# Inspire Pro vs FocalPaint

The clearest difference is rating: Inspire Pro at 4.5 against FocalPaint's 4.2. Inspire Pro also leads on ratings volume (331 vs 13) and iOS requirement (13.6 vs 18.6). On price, review sentiment, update cadence and ads there is nothing between them.

Inspire Pro costs $4.99 and FocalPaint $4.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

Inspire Pro holds the better App Store score, 4.5 against 4.2. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Inspire Pro has 331 ratings behind it against 13, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 81% of Inspire Pro's written reviews are positive against 79% of FocalPaint's.

Inspire Pro ships an update every 3 weeks, FocalPaint monthly. The most recent releases landed on November 10, 2026 and November 11, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | Inspire Pro | FocalPaint |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | $4.99 | $4.99 |
| Rating | **[4.5 (331 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/inspire-pro/id355460798/reviews)** | [4.2 (13 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/focalpaint/id1532688085/reviews) |
| Number of ratings | **331** | 13 |
| Positive reviews | **80.8% of reviews** | 78.6% of reviews |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Ads | No | No |
| Update frequency | **Every 3 weeks** | Monthly |
| Monetization | Paid | Paid |
| Size | 284 MB | 557 MB |
| Requires iOS | **13.6** | 18.6 |
| Devices | iPad | **iPhone, iPad** |
| Age rating | 4+ | +4 |
| Developer | [snowCanoe](https://appshunter.io/developer/315556631) | [brien dieterle](https://appshunter.io/developer/1532688087) |

## What reviewers say

### Inspire Pro

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/inspire-pro/id355460798)

This powerful drawing and painting app offers a realistic and fast creative experience for iPad users. It features a proprietary engine for brilliant color rendering and stunning blending effects, with a vast array of customizable brushes and advanced tools.

**Highlights:** Proprietary Sorcery™ painting engine, 150 high-quality, customizable brushes, Full Apple Pencil and Smart Keyboard support, Canvas size up to 16K (64MP), Automatic canvas playback video recording, Full-featured color picker with saved palettes

**Features:** Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases:** none

**What reviewers like**

- 👍 Realistic painting experience
- 🎨 Variety of brushes and tools
- 🎨 Customizable brushes
- 🎨 Intuitive and easy to use
- 🎨 Excellent color blending

**What reviewers complain about**

- 🐛 Crashes and stability issues
- 🔍 Confusing interface at times
- 💰 Expensive with in-app purchases
- 🎨 Lack of layers feature
- 🎨 Limited canvas size options

**Reported bugs**

- Crashes on iPad Pro
- Brush selection reverts to default
- Playback feature not working as expected
- Compatibility issues with older iPad models

**Requested features**

- Add layers feature
- Improve brush selection and stability
- Increase canvas size options
- Implement palm rejection for Apple Pencil
- Add more brush types and customization


### FocalPaint

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/focalpaint/id1532688085)

This app offers a unique brush engine for realistic paint simulation, pigment mixing, and canvas textures. It allows for custom brush and layer creation using Metal GPU or Javascript code, with advanced features like spectral color models and Apple Pencil Pro support.

**Highlights:** Realistic paint and pigment mixing, Custom brush and layer creation, Transparent ink simulation, Apple Pencil Pro support, Spectral color model, Open source shader code library

**Features:** macOS Compatibility, Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases:** none


## Frequently asked questions

### Is Inspire Pro free?

Inspire Pro costs $4.99, with no in-app purchases.

### Is FocalPaint free?

FocalPaint costs $4.99, with no in-app purchases.

### Which has better reviews, Inspire Pro or FocalPaint?

Inspire Pro is rated higher. Inspire Pro averages 4.5 out of 5 from 331 ratings, while FocalPaint averages 4.2 from 13 ratings.

### Do Inspire Pro or FocalPaint have ads?

Neither Inspire Pro nor FocalPaint shows ads.

### Which is updated more often, Inspire Pro or FocalPaint?

Inspire Pro ships an update every 3 weeks, and FocalPaint monthly. Most recently, Inspire Pro was updated on November 10, 2026 and FocalPaint on November 11, 2026.

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*Compared by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/) from daily US App Store data. Review summaries are generated from verbatim App Store reviews.*
