Comparison

Inkpad vs CutLabX

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

Head to head
About

Inkpad

Create professional vector art on your iPad with a powerful yet intuitive interface. Draw with precision, manipulate objects, and apply flexible typography effects. Organize your work with unlimited layers and easily import/export various file formats.

Highlights
  • Precision vector drawing tools
  • Flexible typography effects
  • Unlimited layers for organization
  • Advanced object manipulation
  • Gradient editing and Boolean operations
  • Import/export SVG, PDF, PNG, JPEG
  • Apple Pencil support
Features
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Create beautiful vector artwork on your iPad with Inkpad. Draw with accuracy and speed. Quickly align new or existing objects either to a grid, points, or path edges. Alternatively draw freehand bezier paths using the brush tool. Select, scale and rotate hundreds of objects with high performance in real time. Cutout elements of artwork, photographs or patterns with masks. Flexible typography effects. Position text at any angle or to follow along paths. Apply multiple effects to text, with stroke, fill, shadow and opacity all dynamically adjustable. If the over seventy built in fonts don’t quite fit your design, you can import any of the millions of OpenType and TrueType fonts available. Take control with unlimited layers. Feel free to add as many or as few elements in each layer to organise your drawings. Rename, rearrange, delete, hide and lock layers as you draw. Isolate the active layer for easy editing. Adjust each layers transparency independently to get your ideal composition. Powerful editing at your fingertips. Easily manipulate single or multiple elements with powerful scale and rotate tools. Associate individual elements into groups. Interactively edit gradient fills on the canvas. Perform a range of Boolean operations on paths, including Unite, Intersect, Exclude and Subtract Front. Colors to match your imagination. Picking the perfect color is easy with the freedom of the expressive color wheel. Or modify colors using RGB and HSB sliders. Enter the hexadecimal value to precisely match existing artwork colors. Sample colors using the dropper. Store and recall colors from the swatch library. Import, export and sharing. Import drawings from desktop vector applications as SVG and include photos directly from your camera roll, or import PNG and JPEG images from cloud services. Export your drawings for sharing or importing into other apps as SVG, PDF, PNG and JPEG to all cloud storage services. Send drawings as photos directly to your camera roll. Light & dark modes. Light and dark mode system appearances with the option to override the system setting to light or dark mode for Inkpad. Apple Pencil. If you’ve got an iPad Pro or the 2018 iPad, Inkpad works great with the Apple Pencil. Praise for Inkpad. Some of the kind feedback received in emails and App Store reviews: “Works perfect on latest iPad Pro, Apple Pencil.” “It’s really beautiful to use with an iPad Pro.” “Inkpad is one of the killer apps for the iPad.” “Inkpad is my favorite graphics app on any platform. Inkpad is just the right balance of enough power without being too complicated.” “If you’ve worked with Illustrator or Inkscape, this is the vector drawing app to download for your iPad. Especially nice with the iPad Pro with Apple Pencil.” “I love this vector drawing app for its easy-to-use interface and pared-down tool bar. It covers the essentials perfectly and the developers are very responsive to questions.” “Inkpad is my main vector design tool for mobile. This is the app that Adobe Draw should be.” “Thank you guys, I use this app all the time.” “If you used to work with Inkpad in the past you should get this app to continue working with it.” Acknowledgements. Thank you to Martin Coffey, Rita Flores, Yve Müller, Armin Popp, David Rivera, Nicolas Saez, Erick Villagomez, Felipe Villela and Jason Wray for contributing artwork to the ‘Designed with Inkpad’ app preview video and screenshots. Please visit our website to see more of their artwork and for links to their portfolios. History. Inkpad was originally created by Steve Sprang in 2011, but it disappeared from the App Store in 2015. I took over development because my wife Lindsay uses Inkpad and I wanted to ensure the continued development and support of a product we and others enjoy so much. Terms and Conditions: http://inkpad.art/terms-and-conditions/ Privacy Policy: http://inkpad.art/privacy/

About

CutLabX

This software enables GRBL laser engraving machine users to create designs from images, text, and QR codes. It offers a library of free resources and allows skilled designers to upload their work for commissions. It's designed for both beginners and professionals.

