HenPitsu vs Zen Brush 2
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
HenPitsu
This drawing application features a unique brush that adjusts its width based on finger movement speed, allowing for calligraphy and watercolor effects. Users can trace photos, remove backgrounds for landscape art, and save or export their creations.
- Speed-sensitive brush width
- Japanese calligraphy simulation
- Watercolor painting effects
- Use photos as backgrounds
- Save and export drawings
- Trace photos for landscape art
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HenPitsu - a simple drawing app with the brush that changes its width by the speed you move your finger on the touchscreen. With this unique pen you can draw Japanese calligraphy and/or watercolor painting. Background picture can be selected from the photo library or taken by the camera. Picture can be saved or exported to other apps such as SNS. If you trace photo with your finger painting and remove the background layer afterwards, your painting will look like landscape painting of your own.
Zen Brush 2
This app offers a drawing experience inspired by East Asian ink brush art. Its intuitive interface and new engine provide a fluid and expressive way to create unique artwork, with options to share and edit your creations.
- East Asian ink brush simulation
- New expressive brush engine
- Gallery for saving work
- Red ink option
- Ink dispersion effect
- 92 background templates
- Pressure sensitive stylus support
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Zen Brush 2 is a drawing app focused on the strong yet beautiful feel of the East Asian ink brush. With a new drawing engine that brings to life a feeling of silky fluent painting and the delicacy of an ink brush, providing a simple and intuitive user interface imbued with the Zen spirit, this app is designed to be optimal for performing Zen art. Simply start the app and you are immediately ready to draw. Anyone can create superb Zen art anywhere and at any time with this app’s uniquely rich expressiveness. You can publish your work to Facebook and Twitter with the "Share" and "Open in" functions. You can also share or edit your images by opening them in other apps such as Instagram, WhatsApp, LINE, Photoshop Mix, etc. - The next step in the evolution of the Zen Brush app which achieved more than 1.5 million downloads on all platforms combined. - Includes a new brush engine providing an even stronger, beautiful expressiveness. - Includes a gallery feature that makes it possible to save your work in progress. - Includes red ink in addition to the black ink (*). - Ink dispersion effect enables a three-dimensional feeling of depth. * Actual colors vary depending on the template. Features: - 92 background style templates. - Simple brush size adjustment with slider. - Simple main tools: Ink brush, red brush, eraser brush. - 3 levels of ink dispersion. - 3 levels of ink tone. - Canvas zoom (zoom in and out with pinch gestures). - Guide lines (9 types). - Undo / redo (5 levels). - Save your work to the photo library. - Open in other apps (Formats: JPEG, PNG, transparent PNG (no background)). - Share artwork (Facebook, Twitter, etc.). - Simulated finger pressure. - Support for pressure sensitive styluses. * Apple Pencil / Wacom Bamboo Stylus / Adonit / Scriba / SonarPen - Support for iPad Pro. - Support for 3D Touch. - Adjustable brush pressure sensitivity (5 levels). - Adjustable tilt sensitivity (5 levels). * Requires a pen that supports tilt. - Supports multitasking (Slide Over / Split View). - Support for iMessage App.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: HenPitsu at Free against Zen Brush 2's $2.99. HenPitsu also leads on review sentiment (81% vs 67%) and iOS requirement (9.1 vs 12.0). Zen Brush 2's advantage is update cadence (monthly vs every 18 months) and rating (3.9 vs 3.5). On ads, in-app purchases, monetization model 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
HenPitsu is free to download; Zen Brush 2 costs $2.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
Zen Brush 2 holds the better App Store score, 3.9 against 3.5. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Zen Brush 2 has 129 ratings behind it against 2, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 81% of HenPitsu's written reviews are positive against 67% of Zen Brush 2's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.
HenPitsu ships an update every 18 months, Zen Brush 2 monthly. The most recent releases landed on September 25, 2026 and September 30, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | HenPitsu | Zen Brush 2 |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free — better | $2.99 |
| Rating | 3.5 (2 ratings) | 3.9 (129 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 80.7% of reviews — better | 67.1% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 2 | 129 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 18 months | Monthly — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 9.1 — better | 12.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 18 MB | 72 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Shin-ichi Nishimura | PSOFT |
Customer experience
HenPitsu
Zen Brush 2
Bugs and requests
HenPitsu
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
Zen Brush 2
Reported bugs
9 issues- Background menu freezes
- App crashes during export/save operations
- Blank canvas loads despite recent saves
- Unable to export artworks (ALAssetsLibraryErrorDomain error)
- Brush stroke continues in straight line after stylus lift
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- Performance issues on newer iPad Pro models
- Inconsistent undo button behavior
- File loading issues with previously saved images
- Pressure sensitivity not working with certain styluses
Requested features
19 requests- Expanded color palette beyond black and red
- iCloud synchronization across devices
- Layer support for more complex artwork
- Import background photos for tracing and reference
- Custom guides and grid overlays
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- Zoom functionality
- Ability to adjust canvas/paper size
- Move and scale drawing tools
- Increased undo/redo history (25-30 steps)
- Landscape mode support with adaptive layouts
- Tutorials and user guidance documentation
- Option to disable finger input when using stylus
- Disappearing ink effect option
- Pre-wet paper option for ink interaction
- Numeric brush size adjustment
- Save default brush size settings
- Landscape orientation paper backgrounds
- More brush variety and customization
- EPS, SVG, and PDF export formats
In-app purchases
HenPitsu
No in-app purchases
Zen Brush 2
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is HenPitsu free?
Is Zen Brush 2 free?
Which has better reviews, HenPitsu or Zen Brush 2?
Do HenPitsu or Zen Brush 2 have ads?
Which is updated more often, HenPitsu or Zen Brush 2?
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