Comparison

Zen Brush 3 vs AR GRAPHY

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

Head to head
About

Zen Brush 3

This app allows users to create beautiful East Asian ink art, including calligraphy and painting. It simulates an ink brush with adjustable water and color features, offering a rich expressive range for both beginners and experienced artists. Easily share and edit your creations with various export options and background templates.

Highlights
  • Simulated 3D ink brush drawing
  • Adjustable water and color effects
  • Layer functionality for flexible editing
  • Import photos for tracing or backgrounds
  • Rich background and paper templates
  • Export to JPEG, PNG, and transparent PNG
Features
Read full description

Zen Brush 3 is a drawing app focused on the strong yet beautiful feel of the East Asian ink brush which can be used to perform calligraphy, ink painting and more. The drawing system that brings to life a feeling of silky fluent and delicate painting now allows an even wider range of expression thanks to the addition of "water" and "color". Providing a new simple and intuitive user interface, this app is designed to be optimal for performing Zen art. Simply start the app and you are immediately ready to draw. Anyone, anywhere, can create superb Zen art with this app’s uniquely rich expressiveness. You can also easily share and edit your calligraphy and images with other apps using the Export functionality. Skillfully use the rich background style templates to create and share atmospheric artwork. - The drawing system simulates a 3D model of an East Asian ink brush to enable varied and natural styles of brush handling. - The adjustable amount of water makes it possible to create expressions ranging from powerful edge effects to "nijimi" (bleeding) and "bokashi" (blurring) where colors mix. - You can also enjoy creating colored-ink paintings as well as watercolor paintings by making use of 30 selected traditional Japanese colors. - The layer functionality allows more flexible editing. - Import photos to add text to them or use them as background images for tracing. - Create fascinating artwork with a rich assortment of background style templates. - Traditional Japanese paper templates provide an authentic feel. Features: - 5 main tools (ink brush, color brush, water brush, eraser, blotting paper). - 10 levels of thickness. - 5 levels of water (not applicable to blotting paper). - 10 levels of ink tone (not applicable to water brush and blotting paper). - Color palette with 30 colors. - 89 background style templates. - Drying functionality (fast dry, instant dry, adjustable natural dry). - Layers functionality (import image / color adjustment / move / rotate / scale / reverse left and right / white transparency / gradation effect). - Guide display (character guides / partition guides / grid guides). - Movable toolbar (top / bottom / left / right). - Canvas zoom (zoom in and out with pinch gestures). - Undo / redo (5 levels). - Export functionality (formats: JPEG, PNG, transparent PNG (no background)). - Support for Apple Pencil (1st and 2nd generation). - Support for 3D Touch (where available: iPhone 6S - XS). - Drawing tool selection (finger and stylus / stylus only). - Adjustable brush pressure sensitivity (5 levels, with supported stylus only). - Adjustable tilt sensitivity (5 levels, with supported stylus only). - Gesture functionality (pinch zoom and drag, zoom toggle with 2-finger tap). - 3D brush display (enable / disable). - Pointer display (enable / disable). - 5 levels of canvas resolution with a maximum of 3072 x 4096 pixels (the higher resolutions do not work on devices with lower specs).

About

AR GRAPHY

Features
Read full description

This is an AR app associated with art exhibition presented by Digraph to show an animated version of exhibited drawings and 3d objects.

Screenshots

Zen Brush 34 screens
AR GRAPHY3 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: AR GRAPHY at Free against Zen Brush 3's $4.99. AR GRAPHY also leads on update cadence (every 5 days vs every 3 months). Zen Brush 3's advantage is chart position (#80 vs unranked) and iOS requirement (13.0 vs 15.0). On ads, in-app purchases 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

AR GRAPHY is free to download; Zen Brush 3 costs $4.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Zen Brush 3 ships an update every 3 months, AR GRAPHY every 5 days. The most recent releases landed on October 29, 2026 and October 27, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 7 level
Zen Brush 3 versus AR GRAPHY: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterZen Brush 3AR GRAPHY
Price$4.99Free — better
Rating4.4 (58 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews59.8% of reviews—
Number of ratings58 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 3 monthsEvery 5 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationPaid—
Best chart rank#80 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS13.0 — better15.0
Further details — not scored
Size226 MB143 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperPSOFTJUNICHIRO HORIKAWA

Bugs and requests

Zen Brush 3

Reported bugs

14 issues
  • App crashes when setting maximum resolution
  • Crashes when adding layers or importing images
  • Crashes during high-resolution JPEG export
  • iPad Pro M2 overheating and battery drain
  • Apple Pencil input not recognized
Show 9 more
  • Finger pressure detection not working
  • Brush lag and motion prediction issues
  • Dithering too large at default resolution
  • Support link returns blank screen
  • Cannot delete saved works
  • Import from Zen Brush 2 not functional
  • iMessage function removed without explanation
  • App closed unexpectedly with PSOFT MOBILE message
  • Pressure sensitivity inconsistent across devices

Requested features

23 requests
  • Canvas rotation with two-finger gestures
  • Increased undo/redo levels (more than 5)
  • Grid or guide line display for practice
  • Custom color wheel/palette picker
  • Instant erase without animations
Show 18 more
  • Larger grid options for quadrant practice
  • Brush size slider with fine-grained control
  • Drawing correction/smoothing adjustment
  • Layer blending modes (multiply, etc.)
  • High DPI and vector export options
  • Sketch import for tracing/reference
  • Text tool with adjustable sizing
  • Cross-device cloud synchronization
  • Trial/demo period before purchase
  • Subscription model with regular updates instead of new app versions
  • Larger UI elements and palette buttons
  • Tutorial or guided introduction
  • Gold and silver color options
  • Batch character/kanji saving and arrangement
  • Community sharing feature or official gallery
  • Customizable drawing correction levels
  • Disable finger optimizations for stylus users
  • Motion prediction control for faster strokes

AR GRAPHY

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

None

Zen Brush 3

No in-app purchases

None

AR GRAPHY

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Zen Brush 3 free?
Zen Brush 3 costs $4.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is AR GRAPHY free?
AR GRAPHY is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do Zen Brush 3 or AR GRAPHY have ads?
Neither Zen Brush 3 nor AR GRAPHY shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Zen Brush 3 or AR GRAPHY?
Zen Brush 3 ships an update every 3 months, and AR GRAPHY every 5 days. Most recently, Zen Brush 3 was updated on October 29, 2026 and AR GRAPHY on October 27, 2026.

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