Comparison

Zen Brush 3 vs Appfolio

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

Appfolio

Learn how to use your iPad and discover apps tailored to your interests. Access a library of video courses on illustration, design, photo/video editing, 3D creation, and productivity. Find the perfect app for your goals and see how others create with them.

Highlights
  • iPad app discovery
  • Video courses on design and editing
  • App recommendations based on goals
  • Learn app usage and creation steps
  • Gallery of user-created artwork
Read full description

New to iPad? Not sure which apps to use? Appfolio shows you how — and helps you find the apps made for you. Learn illustration, design, video, 3D, and more. Every course is built for iPad. Every lesson, in one place. Find the apps made for you. Whatever you want to create, Appfolio matches you with the right iPad apps to bring it to life. Tap an app icon to see what it does and who it's for. Browse the gallery, tap any artwork, and discover the exact apps and steps behind it. Just opened your iPad? You'll know where to start. Appfolio brings learning and app discovery together — beautifully simple, made for iPad. Watch select lessons free. Subscribe to Premium for the full library.

Screenshots

Zen Brush 34 screens
Appfolio4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Appfolio at Free against Zen Brush 3's $4.99. Appfolio also leads on review sentiment (91% vs 60%) and update cadence (every 2 weeks vs every 3 months). Zen Brush 3's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 1) and ads (none vs shown). On 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

Appfolio is free to download; Zen Brush 3 costs $4.99 up front. Appfolio sells 1 in-app purchase, starting at $16.00 per month. Zen Brush 3 asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Zen Brush 3 ships an update every 3 months, Appfolio every 2 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 21, 2026 and October 18, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard8 real differences · 3 level
Zen Brush 3 versus Appfolio: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterZen Brush 3Appfolio
Price$4.99Free — better
Rating4.4 (58 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews59.8% of reviews91.3% of reviews — better
Number of ratings58 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 3 monthsEvery 2 weeks — better
AdsNo — betterYes
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationPaidFree with in-app purchases — better
Best chart rank#86 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS13.0 — better26.0
Further details — not scored
Size226 MB66 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperPSOFTolio, Inc.

Customer experience

Zen Brush 3

All ratings55 ratings
Positive81.8%
Neutral5.5%
Negative12.7%
Written reviews117 reviews
Positive59.8%
Neutral12.0%
Negative28.2%

Appfolio

Written reviews23 reviews
Positive91.3%
Neutral0.0%
Negative8.7%

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

Appfolio

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

None

Zen Brush 3

No in-app purchases

1 purchases

Appfolio

Subscriptions1
  • Appfolio Unlimited 月額プラン7 Days trial$16.001 Month

Questions

Is Zen Brush 3 free?
Zen Brush 3 costs $4.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Appfolio free?
Appfolio is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Zen Brush 3 or Appfolio have ads?
Appfolio shows ads; Zen Brush 3 does not.
Which is updated more often, Zen Brush 3 or Appfolio?
Zen Brush 3 ships an update every 3 months, and Appfolio every 2 weeks. Most recently, Zen Brush 3 was updated on October 21, 2026 and Appfolio on October 18, 2026.

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