Comparison

Grid Painter vs Overgrid

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

Head to head
About

Grid Painter

Easily overlay a customizable grid onto your images to aid in accurate drawing and painting. Select photos from your library or camera, choose grid styles and sizes, and utilize various image filters for reference. Save, print, or share your projects.

Highlights
  • Overlay customizable grids on images
  • Select photos from library or camera
  • Choose grid styles and sizes
  • Image filters (grayscale, Notan, etc.)
  • Customizable canvas size
  • Save, print, and share projects
Read full description

GridPainter is the premium application to use compose your next masterpiece. It lets you quickly and easily place a grid onto an image for the purpose of using the grid technique of drawing and painting, the same method even Leonardo da Vinci used in his work. With the portability of our devices and access to thousands of images at our fingertips, more artists than ever are using them as a reference for drawings. With GridPainter, the process of drawing accurately from your device is easier than ever. Simply select the photo you wish from your photo library or using the "Open In" functionality in Messages or email, and the app will scale your image and place the "fourths" style grid over the top. From the toolbar on top you will find easy to use controls. -Select a standard canvas or customize your canvas size. -Customize your grid pattern from several different styles. -Crop We have also integrated some basic functions from our sister application NotanIzer so now you can -Look at you image in color, gray scale, Notan, 3 Level, 4 level, or Levels Everything is saved and you can work with your image in the app, or using the share menu, print, email, or export it to your photo library. To create a drawing from the photo, simply draw a grid of the same proportions on your drawing material as your selected final project size and grid size. From there you can easily transfer the image by drawing whats in each square, letting the grid take care of the proper scaling and framing within your picture. Great for when you need to draw a large drawing from a small reference photo, or for drawing complicated imagery. Features: -Select an image from your camera roll , import, or take a photo directly from the app -Choose final image size -Place a grid over the image using different grid types -Change the grid size -Change the grid color for best visibility over the image -Select any canvas size or automatically choose the aspect ratio or use the Golden Ratio -Scale and move your image to fit exactly where you want -Save the project for later revisions -Print or share your project with others

About

Overgrid

Easily add a customizable grid to any photo for accurate drawing and painting. Scale your reference image to match your canvas dimensions and transfer proportions with confidence. Features include adjustable grid lines, adaptive contrast, value studies, and temperature overlays.

Highlights
  • Add customizable grids to photos
  • Scale reference to canvas dimensions
  • Adjustable grid lines, color, and opacity
  • Adaptive contrast for visibility
  • Value study and temperature overlay
  • Save and apply grid presets
  • Export at high resolution
Features
Read full description

Add a grid to any reference photo. Transfer proportions to canvas with confidence. Import from your gallery or shoot with your camera. Set rows, columns, line weight. Done. Match your canvas first. Crop the reference to your canvas ratio, then enter your real dimensions. 16x20, 12x12, whatever you are working on. Every square lines up when you transfer. No guesswork, no wasted paint. Customize everything. Grid color, opacity, thickness, diagonals for composition, numbering to track your squares. Make the grid work the way you work. Adaptive contrast reads your image and picks grid colors that stay visible on any background. Dark lines on light areas. Light lines on dark. You never lose the grid. Value study breaks the image into tonal levels so you can plan light and shadow before you start. Temperature overlay maps warm and cool zones across the composition. Save setups as templates. One tap to apply your favorite configuration to any new project. Export at full resolution, up to 4096px, for printing or reference at any size. Free includes three projects, basic grid, and 1024px export. Full access is a one-time purchase. Not a subscription. No account. No cloud. No ads. Your images never leave your device.

Screenshots

Grid Painter4 screens
Overgrid4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Overgrid at Free against Grid Painter's $2.99. Overgrid also leads on review sentiment (100% vs 81%) and update cadence (weekly vs every 3 weeks). Grid Painter's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 1) and ratings volume (393 vs 7). On 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Overgrid is free to download; Grid Painter costs $2.99 up front. Overgrid sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Grid Painter asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Overgrid holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.8. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Grid Painter has 393 ratings behind it against 7, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 81% of Grid Painter's written reviews are positive against 100% of Overgrid's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Grid Painter ships an update every 3 weeks, Overgrid weekly. The most recent releases landed on September 22, 2026 and September 21, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard9 real differences · 2 level
Grid Painter versus Overgrid: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterGrid PainterOvergrid
Price$2.99Free — better
Rating4.8 (393 ratings)5.0 (7 ratings) — better
Positive reviews81.5% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings393 — better7
Update frequencyEvery 3 weeksWeekly — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationPaidFree with in-app purchases — better
Best chart rank#132 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod, MaciPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac
Requires iOS13.0 — better15.0
Further details — not scored
Size5 MB38 MB
Age rating4+4+
Developerbigpantsgroup LLCPaintingstack Technologies SpA

Customer experience

Grid Painter

All ratings393 ratings
Positive96.4%
Neutral1.3%
Negative2.3%
Written reviews54 reviews
Positive81.5%
Neutral5.6%
Negative13.0%

Overgrid

All ratings7 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews1 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Bugs and requests

Grid Painter

Reported bugs

14 issues
  • Cannot upload photos from desktop
  • Grid width too thick even at lowest setting
  • Photo library update message with no update available
  • Grid would not reset
  • App crashes when changing canvas to Landscape
Show 9 more
  • Resizing won't maintain aspect ratio and image disappears
  • Stop work after last update
  • Annoying bug: rotates square format photos with Notan/grayscale
  • Cropping feature only allows absolute values (inches), not ratios
  • Cropping feature freezes the page
  • Cannot get saved images back
  • Inability to print image with grid
  • Email developers function freezes
  • Crop feature does not work

Requested features

10 requests
  • Allow uploading photos from desktop directly
  • Lock canvas size and adapt photo to fit
  • Approximate color in levels section for palette preview
  • Sort projects
  • Different grid styles (isometric, diagonal)
Show 5 more
  • Select grid opacity
  • User-selectable number of rows and columns for grids
  • Add movable lines for grid customization
  • Combine multiple grids without screenshots
  • Geometrically sound grid drawing method (X through corners, etc.)

Overgrid

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

None

Grid Painter

No in-app purchases

1 purchases

Overgrid

One-time1
  • Overgrid Premium$12.99

Questions

Is Grid Painter free?
Grid Painter costs $2.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Overgrid free?
Overgrid is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Grid Painter or Overgrid?
Overgrid is rated higher. Grid Painter averages 4.8 out of 5 from 393 ratings, while Overgrid averages 5.0 from 7 ratings.
Do Grid Painter or Overgrid have ads?
Neither Grid Painter nor Overgrid shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Grid Painter or Overgrid?
Grid Painter ships an update every 3 weeks, and Overgrid weekly. Most recently, Grid Painter was updated on September 22, 2026 and Overgrid on September 21, 2026.

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