Drawing Pad vs Realistic Paint Studio
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Drawing Pad
Unleash your creativity with a mobile art studio for all ages. This app offers a wide array of realistic art tools, from crayons and markers to paint brushes and colored pencils. Easily import photos as backgrounds or stickers, blend colors, and share your masterpieces.
- Photo-realistic art tools
- Crayons, markers, paint brushes, colored pencils
- Stickers and roller pens
- Photo background import
- Color blending tool
- Export and sharing options
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Get the app that was mentioned on TV ABC 7 CHICAGO as a top school app! Watch http://abc7chicago.com/education/back-to-school-tech-shopping-tips/952242/ short link: abc7.ws/1h5RDj9 Previously iPad App of the Week in 12 countries! (http://drawingpadapp.com/apple-features-drawing-pad-as-ipad-app-of-the-week) Drawing Pad is a mobile art studio for all ages! Create your own art using photo-realistic crayons, markers, paint brushes, colored pencils, stickers, roller pens and more! ■ ACCOLADES Winner of a Parents’ Choice Gold Award (bit.ly/parents-choice) Featured on nytimes.com (bit.ly/nytimes-drawingpad) Featured on usatoday.com (usat.ly/2x5xrKx) Featured on the iLounge 2011 Buyer's Guide 100 Essential Apps of 2010! Featured by iLounge as First runner up to kids' iPad App of the Year! Featured on Gizmodo's 2010 Gift Guide (bit.ly/gizmodo-drawingpad) Featured in November 2010 MacWorld Magazine in the UK 4 out of 5 stars Awarded Editor's Choice Award from Children's Technology Review ■ IN BOOKS Featured in the book “iPad Apps for Kids for Dummies” - by Jinny Gudmundsen Featured in the O’Reilly book “Best iPad Apps” - by Peter Meyers ■ IN MUSEUMS As seen in the Star Studio Exhibit at the Indianapolis Museum of Art! (bit.ly/ima-museum) ■ QUOTES "Drawing Pad is a fantastic drawing app!" 9to5mac.com “Wonderful chalk tools! You can almost taste the dust!” Mickey Paraskevas, Illustrator and Creator of the Maggie and the Ferocious Beast TV show. "Drawing Pad is a fun and easy to use iPad art app for kids and adults alike. It has very visual menus giving you instant access to a broad range of useful art tools. There are amazing features for kids including downloadable colouring books and additional advanced features for more ambitious artists." Kyle Lambert - Artist - www.kylelambert.com ■ HOW TO USE DRAWING PAD Watch the video inside the App! (or drawingpadapp.com/tutorial) Tap a tool, choose a color, and start drawing. It’s really that simple. Your artwork is automatically saved in the Drawing Pad album. For brush options like size and spacing, tap the brush thumbnail at the bottom of the drawer. Import photo backgrounds by first tapping the stationary icon in the drawer, then the filmstrip. Import photo stickers by first tapping the sticker icon, then the stack of photos. Use one finger to move your photo and two fingers to rotate and resize. Blender tool allows you to soften and blend colors! ■ SHARING OPTIONS Export to the Device Camera Roll, print via AirPrint, share via Email, and other favorite apps like Instagram & Facebook. Even assign your artwork to a contact in your address book! ■ ALL THESE TOOLS ARE INCLUDED! Crayons Markers Paint Brushes Colored Pencils Sketch Pencils Roller Stamp Pens Erasures Stickers Construction Paper Blenders Text Sticker Tool Photo Background Import Photo Stickers Gradient Brushes & Crayons Advanced Brush Control Color wheel and Gradient Panel Pinch Zoom Autosave Two Coloring Books ■ EXTRA FUN Download extra coloring books via in app purchase! Restore prior "Coloring Book in app purchases" by tapping the "Redeem prior purchase" button on the Coloring Book store details page. See drawingpadapp.com/restore ■ DEMONSTRATION Video at http://drawingpadapp.com ■ CONTACT Email us at "support" -at- "drawingpadapp.com" BUY NOW! Don't have an iPad yet? Don't let it stop you! Great price today! Buy now and tell your friends. CREDITS: "Birds," "Panda Bear," and "Turtle" by Igor Cheban instagram.com/icheban "Dinosaur," and "Kitten" by Kyle Lambert www.kylelambert.com
Realistic Paint Studio
This digital art software offers a familiar art station experience with realistic brushes, pencils, and markers. It allows users to create art in drawing, watercolor, and oil painting styles with a unique color engine and diverse canvas textures. Step-by-step tutorials and live demonstrations guide users through the creative process.
