Comparison

Drawing Apps vs Dear Bear

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

Head to head
About

Drawing Apps

Create digital art with a powerful painting engine and advanced tools. This app offers realistic brushes, layers, blend modes, and various editing capabilities for sketching, painting, and transforming images. Import and export your creations in multiple formats.

Highlights
  • Advanced painting engine with 40+ natural brush presets
  • Realistic brush interaction with paper textures
  • Layers and Photoshop blend modes
  • Selection and clipping masks
  • Transform multiple layers and use transform tool
  • Import and export drawings in JPEG and PNG formats
Features
Read full description

Superior brushes - The most advanced painting engine on tablets • 40+ natural brush presets • Brushes interact realistically with paper textures Superior tools - A place for everything • Layers and Photoshop blend modes • Selection and clipping masks Superior interface - Everything in its place • It’s simple. It’s organized. It’s out of the way. • Organized workflows: Paint - Sketch, Paint, and Blend Clone - Turn a photo into a painting Edit - Adjust color, Liquify, Pattern, Crop, or add a filter • Move your favorite tools to the top bar for quicker access Advanced features • Transform multiple layers simultaneously • Transform tool: Scale, Rotate, Flip, Distort, and Skew • Create seamless patterns with the Pattern tool • Gradient and Pattern Fill • Import images • Rotate and flip the canvas Import and export • Import and export drawings • Add images from Gallery, Camera, or search the web • Export images as JPEG, PNG. Get Drawing Apps Premium – weekly subscription for $2.99 USD. OR monthly subscription (which comes with a 3-day free trial) for $4.99 USD. OR yearly subscription for $9.99 USD • Subscription payments will be charged to your iTunes account at confirmation of your purchase and upon commencement of each renewal term. Subscription with a free trial period will automatically renew to a paid subscription. You can cancel your subscription or free trial in the iTunes settings at least 24-hours before the end of the free trial period. The cancellation will take effect the day after the last day of the current subscription period and you will be downgraded to the free service. • Please note: any unused portion of a free trial period (if offered) will be forfeited when you purchase a premium subscription during the free trial period. • Payment will be charged to your iTunes Account at confirmation of purchase. Account will be charged for renewal within 24-hours prior to the end of the current period. Any unused portion of a free trial period, if offered, will be forfeited when the user purchases a subscription to that publication, where applicable. • Privacy Policy: https://drawingpad.me/privacy-policy.html • Terms: https://drawingpad.me/terms-of-use.html

About

Dear Bear

Unleash your creativity with a user-friendly drawing application. Offers a variety of brushes, layers, and import options for both finger and Apple Pencil use. Perfect for sketching everyday wonders.

Highlights
  • Variety of brushes
  • Customizable layers
  • Image import function
  • Finger and Apple Pencil support
  • Professional drawing tools
Features
Read full description

Dear Bear - Draw the wonderful things every day. Dear Bear is a simple and cute drawing app, where you can draw all kinds of beautiful things in life. In addition to drawing with your fingers, you can also use the Apple Pencil with the iPad. Provide you with professional drawing tools - A lot of drawing materials - A variety of interesting brushes - custom layers - Image import function Hurry up and download the Dear Bear, let's create wonderful things together in the painting world. This subscription will be automatically renewed through your iTunes account, and the renewal fee will be deducted according to your package within 24 hours before the end of the current subscription period. You can manage or cancel the automatic renewal at the Account Settings Department. To cancel the automatic renewal, you must at least 24 hours before the end of the current subscription period. If your trial has not ended, the remaining days will automatically expire after you start subscribing. To open the subscription, you need to agree to the following terms: Terms of Service: https://keshoujie.github.io/posts/keshoujie/fuwu Privacy terms: https://keshoujie.github.io/posts/keshoujie/privacy

Screenshots

Drawing Apps4 screens
Dear Bear4 screens

Verdict

The call

Drawing Apps and Dear Bear both sit at 4.4 stars, but that hides the real split: 100% of Dear Bear's written reviews are positive against 63% of Drawing Apps's. Drawing Apps's advantage is ads (none vs shown) and ratings volume (5.2K vs 68). On price, rating, update cadence and in-app purchases 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

Both are free to download. Drawing Apps sells 15 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per 7 days and Dear Bear sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.4 for Drawing Apps against 4.5 for Dear Bear. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Drawing Apps has 5.2K ratings behind it against 68, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 63% of Drawing Apps's written reviews are positive against 100% of Dear Bear's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Drawing Apps ships an update monthly, Dear Bear every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on September 22, 2026 and August 26, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
Drawing Apps versus Dear Bear: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterDrawing AppsDear Bear
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.4 (5.2K ratings)4.5 (68 ratings) — better
Positive reviews62.5% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings5.2K — better68
Update frequencyMonthly — betterEvery 2 months
AdsNo — betterYes
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS14.013.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size163 MB38 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperGang Ji受杰 柯

Customer experience

Drawing Apps

All ratings5,150 ratings
Positive84.1%
Neutral5.7%
Negative10.2%
Written reviews392 reviews
Positive62.5%
Neutral11.5%
Negative26.0%

Dear Bear

All ratings68 ratings
Positive86.8%
Neutral7.4%
Negative5.9%
Written reviews3 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Bugs and requests

Drawing Apps

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Frequent crashes and app closures
  • Layers not working as expected
  • Drawing tools not responsive or accurate
  • Difficulty navigating the app

Requested features

5 requests
  • More free brushes and tools
  • Ability to save and export drawings
  • Undo/redo functionality improvements
  • Color customization options
  • Tracing feature for photos

Dear Bear

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

15 purchases

Drawing Apps

Subscriptions9
  • DrawingApps Premium - Weekly$2.997 Days
  • DrawingApps Gold - Weekly$3.997 Days
  • Drawing App Black Friday Offer3 Days trial$5.991 Month
Show 6 more
  • DrawingAppsPremium Trial Month3 Days trial$7.991 Month
  • DrawingApps Premium - Monthly$7.991 Month
  • DrawingApps Gold Trial Monthly3 Days trial$9.991 Month
  • DrawingApps Gold - Monthly$9.991 Month
  • DrawingApps Premium - Yearly3 Days trial$39.991 Year
  • DrawingApps Gold - Yearly3 Days trial$59.991 Year
One-time6
  • 300 Coins$5.99
  • 900 Coins$14.99
  • 1200 Coins$19.99
Show 3 more
  • Lifetime Lite Drawing Pass$49.99
  • 5000 Coins$59.99
  • Lifetime PRO Drawing Pass$69.99
3 purchases

Dear Bear

Subscriptions2
  • Plus Version3 Days trial$1.991 Month
  • Plus Version Quarterly3 Days trial$3.993 Months
One-time1
  • Pro Version$5.99

Questions

Is Drawing Apps free?
Drawing Apps is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Dear Bear free?
Dear Bear is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Drawing Apps or Dear Bear?
Dear Bear is rated higher. Drawing Apps averages 4.4 out of 5 from 5.2K ratings, while Dear Bear averages 4.5 from 68 ratings.
Do Drawing Apps or Dear Bear have ads?
Dear Bear shows ads; Drawing Apps does not.
Which is updated more often, Drawing Apps or Dear Bear?
Drawing Apps ships an update monthly, and Dear Bear every 2 months. Most recently, Drawing Apps was updated on September 22, 2026 and Dear Bear on August 26, 2026.

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