Comparison

Brushes vs Zen Brush 3

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

Head to head
About

Brushes

This app offers a powerful digital painting and sketching experience with a modern interface and advanced features. Create detailed artwork with customizable brushes, layers, and color tools. Optimized for Apple Pencil and various devices.

Highlights
  • Customizable parameterized brushes
  • Advanced layer management
  • Apple Pencil support with pressure curve
  • Light and dark mode interface
  • Unlimited undo/redo
  • Cloud Drive import/export
Read full description

Brushes 4 is the latest iteration of the app that started the iPhone and iPad painting revolution. Redesigned with a clean and modern user interface, Brushes supports iPhone and iPad with optimisation for the iPhone X, iPhone XS, iPhone Pro and iPad with Apple Pencil. • Highlights: - Clean and modern user interface with light and dark modes. - Files based painting gallery. - New canvas interface. - Apple Pencil support with pressure curve. – Unlimited undo and redo. - Continuous auto-save. - Cloud Drive import and export. • Parameterized Brushes: - Selection of ready to use brushes with customisable settings. - Create your own custom brushes from millions of permutations. - Generate random brushes for inspiration. - Dynamic adjustment of brush size and opacity. • Layers: - Layer your artwork for greater control. – Lock and hide layers. – Use alpha lock to only paint where pixels already exist. – Adjust individual layer opacity. – Duplicate, rearrange and merge layers. – Apply layer blending modes: normal, multiply, screen, exclude. - Color fill any layer. – Invert layer color and desaturate. – Flip and arbitrarily transform layers. – Adjust the color balance per layer. – Adjust layer hue, saturation and brightness. • Colors: - Colour picker with hue ring and saturation square. - Store and recall your favourite colors in swatches. - Sample painting colors with the eyedropper tool. • Apple Pencil: - Intuitive and powerful pressure curve to match your style. - Configurable realtime pressure based adjustment of brush size and opacity. • Creation: - Preset canvas sizes for paper, photographs, iPhone and iPad screens, film and television displays. - Custom canvas size. • Import, export and sharing: - Import images directly from your camera roll. - Import PNG and JPEG images from cloud services. - Export your paintings for sharing or importing into other apps as PNG and JPEG to all cloud storage services or as photos directly to your camera roll. - Compatible with paintings created by Brushes 3 and Brushes Redux. • Light and dark appearances: - Choose between light and dark monochrome appearances, or current system setting. - Minimal use of user interface color so that tints in the user interface do not distract from or influence your artwork color choices. Acknowledgements. Thank you to Angela Ali, Jason M., Jeff Parker, Sandra Perez and Yoshiyuki Uchida for contributing artwork to the App Store screenshots. Please visit our website to see more of their artwork and for links to their portfolios. History. Brushes was originally created by Steve Sprang for iPhone in 2009 and for iPad in 2010. His last version, Brushes 3 was released in 2012, but was removed from the App Store in 2015. I took over development to modernise and support an app that has continued to be enjoyed by so many artists.

About

Zen Brush 3

This app allows users to create beautiful East Asian ink art, including calligraphy and painting. It simulates an ink brush with adjustable water and color features, offering a rich expressive range for both beginners and experienced artists. Easily share and edit your creations with various export options and background templates.

Highlights
  • Simulated 3D ink brush drawing
  • Adjustable water and color effects
  • Layer functionality for flexible editing
  • Import photos for tracing or backgrounds
  • Rich background and paper templates
  • Export to JPEG, PNG, and transparent PNG
Features
Read full description

