Comparison

ToonPAINT vs Portrait Play

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

Head to head
About

ToonPAINT

Easily transform your photos into unique cartoon-paintings. This app provides an "automagic" sketch from your image, which you can then color in like a paint-by-numbers experience. Express your creativity without needing any prior drawing skills.

Highlights
  • Import photos from device or camera
  • Automated sketch generation (MagiSketch)
  • Color-in sketches with finger painting
  • Optional ToonColor feature for automated coloring
  • Automatic session saving
  • Undo/Redo functionality
  • Pinch-zoom and pan for precise painting
Features
Read full description

ToonPAINT: Real Art. Real Creativity. No AI. The legendary photo-to-cartoon tool is back—rebuilt for the modern era. ToonPAINT transforms your photographs into high-fidelity, hand-crafted masterpieces, and ToonPAINT Premium adds video tooning too. With over 2.8 million users in our history, we’ve returned to give you the ultimate precision tool for turning life into art. HUMAN CREATIVITY, EMPOWERED In a world of generated images, ToonPAINT stands apart. We don’t use AI to guess what your art should look like—we provide professional-grade image processing tools that put you in the director’s chair. Whether you are a professional artist looking for a pipeline tool or a hobbyist creating unique gifts, ToonPAINT is designed for you. KEY FEATURES • PRECISION INK & PENCIL ENGINES: Generate crisp sketches or soft pencil art from any photo or video. • GRANULAR CONTROL: Fine-tune Edge Length (XS to XL), Coherence, and Black levels. • RESOLUTION SELECTION: Start with the right scale for your vision. The ink is repeatable—no hallucinations. • DYNAMIC COLOR MODES: Cartoon, Photo, and One Color modes for any vibe. Adjust Brightness and Saturation in real time. • THE PAINTER’S STUDIO: Manual painting with adjustable brushes and a precision color picker. Clear paint or erase marks independently. • VIDEO TOONING (PREMIUM): Apply Toon and Pencil looks across video frames with high-res export and original sound. • PROFESSIONAL WORKFLOW: Hi-Res Export, seamless importing via Photos Share extension, and automatic Session Management. PERFECT FOR • Artists speeding up their line-art pipeline. • Automotive enthusiasts turning cars into technical illustrations. • Pet lovers creating stylized portraits. • Designers needing unique, non-AI-generated illustrations. CLASSIC TOONPAINT OWNERS If you owned ToonPAINT before version 3.0, your photo tools remain unlocked. Subscribe to Premium anytime for video tooning and new features. SUBSCRIPTION INFORMATION ToonPAINT Premium unlocks video tooning and new Premium modes. • ToonPAINT Premium Monthly — $0.99 USD per month • ToonPAINT Premium Yearly — $9.99 USD per year (save with the annual plan!) Payment is charged to your Apple ID account at confirmation of purchase. Subscriptions automatically renew unless canceled at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. Manage or cancel in Settings > Apple ID > Subscriptions. Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy Policy: https://insatiablegenius.wixsite.com/insatiablegenius/privacy-policy

About

Portrait Play

Transform your selfies into artistic masterpieces inspired by famous painters. Explore background information on renowned artists and their works. Experience art in a new, interactive way.

Highlights
  • Selfie to masterpiece transformation
  • Master painter styles
  • Artist background information
  • Interactive art experience
  • Explore art collections
Features
Read full description

With Portrait Play, magically transform a selfie into a masterpiece in the style of renowned painters. Visit The Phillips Collection’s exhibition Gauguin to Picasso: Masterworks from Switzerland, The Staechelin and Im Obersteg Collections and see your selfie take on the bright colors and vivid brush strokes of paintings reminiscent of Edouard Manet’s Head of a Woman (1870) Ferdinand Hodler’s Portrait of Regina (1911) Alexej von Jawlensky’s Self-Portrait (1911) or Marc Chagall’s Self-Portrait (1914). Portrait Play also provides background information about these four major artists and their work. The portraits are on view at the Phillips from October 10, 2015, to January 10, 2106, marking the first occasion selections from the Staechelin and Im Obersteg collections are exhibited together in the United States. This app is brought to you by Switzerland and the City of Basel, where the arts are highly valued. Concept, design and technology are provided by appamics. To find out more about Switzerland and its arts scene, visit our portals Switzerland, Land of Art and Basel—Culture Unlimited. You will be surprised to discover how many of Switzerland’s artistic and architectural treasures can be found in New York, Miami, and San Francisco. Continued use of GPS running in the background can dramatically decrease battery life.

Screenshots

ToonPAINT4 screens
Portrait Play1 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Portrait Play at none against ToonPAINT's 2. Portrait Play also leads on iOS requirement (13.0 vs 17.6). ToonPAINT's advantage is update cadence (every 3 weeks vs every 41 months). On price, rating, 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

Both are free to download. ToonPAINT sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $0.99 per month. Portrait Play asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 5.0 for ToonPAINT against 5.0 for Portrait Play. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 1 and 1 respectively.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

ToonPAINT ships an update every 3 weeks, Portrait Play every 41 months. The most recent releases landed on November 1, 2026 and November 2, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
ToonPAINT versus Portrait Play: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterToonPAINTPortrait Play
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (1 ratings)5.0 (1 ratings)
Positive reviews71.1% of reviews—
Number of ratings11
Update frequencyEvery 3 weeks — betterEvery 41 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPod
Requires iOS17.613.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size12 MB18 MB
Age rating4+12+
DeveloperInsatiable Genius LLCappamics GmbH

Customer experience

ToonPAINT

Written reviews332 reviews
Positive71.1%
Neutral6.6%
Negative22.3%

Portrait Play

All ratings1 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Bugs and requests

ToonPAINT

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Saved images sometimes corrupted
  • Issues with uploading to social media
  • Compatibility problems on iPad

Requested features

5 requests
  • Ability to save work in progress
  • Auto-coloring feature
  • More brush options and size control
  • Improved zoom functionality
  • Undo/redo history

Portrait Play

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

2 purchases

ToonPAINT

Subscriptions2
  • ToonPAINT$0.991 Month
  • ToonPAINT Premium Yearly$9.991 Year
None

Portrait Play

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is ToonPAINT free?
ToonPAINT is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Portrait Play free?
Portrait Play is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, ToonPAINT or Portrait Play?
ToonPAINT and Portrait Play are both rated 5.0 out of 5 on the App Store, from 1 and 1 ratings respectively.
Do ToonPAINT or Portrait Play have ads?
Neither ToonPAINT nor Portrait Play shows ads.
Which is updated more often, ToonPAINT or Portrait Play?
ToonPAINT ships an update every 3 weeks, and Portrait Play every 41 months. Most recently, ToonPAINT was updated on November 1, 2026 and Portrait Play on November 2, 2026.

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