Comparison

MetaBrush vs Oilbook

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

Head to head
About

MetaBrush

Transform your photos into artistic paintings with a variety of brush presets and advanced settings. This app offers layers support and the ability to import Photoshop brushes, allowing for detailed customization of your artwork.

Highlights
  • 30 brush presets
  • Layers support
  • Import Photoshop brushes (.abr)
  • Customizable stroke settings
  • Paint with images
Features
Read full description

With Metabrush you can easily turn your photos into paintings. The result images are very artistic, as you brush with different presets and settings. Visit the gallery at http://instagram.com/metabrush for many examples. Features: • 30 brush presets for artistically clone your original image. • Layers support • 500+ brushes bitmaps • Support for importing directly Photoshop brushes (.abr) • Include many settings for the strokes as dynamical size, rotation, shadow, and opacity. • You can assign colors to the strokes, but also paint with images (as if they were colors). Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula

About

Oilbook

This app offers a realistic oil painting simulation by focusing on fluid dynamics for authentic paint flow and diffusion. It provides extensive brush customization and color selection tools for a dynamic artistic experience.

Highlights
  • Fluid mechanics-based paint simulation
  • Customizable brush parameters
  • Color wheel and eyedropper tool
  • Multiple undo/redo support
  • Save and share artwork
  • Apple Pencil pressure sensitivity
Features
Read full description

I've always wanted to develop an oil painting app. After trying existing solutions on the market, I found that they only mimic the texture of oil paintings, which I believe is not perfect. Pigments are essentially a liquid, so my goal is to authentically recreate the dynamic process of paint flow and diffusion based on fluid mechanics and other physical principles. This vision led to Oilbook — a truly unique software. The default brush can adjust the number of bristles and the size of the brush. The fluidity of the pigments can also be adjusted. Other brushes can adjust texture, size, point distance, hardness, direction, opacity and other parameters. Reducing 'Bristle Count' can sometimes improve the effect. For some brushes, it is better to adjust the hardness. For example, please try to adjust the hardness of some brushes to 0. Supports multiple undo/redo. Supports switching between portrait and landscape modes. A large number of oil painting texture color presets with adjustable intensity can be applied to your work. You can select colors using the color wheel, or use the eyedropper tool to extract the color of a point on the canvas. You can use the eraser, clear the canvas, switch full-screen mode. The current project progress can be saved, and the archive can also be deleted. You can save your work to photo album or share it. In Apple Pencil mode, the stroke thickness will change in real time with the pressure. There is a user guide in the settings page. In the pro version you will: - Get all brushes and color presets, and they are constantly being updated. - Remove watermark. - Choose the canvas size. - Move the canvas to inspect and paint details. - Turn on pressure support for Apple Pencil, for all other brushes. - You can choose to use Apple MetalFX technology to enlarge the size of your work by 4 times. MetalFX is a technology developed by Apple for enhancing game graphics quality. Pro version is a one-time purchase. If you encounter any problems in use, please write to duansu3518290@163.com

Screenshots

Oilbook4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is ads: MetaBrush at none against Oilbook's shown. MetaBrush also leads on ratings volume (22 vs 5). Oilbook's advantage is rating (4.2 vs 3.8) and update cadence (every 3 weeks vs every 2 months). On price, review sentiment, 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. MetaBrush sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $0.99 per 7 days and Oilbook 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

Oilbook holds the better App Store score, 4.2 against 3.8. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 22 and 5 respectively. Written reviews complicate that: 65% of MetaBrush's written reviews are positive against 60% of Oilbook's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

MetaBrush ships an update every 2 months, Oilbook every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 21, 2026 and October 25, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
MetaBrush versus Oilbook: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterMetaBrushOilbook
PriceFreeFree
Rating3.8 (22 ratings)4.2 (5 ratings) — better
Positive reviews65.4% of reviews — better60.0% of reviews
Number of ratings22 — better5
Update frequencyEvery 2 monthsEvery 3 weeks — better
AdsNo — betterYes
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPadiPhone, iPad — better
Requires iOS16.6 — better17.6
Further details — not scored
Size253 MB40 MB
Age rating4+4+
Developertalonsodev晶雷 端

Customer experience

MetaBrush

All ratings21 ratings
Positive71.4%
Neutral4.8%
Negative23.8%
Written reviews26 reviews
Positive65.4%
Neutral3.8%
Negative30.8%

Oilbook

All ratings5 ratings
Positive80.0%
Neutral20.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews5 reviews
Positive60.0%
Neutral20.0%
Negative20.0%

In-app purchases

3 purchases

MetaBrush

Subscriptions2
  • Metabrush PRO3 Days trial$0.997 Days
  • Metabrush PRO3 Days trial$6.991 Year
One-time1
  • Metabrush PRO$9.99
1 purchases

Oilbook

One-time1
  • Oilbook Pro$4.99

Questions

Is MetaBrush free?
MetaBrush is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Oilbook free?
Oilbook is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, MetaBrush or Oilbook?
Oilbook is rated higher. MetaBrush averages 3.8 out of 5 from 22 ratings, while Oilbook averages 4.2 from 5 ratings.
Do MetaBrush or Oilbook have ads?
Oilbook shows ads; MetaBrush does not.
Which is updated more often, MetaBrush or Oilbook?
MetaBrush ships an update every 2 months, and Oilbook every 3 weeks. Most recently, MetaBrush was updated on October 21, 2026 and Oilbook on October 25, 2026.

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