Comparison

Brushes vs AR Sketch Art

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

AR Sketch Art

Transform your device into a tracing tool to learn drawing. Overlay any image onto your paper through the camera and trace it line by line. Step-by-step lessons guide you from beginner sketches to finished artwork.

Highlights
  • Camera tracing
  • Step-by-step drawing lessons
  • Image adjustment (resize, rotate, opacity)
  • Multiple drawing styles
  • Themed ready-to-trace drawings
  • Collaborative drawing
  • Drawing recording (photo, video, time-lapse)
Features
Read full description

AR Sketch Art turns your iPhone or iPad into a tracing tool. Pick any image, look through the camera and trace it line by line onto real paper. When you want to learn instead of copy, step-by-step lessons guide you from the first line to the finished drawing. Made for anyone who wants to draw New to drawing? Tracing helps you get the shapes and proportions right from the start, so you finish drawings you are proud of. Hobby artists can copy references, make drawings for friends and try new styles. Experienced artists can use it as a quick warm-up or to transfer a sketch onto a new sheet. Key Features: - Choose how you draw: Camera to Draw, Canvas to Draw or Advance AR - Resize, move and rotate the image, then lock it so it stays in place while you draw - Adjust opacity, zoom from 0.5x to 3x, turn on the flash or switch to the outline-only Edge view - Turn your photos into Sketch, Deep Sketch, Anime or Comics styles before you trace them - Learn with step-by-step lessons that build each drawing a few lines at a time - Explore ready-to-trace drawings in themed categories, from cute animals to love and holidays - Draw with a friend: create a room, share the code and each draw half of the same picture - Record a photo, video or time-lapse of your drawing and save it to your Photos How to Get Started: 1. Choose a drawing from the library, or pick a photo from your gallery, Files or camera. 2. Adjust the image: change its opacity, switch to the outline-only Edge view or apply a sketch style. 3. Place your phone on a stable support, about 1 foot (30 cm) above the paper. 4. Look at the screen: the image appears semi-transparent over the camera view of your paper. 5. Follow the lines on the screen with your pencil on the paper. Subscription Details: AR Sketch Art Premium gives you unlimited drawing modes, all drawings and lessons, Photo to Sketch styles and drawing with friends. - Plans: Weekly Premium (1 week) and Yearly Premium (1 year), both with a 7-day free trial - Payment is charged to your Apple ID account at confirmation of purchase - The subscription renews automatically unless auto-renew is turned off at least 24 hours before the end of the current period - Your account is charged for renewal within 24 hours before the end of the current period - You can manage or cancel your subscription in your Apple ID Account Settings after purchase - Any unused portion of a free trial is forfeited when you purchase a subscription Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

Screenshots

Brushes4 screens
AR Sketch Art4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: AR Sketch Art at Free against Brushes's $3.99. AR Sketch Art also leads on review sentiment (75% vs 57%) and ratings volume (1.3K vs 179). Brushes's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 9) and ads (none vs shown). On rating 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

AR Sketch Art is free to download; Brushes costs $3.99 up front. AR Sketch Art sells 9 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per 7 days. Brushes asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.6 for Brushes against 4.6 for AR Sketch Art. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: AR Sketch Art has 1.3K ratings behind it against 179, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 57% of Brushes's written reviews are positive against 75% of AR Sketch Art's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Brushes ships an update every 6 weeks, AR Sketch Art every 3 weeks. Both last shipped on November 11, 2026.

Scorecard9 real differences · 2 level
Brushes versus AR Sketch Art: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterBrushesAR Sketch Art
Price$3.99Free — better
Rating4.6 (179 ratings)4.6 (1.3K ratings) — better
Positive reviews57.1% of reviews75.5% of reviews — better
Number of ratings1791.3K — better
Update frequencyEvery 6 weeksEvery 3 weeks — better
AdsNo — betterYes
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationPaidFree with in-app purchases — better
Best chart rank#100 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS15.0 — better17.0
Further details — not scored
Size13 MB133 MB
Age rating+49+
DeveloperEnvozaAnnalisa Bergonzi

Customer experience

Brushes

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

AR Sketch Art

All ratings1,290 ratings
Positive90.5%
Neutral4.1%
Negative5.3%
Written reviews302 reviews
Positive75.5%
Neutral4.3%
Negative20.2%

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

AR Sketch Art

From 1.3K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Helps improve drawing skills
  • 🚀 Easy to use interface
  • 💡 Useful drawing lessons
  • 🎨 Variety of drawing options
  • 🤩 Impressive art results

Room to improve

  • 🤬 Too many ads
  • 💰 Paid features required
  • 🐛 Tracing issues and inaccuracies
  • 🔍 Difficult to navigate

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

AR Sketch Art

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Pencil placement issues
  • App crashes and freezes
  • Ads blocking drawing area

Requested features

4 requests
  • Ability to upload own images
  • Zoom and pan functionality
  • Less intrusive ads
  • More free drawing tools

In-app purchases

None

Brushes

No in-app purchases

9 purchases

AR Sketch Art

Subscriptions6
  • Weekly premium7 Days trial$2.997 Days
  • AR Drawing Premium$5.997 Days
  • AR Draw Weekly Plan7 Days trial$5.997 Days
Show 3 more
  • AR Drawing Premium3 Days trial$24.991 Year
  • Yearly premium7 Days trial$29.991 Year
  • AR Draw Yearly Plan3 Days trial$29.991 Year
One-time3
  • 50 coins$1.99
  • 150 coins$4.99
  • 350coins$9.99

Questions

Is Brushes free?
Brushes costs $3.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is AR Sketch Art free?
AR Sketch Art is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Brushes or AR Sketch Art?
AR Sketch Art is rated higher. Brushes averages 4.6 out of 5 from 179 ratings, while AR Sketch Art averages 4.6 from 1.3K ratings.
Do Brushes or AR Sketch Art have ads?
AR Sketch Art shows ads; Brushes does not.
Which is updated more often, Brushes or AR Sketch Art?
Brushes ships an update every 6 weeks, and AR Sketch Art every 3 weeks. Most recently, Brushes was updated on November 11, 2026 and AR Sketch Art on November 11, 2026.

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