Comparison

HenPitsu vs Zen Brush 2

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

Head to head
About

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.

Highlights
  • Speed-sensitive brush width
  • Japanese calligraphy simulation
  • Watercolor painting effects
  • Use photos as backgrounds
  • Save and export drawings
  • Trace photos for landscape art
Features
Read full description

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.

About

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.

Highlights
  • 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
Features
Read full description

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

HenPitsu2 screens
Zen Brush 24 screens

Verdict

The call

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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

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.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

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.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

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.

Scorecard6 real differences · 4 level
HenPitsu versus Zen Brush 2: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterHenPitsuZen Brush 2
PriceFree — better$2.99
Rating3.5 (2 ratings)3.9 (129 ratings) — better
Positive reviews80.7% of reviews — better67.1% of reviews
Number of ratings2129 — better
Update frequencyEvery 18 monthsMonthly — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFreeFree
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS9.1 — better12.0
Further details — not scored
Size18 MB72 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperShin-ichi NishimuraPSOFT

Customer experience

HenPitsu

All ratings2 ratings
Positive50.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative50.0%
Written reviews57 reviews
Positive80.7%
Neutral8.8%
Negative10.5%

Zen Brush 2

All ratings129 ratings
Positive67.4%
Neutral14.7%
Negative17.8%
Written reviews289 reviews
Positive67.1%
Neutral11.8%
Negative21.1%

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
Show 4 more
  • 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
Show 14 more
  • 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

None

HenPitsu

No in-app purchases

None

Zen Brush 2

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is HenPitsu free?
HenPitsu is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Zen Brush 2 free?
Zen Brush 2 costs $2.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, HenPitsu or Zen Brush 2?
Zen Brush 2 is rated higher. HenPitsu averages 3.5 out of 5 from 2 ratings, while Zen Brush 2 averages 3.9 from 129 ratings.
Do HenPitsu or Zen Brush 2 have ads?
Neither HenPitsu nor Zen Brush 2 shows ads.
Which is updated more often, HenPitsu or Zen Brush 2?
HenPitsu ships an update every 18 months, and Zen Brush 2 monthly. Most recently, HenPitsu was updated on September 25, 2026 and Zen Brush 2 on September 30, 2026.

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