HEAVYPAINT Classic vs VizRef
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
HEAVYPAINT Classic
A streamlined painting application focused on pure colors and shapes. It offers essential tools for artists, including improved smudge and blur, layers, masking, and erasing. Ideal for quick sketches, studies, and plein air work.
- Improved Smudge tool
- Improved Blur tool
- Layers
- Masking
- Clipping
- Erase tool
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HEAVYPAINT ClassicA simple yet secretly powerful painting app! Focus on pure colors and shapes with a streamlined interface. Ideal for plein air painting, color notes, sketches and studies. + Improved Smudge + Improved Blur + Layers + Masking + Erase + Clipping 30 day trial with full functionality.
VizRef
This app allows artists and animators to create visual reference boards using images and GIFs from various sources. It integrates with popular drawing applications, offering tools to organize and refine inspiration for creative projects.
- Create visual reference boards
- Import images and GIFs from web, cloud, photos
- Companion app for Procreate, Adobe Fresco, etc.
- Organize inspiration with thumbnails
- Animated GIF support with frame-by-frame playback
- Image editing tools: crop, greyscale, flip, rotate
- Drag and drop from web, batch import
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VizRef for iPad enables creatives to finally take their inspiration anywhere. It becomes the perfect companion app for Procreate® or paired with your favorite drawing/animation application by utilizing iPad IOS multitasking features. Clear up your hard to find hidden layers in your drawing app and easily organize your inspiration on the go. Make visual reference boards with any images or gifs from web browsers, cloud storage, photos, screen captures and more. The first mood board creation app made by artists for artists, that brings comprehensive referencing tools to animators and visual artists/en. We are dedicated to bringing creatives what they need most in being inspired everywhere they go. HIGHLIGHTS -Perfect companion app paired with Procreate® Adobe Fresco ® Clip Studio Paint® Infinite Painter® etc. by utilizing iPad IOS multitasking features -Supports many image types including GIF -Drag and drop from web -Batch Import from Photos app -Batch Export images from boards to cloud storage using Files app - *Multi-Select and auto pack images for a quicker workflow * -Import High-Resolution images with HD toggle _*Focus on whats importing with Focus mode. ( rotate imageboard ) -Batch Import from iCloud, Dropbox, Google Drive with split-screen -Quick and responsive visual reference board experience -Easy to use/ minimal UI -Light mode and Dark mode -Set thumbnails for reference boards to visually organize your inspiration ANIMATED GIF SUPPORT -Reference your favorite animated gifs -Pause animation and play frame by frame to better understand referenced animations -Advanced animation timeline gives you an interactive visual breakdown of all frames EASY TO USE REFERENCE TOOLS -Crop images to optimize screen space and view more references -Greyscale toggle for images for value reference -Flip horizontally and vertically -Rotate Images -Copy-paste images into other apps Artwork and animation credits @_Artazi @_baomii @_Deadslug_ @amnesiapancake @barachan @belgeist @criisalys @ergo.josh @evan_monteiro @gloomwastaken @mrbeezul @onemegawatt @rocketboiART @samuelyounart @cobalt_requin VizRef was created by Max Gonzalez and RoboWorld Entertainment with supporting development from Valere Labs
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: HEAVYPAINT Classic at Free against VizRef's $3.99. HEAVYPAINT Classic also leads on update cadence (every 5 days vs every 3 months) and device support (3 vs 1). VizRef's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 2) and review sentiment (70% vs 54%). On rating, ratings volume, ads and iOS requirement 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
HEAVYPAINT Classic is free to download; VizRef costs $3.99 up front. HEAVYPAINT Classic sells 2 one-off in-app purchases. VizRef asks for nothing beyond the download.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.1 for HEAVYPAINT Classic against 4.1 for VizRef. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 179 and 301 respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 54% of HEAVYPAINT Classic's written reviews are positive against 70% of VizRef's.
HEAVYPAINT Classic ships an update every 5 days, VizRef every 3 months. The most recent releases landed on October 25, 2026 and October 24, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | HEAVYPAINT Classic | VizRef |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free — better | $3.99 |
| Rating | 4.1 (179 ratings) — better | 4.1 (301 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 54.5% of reviews | 69.8% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 179 | 301 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 5 days — better | Every 3 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPad |
| Requires iOS | 12.0 — better | 13.2 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 51 MB | 4 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | HEAVYPOLY, Inc. | Studio Pixanoh |
Customer experience
HEAVYPAINT Classic
VizRef
User reviews
HEAVYPAINT Classic
From 179 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🎨 Unique, innovative painting tools and brushes
- 💡 Forces deliberate, decisive artistic decisions
- 🎯 Minimalist interface encourages focus on fundamentals
- 🔄 Playback feature to review artwork creation
- 🎪 Fun, experimental approach to digital art
Room to improve
- 🐛 Frequent crashes and data loss
- 😤 Confusing, unintuitive UI/UX
- 🔄 Inconsistent UI changes between updates
- 💰 Switched from one-time purchase to subscription model
- 🚫 Poor documentation and lack of tutorials
VizRef
From 301 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 👍 Simple and intuitive interface
- 🚀 Smooth and fast performance
- 🎨 Helpful for organizing references
- 💡 Useful for artists and creatives
- 🔍 Convenient for gathering inspiration
Room to improve
- 🐛 Crashes and stability issues
- 🔒 Lack of backup/sync options
- 🖌️ No annotation or note-taking features
- 🔀 Difficulty rearranging/moving images
- 💾 Limited image storage capacity
Bugs and requests
HEAVYPAINT Classic
Reported bugs
18 issues- App crashes frequently, causing work loss
- Auto-save feature unreliable despite crashes
- Canvas flips upside down randomly
- Transform tool deletes paintings
- Undo button requires multiple taps
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- Zoom functionality buggy and destabilizes canvas
- Canvas resize not working
- Image corruption with layer duplication
- Eye dropper functionality haphazard
- Fill tool doesn't work with selected colors
- Pressure setting eliminates mark-making
- Brush size settings change across all tools
- Some brush textures cannot be changed
- Random blobs appear on export
- App crashes when switching between drawings
- Trial period not clearing for paid users
- Incompatibility with SE2 and older devices
- Speaker popping on undo action
Requested features
15 requests- Gesture controls (2-finger undo, 3-finger redo)
- Pressure sensitivity for brush size
- Lasso tool for moving selections
- Redo button functionality
- Canvas zoom capability
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- Resizable/collapsible UI elements
- Ability to move canvas with single finger
- Line work capabilities
- Better brush texture preset selection
- Canvas size input field
- Eraser tool
- Moveable UI panels
- Tutorial or onboarding guide
- Better save/export documentation
- Pressure control for size on all tools
VizRef
Reported bugs
4 issues- Crashing when opening new boards
- Issues with exporting boards and images
- Losing images from boards unexpectedly
- Limits on number of images per board
Requested features
5 requests- Add text/drawing tools for annotations
- Implement cloud sync and backup options
- Allow multi-select and batch operations
- Provide more flexible image manipulation
- Add folders/organization for boards
In-app purchases
HEAVYPAINT Classic
- Seurat Texture Brushes$4.99
- HEAVYPAINT Pro$9.99
VizRef
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is HEAVYPAINT Classic free?
Is VizRef free?
Which has better reviews, HEAVYPAINT Classic or VizRef?
Do HEAVYPAINT Classic or VizRef have ads?
Which is updated more often, HEAVYPAINT Classic or VizRef?
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