# Camera Lucida™ vs Sketchbook®

The clearest difference is price: Sketchbook® at Free against Camera Lucida™'s $14.99. Sketchbook® also leads on ratings volume (221K vs 2K). Camera Lucida™'s advantage is review sentiment (89% vs 77%) and chart position (#8 vs #42). On rating, update cadence, ads and in-app purchases there is nothing between them.

Sketchbook® is free to download; Camera Lucida™ costs $14.99 up front. Camera Lucida™ sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and Sketchbook® sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.8 for Camera Lucida™ against 4.8 for Sketchbook®. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Sketchbook® has 221K ratings behind it against 2K, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 89% of Camera Lucida™'s written reviews are positive against 77% of Sketchbook®'s.

Camera Lucida™ ships an update every 4 months, Sketchbook® every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on October 29, 2026 and October 30, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | Camera Lucida™ | Sketchbook® |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | $14.99 | **Free** |
| Rating | **[4.8 (2K ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/camera-lucida-ar-drawing/id362499096/reviews)** | [4.8 (221K ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/sketchbook/id883738213/reviews) |
| Number of ratings | 2K | **221K** |
| Positive reviews | **89.4% of reviews** | 76.7% of reviews |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Ads | No | No |
| Update frequency | Every 4 months | **Every 2 months** |
| Monetization | Paid | **Free with in-app purchases** |
| Best chart rank | **#8** | #42 |
| Size | 55 MB | 144 MB |
| Requires iOS | **12.0** | 15 |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | [Camera Lucida](https://appshunter.io/developer/1738527998) | [Sketchbook, Inc](https://appshunter.io/developer/1569383806) |

## What reviewers say

### Camera Lucida™

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/camera-lucida-ar-drawing/id362499096)

**Currently charting:** #8 Top Paid · Graphics & Design (US App Store)

This app uses your device's camera to superimpose a reference image onto your drawing surface, guiding your hand to create detailed art. It offers advanced features and tools to enhance your sketching and painting skills, making art creation easy and fun.

**Highlights:** AR image superposition for drawing, Advanced image filters, Zoom lock for detail, Session save and restore, Time-lapsed recording, External USB camera support

**Features:** Family Sharing

**In-app purchases (1)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Auto-Correct For Perspective | $4.99 | one-time |

**What reviewers like**

- 🚀 Great drawing aid
- 👍 Easy to use
- 💡 Helpful for improving drawing skills
- 🚀 Saves time in drawing
- 👍 Accurate proportions and perspective

**What reviewers complain about**

- 🐛 Difficult to set up and use at first
- 🐛 Occasional issues with image alignment
- 🐛 Needs a stand or mount to work properly

**Reported bugs**

- Compatibility issues with newer iOS versions
- Occasional crashes or freezes

**Requested features**

- Ability to draw larger images
- More camera settings and controls
- Integration with other art apps


### Sketchbook®

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/sketchbook/id883738213)

**Currently charting:** #42 Top Free · Graphics & Design (US App Store)

This app provides a professional-grade drawing and painting experience for artists and illustrators. It offers a natural drawing feel with customizable tools, layers, and guides for precision. Unlock advanced features like custom brushes and canvas resizing with an optional premium purchase.

**Highlights:** Full complement of brush types, Highly customizable brushes, Guides, rulers, and stroke tools, Layers with blend modes, Clean and unobtrusive interface, Custom brush creation (premium), Canvas resizing (premium)

**In-app purchases (1)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Premium Bundle | $2.99 | one-time |

**What reviewers like**

- 🚀 Amazing, free, and no ads
- 👍 Lots of brushes and customization options
- 👍 Intuitive and easy to use
- 👍 Great for beginners and professionals
- 👍 Smooth performance and no lag

**What reviewers complain about**

- 🐛 Occasional freezing and crashing issues
- 🐛 Blurry or corrupted images when saving or copying
- 🐛 Glitches with color selection and layers
- 🐛 Inability to rotate canvas or access gallery easily
- 🐛 Lack of blurring and clipping mask tools

**Reported bugs**

- Layers randomly deleted or corrupted
- Freezing when using certain tools like the eyedropper
- Saving issues leading to loss of progress
- Incompatibility with newer iPad Pro devices

**Requested features**

- Add blurring and clipping mask tools
- Improve gallery and canvas rotation functionality
- Allow custom font import
- Add effects like glow, stroke, and drop shadow
- Implement layer grouping and organization


## Frequently asked questions

### Is Camera Lucida™ free?

Camera Lucida™ costs $14.99, and also offers in-app purchases.

### Is Sketchbook® free?

Sketchbook® is free to download, with in-app purchases available.

### Which has better reviews, Camera Lucida™ or Sketchbook®?

Camera Lucida™ is rated higher. Camera Lucida™ averages 4.8 out of 5 from 2K ratings, while Sketchbook® averages 4.8 from 221K ratings.

### Do Camera Lucida™ or Sketchbook® have ads?

Neither Camera Lucida™ nor Sketchbook® shows ads.

### Which is updated more often, Camera Lucida™ or Sketchbook®?

Camera Lucida™ ships an update every 4 months, and Sketchbook® every 2 months. Most recently, Camera Lucida™ was updated on October 29, 2026 and Sketchbook® on October 30, 2026.

### Which is more popular, Camera Lucida™ or Sketchbook®?

Camera Lucida™ currently peaks at #8 in the App Store charts, and Sketchbook® at #42. Chart position reflects recent download velocity rather than total install base.

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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.*