Comparison

Drawing Pad vs Flow

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

Head to head
About

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.

Highlights
  • 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
Features
Read 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/

About

Flow

Create beautiful notes and drawings with realistic ink and paper. Offers infinite canvas, customizable tools, and secure cloud syncing. Collaborate with others and organize your work with elegant notebooks.

Highlights
  • Realistic ink and paper simulation
  • Infinite width documents
  • Customizable drawing tools
  • Secure cloud storage and sync
  • Notebook organization
  • Export images and timelapse videos
Features
Read full description

Flow helps you make beautiful notes and draw with realistic ink and paper. Take notes, sketch, journal and plan all within the one app. With Apple Pencil, writing and drawing in Flow feels incredibly responsive, and you can even collaborate on documents with friends and colleagues. —FEATURES— - Infinite width documents, just swipe and keep writing and drawing - Secure storage, synced between your devices - Create your own unique set of drawing tools - Colored paper with dot grid, squared, lined or blank styles - Customizable gestures - Advanced Apple Pencil support - Organize your documents with customizable notebook covers - Elegant minimal interface that puts everything at your fingertips - Export images and timelapse videos - Multitask on iPad with Split View, Slide Over and drag-and-drop Membership with Flow includes realtime cloud storage and backup for your documents and tools across all of your devices. —MEMBERSHIP— Download Flow to try it free. After your free trial, Flow requires a subscription which provides you with regular app updates and realtime cloud storage of your documents. Monthly and discounted yearly options are available. If your subscription lapses, Flow remains available in read-only mode. —QUESTIONS?— We love to speak with users, so feel free to reach out at any time via the Flow menu under Help > Contact Support. If you have a feature idea, please let us know at https://bonobo.canny.io/flow. Want to learn more about Timepage, Actions, or Flow? Visit https://bonobolabs.com to read our guides. —MORE— Subscriptions will be charged to your iTunes account at confirmation of purchase. Your subscription will automatically renew unless automatic renewal is turned off at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. Your account will be charged for renewal within 24 hours prior to the end of the current period. You can manage your subscriptions and automatic renewal status in Account Settings after purchase. Any unused portion of the free trial period will be forfeited when you purchase a subscription. Price may vary by location. Privacy policy: https://bonobolabs.com/privacy Terms of service: https://bonobolabs.com/terms —THANK YOU—

Screenshots

Drawing Pad4 screens
Flow4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is monetization model: Drawing Pad at free with in-app purchases against Flow's subscription. Drawing Pad also leads on review sentiment (44% vs 24%) and ratings volume (99K vs 7.2K). On price, rating, 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

Both are free to download. Drawing Pad sells 10 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per 7 days and Flow sells 5 in-app purchases, starting at $3.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Drawing Pad holds the better App Store score, 4.3 against 4.1. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Drawing Pad has 99K ratings behind it against 7.2K, 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 24% of Flow's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Drawing Pad ships an update weekly, Flow every 6 days. Both last shipped on November 12, 2026.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
Drawing Pad versus Flow: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterDrawing PadFlow
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.3 (99K ratings) — better4.1 (7.2K ratings)
Positive reviews43.6% of reviews — better23.8% of reviews
Number of ratings99K — better7.2K
Update frequencyWeeklyEvery 6 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases — betterSubscription
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS17.017.0
Further details — not scored
Size413 MB241 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperSunny Side Hurricane LLCBonobo

Customer experience

Drawing Pad

All ratings99,270 ratings
Positive82.2%
Neutral5.4%
Negative12.4%
Written reviews932 reviews
Positive43.6%
Neutral4.8%
Negative51.6%

Flow

All ratings7,235 ratings
Positive78.3%
Neutral4.2%
Negative17.5%
Written reviews1,007 reviews
Positive23.8%
Neutral9.2%
Negative66.9%

User reviews

Drawing Pad

From 99K App Store ratings

What 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

Flow

From 7.2K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 💻 Excellent drawing tools and interface
  • 🎨 Customizable pens and colors
  • 📝 Great for note-taking and sketching
  • 🌟 Beautiful and intuitive design
  • 🔍 Helpful developer support

Room to improve

  • 💰 Subscription model not preferred by some users
  • 🔒 Limited functionality without subscription
  • 🔄 Occasional performance issues and crashes
  • 📁 Lacking file management and organization features
  • 🔍 Unclear trial period and subscription details

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

Flow

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Drawings disappearing or becoming corrupted
  • Eraser tool not functioning as expected
  • Scrolling and zooming issues
  • Compatibility problems on older devices

Requested features

5 requests
  • Add vertical scrolling option
  • Improve line smoothing and anti-aliasing
  • Implement layers and advanced drawing tools
  • Integrate text input and handwriting recognition
  • Enhance export and sharing capabilities

In-app purchases

10 purchases

Drawing Pad

Subscriptions10
  • Weekly Subscription3 Days trial$2.997 Days
  • Weekly Subscription3 Days trial$4.997 Days
  • Lite Weekly Trial3 Days trial$4.997 Days
Show 7 more
  • 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
5 purchases

Flow

Subscriptions4
  • Monthly Membership7 Days trial$3.991 Month
  • Annual Membership7 Days trial$19.991 Year
  • Bonobo Bundle (Annual)7 Days trial$29.991 Year
Show 1 more
  • Bonobo Bundle (Annual Family)7 Days trial$49.991 Year
One-time1
  • Bonobo Bundle (Lifetime)$129.99

Questions

Is Drawing Pad free?
Drawing Pad is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Flow free?
Flow is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Drawing Pad or Flow?
Drawing Pad is rated higher. Drawing Pad averages 4.3 out of 5 from 99K ratings, while Flow averages 4.1 from 7.2K ratings.
Do Drawing Pad or Flow have ads?
Neither Drawing Pad nor Flow shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Drawing Pad or Flow?
Drawing Pad ships an update weekly, and Flow every 6 days. Most recently, Drawing Pad was updated on November 12, 2026 and Flow on November 12, 2026.

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