Doodle Buddy Paint Draw App vs Lux Draw
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Doodle Buddy Paint Draw App
Unleash your creativity with a fun and intuitive drawing app. Add stamps, use smudge tools, and stencils to enhance photos or create original art. Perfect for beginners and experienced artists alike.
- Draw on photos or backgrounds
- Over 1400 decorative stamps
- Realistic smudge tool
- Easy-to-use stencils
- Suitable for all skill levels
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Doodle Buddy is for everyone — from the serious artist to someone just starting out. • Draw on your pics or dozens of included backgrounds. • Over 1400 stamps :-) to decorate your drawings and pics. • Smudge works just like your finger on chalk, but your fingers don't get dirty! • Stencils make it easy to draw perfect circles, squares, triangles or even intricate snowflakes. If you think you suck at drawing, try Doodle Buddy. You’ll be surprised at the amazing stuff you can make. If you’re already into drawing, you’ll have fun with Doodle Buddy too. It’s a simple, artistic medium that’s not quite like anything else. Stretch yourself within its constraints, and see what you can make. Doodle Buddy is where art meets fun.
Lux Draw
Create unique art with light-inspired tools and gritty textures. Draw from scratch or enhance photos with glow pens and special effects. Offers advanced features like HDR brushes and Apple Pencil support for a professional artistic experience.
- Live-calculated HDR brushes
- Glow Pen, Hot Pen, Light Spheres
- Gritty paper/canvas textures
- Smear tool for flame art
- Apple Pencil support
- Multiple layers
- Photo tracing mode (Pro)
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Draw with light-inspired tools, for a unique art style! Create a drawing from scratch, or add effects to your photos. Let your creativity run wild! • LIVE-CALCULATED HDR BRUSHES • The app features live-calculated brushes and strokes, that together with HDR values make it feel like drawing with light! Drawing tools include Glow Pen, Hot Pen, Light Spheres, and more. Tip: Use the Smear tool on a photo or drawing to achieve immensely cool flame art (seriously, try it!). • GRITTY PAPER/CANVAS TEXTURES • Having a paper/canvas texture interacting in real-time with the drawing tools will give your artwork a satisfying, gritty look. You can remove or change the default-generated texture to something else. • UNIVERSAL PURCHASE • If you choose to buy the Pro upgrade, this one-time in-app purchase will unlock all Pro features in the app on all available platforms (iPad-iPhone-Mac)! • METAL • The engine is based on Metal, with 128-bit color and floating-point arithmetic. • SWIFT • The app was developed entirely using Swift (earlier versions used C++). • FINGERTIP = STROKE SIZE • CHANGE SIZE/FORCE/COLOR WHILE DRAWING • • APPLE PENCIL SUPPORT • FULL SCREEN DRAWING • SEAMLESS PATTERN EDITING MODE • • DARK MODE • LANDSCAPE • PORTRAIT • WIDE COLOR • • MULTIPLE LAYERS • PHOTO TRACING MODE (Pro feature) •
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is ads: Lux Draw at none against Doodle Buddy Paint Draw App's shown. Lux Draw also leads on iOS requirement (12.0 vs 15.0). Doodle Buddy Paint Draw App's advantage is update cadence (every 11 days vs every 2 months) and ratings volume (16K vs 939). On price, rating, review sentiment 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
Both are free to download. Doodle Buddy Paint Draw App sells 4 one-off in-app purchases and Lux Draw sells 6 one-off in-app purchases. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.7 for Doodle Buddy Paint Draw App against 4.7 for Lux Draw. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Doodle Buddy Paint Draw App has 16K ratings behind it against 939, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 79% of Doodle Buddy Paint Draw App's written reviews are positive against 82% of Lux Draw's.
Doodle Buddy Paint Draw App ships an update every 11 days, Lux Draw every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on November 9, 2026 and November 6, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Doodle Buddy Paint Draw App | Lux Draw |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.7 (16K ratings) | 4.7 (939 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 78.6% of reviews | 81.5% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 16K — better | 939 |
| Update frequency | Every 11 days — better | Every 2 months |
| Ads | Yes | No — better |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac — better |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 | 12.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 197 MB | 24 MB |
| Age rating | 9+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Doodle Buddy Labs | Norbyte |
Customer experience
Doodle Buddy Paint Draw App
Lux Draw
User reviews
Doodle Buddy Paint Draw App
From 16K App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🎨 Great for creative expression
- 👍 Simple and intuitive interface
- 💡 Useful stencils and stamps
- 🤩 Enjoyable for all ages
Room to improve
- 🐛 Occasional crashes and glitches
- 🔍 Limited zoom and precision tools
- 🙄 Outdated or missing stamp/stencil options
- 💤 Lags on older devices
Lux Draw
From 939 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 👍 Excellent entertainment value
- 👍 Creative drawing tools
- 👍 No ads, totally free
- 👍 Easy to use
- 👍 Variety of brushes and colors
Room to improve
- 🐛 Occasional glitches and freezing issues
- 🐛 Compatibility issues with certain devices/platforms
- 🔧 Limited functionality compared to other drawing apps
- 🔧 Lack of advanced features like fill tool, shapes, and text
- 🔧 Difficulty using with mouse/trackpad on laptops
Bugs and requests
Doodle Buddy Paint Draw App
Reported bugs
3 issues- Text box unable to be moved
- Screen rotation not working properly
- Inconsistent stamp/sound effects
Requested features
4 requests- Add a color picker tool
- Implement a fill/bucket tool
- Bring back the ability to draw with friends
- Improve image import/export functionality
Lux Draw
Reported bugs
3 issues- Freezing and unresponsiveness when switching tools
- Leaving unwanted color dots when erasing
- Compatibility issues with certain devices
Requested features
5 requests- Add fill tool, shapes, and text capabilities
- Improve compatibility with tablets and styluses
- Provide more customization options for brushes and colors
- Implement undo/redo functionality
- Add ability to export/share drawings easily
In-app purchases
Doodle Buddy Paint Draw App
- Small Stack of Doodle Bucks$1.99
- Medium Stack of Doodle Bucks!$3.99
- Hide ads in Doodle Buddy$7.99
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- Big Stack of Doodle Bucks$9.99
Lux Draw
- Tip Jar: Smallest Tip$1.00
- Tip Jar: Small Tip$2.00
- Pro Upgrade$5.00
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- Tip Jar: Medium Tip$5.00
- Tip Jar: Big Tip$10.00
- Tip Jar: Biggest Tip$25.00
Questions
Is Doodle Buddy Paint Draw App free?
Is Lux Draw free?
Which has better reviews, Doodle Buddy Paint Draw App or Lux Draw?
Do Doodle Buddy Paint Draw App or Lux Draw have ads?
Which is updated more often, Doodle Buddy Paint Draw App or Lux Draw?
Other comparisons
