Simple Trace vs DrawBuddy
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Simple Trace
This app helps beginners practice drawing and painting by allowing them to trace over photos and images. Load pictures from your camera roll and use a stylus to learn basic line drawing techniques. Save your traced creations as JPG files.
- Trace photos and pictures
- Practice drawing and painting
- Load images from camera roll
- Adjust image transmittance
- Zoom in and out
- Save drawings as JPG
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Simple Trace makes it easy to trace photos and pictures by hand. The concept is to be able to practice painting. Once you've loaded the image from your camera roll, it's easy to get started with Apple Pencil. By tracing the original picture, you can practice basic drawing such as how to draw lines in the illustration. Feature - Change of transmittance - Zoom in and out of the drawing area - Images can be saved as jpg
DrawBuddy
Learn to draw with step-by-step tutorials and guides designed for artists of all levels. Enhance your digital art skills using Apple Pencil with a variety of drawing categories. Practice on the go with quick draw options and create masterpieces.
- Step-by-step drawing tutorials
- Digital art creation
- Apple Pencil support
- Quick draw practice
- Multiple drawing categories
- Skill enhancement for beginners and professionals
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This drawing app for iPad is the perfect tool for artists of all the levels to create a stunning digital art. With the use of the Apple Pencil, users can easily learn how to draw and develop their skills with the help of the art drawing tutorials and step-by-step guides. The app also features quick draw options for those who want to practice their skills on the go. Drawing lessons are available for users to improve their techniques and create masterpieces. Whether you're a beginner or a professional, this digital drawing app will provide everything you need to enhance your artistic abilities. The app offers a range of categories for drawing, including: • Architecture • Home Interior • Celebrities • People • Artists • Animals • Landscapes • Nature • Dinosaurs • Children • And others Download our drawing app for iPad and don’t forget to share it with your friends on social media or messengers. The app contains the following subscription options: • A 1-month membership costs from $6.99 • A 3-month membership costs from $12.99. • A 1-year membership costs from $29.99 after a 7-day free trial. The price is for US customers. Pricing in other countries may vary, and actual charges may be converted to your local currency, depending on the country of residence. Payment will be charged to the iTunes account at confirmation of purchase. The subscription automatically renews unless auto-renew is turned off at least 24-hours before the end of the current period. The account will be charged for renewal within 24-hours prior to the end of the current period and will identify the cost of the renewal. Subscriptions may be managed by the user, and auto-renewal may be turned off by going to the user's Account Settings after purchase. Any unused portion of the free trial will be forfeited when the user purchases a subscription. • Privacy Policy: https://tappa.tech/drawbuddy/privacy-policy • EULA: https://tappa.tech/drawbuddy/eula • Terms of use: https://tappa.tech/drawbuddy/terms-of-use
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: DrawBuddy at 4.4 against Simple Trace's 1.5. DrawBuddy also leads on ads (none vs shown) and ratings volume (479 vs 2). Simple Trace's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 11) and review sentiment (33% vs 19%). On price, update cadence 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
Both are free to download. DrawBuddy sells 11 in-app purchases, starting at $6.99 per 7 days. Simple Trace asks for nothing beyond the download.
DrawBuddy holds the better App Store score, 4.4 against 1.5. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: DrawBuddy has 479 ratings behind it against 2, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 33% of Simple Trace's written reviews are positive against 19% of DrawBuddy's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.
Simple Trace ships an update every 2 weeks, DrawBuddy every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on September 27, 2026 and October 7, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Simple Trace | DrawBuddy |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 1.5 (2 ratings) | 4.4 (479 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 33.3% of reviews — better | 19.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 2 | 479 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 2 weeks — better | Every 3 weeks |
| Ads | Yes | No — better |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | Ad-supported — better | Subscription |
| Devices | iPad | iPhone, iPad — better |
| Requires iOS | 13.2 — better | 17.6 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 5 MB | 42 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Kazuaki Matsuda | Bohdan Hlushko |
Customer experience
Simple Trace
DrawBuddy
Bugs and requests
Simple Trace
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
DrawBuddy
Reported bugs
3 issues- Video not playing during free trial
- Payment pop-ups prevent drawing
- Charged full month instead of trial
Requested features
4 requests- More drawing options
- More pictures/drawings
- Make the app free
- Add pencil tool back
In-app purchases
Simple Trace
No in-app purchases
DrawBuddy
- Weekly subscription$6.997 Days
- Monthly subscription3 Days trial$7.991 Month
- Weekly subscription3 Days trial$9.997 Days
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- Monthly subscription$12.991 Month
- Three month subscription7 Days trial$19.993 Months
- Monthly subscription1 Month trial$19.991 Month
- Annual subscription7 Days trial$39.991 Year
- Annual subscription$39.991 Year
- Annual subscription7 Days trial$69.991 Year
- Annual subscription14 Days trial$69.991 Year
- Unlimited Access$79.99
Questions
Is Simple Trace free?
Is DrawBuddy free?
Which has better reviews, Simple Trace or DrawBuddy?
Do Simple Trace or DrawBuddy have ads?
Which is updated more often, Simple Trace or DrawBuddy?
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