Drawing Pad vs RoughAnimator
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
RoughAnimator
Create traditional hand-drawn, frame-by-frame animations on your iPad. This app offers professional-grade tools like unlimited layers, onion skinning, and audio import, making it suitable for both beginners and experienced animators. Export your work in various formats or import it into professional animation software.
- Timeline with unlimited layers
- Onion skinning
- Audio and video import
- Custom brushes
- Apple Pencil support
- Export to video, GIF, image sequence
- Import to professional software
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A fully featured hand drawn animation application for iPad. Made by an animator, for animators. Powerful enough for professionals, simple enough for beginners. Everything you need to create traditional hand drawn frame-by-frame animation, anywhere you go! Features: - Timeline with unlimited layers and easily adjustable exposure length of individual drawings, for pose-to-pose or straight-ahead animating - Onion skinning - Preview playback - Scrub along timeline - Import audio for lip syncing - Import video for rotoscoping animation - Custom brushes - Supports Apple Pencil, Logitech Crayon - Control framerate and resolution - Export animation to Quicktime video, GIF, or image sequence - RoughAnimator projects can be imported to Adobe Flash/Animate, After Effects, and Toon Boom Harmony - Also available on desktop See a short film animated with RoughAnimator: https://youtu.be/vaHuJNNPoMM
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: RoughAnimator at none against Drawing Pad's 11. RoughAnimator also leads on rating (4.6 vs 4.2) and ratings volume (2.9K vs 123). Drawing Pad's advantage is price ($5.99 vs $7.99) and iOS requirement (11.0 vs 13). On review sentiment 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
Drawing Pad costs $5.99 and RoughAnimator $7.99 up front. Drawing Pad sells 11 one-off in-app purchases. RoughAnimator asks for nothing beyond the download.
RoughAnimator holds the better App Store score, 4.6 against 4.2. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: RoughAnimator has 2.9K 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 79% of RoughAnimator's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.
Drawing Pad ships an update monthly, RoughAnimator fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on September 24, 2026 and September 25, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Drawing Pad | RoughAnimator |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $5.99 — better | $7.99 |
| Rating | 4.2 (123 ratings) | 4.6 (2.9K ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 82.7% of reviews — better | 78.7% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 123 | 2.9K — better |
| Update frequency | Monthly | Fortnightly — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases — better | Paid |
| Best chart rank | #123 | #6 — better |
| Devices | iPad | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 11.0 — better | 13 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 223 MB | 31 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Murtha Design LLC | Jacob KAFKA |
Customer experience
Drawing Pad
RoughAnimator
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
RoughAnimator
From 2.9K App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 👍 Easy to use
- 🚀 Smooth animation
- 💡 Useful features like camera and audio
- 👍 Intuitive interface
- 👍 Great for beginners
Room to improve
- 🐛 Crashes when importing video/audio
- 🐛 Laggy performance with larger projects
- 🐛 Pixelated/blurry drawings when playing animation
- 🐛 Onion skin not working
- 🐛 Brush issues like splotchy lines
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)
RoughAnimator
Reported bugs
4 issues- Crashes when importing audio
- Onion skin not working
- Pixelated drawings when playing animation
- Laggy performance with larger projects
Requested features
8 requests- Add transparency support for exports
- Implement a text tool
- Provide more brush options and customization
- Add a ruler/shape tool
- Improve audio handling (record, import, sync)
Show 3 moreShow fewer
- Implement a tween/animation feature
- Add layer grouping and organization tools
- Provide a dark mode option
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
RoughAnimator
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Drawing Pad free?
Is RoughAnimator free?
Which has better reviews, Drawing Pad or RoughAnimator?
Do Drawing Pad or RoughAnimator have ads?
Which is updated more often, Drawing Pad or RoughAnimator?
Which is more popular, Drawing Pad or RoughAnimator?
Other comparisons
