Comparison

Puppet Pals vs Animation & Drawing by Do Ink

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

Head to head
About

Puppet Pals

Bring your stories to life by creating animated shows in real time. Choose actors and backdrops, then record your movements and voice to produce unique performances. Unleash your creativity with endless storytelling possibilities.

Highlights
  • Real-time animation recording
  • Create actors from photos
  • Use photos as backdrops
  • Zoom and rotate characters
  • Downloadable creative characters
  • Director's Pass for all content
Read full description

Create your own animated shows in real time! Pick your actors and backdrops, drag them onto the stage, and tap record. Your movements and voice are captured live, ready to play back, save, and watch again. Act out a pirate adventure on the high seas, a spooky monster showdown, or a Wild West escape — and mix any characters and scenes however you like. Your shows are only limited by your imagination. FREE FEATURES - A stage full of characters and backdrops to perform with - Turn a photo into a character or a backdrop - Record shows with live animation and audio - Zoom, rotate, and flip characters as you perform - Save shows and watch them anytime CREATIVE CLUB (optional subscription) Join the Creative Club to unlock the full show: - Imagine any character or backdrop, describe it, and watch AI bring it to life - Every character and scene pack included - Record shows up to 10 minutes long - Draw your own characters and backdrops - Export your shows as videos - Widescreen stage and full control over the end-of-show outro Choose your plan, monthly or annual: - Essentials — includes 40 AI creations per month - Unlimited — includes up to 1,000 AI creations per month SUBSCRIPTION DETAILS Payment is charged to your Apple Account at confirmation of purchase. Subscriptions renew automatically unless cancelled at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. You can manage or cancel your subscription anytime in your App Store account settings. Any unused portion of a free trial is forfeited when you purchase a subscription. Privacy Policy: https://www.polishedplay.com/puppetpals1/privacy Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Puppet Pals is fully usable without a subscription — the Creative Club just adds more magic.

About

Animation & Drawing by Do Ink

Create frame-by-frame or keyframe animations with powerful vector drawing tools. This app offers a simple interface for beginners and advanced features for skilled artists, allowing you to export your creations as H.264 movies or PNG images.

Highlights
  • Vector drawing tools
  • Keyframe animation
  • Flipbook-style animation
  • Rotoscoping
  • Export H.264 movies
  • Export PNG images
  • Reusable art props
Read full description

*** Featured – App Store Essentials: Painting & Drawing *** *** Featured – App Store: Middle School Apps - Art *** *** Editor's Choice Award – Children's Technology Review *** "Probably the best animation iPad app we have had the pleasure of using. Like all the best iPad apps, its simplicity is a key strength. Regardless of your skill level DoInk, with its powerful vector tools, key framing and bezier curve editing should keep you entertained for some time to come." – iPadCreative "… an easy-to-use, fairly powerful… vector based animation experience for the iPad...If you like to introduce a child to the principles of animation, this app is definitely worth the download." – Children's Technology Review "… incredible app that brings sophisticated graphic arts tools to any child, anywhere." –Teachers with Apps "one of those amazing apps that really gets the wheels in their brains turning as they try to master this powerful animating tool… for a movie… or presentation at school-be it science or history – Mindleap Tech Key Features & Benefits: • easy-to-use, yet powerful vector drawing tools • simple enough for doodlers, with advanced features for skilled artists • flipbook-style animating – great for beginning animators • keyframe animating – graduate to powerful animation techniques • drag your finger to create motions paths – easy to make sophisticated animations • make H.264 movies & PNG images – view on your iPad or save to the camera roll • extensive collection of reusable art "props" (static and animated) • extensive documentation embedded in the app Drawing Editor: • create frame-by-frame animations or single-frame vector artwork • powerful vector-based drawing tools, with automatic curve smoothing • paint brush, pen, pencil, and fill tools for freehand drawing • geometric shape tools (rectangles, ellipses, polygons, stars, flower shapes) • transform/scale/rotate/arrange tools • advanced bezier shape editing • custom color palette • gradients colors • drawing layers • rotoscoping: draw or trace over images and videos • grouped shapes • two-finger pan and zoom for precise drawing • frame "ghosting" • snap-to-grid, snap-to-paths, snap-to-points Composition Editor: • drag & drop your drawings to place on canvas • easy-to-use key-framing for timing, position, rotation and scale • intuitive timeline (similar to iMovie or GarageBand) • nest compositions within compositions for complex animation effects • opacity • adjustable frame rates, up to 30 fps Export Options: • animations rendered in H.264 on your iPad • drawings rendered to PNG format • save to the Camera Roll for easy sharing to YouTube, e-mail, etc. • Support for HD (16 x 9), standard definition (4 x 3), and square (1 x 1) aspect ratios Created by the team behind www.doink.com, an animation site of 400,000 users worldwide who created 2 million pieces of art, the Green Screen by DoInk app, featured in iTunes as a "Best New App in Education" and Doink Express app for creating animated clips using photos, drawings, art "props", animations and sound. Please send any suggestions and/or feedback to support@doink.com Art by Priscilla Alpaugh Cotter http://www.priscillaalpaugh.com