Highlights
  • GRBL laser engraving
  • Image, text, QR code design
  • Free design resources
  • User-uploaded designs for commission
  • Supports various GRBL devices
  • Beginner and professional friendly
Features
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CutLabX is a GRBL laser engraving machine software that can load common image formats and easily create outstanding works with just a few simple steps. It can also be used for designing graphics, images, text, QR codes, and more. Compared to other GRBL software, CutLabX is suitable for both professional users and beginners. It provides a large collection of free design resources that are constantly updated. If you are skilled in design, you can upload your own designs to CutLabX for others to use and earn commissions. In summary, it is a great alternative to software like Lightburn and LaserGRBL! CutLabX supports all GRBL devices such as Ortur, XTool, ATOMSTACK, Twotrees, Glowforge, and more.

Screenshots

CutLabX4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Inkpad at 4.3 against CutLabX's 1.8. Inkpad also leads on review sentiment (58% vs 19%) and ratings volume (420 vs 17). CutLabX's advantage is device support (4 vs 1). On price, update cadence, ads and in-app purchases 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. Inkpad sells 5 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per month and CutLabX sells 2 one-off in-app purchases. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Inkpad holds the better App Store score, 4.3 against 1.8. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Inkpad has 420 ratings behind it against 17, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 58% of Inkpad's written reviews are positive against 19% of CutLabX's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Inkpad ships an update every 5 weeks, CutLabX monthly. The most recent releases landed on August 28, 2026 and September 20, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
Inkpad versus CutLabX: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterInkpadCutLabX
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.3 (420 ratings) — better1.8 (17 ratings)
Positive reviews58.1% of reviews — better18.8% of reviews
Number of ratings420 — better17
Update frequencyEvery 5 weeksMonthly — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPadiPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac — better
Requires iOS13.4 — better16
Further details — not scored
Size29 MB117 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperEnvozaDongguan Xinjia Laser Technology Co., Ltd

Customer experience

Inkpad

All ratings420 ratings
Positive83.1%
Neutral2.6%
Negative14.3%
Written reviews155 reviews
Positive58.1%
Neutral11.6%
Negative30.3%

CutLabX

All ratings17 ratings
Positive17.6%
Neutral5.9%
Negative76.5%
Written reviews16 reviews
Positive18.8%
Neutral0.0%
Negative81.3%

Bugs and requests

Inkpad

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Distortion issues when importing SVG files
  • Inability to access previous work without subscription
  • Grayed-out options and functionality after updates

Requested features

5 requests
  • Improved file management with folders
  • Addition of a brush tool with customizable ends
  • Inclusion of an isometric grid and dimension tools
  • Support for more cloud storage services beyond Dropbox
  • In-app palm rejection for a better drawing experience

CutLabX

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

5 purchases

Inkpad

Subscriptions2
  • Inkpad Monthly1 Month trial$1.991 Month
  • Inkpad Yearly1 Month trial$9.991 Year
One-time3
  • Medium Tip$1.99
  • Large Tip$4.99
  • Enormous Tip$9.99
2 purchases

CutLabX

One-time2
  • 100金币$9.99
  • 200金币$19.99

Questions

Is Inkpad free?
Inkpad is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is CutLabX free?
CutLabX is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Inkpad or CutLabX?
Inkpad is rated higher. Inkpad averages 4.3 out of 5 from 420 ratings, while CutLabX averages 1.8 from 17 ratings.
Do Inkpad or CutLabX have ads?
Neither Inkpad nor CutLabX shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Inkpad or CutLabX?
Inkpad ships an update every 5 weeks, and CutLabX monthly. Most recently, Inkpad was updated on August 28, 2026 and CutLabX on September 20, 2026.

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