ArtRage vs Paint By Number Creator Lite
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
ArtRage
This app offers a realistic digital painting experience, simulating the behavior of real-world art supplies like oils, watercolors, and pencils. It allows for smearing, blending, and texture application, making it accessible for aspiring artists without the mess or expense of traditional materials.
- Realistic paint simulation (oils, watercolors, etc.)
- Smearing and blending capabilities
- Layer support with blend modes
- Import images as reference or tracing
- Apple Pencil pressure and tilt support
- Customizable interface
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The most advanced simulation of real paint on iOS! Get creative on a digital canvas with smearing, blending oils, delicate watercolor, and much more! Ever wanted to try painting your masterpiece but were put off by the mess and expense? Now you can! ArtRage isn't just about color: It knows how much paint you've used so you can smear it around to spread it over the canvas. It knows how wet your paint is so you can blend it with other paints. It even knows about the roughness of your paper so your pencils can be used for soft shading. It's not just a special effect either - ArtRage is a live simulation of the properties of real artistic media that lets you can get creative with colors and textures using tools you already know how to use! ArtRage takes full advantage of the features of your device like larger canvases on iPad Pro, Apple Pencil support for pressure & tilt, and 3D touch on your iPhone. Join the ArtRage community: Forums: forums.artrage.com Facebook: www.facebook.com/artrage Features: Real world painting tools: Oils, Watercolors, Paint Rollers, Pencils, Crayons and more. Each tool has a range of familiar properties such as how much thinner is applied to the paint, or how soft a pencil tip is. Tools apply texture as well as color, and blend under the brush. Add Layers to your painting and work on individual elements without damaging others. ArtRage supports a wide range of Layer Blend Modes, and layer contents can be scaled moved and rotated independently. Import images, converting them to oil for smearing or as Reference Images pinned to the canvas as a visual guide. Load photos as Tracing Images which are overlaid on the canvas, and have ArtRage select colors automatically as you paint. The interface has been designed to maximize your creative space without hiding away critical functions such as tool and color selection. As you paint, it gets out of the way so that you don’t have to stop and manually adjust panels. Record your paintings! The ArtRage Script system lets you record strokes while you paint for playback in desktop versions of the product at higher resolution. Import and Export using external services such as Dropbox, and iCloud Drive. Share your images on Facebook, Twitter, and any other sharing app on your device. Tools: • Oil Brush, Watercolor, Airbrush, Palette Knife, Paint Roller, Paint Tube, Inking Pen, Pencil, Marker Pen, Chalk, Crayon, Glitter Tube, Gloop Pen, Eraser, Flood Fill. • Paint simulation monitors the physical properties of your paints to allow natural blending, smearing, and other real world behavior. • Preset support to save your favorite settings for later use. • Supports the Apple Pencil's Pressure and Tilt properties, and 3D Touch where available to add realism to the simulated paint strokes. Layers: • Unlimited layers with Photoshop standard blend modes, visibility and opacity controls. Scale, rotate, and position layer contents independently. Utilities: • Record your paintings as Scripts then play them back in a desktop version of ArtRage. • Unlimited Undo / Redo. Load photos as References or Tracing images. Store color samples for later use. Files: • Create paintings up to 2048 x 2048 or 4096 x 4096 on iPad Pro. • Control the texture and color of the canvas to create different effects. Canvas presets can be stored to save your favorite settings for later. • Export PTG, JPG or PNG to services such as Email, iOS11 Files, Adobe Creative Cloud, Dropbox, and more. Share images on Facebook or Twitter. Import photos to a new file or a layer, with camera support. Interface: • Easy access pods provide functionality without getting in the way. Elements vanish as you paint so you can paint underneath. Multi-Touch shortcuts for canvas manipulation, Undo/Redo, and Brush Size. • Adapts to suit iPhone layouts. Stylus & Input Support: • Apple Pencil Pressure & Tilt. • Supports 3D Touch. • Includes support for Wacom, Adonit, Adobe, and Pogo styluses.
Paint By Number Creator Lite
Create your own custom paint-by-number kits from photos. Convert any image into a numbered coloring pattern, then paint it digitally or print it out. It's an easy way for anyone to make their own art.
- Convert photos to paint-by-number patterns
- Create custom color palettes
- Color directly within the app
- Printable patterns with color keys
- Simplified pattern creation process
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Your favorite photo deserves more than a gallery scroll. Paint By Number Creator transforms it into a classic numbered painting you can enjoy yourself, share with family, or print as a handmade gift. Open a picture, choose how detailed you want the palette, and watch regions and numbers appear. Prefer speed? Use Rough. Want finer shapes? Switch to Precise. Then paint digitally—fill everything at once or one area at a time—or export a crisp PDF with a color key for real paints and paper. Why people love it • Bring memories, pets, and portraits to life as numbered art • Dial in 2–64 colors and A4, A3, or A2 paper for the look you want • Rough for a quick result, Precise when every contour counts • Flip between original, filled colors, and numbered outlines • Playful fill modes: complete the whole picture or tap area by area • Match paints with RAL, RGB, HEX, or Pantone FHI labels • Export PDF with color key, print, or save JPEG views • Keep projects in your library and pick up anytime From rainy-day coloring to classroom crafts and thoughtful keepsakes, Paint By Number Creator makes creating feel easy—and finishing feel wonderful.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: Paint By Number Creator Lite at Free against ArtRage's $2.99. Paint By Number Creator Lite also leads on rating (4.7 vs 3.5). ArtRage's advantage is ads (none vs shown) and iOS requirement (10.0 vs 16.0). On review sentiment, ratings volume, update cadence and in-app purchases 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
Paint By Number Creator Lite is free to download; ArtRage costs $2.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
Paint By Number Creator Lite holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 3.5. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 171 and 133 respectively. Written reviews complicate that: 57% of ArtRage's written reviews are positive against 50% of Paint By Number Creator Lite's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.
ArtRage ships an update monthly, Paint By Number Creator Lite every 5 weeks. The most recent releases landed on November 6, 2026 and November 3, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | ArtRage | Paint By Number Creator Lite |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $2.99 | Free — better |
| Rating | 3.5 (171 ratings) | 4.7 (133 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 57.3% of reviews — better | 50.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 171 — better | 133 |
| Update frequency | Monthly — better | Every 5 weeks |
| Ads | No — better | Yes |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Paid | Free with in-app purchases — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, Mac |
| Requires iOS | 10.0 — better | 16.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 62 MB | 176 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Ambient Design Ltd. | Mikhail Kuznetsov |
Customer experience
ArtRage
Paint By Number Creator Lite
Bugs and requests
ArtRage
Reported bugs
3 issues- Crashes and loss of unsaved work
- Bugs with color picker and blending tools
- Inconsistent behavior when switching between tools
Requested features
5 requests- Ability to resize and rotate canvas
- Improved palm rejection and touch controls
- Larger brush sizes and more customization options
- Support for higher resolution canvases and export
- Autosave and cloud sync functionality
Paint By Number Creator Lite
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
ArtRage
No in-app purchases
Paint By Number Creator Lite
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is ArtRage free?
Is Paint By Number Creator Lite free?
Which has better reviews, ArtRage or Paint By Number Creator Lite?
Do ArtRage or Paint By Number Creator Lite have ads?
Which is updated more often, ArtRage or Paint By Number Creator Lite?
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