Zen Brush 3 is a drawing app focused on the strong yet beautiful feel of the East Asian ink brush which can be used to perform calligraphy, ink painting and more. The drawing system that brings to life a feeling of silky fluent and delicate painting now allows an even wider range of expression thanks to the addition of "water" and "color". Providing a new simple and intuitive user interface, this app is designed to be optimal for performing Zen art. Simply start the app and you are immediately ready to draw. Anyone, anywhere, can create superb Zen art with this app’s uniquely rich expressiveness. You can also easily share and edit your calligraphy and images with other apps using the Export functionality. Skillfully use the rich background style templates to create and share atmospheric artwork. - The drawing system simulates a 3D model of an East Asian ink brush to enable varied and natural styles of brush handling. - The adjustable amount of water makes it possible to create expressions ranging from powerful edge effects to "nijimi" (bleeding) and "bokashi" (blurring) where colors mix. - You can also enjoy creating colored-ink paintings as well as watercolor paintings by making use of 30 selected traditional Japanese colors. - The layer functionality allows more flexible editing. - Import photos to add text to them or use them as background images for tracing. - Create fascinating artwork with a rich assortment of background style templates. - Traditional Japanese paper templates provide an authentic feel. Features: - 5 main tools (ink brush, color brush, water brush, eraser, blotting paper). - 10 levels of thickness. - 5 levels of water (not applicable to blotting paper). - 10 levels of ink tone (not applicable to water brush and blotting paper). - Color palette with 30 colors. - 89 background style templates. - Drying functionality (fast dry, instant dry, adjustable natural dry). - Layers functionality (import image / color adjustment / move / rotate / scale / reverse left and right / white transparency / gradation effect). - Guide display (character guides / partition guides / grid guides). - Movable toolbar (top / bottom / left / right). - Canvas zoom (zoom in and out with pinch gestures). - Undo / redo (5 levels). - Export functionality (formats: JPEG, PNG, transparent PNG (no background)). - Support for Apple Pencil (1st and 2nd generation). - Support for 3D Touch (where available: iPhone 6S - XS). - Drawing tool selection (finger and stylus / stylus only). - Adjustable brush pressure sensitivity (5 levels, with supported stylus only). - Adjustable tilt sensitivity (5 levels, with supported stylus only). - Gesture functionality (pinch zoom and drag, zoom toggle with 2-finger tap). - 3D brush display (enable / disable). - Pointer display (enable / disable). - 5 levels of canvas resolution with a maximum of 3072 x 4096 pixels (the higher resolutions do not work on devices with lower specs).

Screenshots

Brushes4 screens
Zen Brush 34 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is ratings volume: Brushes at 179 against Zen Brush 3's 58. Brushes also leads on price ($3.99 vs $4.99). Zen Brush 3's advantage is iOS requirement (13.0 vs 15.0). On rating, review sentiment, update cadence and ads 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

Brushes costs $3.99 and Zen Brush 3 $4.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Brushes holds the better App Store score, 4.6 against 4.4. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 179 and 58 respectively. Written reviews complicate that: 57% of Brushes's written reviews are positive against 60% of Zen Brush 3's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Brushes ships an update every 6 weeks, Zen Brush 3 every 3 months. The most recent releases landed on November 6, 2026 and November 7, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 8 level
Brushes versus Zen Brush 3: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterBrushesZen Brush 3
Price$3.99 — better$4.99
Rating4.6 (179 ratings) — better4.4 (58 ratings)
Positive reviews57.1% of reviews59.8% of reviews — better
Number of ratings179 — better58
Update frequencyEvery 6 weeks — betterEvery 3 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationPaidPaid
Best chart rank#93#62 — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS15.013.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size13 MB226 MB
Age rating+44+
DeveloperEnvozaPSOFT

Customer experience

Brushes

All ratings179 ratings
Positive91.6%
Neutral2.8%
Negative5.6%
Written reviews42 reviews
Positive57.1%
Neutral9.5%
Negative33.3%

Zen Brush 3

All ratings55 ratings
Positive81.8%
Neutral5.5%
Negative12.7%
Written reviews117 reviews
Positive59.8%
Neutral12.0%
Negative28.2%

User reviews

Brushes

From 179 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🎨 Great for detailed drawings
  • ✨ Simple and intuitive interface
  • 💨 Fast and fun to use
  • 🖌️ Unique 'Brushes look'
  • 💰 Excellent value for price

