Comparison

Stencil vs Calligraphy

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

Head to head
About

Stencil

Enhance your drawing skills with augmented reality guidelines. Customize and overlay guides onto photos or AI-generated images to create hand-drawn art for various projects. Improve your artistic abilities with ease.

Highlights
  • Augmented reality guidelines
  • Customizable drawing guides
  • AI image generation
  • Import photos for tracing
  • Hand-drawn art creation
  • Improve drawing skills
Features
Read full description

Bring ideas from your screen to paper. Stencil helps you trace images and lettering into journals, cards, postcards and other hand-drawn projects. Choose a doodle from the library, use a photo, or generate an image with AI. Add your own text and choose a lettering style to trace. Follow on-screen camera guidelines as you draw on paper, or register a printed reference image for AR drawing. Adjust your stencil’s placement and appearance to suit the page. Follow built-in drawing lessons and explore journal prompts for your next notebook session. Stencil supports English and ten additional app languages, including Arabic with right-to-left layouts. Stencil Plus is an auto-renewing subscription. Access to features and content may require a subscription. Available plans, prices and any trial eligibility are shown in the app before purchase. Manage or cancel your subscription in your App Store account settings. Privacy policy: https://stencil-journal.web.app/privacy.html Terms of use: https://stencil-journal.web.app/terms.html

About

Calligraphy

Learn the art of beautiful handwriting with this comprehensive course. It offers theoretical and practical lessons to develop your penmanship skills and master letter shapes. Practice on a digital pad or print exercises for paper practice.

Highlights
  • Theoretical and practical lessons
  • Hand muscle development
  • Letter shape mastery
  • Digital training pad
  • Printable exercises
  • Guideline sheet customization
Features
Read full description

Dive into the enchanting universe of calligraphy, a place where every mark bears witness to the sophistication of script. More than just penmanship, calligraphy is a visual concert of alphabets, assembled with delicacy and symmetry, capturing the individuality of each creator. This discipline elevates writing beyond mundane communication, turning it into a unique artistic statement. Becoming proficient in calligraphy is a path filled with ongoing education and practice. The Cursive Writing App serves as a manual for effective cursive handwriting, offering a series of successive theoretical and hands-on lessons. Upon completing this course, you will acquire the necessary writing abilities, develop mastery over the hand's writing muscles, and learn how to practically apply these skills to the shapes of letters. The free version without a subscription includes lessons on basic principles in writing, the first two lessons of more advanced stages, and limited writing on the training pad. With the subscription, you'll get access to all theoretical and practical lessons of the course plus an ability to write on the training pad. You can also print all exercises in the "Practice" section, as well as tune and print a guidelines sheet for practicing on paper. *Calligraphy Course Subscription* • Calligraphy Course requires a subscription to access all books' content. • Once your purchase is confirmed, you will be charged through your iTunes account. • The subscription will automatically renew. • You can manage your subscription and turn off auto-renewal at any time in your App Store account, but at least 24 hrs before the end of the current period. • If you chose an offered trial period and would like not to proceed with subscribing, you have to cancel your subscription at least 24 hrs before the end of the Trial, otherwise, you will be charged for the first billing period. Terms of use: https://calligraphy.app/penman-book/termsofuse/ Privacy policy: https://calligraphy.app/penman-book/privacy/

Screenshots

Stencil4 screens
Calligraphy4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Stencil at 4.8 against Calligraphy's 2.9. Stencil also leads on update cadence (fortnightly vs every 5 weeks) and ratings volume (125 vs 25). On price, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model 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. Stencil sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $8.99 per month and Calligraphy sells 4 in-app purchases, starting at $0.99 per 7 days. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Stencil holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 2.9. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Stencil has 125 ratings behind it against 25, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 42% of Stencil's written reviews are positive against 33% of Calligraphy's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Stencil ships an update fortnightly, Calligraphy every 5 weeks. Both last shipped on November 3, 2026.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
Stencil versus Calligraphy: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterStencilCalligraphy
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.8 (125 ratings) — better2.9 (25 ratings)
Positive reviews41.7% of reviews — better33.3% of reviews
Number of ratings125 — better25
Update frequencyFortnightly — betterEvery 5 weeks
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFreemium
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS16.015.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size167 MB53 MB
Age rating+44+
DeveloperStudio Next LtdVladislava Rudetskaia

Customer experience

Stencil

All ratings125 ratings
Positive93.6%
Neutral4.8%
Negative1.6%
Written reviews12 reviews
Positive41.7%
Neutral16.7%
Negative41.7%

Calligraphy

All ratings25 ratings
Positive40.0%
Neutral8.0%
Negative52.0%
Written reviews6 reviews
Positive33.3%
Neutral16.7%
Negative50.0%

In-app purchases

3 purchases

Stencil

Subscriptions3
  • Stencil Plus Monthly$8.991 Month
  • Stencil Plus Quarterly3 Days trial$12.993 Months
  • Stencil Plus Yearly3 Days trial$44.991 Year
4 purchases

Calligraphy

Subscriptions4
  • Full Access Weekly Sale$0.997 Days
  • Full Access Weekly$1.997 Days
  • Full Access$3.991 Month
Show 1 more
  • Full Access Monthly Family$7.991 Month

Questions

Is Stencil free?
Stencil is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Calligraphy free?
Calligraphy is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Stencil or Calligraphy?
Stencil is rated higher. Stencil averages 4.8 out of 5 from 125 ratings, while Calligraphy averages 2.9 from 25 ratings.
Do Stencil or Calligraphy have ads?
Neither Stencil nor Calligraphy shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Stencil or Calligraphy?
Stencil ships an update fortnightly, and Calligraphy every 5 weeks. Most recently, Stencil was updated on November 3, 2026 and Calligraphy on November 3, 2026.

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