Clip Studio Paint vs Sketch Pro
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
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
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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/
Sketch Pro
This professional art app offers advanced AI tools for digital painting, illustration, and animation. Create stunning artwork with custom brushes, text-to-image generation, and intelligent editing features. It's designed to streamline your creative workflow on iPads and iPhones.
- Customizable brushes
- Text to Image AI
- Sketch to Image AI
- Magic Edit AI
- Auto-Coloring AI
- Animation Assist
- Advanced Layer System
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SketchPro, a professional art app available for iPads and iPhones, crafted with love by the Drawing Desk Team SketchPro is perfect for creative professional digital artists, including graphic designers, illustrators, comic, anime & manga book artists with a range of Drawing & advanced AI tools to upgrade their creative workflow SketchPro tools and features: Powerful Custom Brushes -A range of free specialized brush sets for sketching, painting, doodling, drawing and more. -Customisable brushes with adjustable radius, opacity, texture and more -Create brush sets -Maintain a list of your favorite brushes -Free Roller Brush with 100+ patterns Pro Digital AI Drawing tools -Create artwork effortlessly via Text to Image AI tool using simple prompts -Transform hand drawn sketches into images with advanced Sketch to Image AI tool using simple prompts -Revamp colors, textures & add or replace objects in your image with simple AI prompts via Magic Edit AI tool -Expand your digital canvas with AI. Seamlessly expand the artwork and fill it in with matching original content with no quality reduced to custom dimensions with expand artwork AI tool -Add color to sketches in seconds with Auto-Coloring AI tool or prompt color hints to sketches, drawings & complete coloring with Auto-Colorization AI tool -Remove objects, backgrounds in drawings with AI Object Remove and Pro BG Remove tools -Generate & extract Line art of any image and use in your drawings Animation Assist -Powerful interface and essential tools for creating impressive animations (Only for iPads). -Wide range of tools, including onion-skinning, instant playback, a visual timeline, and more. Essentials to accelerate the Creative Process -Smart Shapes feature for instant shape drawing -Free Symmetry Tool for easier drawing -Powerful Gradient tool with Linear and Radial options -Layer Transform Tool with Freeform, Uniform, Distort and Warp options -Magic Eraser -Assisted Drawing -Synchronization between iPad and iPhone Advanced Layer System -Free unlimited layers -Rasterize, Duplicate and Merge layers -Fill, Color Invert, Lock Alpha and Lock Layer options Advance Text Tool -Select from a full list of fonts or import your own -Customize fonts -Apply solid and gradient colors to text -A range colored font patterns, textures and designs Complete Color Palette -Full Color Wheel with adjustable color values and shades -Create unique themed color palettes for your drawing -Import colors from photos and images Extensive Shapes Library -15+ categories of free shapes, signs, and symbols -Favorites section for keeping track of frequently used shapes Other Essential Tools -Smudge Tool -Fill Bucket with solid colors -Filter options including Gaussian Blur, Motion Blur, Perspective Blur and more. -Convenient Cutter Tool -Import and Export functions -Custom Canvas option -AR Facepaint Organize and Save Your Work -Save every drawing automatically -Rename each saved artwork -Create folders for storing drawings methodically -Cloud syncing to secure and access artworks anywhere -Duplicate and Delete projects at any time -Time Lapse Playback -Dark Mode Unlimited access to all premium features & daily content updates during the subscription period Premium subscriptions with 1 week trial -Annual for 39.99/year You may cancel a subscription or free-trial anytime via the subscription setting through your iTunes account. This must be done 24 hours before the end of the free trial or subscription period to avoid being charged. The subscription will automatically renew unless auto-renew is turned off at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. No cancellation of the current subscription is allowed during the active subscription period. Any unused portion of a free trial period will be forfeited when the user purchases a SketchPro Unlimited subscription. Terms & Conditions : https://4axis.com/terms-of-use Privacy Policy : https://4axis.com/privacy-policy Reach us: hello@4axis
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is ads: Clip Studio Paint at none against Sketch Pro's shown. Sketch Pro's advantage is review sentiment (81% vs 46%) and device support (4 vs 1). On price, rating, ratings volume and update cadence 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. Clip Studio Paint sells 11 in-app purchases, starting at $4.89 per month and Sketch Pro sells 16 in-app purchases, starting at $0.99 per 7 days. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.7 for Clip Studio Paint against 4.7 for Sketch Pro. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 14K and 11K respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 46% of Clip Studio Paint's written reviews are positive against 81% of Sketch Pro's.
Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly every 3 weeks. Both last shipped on September 24, 2026.
| Parameter | Clip Studio Paint | Sketch Pro |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.7 (14K ratings) | 4.7 (11K ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 45.7% of reviews | 80.7% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 14K — better | 11K |
| Update frequency | Every 3 weeks | Every 3 weeks |
| Ads | No — better | Yes |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPad | iPhone, iPad, iPod, Vision Pro — better |
| Requires iOS | 18.0 | 13 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 583 MB | 350 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | CELSYS,Inc. | 4Axis Technologies Pte Ltd |
Customer experience
Clip Studio Paint
Sketch Pro
User reviews
Clip Studio Paint
From 14K 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
Sketch Pro
From 11K App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🚀 Powerful drawing tools
- 👍 Intuitive interface
- 🎨 Extensive brush and material options
- 💡 Customizable brushes
- 🎨 Versatile for various art styles
Room to improve
- 🐛 Frequent crashes and freezing issues
- 🔒 Concerns about subscription model and lifetime access
- 🔍 Difficulty finding and adjusting certain features
- 🔍 Steep learning curve for some advanced tools
- 💰 Subscription fees for full functionality
Bugs and requests
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
Sketch Pro
Reported bugs
3 issues- Drawings randomly deleted or lost
- Inability to load or access previous artwork
- Crashes when trying to import photos
Requested features
6 requests- Add liquify tool
- Improve layer management and manipulation
- Provide more default brushes
- Implement undo/redo functionality
- Add shape tools for perfect geometric shapes
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- Improve performance and stability
In-app purchases
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
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- 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$28.901 Year
- PRO Annual Single-Device Plan3 Days trial$28.901 Year
- PRO Annual Single-Device Plan3 Months trial$28.901 Year
Sketch Pro
- SketchPro Premium Weekly$0.997 Days
- SketchPro Premium Monthly3 Months trial$1.991 Month
- SketchPro Monthly Premium7 Days trial$4.991 Month
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- SketchPro Premium Monthly7 Days trial$7.991 Month
- SketchPro Premium Yearly7 Days trial$9.991 Year
- SketchPro Yearly Premium$9.991 Year
- SketchPro Premium1 Year trial$14.991 Year
- SketchPro Yearly Premium7 Days trial$14.991 Year
- SketchPro Yearly Premium$14.991 Year
- SketchPro Premium Yearly7 Days trial$39.991 Year
- SketchPro Premium Yearly1 Year trial$39.991 Year
- SketchPro Yearly Premium7 Days trial$39.991 Year
- SketchPro Premium Yearly7 Days trial$49.991 Year
- 100 Tokens$3.99
- 200 Tokens$4.99
- 500 Tokens$7.99
Questions
Is Clip Studio Paint free?
Is Sketch Pro free?
Which has better reviews, Clip Studio Paint or Sketch Pro?
Do Clip Studio Paint or Sketch Pro have ads?
Which is updated more often, Clip Studio Paint or Sketch Pro?
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