# Paintstorm Studio vs FocalPaint

The clearest difference is price: FocalPaint at $4.99 against Paintstorm Studio's $12.99. FocalPaint also leads on update cadence (monthly vs every 4 months) and review sentiment (79% vs 60%). Paintstorm Studio's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 3) and ratings volume (368 vs 13). On ads, monetization model and device support there is nothing between them.

Paintstorm Studio costs $12.99 and FocalPaint $4.99 up front. FocalPaint sells 3 one-off in-app purchases. Paintstorm Studio asks for nothing beyond the download.

Paintstorm Studio holds the better App Store score, 4.4 against 4.2. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Paintstorm Studio has 368 ratings behind it against 13, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 60% of Paintstorm Studio's written reviews are positive against 79% of FocalPaint's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

Paintstorm Studio ships an update every 4 months, FocalPaint monthly. The most recent releases landed on September 6, 2026 and August 15, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | Paintstorm Studio | FocalPaint |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | $12.99 | **$4.99** |
| Rating | **[4.4 (368 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/paintstorm-studio/id1077984099/reviews)** | [4.2 (13 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/focalpaint/id1532688085/reviews) |
| Number of ratings | **368** | 13 |
| Positive reviews | 59.6% of reviews | **78.6% of reviews** |
| In-app purchases | **No** | Yes |
| Ads | No | No |
| Update frequency | Every 4 months | **Monthly** |
| Monetization | Paid | Paid |
| Size | 103 MB | 557 MB |
| Requires iOS | **13.1** | 18.6 |
| Devices | iPad | **iPhone, iPad** |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | [Sergei Komarov](https://appshunter.io/developer/1060632106) | [brien dieterle](https://appshunter.io/developer/1532688087) |

## What reviewers say

### Paintstorm Studio

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/paintstorm-studio/id1077984099)

This app offers a professional digital painting experience on iOS devices, leveraging Apple Pencil for advanced control. It provides a vast array of customizable brushes, stroke correction, and intuitive tools for artists of all levels to create masterpieces on the go.

**Highlights:** Advanced brush customization, Stroke post-correction, Perspective-aware parameters, Dynamic and custom interface, Mask brush functionality, Photoshop PSD and ABR support, Apple Pencil integration

**In-app purchases:** none

**What reviewers like**

- 🚀 Powerful desktop-class features
- 🎨 Excellent brush engine and blending
- 📚 Highly customizable interface
- 💻 Seamless desktop-to-iPad experience
- 🖌️ Realistic painting simulation

**What reviewers complain about**

- 🐛 Crashes and stability issues
- 🔍 Cluttered and confusing UI
- 🔋 Performance and memory issues
- 🔒 Lack of cloud/online integration
- 📁 Limited file management and export options

**Reported bugs**

- Crashes on startup or when using certain tools
- Brush lag and performance issues with large canvases
- Unreliable autosave and file management
- Unresponsive or glitchy UI elements
- Incompatibility with older iPad models

**Requested features**

- Improved brush customization and management
- Seamless canvas rotation and zooming
- Expanded layer and selection tools
- Better text and typography support
- Integrated cloud/online sync and sharing


### FocalPaint

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/focalpaint/id1532688085)

This app offers a unique brush engine for realistic paint simulation, pigment mixing, and canvas textures. It allows for custom brush and layer creation using Metal GPU or Javascript code, with advanced features like spectral color models and Apple Pencil Pro support.

**Highlights:** Realistic paint and pigment mixing, Custom brush and layer creation, Transparent ink simulation, Apple Pencil Pro support, Spectral color model, Open source shader code library

**Features:** macOS Compatibility, Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases (3)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Generous Tip | $0.99 | one-time |
| Big Tip | $4.99 | one-time |
| Huge Tip | $9.99 | one-time |


## Frequently asked questions

### Is Paintstorm Studio free?

Paintstorm Studio costs $12.99, with no in-app purchases.

### Is FocalPaint free?

FocalPaint costs $4.99, and also offers in-app purchases.

### Which has better reviews, Paintstorm Studio or FocalPaint?

Paintstorm Studio is rated higher. Paintstorm Studio averages 4.4 out of 5 from 368 ratings, while FocalPaint averages 4.2 from 13 ratings.

### Do Paintstorm Studio or FocalPaint have ads?

Neither Paintstorm Studio nor FocalPaint shows ads.

### Which is updated more often, Paintstorm Studio or FocalPaint?

Paintstorm Studio ships an update every 4 months, and FocalPaint monthly. Most recently, Paintstorm Studio was updated on September 6, 2026 and FocalPaint on August 15, 2026.

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*Compared by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/) from daily US App Store data. Review summaries are generated from verbatim App Store reviews.*