Tayasui Calligraphy vs Simple Sketchbook
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Tayasui Calligraphy
Create beautiful calligraphy with realistic ink pens and brushes on your device. This app offers precise customization of drawing tools and an intuitive interface for elegant line work. Optimized for stylus input, it provides a smooth and detailed artistic experience.
- Realistic ink pens and brushes
- Customizable tool settings
- Intuitive and minimal interface
- Optimized for stylus input
- Elegant line and curve drawing
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The most beautiful calligraphy ink pen and brush is available on any devices. Drawing harmonious curves and elegant lines has never been easier. With all our knowledge developed over the past 8 years on Tayasui Sketches, we crafted the most delicate and realistic pens and ink brushes. Featuring a very intuitive, slick and minimal interface. Pens, brushes and erasers can be customised very precisely in inclination, texture and size for a remarkable result. Tayasui Calligraphy is fully optimised for Apple Pencil, for even more accurate and detailed results. Subscribe to access to premium app features; subscription details are the following: - Length: monthly, yearly - Your payment will be charged to your iTunes Account as soon as you confirm your purchase - You can manage your subscriptions and turn off auto-renewal from your Account Settings after the purchase - Your subscription will renew automatically, unless you turn off auto-renew at least 24 hours before the end of the current period - The cost of renewal will be charged to your account in the 24 hours prior to the end of the current period - When canceling a subscription, your subscription will stay active until the end of the period. Auto-renewal will be disabled, but the current subscription will not be refunded - Any unused portion of a free trial period, if offered, will be forfeited when purchasing a subscription Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/
Simple Sketchbook
A digital sketchbook for iPad and iPhone that offers a clean, fast drawing experience without distractions. Create multiple sketchbooks with various paper styles, utilize layers, and import reference images. Export your work as high-resolution PNGs, PDFs, or timelapse videos.
- Distraction-free drawing interface
- Multiple sketchbooks with custom paper styles
- Multi-layer support with opacity and blend modes
- Import reference images
- Export pages as PNG or PDF
- Generate timelapse videos of drawings
- Face ID/Touch ID sketchbook lock
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App Description Simple Sketchbook is a distraction-free sketchbook for iPad, designed around the Apple Pencil but will also work with your finger. No subscription. No social features. Just a clean, fast place to draw. Create as many sketchbooks as you like, each with its own paper style — blank, lined, grid, dotted, or a range of specialty templates. Every sketchbook fills your screen edge to edge, and the canvas stays fixed in space when you rotate your iPad, so your drawing never moves out from under your hand. There is no zoom by design on iPad (iPhone users can double-tap to zoom), just a regular sketchbook page in digital space. Layers, done simply Each page supports multiple layers with individual opacity, blend mode, and visibility controls. Bring in photos from your library or drag and drop images directly onto the canvas to use as reference or compose with your work. Reposition, scale, and rotate images freely before committing them to the page. Export your work Export any page as a high-resolution PNG — with or without the background — or export an entire sketchbook as a PDF. Generate a timelapse video of your drawing process, perfect for sharing how a piece came together. Your sketchbooks, backed up Back up any sketchbook to a single file and restore it on any of your iPads. Backups scale automatically to fit the screen, so moving from an iPad mini to an iPad Pro keeps everything looking right. Lock individual sketchbooks with Face ID or Touch ID. Simple Sketchbook is a distraction-free drawing notebook for iPad and iPhone, built for the feel of putting pencil to paper, with just enough digital magic to make every page more useful than a physical one. Draw naturally A slim, always-out-of-the-way tool strip puts your pen, sizes, opacity and colours one tap away, no picker popovers, no hunting through menus. Double-tap or squeeze your Apple Pencil to switch tools instantly, or rest two fingers on the page to pull up the full tool grid without ever putting your pencil down. Layer it up Sketch, ink, and shade on separate layers. Drop in a photo and arrange it (move, scale, rotate) right on the canvas. Add a storyboard frame template for comic panels and animatics. Blend, reorder, and merge layers exactly like a design tool, but built for a sketchbook workflow. Paper that feels right Choose plain, lined, grid, dotted, or textured paper for every notebook, whatever the page is for, to structured notes. Watch your drawing come to life Every stroke is quietly recorded as you draw. Export a timelapse video of any page, or a whole run of pages, and watch a sketch build itself from first line to finished piece. Say what you're thinking Record a voice reflection on any page, your process, your intent, what you'd change next time, and Simple Sketchbook transcribes it on-device, completely privately. Reflections play back alongside your timelapse, or export as Markdown for a portfolio or journal. Yours, and only yours Lock any notebook with Face ID or Touch ID. Back up and restore your entire sketchbook library whenever you like. Nothing leaves your device unless you choose to share it. Whether you're a student building a visual journal, an artist studying your own process, or just someone who likes to draw — Simple Sketchbook gets out of your way and lets the page do the work.