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

Both are free to download. Paintwork sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $0.99 per month and Super Simple Draw sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.6 for Paintwork against 4.7 for Super Simple Draw. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 17K and 4K respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 65% of Paintwork's written reviews are positive against 82% of Super Simple Draw's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Paintwork ships an update weekly, Super Simple Draw every 5 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 14, 2026 and October 15, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
Paintwork versus Super Simple Draw: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterPaintworkSuper Simple Draw
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.6 (17K ratings)4.7 (4K ratings) — better
Positive reviews65.4% of reviews82.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings17K — better4K
Update frequencyWeekly — betterEvery 5 weeks
AdsNo — betterYes
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS15.6 — better17.0
Further details — not scored
Size200 MB4 MB
Age rating4+4+
Developer伟典 苏Bao Lei

Customer experience

Paintwork

All ratings17,166 ratings
Positive88.1%
Neutral5.4%
Negative6.5%
Written reviews237 reviews
Positive65.4%
Neutral13.9%
Negative20.7%

Super Simple Draw

All ratings4,001 ratings
Positive92.7%
Neutral5.0%
Negative2.3%
Written reviews100 reviews
Positive82.0%
Neutral9.0%
Negative9.0%

User reviews

Paintwork

From 17K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🎨 Vast selection of brushes and tools
  • 💻 Works well on various devices
  • 🎨 Allows for creative expression
  • 💰 Free to use with no paywall

Room to improve

  • 🔒 Certain features locked behind paywall
  • 🐛 Bugs and glitches causing crashes or data loss
  • 🎨 Limited color palette and blending options
  • 🔍 Lack of intuitive UI and tutorials

Super Simple Draw

From 4K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Easy to use
  • 🎨 Good color selection
  • 💡 Simple and straightforward
  • 🎨 Supports Apple Pencil
  • 🎨 Great for quick sketching and drawing

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Occasional lag or delay in line drawing
  • 🔍 Lack of zoom or detail features
  • 🎨 Limited brush/tool options
  • 🎨 Could use more color options

Bugs and requests

Paintwork

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • App freezing or crashing when using certain features
  • Artwork getting deleted or not saving properly
  • Inability to import or work with external images

Requested features

4 requests
  • Add more color options and blending tools
  • Improve stability and reduce crashes
  • Provide more tutorials and onboarding for new users
  • Allow users to save and access their artwork easily

Super Simple Draw

Reported bugs

2 issues
  • In-app purchase issues with ads still showing
  • Compatibility problems on older devices

Requested features

4 requests
  • Add zoom and pan functionality
  • Implement more brush/tool options
  • Expand color palette
  • Add ability to save and load drawings

In-app purchases

3 purchases

Paintwork

Subscriptions2
  • Monthly subscription premium$0.991 Month
  • Annual subscription premium$3.991 Year
One-time1
  • Unlock local version$9.99
1 purchases

Super Simple Draw

One-time1
  • Remove Ads$0.99

Questions

Is Paintwork free?
Paintwork is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Super Simple Draw free?
Super Simple Draw is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Paintwork or Super Simple Draw?
Super Simple Draw is rated higher. Paintwork averages 4.6 out of 5 from 17K ratings, while Super Simple Draw averages 4.7 from 4K ratings.
Do Paintwork or Super Simple Draw have ads?
Super Simple Draw shows ads; Paintwork does not.
Which is updated more often, Paintwork or Super Simple Draw?
Paintwork ships an update weekly, and Super Simple Draw every 5 weeks. Most recently, Paintwork was updated on October 14, 2026 and Super Simple Draw on October 15, 2026.

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