Comparison

Drawing Pad procreate Sketch vs Element Note

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

Head to head
About

Drawing Pad procreate Sketch

Unleash your creativity with a versatile digital canvas. This app offers a wide range of brushes, colors, stickers, and shapes to sketch, paint, and doodle. Easily edit existing images or use stock photos to enhance your artwork before sharing it with others.

Highlights
  • Sketch, paint, and doodle
  • Varied range of brushes
  • Customizable color palette
  • Undo/redo functionality
  • Ruler and shape tools
  • Stickers, doodles, and charms
  • Edit gallery images
Features
Read full description

Drawing pad is an easy to use whiteboard app that can be used anywhere, anytime for work purpose or for fun.. To help all the creative people out there and all those who are looking forward to being creative, Drawing pad brings along amazing features like Stickers, Brushes, Doodles, Charms, Shapes etc. It is so easy to use that even a child can bring out amazing artwork with very little effort. Features : # Sketch, Paint, Doodle, Share with friends # Give your artwork a new stroke with our varied range of brushes # Make your work more colorful with any color you wish with our very own color pallete and color picker # Didn't like something you created. No worries.. You can undo or redo anytime. Or simply erase and work again # Add more perfection with ruler and different shapes like: Square, Triangle, Circle and many more # Draw using various brush sizes and adjust opacity as you wish # Say more with the use of amazing Stickers, Doodles, and Charms # You can also edit/enhance your gallery images # Make use of 1000's of stock images too... # Share with friends and family Or share on social platforms Experience the app and share you feedback. :) Graphics designed by Freepik. (www.freepik.com) Get Drawing Pad Premium Unlimited access to all the premium features and new brushes, doodles and stickers updates during the subscription period. The subscription price is $2.99 per week. 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 Drawing Pad Premium subscription. Terms & Conditions : https://sites.google.com/view/colordrawingterms/home Privacy Policy : https://sites.google.com/view/colordrawingapp/home

About

Element Note

This app offers a distraction-free digital notebook experience with advanced handwriting, PDF annotation, and sketching capabilities. It features unique brushes, a powerful rendering engine, and smart organization tools. Sync your notes across devices and collaborate with others seamlessly.

Highlights
  • Unique handwriting brushes
  • Smooth drawing engine
  • PDF annotation
  • Text, shape, and image attachments
  • On-device OCR search
  • Smart dark mode
  • iCloud sync and collaboration
Features
Read full description

Element Note is the next-gen note taking, PDF annotation, and light sketching app. We stripped down the unnecessaries and carefully polished the elemental functions for a digital notebook. With a modern look and powerful features, Element Note strives to provide an elegant writing space free of distractions. Features: Unique brushes - Pencil (HB Pencil, Mechanical Pencil) - Pen (Pen, Line Pen, Fountain Pen) - Brush (Art Brush, Round Brush) - Marker (Marker, Round Marker) Best-in-class note rendering engine - Smooth and fluid drawing powered by Metal technology - Support gradient ink for more expressive notes Powerful attachments - Text - Shape - Sticker - Image Universal Search - Search through your PDF & Handwritting using on device OCR Smart Darkmode - Smartly adapts all of your notes to the system darkmode without changing the paper or stroke colors. iCloud Sync & Collaboration - Sync via your personal iCloud (No data is passed to our server) - Collaborate through iCloud collaboration for up to 100 users. Desktop class organization - Intuitive multi-select drag and drop gesture to organize your notes or pages Element Note is free to try for up to 3 notes. Unlock the full app with an in app purchase to create unlimited notes. Terms and Conditions https://elementnote.app/terms Privacy Policy https://elementnote.app/privacy

