Drawing Pad vs Clip Studio Paint
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Drawing Pad
This app allows users to draw, sketch, and doodle with a variety of tools and brushes. It offers features for photo editing, a coloring book, and the ability to record and share creations. Users can enhance their artwork with stickers, stamps, and frames.
- Drawing, sketching, and doodling tools
- Photo editing with magic brush effects
- Coloring book with multiple categories
- Record and share drawings as video
- Stickers, stamps, and frames
- Apple Pencil support
Read full descriptionHide full description
Drawings is a cool doodling app that allows you to draw, sketch, doodle while you are traveling or just relaxing a home! **Kids Doodle** (NEW) - Creative Kids Doodle brings to life your unique designing experience - 10+ unique canvas backgrounds that you can change while drawing. - You can record your drawing on canvas as a video and share it with your friends - Beautiful preset color palettes: choose one that fits best and fill a picture with colors from soft and muted to bold and lively - Apple Pencil support: enjoy an easy and intuitive process of coloring on the crisp screen of iPad Pro. 1. Doodle Desk! Are you a Doodle Lover? - Yes! Unleash your creativity and create amazing Doodles with getting Drawing Pad. Create beautiful Doodles with different tools like 3D brushes, stickers, stamps and so on. Want to show you doodling skills to your friends/family? Share it on social media platforms like Facebook or Instagram. No happy with your Doodle? Want to give a perfect finishing touch? Drawing Pad comes with smooth erasing, undo, redo & specific brushes for a perfect Doodle. 2. Sketch Desk! You love sketching, but cannot carry your sketchbook, everywhere? Don’t worry install Drawing Pad in your iPhone/iPad and sketch while on a go! You can create beautiful sketches with various brush tools like as pen, pencil, highlighter & so on. Also, you can pick up your favorite colors from the quick colors tool. With options like Undo, Redo and flexible eraser, you can create that perfect sketch. 3. Photo Desk for Creative Editors Are you an artist who also creates beautiful effects for your photos? Drawing Pad comes with Magic brush stroke effects. This allows you to add more liveliness to your photos. Moreover, beautify your photos with a collection of attractive stamps & stickers, vibrant frames, & a cropping tool. You can import photos from Facebook, Instagram, Flickr, & other networks. Export your ArtWork :- You can export your sketches, drawings, & doodles to other physical products like Phone cases, Posters, Cushions, Frames, & many more. 4. Coloring Book - Creative coloring book brings to life your unique designing experience - 10+ categories of unique coloring pages from talented illustrators - with frequent collection updates you’ll always have something new to color - Custom palettes: combine any colors you like to create a matchless work of art Drawing Pad app is always easy to use, but you can enjoy even more powerful drawing features with the auto-renewed subscription. Subscription Terms for Drawing Premium • Length of subscription: Month • Introductory Trial: 3 Days free trial • Price of subscription: 3 Day Free Trial then $8.99 / month • Payment will be charged to iTunes Account at confirmation of purchase • The account will be charged for renewal within 24-hours prior to the end of the current period, & identify the cost of the renewal • Subscriptions may be managed by the user & auto-renewal may be turned off by going to the user's Account Settings after purchase • Subscription automatically renews unless auto-renew is turned off at least 24-hours before the end of the current period • Any unused portion of a free trial period, if offered, will be forfeited when the user purchases a subscription to that publication, where applicable. • Subscriptions will be charged to your credit card through your iTunes account. Your subscription will automatically renew unless canceled at least 24 hours before the end of your current subscription, & you can cancel a subscription during the active period. You can manage your subscription at any time, either by viewing your account in iTunes from your Mac or PC or Account Settings on your device after purchase. Privacy Policy: https://drawingsdesk.com/privacy-policy/ Terms of Use: https://drawingsdesk.com/terms-of-use/
Clip Studio Paint
Create digital art with a vast array of brushes, textures, and colors. This app offers tools for drawing, painting, comic creation, and animation, with features like 3D models for reference and advanced layer options. It provides a free trial and subscription plans for full access.