- Realistic color engine
- Drawing, Watercolor, Oil Painting styles
- Realistic brushes and tools
- Realistic canvases with diverse textures
- Live demonstration of drawing methods
- Step-by-step tutorials
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Realistic Paint Studio is a unique digital art software. The program combines the simplicity of traditional tools and pioneering innovations in digital art. No special education is required to work in Realistic Paint Studio. The interface is designed to show a familiar art station with real paper, brushes, pencils, pens, and markers, etc. instead of a complicated and hard-to-understand graphic editor. With Realistic Paint Studio you will forget that you are using a digital editor, being completely absorbed in the art process! Easy-to-use, yet powerful engine allows to draw and paint in any desirable style! - "Realistic color" - Unique color engine! - 3 creative styles: Drawing, Watercolor, Oil Painting "Realistic brushes" carefully designed to convey all the nuances of real brushes, pencils, pens, markers, etc. - “Realistic showcase” - You can instantly have a look at your picture within a beautiful scene - “Realistic Canvases” - 15 types of sketchbooks, paper sheets, and canvases with 45 different textures scanned from real materials. - “Realistic palettes” - Most of the brushes have their own palette's presets. - “Live demonstration” - Instant demonstration of drawing methods for the selected tool - Live liquid watercolor drops - Step by step tutorials - Сoloring with the edge control function
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: Realistic Paint Studio at 4.7 against Drawing Pad's 4.2. Realistic Paint Studio also leads on ratings volume (735 vs 123). Drawing Pad's advantage is price ($5.99 vs $11.99) and review sentiment (83% vs 67%). On update cadence, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model 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
Drawing Pad costs $5.99 and Realistic Paint Studio $11.99 up front. Drawing Pad sells 11 one-off in-app purchases and Realistic Paint Studio sells 12 one-off in-app purchases. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
Realistic Paint Studio holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 4.2. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Realistic Paint Studio has 735 ratings behind it against 123, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 83% of Drawing Pad's written reviews are positive against 67% of Realistic Paint Studio's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.
Drawing Pad ships an update monthly, Realistic Paint Studio every 5 weeks. The most recent releases landed on September 24, 2026 and September 20, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Drawing Pad | Realistic Paint Studio |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $5.99 — better | $11.99 |
| Rating | 4.2 (123 ratings) | 4.7 (735 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 82.7% of reviews — better | 67.3% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 123 | 735 — better |
| Update frequency | Monthly — better | Every 5 weeks |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free with in-app purchases |
| Best chart rank | #121 — better | — |
| Devices | iPad | iPad |
| Requires iOS | 11.0 | 11.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 223 MB | 1005 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Murtha Design LLC | Aleksandr Komarov |
Customer experience
Drawing Pad
Realistic Paint Studio
User reviews
Drawing Pad
From 123 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🎨 Great for kids
- 👍 Versatile and fun
- 🎨 Encourages creativity
- 🎨 Lots of drawing tools
- 🎨 Excellent color selection
Room to improve
- 🐛 Crashes and deletes work
- 🐛 Undo button issues
- 🖌️ Limited brush/pencil options
- 🖌️ Blending tool issues
- 🖼️ No full screen on iPad
Realistic Paint Studio
From 735 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🎨 Realistic and immersive painting experience
- 👍 Intuitive and user-friendly interface
- 🎨 Excellent brush dynamics and color blending
- 🎨 Wide variety of traditional media tools
- 🎨 Aesthetically pleasing presentation
Room to improve
- 🐛 Frequent crashes and stability issues
- 🔋 High battery consumption
- 🔒 Limited export options (no PSD, no transparent background)
- 🔒 Restricted canvas size and resolution
- 🔒 Lack of customization for brushes and tools
Bugs and requests
Drawing Pad
Reported bugs
5 issues- Crashes and deletes drawings
- Undo button erases too much work
- Drawings disappear from album
- Sticker placement issues
- Incompatible with newer iPads
Requested features
10 requests- Add layers feature
- Implement zoom/pan functionality
- Add text tool
- Provide more advanced drawing tools
- Include more adult-oriented coloring books
Show 5 moreShow fewer
- Improve sticker/stamp UI
- Add sound effects
- Implement auto-save feature
- Add ability to mix/create custom colors
- Provide more brushes/pencils (e.g. HB-9B pencils)
Realistic Paint Studio
Reported bugs
4 issues- Crashes when using the camera feature
- Inconsistent behavior with the undo/redo function
- Issues with the color mixing in the palette
- Delayed response and lag when using Apple Pencil
Requested features
5 requests- Add support for PSD export with layers
- Implement canvas rotation and resizing options
- Allow for more brush customization and pressure sensitivity
- Improve color picker and palette functionality
- Introduce a simple, distraction-free canvas mode
In-app purchases
Drawing Pad
- Occupations Coloring BookFree
- More Fun Coloring BookFree
- Fairy Tale Coloring BookFree
Show 8 moreShow fewer
- Sea Life Coloring BookFree
- Winter Holiday Coloring BookFree
- Farm Coloring BookFree
- Dinosaur Coloring BookFree
- Robots Coloring BookFree
- Space Coloring BookFree
- Halloween Coloring BookFree
- Adult Coloring Book 1Free
Realistic Paint Studio
- Artistic brushFree
- Mechanical penFree
- Glitz penFree
Show 9 moreShow fewer
- Glass penFree
- Fountain penFree
- Calligraphy brushFree
- Hieroglyph brushFree
- Diamond brushFree
- Album with six color sheetsFree
- All brushes from the VIP boxFree
- Dragon brush$0.99
- Crystal brush$0.99
Questions
Is Drawing Pad free?
Is Realistic Paint Studio free?
Which has better reviews, Drawing Pad or Realistic Paint Studio?
Do Drawing Pad or Realistic Paint Studio have ads?
Which is updated more often, Drawing Pad or Realistic Paint Studio?
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