Screenshots

Drawing Pad procreate Sketch4 screens
Element Note4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Element Note at 4.6 against Drawing Pad procreate Sketch's 4.1. Element Note also leads on update cadence (fortnightly vs every 2 months). Drawing Pad procreate Sketch's advantage is ratings volume (67K vs 2.7K) and iOS requirement (12.0 vs 17.0). 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Drawing Pad procreate Sketch sells 4 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per 7 days and Element Note sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $3.49 per year. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Element Note holds the better App Store score, 4.6 against 4.1. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Drawing Pad procreate Sketch has 67K ratings behind it against 2.7K, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 63% of Drawing Pad procreate Sketch's written reviews are positive against 70% of Element Note's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Drawing Pad procreate Sketch ships an update every 2 months, Element Note fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on November 15, 2026 and November 14, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
Drawing Pad procreate Sketch versus Element Note: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterDrawing Pad procreate SketchElement Note
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.1 (67K ratings)4.6 (2.7K ratings) — better
Positive reviews63.5% of reviews69.8% of reviews — better
Number of ratings67K — better2.7K
Update frequencyEvery 2 monthsFortnightly — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, Mac
Requires iOS12.0 — better17.0
Further details — not scored
Size124 MB129 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperRohan Singh RajputSoysauce Lab

Customer experience

Drawing Pad procreate Sketch

All ratings64,005 ratings
Positive75.4%
Neutral9.2%
Negative15.4%
Written reviews1,216 reviews
Positive63.5%
Neutral14.1%
Negative22.5%

Element Note

All ratings2,625 ratings
Positive90.5%
Neutral4.1%
Negative5.4%
Written reviews361 reviews
Positive69.8%
Neutral11.4%
Negative18.8%

User reviews

Drawing Pad procreate Sketch

From 67K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Easy to draw and color
  • 🎨 Good color palette
  • 🎨 Variety of brushes and textures
  • 🎨 Helpful for art and creativity
  • 🎨 Calming and relaxing to use

Room to improve

  • 💰 Too many premium features
  • 🔍 Difficult to find/use certain tools
  • 🔍 Lack of zoom and canvas control
  • 🔍 Confusing UI and navigation
  • 🐛 Bugs and crashes

Element Note

From 2.7K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Smooth handwriting experience
  • 💡 Customizable pens and colors
  • 👍 Clean and intuitive interface
  • 🎨 Gradient and gradient brush tools
  • 📚 Great for journaling and note-taking

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Frequent crashes and freezes
  • 🔍 Search function not working
  • 🖼️ Issues with image handling and export
  • 🔀 Difficulty switching between pen and eraser
  • 🔑 Lack of password/locking feature for notes

Bugs and requests

Drawing Pad procreate Sketch

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Drawings not saving properly
  • Eraser not working as expected
  • Constant pop-ups interrupting workflow

Requested features

5 requests
  • Add more free brushes and tools
  • Improve eraser functionality
  • Implement zoom and canvas controls
  • Provide better onboarding and instructions
  • Fix bugs and stability issues

Element Note

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Notes and files randomly disappearing
  • Inconsistent behavior when using the floating keyboard
  • Handwriting recognition not working as expected
  • Exported PDFs losing formatting and background colors

Requested features

6 requests
  • Ruler tool
  • Ability to resize/rotate selections
  • Improved text editing and formatting
  • Presentation mode for connecting to displays
  • Ability to import/export multiple files at once
Show 1 more
  • Seasonal or custom sticker packs

In-app purchases

4 purchases

Drawing Pad procreate Sketch

Subscriptions2
  • Drawing Pad Weekly Premium$2.997 Days
  • Drawing Pad Monthly Premium3 Days trial$9.991 Month
One-time2
  • Offer$19.99
  • Unlock Everything$29.99
3 purchases

Element Note

Subscriptions2
  • Element Note Yearly$3.491 Year
  • Element Note Yearly$4.991 Year
One-time1
  • Lifetime$14.99

Questions

Is Drawing Pad procreate Sketch free?
Drawing Pad procreate Sketch is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Element Note free?
Element Note is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Drawing Pad procreate Sketch or Element Note?
Element Note is rated higher. Drawing Pad procreate Sketch averages 4.1 out of 5 from 67K ratings, while Element Note averages 4.6 from 2.7K ratings.
Do Drawing Pad procreate Sketch or Element Note have ads?
Neither Drawing Pad procreate Sketch nor Element Note shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Drawing Pad procreate Sketch or Element Note?
Drawing Pad procreate Sketch ships an update every 2 months, and Element Note fortnightly. Most recently, Drawing Pad procreate Sketch was updated on November 15, 2026 and Element Note on November 14, 2026.

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