Comparison

Asketch vs PixelPencil

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

Head to head
About

Asketch

A digital sketchpad designed for both beginners and advanced artists. It offers a focused drawing experience with intuitive gesture controls, powerful zooming for detail work, and image transformation capabilities. Capture your ideas anytime, anywhere with this versatile tool.

Highlights
  • Gesture-based drawing interface
  • Pressure-sensitive drawing support
  • High-quality image zooming
  • Image transformation (scale/rotate)
  • 50 levels of undo/redo
Features
Read full description

Asketch is a unique and versatile sketch pad. It allows creativity on the go, anytime, anywhere. Its deliberate simplicity makes it perfect for beginners who want to learn to draw; equally, advanced artists will find a wonderful buttery, tonal canvas for their life studies, cartoons, abstracts, landscapes and other subjects. The app is engineered to deliver rapid, but powerful image capture, facilitated by a great transform function that allows you to pick up the drawing, resize it and move it around the canvas, and a amazing zoom that lets you draw in minute detail. So if you want to put a traditional, but digital sketch pad in your pocket, this is the app for you. Features and functionality: Gesture based drawing interface: Changing the surface area of your finger on the screen controls the focus of the drawing. Supports pressure sensitive drawing on iPhones that support pressure sensitivity. Image zooming that actually works: Do amazing detail work when zoomed in. No pixelation of brushes while drawing. Image transformation: Scale/Rotate the image via a simple pinch gesture. 50 Levels of undo/redo. Swipe the undo/redo button to toggle back and forth. Hold down the button for rapid unwind/rewind.

About

PixelPencil

Create pixel art with a robust set of tools, including layers, blend modes, and various brushes. Easily zoom, rotate, and manage multiple projects. Export your creations as animated GIFs.

Highlights
  • Layer editing with grouping and blend modes
  • Comprehensive set of drawing tools
  • Undo/Redo functionality
  • Animated GIF export
  • Color creation tools
  • Pinch-to-zoom and canvas rotation
  • Save multiple works with iCloud support
Features
Read full description

PixelPencil is an app that was created to comfortably draw pixel art. In addition to the layer function, there are also functions such as layer grouping and blend mode. You can pinch in and out to zoom in and out, and you can rotate the canvas for intuitive operation. The main functions are as follows. ・ Layer editing Add, delete, duplicate, show / hide, sort, transparent, blend, group There are abundant functions such as. ・ Various tools Pen, eyedropper, eraser, fill, move, selection, flip, rotate, scale, shape We have all the basic tools. ・ UndoRedo Of course you can also undo redo. ・ Animated GIF export function Each layer becomes one frame and you can create an animation. ・ Color creation You can easily create your own favorite color. ・ Pinch in / out You can zoom in and out and rotate by pinching in and out. ・ Saving multiple works Since it uses a file system, you can save multiple projects. You can also save it on iCloud. ・ Canvas size setting You can set any size from 5 * 5 to 512 * 512.

Screenshots

Asketch4 screens
PixelPencil4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: PixelPencil at Free against Asketch's $1.99. PixelPencil also leads on update cadence (every 2 weeks vs every 2 months) and review sentiment (79% vs 65%). Asketch's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 1) and ads (none vs shown). On rating, ratings volume and device support 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

PixelPencil is free to download; Asketch costs $1.99 up front. PixelPencil sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Asketch asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

PixelPencil holds the better App Store score, 4.6 against 4.4. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 224 and 110 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 65% of Asketch's written reviews are positive against 79% of PixelPencil's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Asketch ships an update every 2 months, PixelPencil every 2 weeks. The most recent releases landed on September 25, 2026 and September 1, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard8 real differences · 3 level
Asketch versus PixelPencil: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterAsketchPixelPencil
Price$1.99Free — better
Rating4.4 (224 ratings)4.6 (110 ratings) — better
Positive reviews65.3% of reviews78.6% of reviews — better
Number of ratings224 — better110
Update frequencyEvery 2 monthsEvery 2 weeks — better
AdsNo — betterYes
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationPaidFree with in-app purchases — better
Best chart rank#79 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS13.0 — better15.0
Further details — not scored
Size3 MB6 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperAndrew KernYosuke Seki

Customer experience

Asketch

All ratings224 ratings
Positive81.7%
Neutral9.4%
Negative8.9%
Written reviews314 reviews
Positive65.3%
Neutral8.6%
Negative26.1%

PixelPencil

All ratings110 ratings
Positive89.1%
Neutral4.5%
Negative6.4%
Written reviews70 reviews
Positive78.6%
Neutral10.0%
Negative11.4%

Bugs and requests

Asketch

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Crashes on startup
  • Eraser not working as expected
  • Brush strokes moving to unexpected locations

Requested features

5 requests
  • Ability to save and export drawings
  • More brush/pencil options
  • Color support
  • Layers and blending tools
  • Background/paper texture options

PixelPencil

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

None

Asketch

No in-app purchases

1 purchases

PixelPencil

One-time1
  • Remove ads$4.99

Questions

Is Asketch free?
Asketch costs $1.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is PixelPencil free?
PixelPencil is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Asketch or PixelPencil?
PixelPencil is rated higher. Asketch averages 4.4 out of 5 from 224 ratings, while PixelPencil averages 4.6 from 110 ratings.
Do Asketch or PixelPencil have ads?
PixelPencil shows ads; Asketch does not.
Which is updated more often, Asketch or PixelPencil?
Asketch ships an update every 2 months, and PixelPencil every 2 weeks. Most recently, Asketch was updated on September 25, 2026 and PixelPencil on September 1, 2026.

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