Comparison

Aquarell vs Pistachio

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

Head to head
About

Aquarell

Create digital art with realistic watercolor brushes, layers, and custom canvases. Perfect for sketching, illustration, and color studies on your iPhone or iPad.

Highlights
  • Realistic watercolor brushes
  • Layer-based artwork creation
  • Customizable brush settings
  • Color palettes and sampling
  • Text and font import
  • Multiple export formats (PNG, JPEG, PDF, TIFF, PSD)
Features
Read full description

Aquarell is a drawing and painting app for iPhone and iPad, with watercolor brushes, layers and custom canvases. Use it for digital illustration, freehand sketches, doodles and color studies—from a quick idea to a finished piece of art. MAKE EACH BRUSH YOUR OWN Adjust brush size, opacity and spacing to shape your strokes. Build a brush collection for expressive watercolor painting, line work and everyday sketching. BUILD YOUR ARTWORK IN LAYERS Keep your sketch, colors and finishing touches separate. Control layer opacity and blend modes, and use selections and masks to work on specific areas of your image. Undo and redo as you explore different ideas. EXPLORE COLOR AND COMPOSITION Choose colors, keep palettes and sample shades from your canvas. Work with a custom canvas size, zoom in for details and rotate the view for a comfortable drawing angle. Add text and import fonts to combine lettering with your illustrations. SAVE, SHARE AND KEEP CREATING Export PNG and JPEG images to share your work, or use PDF and TIFF for additional output options. Export PSD with pixel layers for further editing. Save in the native Aquarell artwork format to continue working in the app. Aquarell brings brushes, color and layers into one mobile art workspace. Sketch a landscape, paint a portrait, explore a palette or make an original illustration on your iPhone or iPad.

About

Pistachio

Create professional-grade vector art on your mobile device with intuitive tools and powerful features. Start with templates, draw custom paths, and export your designs in various formats. Unlock unlimited artboards and exclusive features with a subscription.

Highlights
  • Shape template library
  • Multiple artboard support
  • Custom path drawing
  • Various export formats
  • Unlimited artboards (subscription)
  • Custom vector presets (subscription)
Features
Read full description

Transform your creativity on the-go into professional-grade vector art with Pistachio. Whether you're a seasoned artist or just starting out, our intuitive tools and powerful features let you create stunning designs wherever inspiration strikes. ** Key Features ** Start with our extensive library of shape templates and build your designs with ease Save your work across multiple artboards Draw custom paths with precision Export your masterpieces in various formats to suit any purpose Our free offering allows up to 5 art boards for your use. Choose from a monthly or annual subscription to unlock unlimited artboards. U.S. Prices are $5.99 / month for the monthly subscription, and $24.99 / year for the annual subscription (a 58% savings). PISTACHIO PLATINUM FEATURES - Unlimited artboard creation - Custom Vector Presets - Expanded list of Shape Templates - Exclusive access to new features Cancel at any time. After canceling, any artboards that have been created past the free limit will stay on your device. However only the five (5) most recently edited artboards will be accessible until you resume your subscription. Privacy policy: https://nutterfi.com/privacy/ Apple's Standard Terms of Service: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

Screenshots

Aquarell4 screens
Pistachio4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Pistachio at 100% against Aquarell's 0%. Pistachio also leads on price (Free vs $0.99) and rating (5.0 vs 3.0). Aquarell's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 2) and chart position (#184 vs unranked). On ratings volume, ads 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

Pistachio is free to download; Aquarell costs $0.99 up front. Pistachio sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $5.99 per month. Aquarell asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Pistachio holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 3.0. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 3 and 3 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 0% of Aquarell's written reviews are positive against 100% of Pistachio's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Aquarell ships an update every 12 months, Pistachio every 6 days. The most recent releases landed on November 7, 2026 and November 4, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard8 real differences · 3 level
Aquarell versus Pistachio: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterAquarellPistachio
Price$0.99Free — better
Rating3.0 (3 ratings)5.0 (3 ratings) — better
Positive reviews0.0% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings33
Update frequencyEvery 12 monthsEvery 6 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationPaidFreemium — better
Best chart rank#184 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS15.0 — better17.7
Further details — not scored
Size23 MB11 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperAnyi County Bingzhiyi Trading Co., Ltd.Nutterfi

Customer experience

Aquarell

All ratings3 ratings
Positive66.7%
Neutral0.0%
Negative33.3%
Written reviews4 reviews
Positive0.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative100.0%

Pistachio

All ratings3 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews2 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

None

Aquarell

No in-app purchases

2 purchases

Pistachio

Subscriptions2
  • Platinum Monthly Subscription$5.991 Month
  • Platinum Annual Subscription7 Days trial$29.991 Year

Questions

Is Aquarell free?
Aquarell costs $0.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Pistachio free?
Pistachio is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Aquarell or Pistachio?
Pistachio is rated higher. Aquarell averages 3.0 out of 5 from 3 ratings, while Pistachio averages 5.0 from 3 ratings.
Do Aquarell or Pistachio have ads?
Neither Aquarell nor Pistachio shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Aquarell or Pistachio?
Aquarell ships an update every 12 months, and Pistachio every 6 days. Most recently, Aquarell was updated on November 7, 2026 and Pistachio on November 4, 2026.

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