Comparison

Drawing Pad vs Simple Sketchbook

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

Simple Sketchbook

A digital sketchbook designed for intuitive drawing on iPad and iPhone. Offers a clean, distraction-free interface with features like layers, custom paper styles, and easy export options for your creations. Includes private voice note transcription for process reflection.

Highlights
  • Distraction-free drawing interface
  • Multiple layers with opacity and blend modes
  • Customizable paper styles (lined, grid, dotted)
  • High-resolution PNG and PDF export
  • Timelapse video generation of drawing process
  • On-device voice note transcription
  • Face ID/Touch ID sketchbook locking
Features
Read full description

App Description Simple Sketchbook is a distraction-free sketchbook for iPad, designed around the Apple Pencil but will also work with your finger. No subscription. No social features. Just a clean, fast place to draw. Create as many sketchbooks as you like, each with its own paper style — blank, lined, grid, dotted, or a range of specialty templates. Every sketchbook fills your screen edge to edge, and the canvas stays fixed in space when you rotate your iPad, so your drawing never moves out from under your hand. There is no zoom by design on iPad (iPhone users can double-tap to zoom), just a regular sketchbook page in digital space. Layers, done simply Each page supports multiple layers with individual opacity, blend mode, and visibility controls. Bring in photos from your library or drag and drop images directly onto the canvas to use as reference or compose with your work. Reposition, scale, and rotate images freely before committing them to the page. Export your work Export any page as a high-resolution PNG — with or without the background — or export an entire sketchbook as a PDF. Generate a timelapse video of your drawing process, perfect for sharing how a piece came together. Your sketchbooks, backed up Back up any sketchbook to a single file and restore it on any of your iPads. Backups scale automatically to fit the screen, so moving from an iPad mini to an iPad Pro keeps everything looking right. Lock individual sketchbooks with Face ID or Touch ID. Simple Sketchbook is a distraction-free drawing notebook for iPad and iPhone, built for the feel of putting pencil to paper, with just enough digital magic to make every page more useful than a physical one. Draw naturally A slim, always-out-of-the-way tool strip puts your pen, sizes, opacity and colours one tap away, no picker popovers, no hunting through menus. Double-tap or squeeze your Apple Pencil to switch tools instantly, or rest two fingers on the page to pull up the full tool grid without ever putting your pencil down. Layer it up Sketch, ink, and shade on separate layers. Drop in a photo and arrange it (move, scale, rotate) right on the canvas. Add a storyboard frame template for comic panels and animatics. Blend, reorder, and merge layers exactly like a design tool, but built for a sketchbook workflow. Paper that feels right Choose plain, lined, grid, dotted, or textured paper for every notebook, whatever the page is for, to structured notes. Watch your drawing come to life Every stroke is quietly recorded as you draw. Export a timelapse video of any page, or a whole run of pages, and watch a sketch build itself from first line to finished piece. Say what you're thinking Record a voice reflection on any page, your process, your intent, what you'd change next time, and Simple Sketchbook transcribes it on-device, completely privately. Reflections play back alongside your timelapse, or export as Markdown for a portfolio or journal. Yours, and only yours Lock any notebook with Face ID or Touch ID. Back up and restore your entire sketchbook library whenever you like. Nothing leaves your device unless you choose to share it. Whether you're a student building a visual journal, an artist studying your own process, or just someone who likes to draw — Simple Sketchbook gets out of your way and lets the page do the work.

Screenshots

Drawing Pad4 screens
Simple Sketchbook2 screens

Verdict

The call

Drawing Pad and Simple Sketchbook both sit at 4.3 stars, but that hides the real split: 100% of Simple Sketchbook's written reviews are positive against 44% of Drawing Pad's. Simple Sketchbook also leads on in-app purchases (none vs 10) and chart position (#84 vs unranked). Drawing Pad's advantage is price (Free vs $1.99) and ratings volume (99K vs 3). On rating, update cadence, 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

Drawing Pad is free to download; Simple Sketchbook costs $1.99 up front. Drawing Pad sells 10 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per 7 days. Simple Sketchbook asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.3 for Drawing Pad against 4.3 for Simple Sketchbook. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Drawing Pad has 99K ratings behind it against 3, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 44% of Drawing Pad's written reviews are positive against 100% of Simple Sketchbook's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Drawing Pad ships an update weekly, Simple Sketchbook every 10 days. The most recent releases landed on November 12, 2026 and November 9, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard7 real differences · 4 level
Drawing Pad versus Simple Sketchbook: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterDrawing PadSimple Sketchbook
PriceFree — better$1.99
Rating4.3 (99K ratings)4.3 (3 ratings) — better
Positive reviews43.6% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings99K — better3
Update frequencyWeekly — betterEvery 10 days
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases — betterPaid
Best chart rank—#84 — better
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS17.0 — better26.0
Further details — not scored
Size417 MB53 MB
Age rating4++4
DeveloperSunny Side Hurricane LLCDuncan Pollock

Customer experience

Drawing Pad

All ratings99,347 ratings
Positive82.2%
Neutral5.4%
Negative12.4%
Written reviews932 reviews
Positive43.6%
Neutral4.8%
Negative51.6%

Simple Sketchbook

All ratings3 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews1 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

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

Simple Sketchbook

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

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
None

Simple Sketchbook

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Drawing Pad free?
Drawing Pad is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Simple Sketchbook free?
Simple Sketchbook costs $1.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Drawing Pad or Simple Sketchbook?
Simple Sketchbook is rated higher. Drawing Pad averages 4.3 out of 5 from 99K ratings, while Simple Sketchbook averages 4.3 from 3 ratings.
Do Drawing Pad or Simple Sketchbook have ads?
Neither Drawing Pad nor Simple Sketchbook shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Drawing Pad or Simple Sketchbook?
Drawing Pad ships an update weekly, and Simple Sketchbook every 10 days. Most recently, Drawing Pad was updated on November 12, 2026 and Simple Sketchbook on November 9, 2026.

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