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: Tayasui Calligraphy at Free against Simple Sketchbook's $1.99. Tayasui Calligraphy also leads on ratings volume (261 vs 3) and iOS requirement (13.0 vs 26.0). Simple Sketchbook's advantage is review sentiment (100% vs 57%) and in-app purchases (none vs 10). On rating and device support 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
Tayasui Calligraphy is free to download; Simple Sketchbook costs $1.99 up front. Tayasui Calligraphy sells 10 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per 7 days. Simple Sketchbook asks for nothing beyond the download.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.3 for Tayasui Calligraphy against 4.3 for Simple Sketchbook. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Tayasui Calligraphy has 261 ratings behind it against 3, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 57% of Tayasui Calligraphy's written reviews are positive against 100% of Simple Sketchbook's.
Tayasui Calligraphy ships an update monthly, Simple Sketchbook every 9 days. The most recent releases landed on October 29, 2026 and October 25, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Tayasui Calligraphy | Simple Sketchbook |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free — better | $1.99 |
| Rating | 4.3 (261 ratings) | 4.3 (3 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 56.8% of reviews | 100.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 261 — better | 3 |
| Update frequency | Monthly | Every 9 days — better |
| Ads | Yes | No — better |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Subscription | Free — better |
| Best chart rank | — | #74 — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 13.0 — better | 26.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 131 MB | 53 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | SKETCHES SRL | Duncan Pollock |
Customer experience
Tayasui Calligraphy
Simple Sketchbook
Bugs and requests
Tayasui Calligraphy
Reported bugs
22 issues- Accidentally undoing when moving canvas
- App freezes with an error
- Default pen size is impractically large
- Difficulty panning without accidentally undoing
- No way to configure pen to only write
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- Accidentally delete all layers and app gets stuck
- App freezes when selecting new paper
- Lost all calligraphy drawings after reinstall
- Lost custom colors
- iCloud backup not working
- End swish/mark never thins out
- Auto orientation issues
- Saves portrait work as landscape
- Crashes every now and then
- Lag on iPad 7th Gen
- No option to add layers
- Loses work if left app for a few minutes
- App restarts when returning
- Bad lag
- Hand triggers brush unintentionally
- Zooming is buggy
- App crashes when editing pen settings
Requested features
22 requests- Add photos/files for tracing
- Turn off gestures
- Resize canvas
- Import image as a layer or background
- Select, move, copy & paste letterforms
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- Drop shadows
- Two or three color gradient brushes
- Metallic looking inks
- Apply and change colors/effects after drawing
- Animation layers/timeline
- More lessons on calligraphy
- Duplication of drawings
- More options to adjust brushes
- Move canvas like Procreate
- More papers, guides, and snapping
- Stamping and rake of brush
- Cut and paste functionality
- Selection tool
- More Apple Pencil compatibility (double-tap)
- Pressure sensitivity on black letter brush
- Save to camera roll
- Clean white background option
Simple Sketchbook
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Tayasui Calligraphy
- Weekly premium7 Days trial$2.997 Days
- Weekly premium$2.997 Days
- Monthly premium$2.991 Month
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- Monthly premium7 Days trial$2.991 Month
- Weekly premium7 Days trial$3.997 Days
- Weekly premium$3.997 Days
- Yearly premium$9.991 Year
- Yearly premium7 Days trial$9.991 Year
- Yearly premium$69.991 Year
- Yearly premium7 Days trial$69.991 Year
Simple Sketchbook
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Tayasui Calligraphy free?
Is Simple Sketchbook free?
Which has better reviews, Tayasui Calligraphy or Simple Sketchbook?
Do Tayasui Calligraphy or Simple Sketchbook have ads?
Which is updated more often, Tayasui Calligraphy or Simple Sketchbook?
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