Comparison

Realistic Paint Studio vs PicRef

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

Head to head
About

Realistic Paint Studio

This digital art software offers a familiar art station experience with realistic brushes, pencils, and markers. It allows users to create art in drawing, watercolor, and oil painting styles with a unique color engine and diverse canvas textures. Step-by-step tutorials and live demonstrations guide users through the creative process.

Highlights
  • Realistic color engine
  • Drawing, Watercolor, Oil Painting styles
  • Realistic brushes and tools
  • Realistic canvases with diverse textures
  • Live demonstration of drawing methods
  • Step-by-step tutorials
Read full description

Realistic Paint Studio is a unique digital art software. The program combines the simplicity of traditional tools and pioneering innovations in digital art. No special education is required to work in Realistic Paint Studio. The interface is designed to show a familiar art station with real paper, brushes, pencils, pens, and markers, etc. instead of a complicated and hard-to-understand graphic editor. With Realistic Paint Studio you will forget that you are using a digital editor, being completely absorbed in the art process! Easy-to-use, yet powerful engine allows to draw and paint in any desirable style! - "Realistic color" - Unique color engine! - 3 creative styles: Drawing, Watercolor, Oil Painting "Realistic brushes" carefully designed to convey all the nuances of real brushes, pencils, pens, markers, etc. - “Realistic showcase” - You can instantly have a look at your picture within a beautiful scene - “Realistic Canvases” - 15 types of sketchbooks, paper sheets, and canvases with 45 different textures scanned from real materials. - “Realistic palettes” - Most of the brushes have their own palette's presets. - “Live demonstration” - Instant demonstration of drawing methods for the selected tool - Live liquid watercolor drops - Step by step tutorials - Сoloring with the edge control function

About

PicRef

This app allows users to view and manipulate reference images with no loss of quality. It offers tools for cropping, resizing, and batch editing, with an optional drawing feature for iPad users. The interface is designed for efficiency, supporting split-screen use with other graphics software.

Highlights
  • No loss of image quality
  • Image dragging, cropping, resizing
  • Batch editing (drag, delete, mirror, sort)
  • Desaturate and mirror images
  • Free rotation at any angle
  • Split screen support
  • Handwriting notes (iPad only)
Features
Read full description

- No loss of image quality Optimize the graphic algorithm to view more images at the same time without missing any high-definition details. - Mark (iPad only) Write down your ideas by hand in any location. - Basic function Support image dragging, cropping, resizing and focus on single picture, one-click mediation. - Marquee Batch drag, delete, mirror, desaturate and sort. - Compact layout - Desaturate Quickly desaturate the selected images. - Rotation Supports free rotation at any angle. - Mirror Quickly mirror the selected images. - Split screen Can be used with other graphics software split screen.

Screenshots

PicRef4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: PicRef at $0.99 against Realistic Paint Studio's $11.99. PicRef also leads on in-app purchases (none vs 12) and update cadence (weekly vs every 5 weeks). Realistic Paint Studio's advantage is ratings volume (735 vs 26) and iOS requirement (11.0 vs 14.0). On rating 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Realistic Paint Studio costs $11.99 and PicRef $0.99 up front. Realistic Paint Studio sells 12 one-off in-app purchases. PicRef asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.7 for Realistic Paint Studio against 4.7 for PicRef. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Realistic Paint Studio has 735 ratings behind it against 26, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 67% of Realistic Paint Studio's written reviews are positive against 84% of PicRef's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Realistic Paint Studio ships an update every 5 weeks, PicRef weekly. The most recent releases landed on September 20, 2026 and September 22, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard9 real differences · 2 level
Realistic Paint Studio versus PicRef: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterRealistic Paint StudioPicRef
Price$11.99$0.99 — better
Rating4.7 (735 ratings)4.7 (26 ratings)
Positive reviews67.3% of reviews84.4% of reviews — better
Number of ratings735 — better26
Update frequencyEvery 5 weeksWeekly — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases — betterPaid
Best chart rank—#115 — better
DevicesiPadiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS11.0 — better14.0
Further details — not scored
Size1005 MB24 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperAleksandr Komarov祥 汤

Customer experience

Realistic Paint Studio

All ratings735 ratings
Positive92.8%
Neutral4.4%
Negative2.9%
Written reviews343 reviews
Positive67.3%
Neutral16.3%
Negative16.3%

PicRef

All ratings26 ratings
Positive92.3%
Neutral7.7%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews45 reviews
Positive84.4%
Neutral8.9%
Negative6.7%

Bugs and requests

Realistic Paint Studio

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Crashes when using the camera feature
  • Inconsistent behavior with the undo/redo function
  • Issues with the color mixing in the palette
  • Delayed response and lag when using Apple Pencil

Requested features

5 requests
  • Add support for PSD export with layers
  • Implement canvas rotation and resizing options
  • Allow for more brush customization and pressure sensitivity
  • Improve color picker and palette functionality
  • Introduce a simple, distraction-free canvas mode

PicRef

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

12 purchases

Realistic Paint Studio

One-time12
  • Artistic brushFree
  • Mechanical penFree
  • Glitz penFree
Show 9 more
  • Glass penFree
  • Fountain penFree
  • Calligraphy brushFree
  • Hieroglyph brushFree
  • Diamond brushFree
  • Album with six color sheetsFree
  • All brushes from the VIP boxFree
  • Dragon brush$0.99
  • Crystal brush$0.99
None

PicRef

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Realistic Paint Studio free?
Realistic Paint Studio costs $11.99, and also offers in-app purchases.
Is PicRef free?
PicRef costs $0.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Realistic Paint Studio or PicRef?
Realistic Paint Studio and PicRef are both rated 4.7 out of 5 on the App Store, from 735 and 26 ratings respectively.
Do Realistic Paint Studio or PicRef have ads?
Neither Realistic Paint Studio nor PicRef shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Realistic Paint Studio or PicRef?
Realistic Paint Studio ships an update every 5 weeks, and PicRef weekly. Most recently, Realistic Paint Studio was updated on September 20, 2026 and PicRef on September 22, 2026.

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