- Unlimited custom brushes
- Realistic color mixing
- Artist-made materials
- 3D model references
- Comic creation tools
- Animation features
- Advanced layer editing
Read full descriptionHide full description
Start drawing and painting in a free 30-day trial. ・Up to 3 months free with your first plan ・Subscribe for the time you want to use it. Get all the latest features, materials, and cloud storage (10 GB)! *Please note that after your trial, you will need to make an in-app payment to save and export. Clip Studio Paint makes drawing a piece of cake, in any style! Whether you are a beginner or a pro, Clip Studio Paint will improve your creative experience while helping you grow. Now with new, powerful features! Unlimited amount of brushes at your fingertips to recreate any style - Use brushes with the same textures as real art materials - Adjust details such as brush shape and paper quality to your liking - Make unique colors with realistic color mixing, like traditional paints - Draw with transparency to erase, so no need to switch brushes Countless artist-made materials - Level up your art with free materials, for backgrounds and more - Discover community-made brushes from creators worldwide - Add details with materials like frills and more Coloring made easy - Easily color even with line gaps using the magnetic lasso tool - Lock transparency to paint over layers without affecting other areas - Set light source and shadow position with Shading Assist - Instantly reference and apply colors from an image to your art using Color Match - Enhance your art with filters like Chromatic Aberration, Retro Film, Pencil, and more Learn alongside other creators - Loads of official tutorials and creator tips available - Watch tutorials on our YouTube channel, for step-by-step advice - Ask questions on the Clip Studio Ask community Create the perfect reference with 3D models - Use 3D drawing figures to help with drawing anatomy - Customize character face and body models with beginner-friendly tools - Attach 3D objects like hats and shoes to characters for more specific references - Use 3D shapes to draw perspective Adjust after you draw - Liquify to make adjustments to the balance of your illustrations - Mesh Transformation allows you to transform to different shapes - Change up the poses of your character drawings with Puppet warp - Non-destructive color adjustment layers to get your art just right - Gradient maps give color to your grayscale illustrations Stress-free layer features - Assign colors and make multiple columns of layers to browse them at a glance - Enjoy the freedom of masking and clipping on multiple layers to edit and move your work - Add various effects to apply to the layer in a non-destructive way The ultimate comic creation app - All the tools you need for comic creation, from storyboard to finishing touches - Panel frames, speech balloons, text, effect lines, and screen tones in an instant - Make data for prints, web comics, manga, or webtoons (6 GB+ memory recommended) - Manage multi-page projects Professional animation, on any device - Use all the same tools as animation studios - Unique features allow you to draw your frames as you like - Enjoy a pencil and paper look and feel, but digitally - Expand your drawings to 4K resolution without losing quality by saving it as vector data ●Grade features ・PRO: All the tools you need to create stunning illustrations & short animations ・EX: All the above + multi-page functionality for comic/manga artists and unlimited animation frames *Clip Studio account needed to buy a plan. ● Target Devices and Specifications ・Minimum free storage space: 3GB, 4GB recommended ・Recommended display size: 10.5"+ Please see the following for supported devices. https://support.clip-studio.com/en-us/faq/articles/20200153 Supported pressure-sensitive pens ・Apple Pencil ● In-app purchases ・Required to save the canvas and export it to various file formats on iPad. Note: You will be charged to the Apple ID used for subscription. Terms of Service https://www.celsys.com/en/information/csp/ https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: Clip Studio Paint at 4.7 against Drawing Pad's 4.3. Drawing Pad's advantage is update cadence (weekly vs every 3 weeks) and ratings volume (99K vs 15K). On price, review sentiment, ads and in-app purchases 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
Both are free to download. Drawing Pad sells 10 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per 7 days and Clip Studio Paint sells 10 in-app purchases, starting at $4.89 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
Clip Studio Paint holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 4.3. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Drawing Pad has 99K ratings behind it against 15K, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 44% of Drawing Pad's written reviews are positive against 46% of Clip Studio Paint's.
