Tiny Paint vs Charcoal
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Tiny Paint
This app offers a comprehensive suite of tools for creating, drawing, and editing images. It supports layers, a wide variety of brushes, and advanced selection tools for precise edits. Users can also remove unwanted objects and apply numerous filters and color adjustments.
- Unlimited layers with blend modes
- Over 450 high-quality brushes
- 60+ photo enhancement filters
- Intelligent selection tools
- Raster and vector graphics editing
- Object removal (Inpaint)
- Extensive resources (stickers, textures)
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TinyPaint is an easy and full featured photo editor. Create, draw, design and retouch photos in minutes with TinyPaint! You won't believe how easy this is! FEATURES 1. Layers Support unlimited layers and 20+ blend modes. Support exporting and importing layered PSD files 2. Brushes Over 450 high quality brushes. Support Apple Pencil for iPad 2018 and 3D Touch sensitivity for iPhones. Drawing whenever and wherever you want! 3. Filters Over 60 filters, ideal for enhancing your photos. 4. Select Select areas with Inteligence, Lasso, Magic Wand, Rect or Tap tool. Edit and apply effects to portions of photo while leaving unselected areas untouched. 5. Raster and Vector Graphics Editor If you want to design UI, web page or LOGO on the go, TinyPaint is for you. 6. Undo Undo any slippery editing mistakes. 7. Inpaint Remove unwanted objects from your photos. 8. Seamless Merge Combine two layers seamlessly. 9. Color 20 + Color FX and 10+ Color adjustment tools. 10. Resources Over 1000 stickers, textures, backgrounds, etc. 11. More Fill, stroke, text, crop, resize, rotate and etc. Paint Pro Subscription: • Get unlimited access for $14.99/6 months • Payment will be charged to iTunes Account at confirmation of purchase • Subscription automatically renews unless auto-renew is turned off at least 24-hours before the end of the current period • Account will be charged for renewal within 24-hours prior to the end of the current period, and identify the cost of the renewal • Subscriptions may be managed by the user and auto-renewal may be turned off by going to the user's Account Settings after purchase • Any unused portion of a free trial period, if offered, will be forfeited when the user purchases a subscription to that publication, where applicable - Privacy Policy: https://tinypaint.wordpress.com - Terms of Use: https://tinypaint.wordpress.com
Charcoal
This app offers a simple yet powerful sketching experience with rich tools and beautiful color palettes. Easily create and export your artwork for use in other graphics programs. It supports modern iOS features like multiple windows and dark mode for enhanced productivity.
- Simple sketching interface
- Rich drawing tools
- Beautiful color palettes
- Export sketches
- Multiple window support
- Dark mode
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• Charcoal is incredibly easy to use: Just create or open a sketch and start sketching. There are no layers or confusing settings. Instead, Charcoal features rich tools and beautiful color palettes. • Charcoal allows you to export a sketch to use it in your favorite graphics program. • Charcoal supports modern iOS and iPadOS features like multiple windows and dark mode: use it at night or open multiple sketches, even side by side.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Charcoal at none against Tiny Paint's 3. Tiny Paint's advantage is update cadence (monthly vs every 2 months) and ratings volume (525 vs 144). On price, rating, review sentiment 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
Both are free to download. Tiny Paint sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $14.99 per 6 months. Charcoal asks for nothing beyond the download.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.4 for Tiny Paint against 4.5 for Charcoal. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 525 and 144 respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 81% of Tiny Paint's written reviews are positive against 77% of Charcoal's.
Tiny Paint ships an update monthly, Charcoal every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on October 24, 2026 and October 26, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Tiny Paint | Charcoal |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.4 (525 ratings) | 4.5 (144 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 81.4% of reviews — better | 76.8% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 525 — better | 144 |
| Update frequency | Monthly — better | Every 2 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Subscription | Free — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod, Vision Pro — better |
| Requires iOS | 9.0 — better | 15.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 336 MB | 29 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | 80 Degree Photo Studio | Lars Augustin |
Customer experience
Tiny Paint
Charcoal
User reviews
Tiny Paint
From 525 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 👍 Easy to use
- 🎨 Great for drawing and editing
- 💡 Lots of features and tools
- 🎨 Useful for beginners and professionals
- 🚀 Smooth performance
Room to improve
- 🐛 Crashes and glitches
- 💰 Paywall for many features
- 🔒 Limited functionality without subscription
- 🎨 Difficult to navigate for some users
- 🐛 Laggy and buggy at times
Charcoal
From 144 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🚀 Simple and intuitive
- 👍 Great for quick sketching
- 🎨 Aesthetically pleasing design
- 💰 Free with no ads
Room to improve
- 🎨 Limited color palette
- 🎨 Lack of customization options
- 🎨 Missing advanced drawing tools
- 🐛 Occasional bugs and crashes
Bugs and requests
Tiny Paint
Reported bugs
4 issues- App crashes when trying to save drawings
- Brush settings reset unexpectedly
- Layers disappear after exiting the app
- Frequent freezes and lags when using certain tools
Requested features
5 requests- Add direct line tool
- Improve layer management
- Allow importing/exporting of PSD files
- Provide a free version with fewer limitations
- Improve overall stability and reduce crashes
Charcoal
Reported bugs
3 issues- Saved sketches lose quality
- Palette colors change unexpectedly
- Freezing when opening color palette
Requested features
4 requests- Ability to change brush/pen size
- Layers and blending tools
- Color wheel and custom color selection
- Import/export options
In-app purchases
Tiny Paint
- UNLIMITED ACCESS3 Days trial$14.996 Months
- Unlock 450+ Paint Brushes$0.99
- Unlock Elements & Filters$1.99
Charcoal
No in-app purchases