Screenshots

Puppet Pals4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Puppet Pals at Free against Animation & Drawing by Do Ink's $4.99. Animation & Drawing by Do Ink's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 10) and update cadence (every 3 months vs every 6 months). On rating, review sentiment, ratings volume and ads 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

Puppet Pals is free to download; Animation & Drawing by Do Ink costs $4.99 up front. Puppet Pals sells 10 one-off in-app purchases. Animation & Drawing by Do Ink asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Puppet Pals holds the better App Store score, 3.8 against 3.6. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 52 and 71 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 71% of Puppet Pals's written reviews are positive against 64% of Animation & Drawing by Do Ink's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Puppet Pals ships an update every 6 months, Animation & Drawing by Do Ink every 3 months. Both last shipped on November 6, 2026.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
Puppet Pals versus Animation & Drawing by Do Ink: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterPuppet PalsAnimation & Drawing by Do Ink
PriceFree — better$4.99
Rating3.8 (52 ratings) — better3.6 (71 ratings)
Positive reviews70.9% of reviews — better63.5% of reviews
Number of ratings5271 — better
Update frequencyEvery 6 monthsEvery 3 months — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases — betterPaid
DevicesiPhone, iPad — betteriPad
Requires iOS17.012.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size77 MB19 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperPolished Play, LLCDK Pictures, Inc.

Customer experience

Puppet Pals

All ratings53 ratings
Positive69.8%
Neutral7.5%
Negative22.6%
Written reviews213 reviews
Positive70.9%
Neutral7.5%
Negative21.6%

Animation & Drawing by Do Ink

All ratings71 ratings
Positive59.2%
Neutral21.1%
Negative19.7%
Written reviews159 reviews
Positive63.5%
Neutral14.5%
Negative22.0%

User reviews

Puppet Pals

From 52 App Store ratings

What we love

  • ⭐ Great app for classrooms and education
  • 🤩 Lots of fun and creativity
  • 👍 Easy to use
  • 💯 Awesome for making videos and animations
  • 🎨 Ability to use own photos and characters

Room to improve

  • 💰 Many features require paid upgrade
  • 🤬 Frustrating that you can't use own characters without paying
  • 🐛 Bugs with exporting and saving videos
  • 🙄 Limited free content

Animation & Drawing by Do Ink

From 71 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Powerful vector animation tools
  • 👍 Easy to use and learn
  • 🎨 Great for creating animations and sketches
  • 💡 Versatile composition mode
  • 🔍 Helpful for education and teaching animation

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Frequent crashes and stability issues
  • 🔍 Lacking in-depth tutorials and explanations
  • 🔍 Limited drawing tools and customization options
  • 🔍 Difficult to manage and organize animations
  • 🔍 No audio support for animations

Bugs and requests

Puppet Pals

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Crashes when trying to export videos
  • Saved videos not playing back properly
  • Issues with using own photos and characters

Requested features

4 requests
  • Add more characters, backgrounds, and themes
  • Allow exporting and sharing of videos
  • Improve video editing and recording features
  • Add sound effects and background music options

Animation & Drawing by Do Ink

Reported bugs

5 issues
  • Undo button crashes the app
  • Fill tool freezes the app
  • Drawing tools become unresponsive after certain actions
  • Imported images not displaying properly
  • Composition mode issues with rearranging frames and clips

Requested features

5 requests
  • Add audio recording and playback capabilities
  • Implement more drawing tools like gradient fills, smoothing, and custom palettes
  • Introduce layers and folder organization for animations
  • Expand canvas size and aspect ratio options
  • Improve export quality and options

In-app purchases

10 purchases

Puppet Pals

One-time10
  • Wild West$0.99
  • Political Par-tay$0.99
  • Monsters$0.99
Show 7 more
  • Talk Shows$0.99
  • Pirates$0.99
  • Fairytale$0.99
  • Zombie Attack$0.99
  • On the Farm$0.99
  • Christmas$0.99
  • Director's Pass$3.99
None

Animation & Drawing by Do Ink

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Puppet Pals free?
Puppet Pals is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Animation & Drawing by Do Ink free?
Animation & Drawing by Do Ink costs $4.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Puppet Pals or Animation & Drawing by Do Ink?
Puppet Pals is rated higher. Puppet Pals averages 3.8 out of 5 from 52 ratings, while Animation & Drawing by Do Ink averages 3.6 from 71 ratings.
Do Puppet Pals or Animation & Drawing by Do Ink have ads?
Neither Puppet Pals nor Animation & Drawing by Do Ink shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Puppet Pals or Animation & Drawing by Do Ink?
Puppet Pals ships an update every 6 months, and Animation & Drawing by Do Ink every 3 months. Most recently, Puppet Pals was updated on November 6, 2026 and Animation & Drawing by Do Ink on November 6, 2026.

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