Drawing Pad ships an update weekly, Clip Studio Paint every 3 weeks. Both last shipped on November 7, 2026.
| Parameter | Drawing Pad | Clip Studio Paint |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.3 (99K ratings) | 4.7 (15K ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 43.6% of reviews | 45.8% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 99K — better | 15K |
| Update frequency | Weekly — better | Every 3 weeks |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad — better | iPad |
| Requires iOS | 17.0 — better | 18.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 413 MB | 583 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Sunny Side Hurricane LLC | CELSYS,Inc. |
Customer experience
Drawing Pad
Clip Studio Paint
User reviews
Drawing Pad
From 99K App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🚀 Simple and easy to use
- 🎨 Good for basic drawing and doodling
- 👍 Helpful for improving drawing skills
- 🎨 Provides a variety of brushes and tools
Room to improve
- 🔒 Requires subscription to access full features
- 💰 Expensive subscription model
- 🐛 Frequent pop-ups and ads
- 🐛 Laggy performance and glitches
- 🔒 Limited functionality without subscription
Clip Studio Paint
From 15K App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🚀 Best drawing software for iPad
- 🎨 Powerful features like vector layers
- 💻 Seamless transition from desktop to iPad
- 👍 Great for comics and illustrations
- 🎨 Diverse brushes and materials
Room to improve
- 💰 Expensive subscription model
- 🔍 Confusing interface for beginners
- 🔒 Requires internet connection to save
- 🐛 Frequent crashes and bugs
- 💻 Lacks full desktop feature parity
Bugs and requests
Drawing Pad
Reported bugs
3 issues- Drawings not saving properly
- Frequent crashes and freezes
- Unresponsive touch controls
Requested features
4 requests- More drawing tools and customization options
- Ability to save and export drawings
- Smoother performance and fewer bugs
- More affordable pricing model
Clip Studio Paint
Reported bugs
4 issues- Inability to save work without subscription
- Laggy performance with large files
- Unreliable auto-save and recovery
- Issues with brush and tool responsiveness
Requested features
4 requests- One-time purchase option
- Improved file management and cloud integration
- Simplified interface for casual users
- More animation and 3D tools
In-app purchases
Drawing Pad
- Weekly Subscription3 Days trial$2.997 Days
- Weekly Subscription3 Days trial$4.997 Days
- Lite Weekly Trial3 Days trial$4.997 Days
Show 7 moreShow fewer
- Pro Weekly Offer3 Days trial$6.997 Days
- Drawing Pad Subscriptions3 Days trial$8.991 Month
- Pro Weekly Trial3 Days trial$9.997 Days
- Pro Weekly3 Days trial$9.997 Days
- Lite Weekly3 Days trial$9.997 Days
- Yearly subscription3 Days trial$49.991 Year
- Lite Yearly3 Days trial$49.991 Year
Clip Studio Paint
- PRO Monthly$4.891 Month
- PRO Monthly Single-Device Plan3 Days trial$4.891 Month
- PRO Monthly Single-Device Plan3 Months trial$4.891 Month
Show 7 moreShow fewer
- PRO Monthly Dual-Device Plan3 Days trial$7.991 Month
- EX Monthly3 Months trial$9.691 Month
- EX Monthly Single-Device Plan3 Months trial$9.691 Month
- EX Monthly Single-Device Plan3 Days trial$9.691 Month
- EX Monthly Dual-Device Plan3 Days trial$13.491 Month
- PRO Annual Single-Device Plan3 Days trial$28.901 Year
- PRO Annual Single-Device Plan3 Months trial$28.901 Year
Questions
Is Drawing Pad free?
Is Clip Studio Paint free?
Which has better reviews, Drawing Pad or Clip Studio Paint?
Do Drawing Pad or Clip Studio Paint have ads?
Which is updated more often, Drawing Pad or Clip Studio Paint?
Other comparisons















