Paintwork vs Charcoal
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
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.
- 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
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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.
Charcoal
This app offers a simple yet powerful sketching experience with rich tools and beautiful color palettes. Easily create and export your artwork for use in other graphics programs. It supports modern iOS features like multiple windows and dark mode for enhanced productivity.
- Simple sketching interface
- Rich drawing tools
- Beautiful color palettes
- Export sketches
- Multiple window support
- Dark mode
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• Charcoal is incredibly easy to use: Just create or open a sketch and start sketching. There are no layers or confusing settings. Instead, Charcoal features rich tools and beautiful color palettes. • Charcoal allows you to export a sketch to use it in your favorite graphics program. • Charcoal supports modern iOS and iPadOS features like multiple windows and dark mode: use it at night or open multiple sketches, even side by side.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Charcoal at none against Paintwork's 3. Charcoal also leads on review sentiment (77% vs 65%). Paintwork's advantage is update cadence (weekly vs every 2 months) and ratings volume (17K vs 143). On price, rating, 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
Both are free to download. Paintwork sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $0.99 per month. Charcoal asks for nothing beyond the download.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.6 for Paintwork against 4.5 for Charcoal. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Paintwork has 17K ratings behind it against 143, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 65% of Paintwork's written reviews are positive against 77% of Charcoal's.
Paintwork ships an update weekly, Charcoal every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on September 23, 2026 and September 8, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Paintwork | Charcoal |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.6 (17K ratings) — better | 4.5 (143 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 65.4% of reviews | 76.9% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 17K — better | 143 |
| Update frequency | Weekly — better | Every 2 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod, Vision Pro — better |
| Requires iOS | 15.6 | 15.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 200 MB | 28 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | 伟典 苏 | Lars Augustin |
Customer experience
Paintwork
Charcoal
User reviews
Paintwork
From 17K App Store ratingsWhat 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
Charcoal
From 143 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🚀 Simple and intuitive
- 👍 Great for quick sketching
- 🎨 Aesthetically pleasing design
- 💰 Free with no ads
Room to improve
- 🎨 Limited color palette
- 🎨 Lack of customization options
- 🎨 Missing advanced drawing tools
- 🐛 Occasional bugs and crashes
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
Charcoal
Reported bugs
3 issues- Saved sketches lose quality
- Palette colors change unexpectedly
- Freezing when opening color palette
Requested features
4 requests- Ability to change brush/pen size
- Layers and blending tools
- Color wheel and custom color selection
- Import/export options
In-app purchases
Paintwork
- Monthly subscription premium$0.991 Month
- Annual subscription premium$3.991 Year
- Unlock local version$9.99
Charcoal
No in-app purchases








