# Idle Painter vs Idle Press

The clearest difference is ads: Idle Press at none against Idle Painter's shown. Idle Press also leads on update cadence (monthly vs every 4 months) and iOS requirement (9.0 vs 15.0). Idle Painter's advantage is review sentiment (62% vs 32%) and ratings volume (32K vs 3K). On price, rating, in-app purchases and monetization model there is nothing between them.

Both are free to download. Idle Painter sells 4 one-off in-app purchases and Idle Press sells 7 one-off in-app purchases. 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 Idle Painter against 4.6 for Idle Press. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Idle Painter has 32K ratings behind it against 3K, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 62% of Idle Painter's written reviews are positive against 32% of Idle Press's.

Idle Painter ships an update every 4 months, Idle Press monthly. The most recent releases landed on October 23, 2026 and October 21, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | Idle Painter | Idle Press |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | **[4.7 (32K ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/idle-painter/id1377332371/reviews)** | [4.6 (3K ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/idle-press/id1433795222/reviews) |
| Number of ratings | **32K** | 3K |
| Positive reviews | **62.4% of reviews** | 32.3% of reviews |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Ads | Yes | **No** |
| Update frequency | Every 4 months | **Monthly** |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free with in-app purchases |
| Size | 263 MB | 80 MB |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 | **9.0** |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | [SayGames LTD](https://appshunter.io/developer/1551847165) | [Zplay (Beijing) Info. Tech. Co.,Ltd.](https://appshunter.io/developer/531022725) |

## What reviewers say

### Idle Painter

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/idle-painter/id1377332371)

Build and upgrade your art studio, learn new drawing styles, and create as many pictures as you can. Become a master artist in this engaging simulation game.

**Highlights:** Build art studio, Upgrade tools, Learn new styles, Draw pictures, Become a master artist

**Features:** Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases (4)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 100 Crystals Pack | $0.99 | one-time |
| 300 Crystals Pack | $1.99 | one-time |
| Remove Ads | $2.99 | one-time |
| 1000 Crystals Mega Pack | $4.99 | one-time |

**What reviewers like**

- 🎨 Beautiful and creative artwork
- 👍 Relaxing and soothing gameplay
- 🚀 Fast painting process
- 💎 Satisfying to watch pictures come to life

**What reviewers complain about**

- 🔍 Limited number of pictures to paint
- 🔍 Repetitive gameplay after completing all pictures
- 🔍 Frequent and unskippable ads
- 🐛 Crashes and bugs causing lost progress

**Reported bugs**

- Paintings not showing up correctly in the top frame
- Inability to watch videos to unlock new paintings
- Game crashing when completing certain quests

**Requested features**

- More pictures and painting options
- Ability to replay favorite paintings
- Option to disable vibration after completing paintings
- Auto-sell feature to continue painting without manual interaction
- Prestige or reset system to provide more long-term progression


### Idle Press

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/idle-press/id1433795222)

Experience the satisfaction of owning and operating a powerful industrial press. Crush a variety of objects with satisfying physics and see how much you can destroy.

**Highlights:** Operate a powerful industrial press, Crush a variety of objects, Satisfying physics simulation, Personal press ownership simulation, Unlimited crushing

**Features:** macOS Compatibility, Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases (7)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 15 Gems Pack | $0.99 | one-time |
| No ADS | $1.99 | one-time |
| 90 Gems Pack | $4.99 | one-time |
| 210 Gems Pack | $9.99 | one-time |
| 480 Gems Pack | $19.99 | one-time |
| 1275 Gems Pack | $49.99 | one-time |
| 2850 Gems Pack | $99.99 | one-time |

**What reviewers like**

- 🚀 Fast progress
- 🎮 Satisfying gameplay
- 🕰️ Relaxing experience
- 💰 Generous rewards

**What reviewers complain about**

- 🔍 Lack of content/features
- 💢 Excessive ads
- 🚫 Paid ad removal not working
- 🐛 Bugs and glitches

**Reported bugs**

- Gems/money getting stuck after upgrades
- Ads shown despite paid ad removal
- Offline progress not tracking properly

**Requested features**

- More content and progression
- Improved ad implementation
- Better offline/idle functionality
- Visual improvements


## Frequently asked questions

### Is Idle Painter free?

Idle Painter is free to download, with in-app purchases available.

### Is Idle Press free?

Idle Press is free to download, with in-app purchases available.

### Which has better reviews, Idle Painter or Idle Press?

Idle Painter is rated higher. Idle Painter averages 4.7 out of 5 from 32K ratings, while Idle Press averages 4.6 from 3K ratings.

### Do Idle Painter or Idle Press have ads?

Idle Painter shows ads; Idle Press does not.

### Which is updated more often, Idle Painter or Idle Press?

Idle Painter ships an update every 4 months, and Idle Press monthly. Most recently, Idle Painter was updated on October 23, 2026 and Idle Press on October 21, 2026.

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*Compared by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/) from daily US App Store data. Review summaries are generated from verbatim App Store reviews.*