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Brush tip issues (square instead of fade)
  • 💾 Auto-save malfunctions
  • 🎛️ Poor brush size control (fine detail)
  • ⚫ Difficulty getting a true black line
  • 🔄 Not an improvement on original

Zen Brush 3

From 58 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🎨 Realistic brush simulation and ink blending
  • 💧 Innovative water simulation and wet ink effects
  • 🎯 Natural brush stroke behavior and responsiveness
  • 🌈 Color palette addition in version 3
  • 📄 Multiple paper textures and backgrounds

Room to improve

  • 🔄 Significant downgrade from version 2 in brush feel
  • 🐛 Frequent crashes and app instability
  • 🔋 Excessive battery drain and device heating
  • ❌ Limited undo functionality (only 5 levels)
  • 🎨 Mushy brush strokes at default resolution

Bugs and requests

Brushes

Reported bugs

9 issues
  • Brush tips not staying (switching to square)
  • Auto-save not working
  • Cannot place images from gallery
  • Brush size slider jumps
  • Circular lines icon appears unexpectedly
Show 4 more
  • App quits unexpectedly without saving
  • Canvas doesn't rotate
  • Won't load photos
  • Empty app after purchase

Requested features

6 requests
  • More save color slots
  • Full Chinese menu translation
  • Instructions/manual
  • Smudge tool
  • Documentation
Show 1 more
  • Screen rotation feature

Zen Brush 3

Reported bugs

14 issues
  • App crashes when setting maximum resolution
  • Crashes when adding layers or importing images
  • Crashes during high-resolution JPEG export
  • iPad Pro M2 overheating and battery drain
  • Apple Pencil input not recognized
Show 9 more
  • Finger pressure detection not working
  • Brush lag and motion prediction issues
  • Dithering too large at default resolution
  • Support link returns blank screen
  • Cannot delete saved works
  • Import from Zen Brush 2 not functional
  • iMessage function removed without explanation
  • App closed unexpectedly with PSOFT MOBILE message
  • Pressure sensitivity inconsistent across devices

Requested features

23 requests
  • Canvas rotation with two-finger gestures
  • Increased undo/redo levels (more than 5)
  • Grid or guide line display for practice
  • Custom color wheel/palette picker
  • Instant erase without animations
Show 18 more
  • Larger grid options for quadrant practice
  • Brush size slider with fine-grained control
  • Drawing correction/smoothing adjustment
  • Layer blending modes (multiply, etc.)
  • High DPI and vector export options
  • Sketch import for tracing/reference
  • Text tool with adjustable sizing
  • Cross-device cloud synchronization
  • Trial/demo period before purchase
  • Subscription model with regular updates instead of new app versions
  • Larger UI elements and palette buttons
  • Tutorial or guided introduction
  • Gold and silver color options
  • Batch character/kanji saving and arrangement
  • Community sharing feature or official gallery
  • Customizable drawing correction levels
  • Disable finger optimizations for stylus users
  • Motion prediction control for faster strokes

In-app purchases

None

Brushes

No in-app purchases

None

Zen Brush 3

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Brushes free?
Brushes costs $3.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Zen Brush 3 free?
Zen Brush 3 costs $4.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Brushes or Zen Brush 3?
Brushes is rated higher. Brushes averages 4.6 out of 5 from 179 ratings, while Zen Brush 3 averages 4.4 from 58 ratings.
Do Brushes or Zen Brush 3 have ads?
Neither Brushes nor Zen Brush 3 shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Brushes or Zen Brush 3?
Brushes ships an update every 6 weeks, and Zen Brush 3 every 3 months. Most recently, Brushes was updated on November 6, 2026 and Zen Brush 3 on November 7, 2026.
Which is more popular, Brushes or Zen Brush 3?
Brushes currently peaks at #93 in the App Store charts, and Zen Brush 3 at #62. Chart position reflects recent download velocity rather than total install base.

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