Doodle vs PaintBox Basic
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Doodle
This app allows users to create simple sketches and drawings, ranging from abstract shapes to representational figures. It's ideal for capturing fleeting ideas or for casual drawing during idle moments.
- Create simple sketches
- Draw abstract shapes
- Make representational figures
- Unfocused drawing tool
- Capture fleeting ideas
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A doodle is a type of sketch, an unfocused drawing made while a person's attention is otherwise occupied. Doodles are simple drawings that can have concrete representational meaning or may just be abstract shapes. Stereotypical examples of doodling are found in school notebooks, often in the margins, drawn by students daydreaming or losing interest during class. Other common examples of doodling are produced during long telephone conversations if a pen and paper are available. Popular kinds of doodles include cartoon versions of teachers or companions in a school, famous TV or comic characters, invented fictional beings, landscapes, geometric shapes and patterns, textures, banners with legends, and animations made by drawing a scene sequence in various pages of a book or notebook.
PaintBox Basic
This is a basic paint application offering various brushes and auto-save functionality. Users can easily share their creations via email or social media platforms. It includes banner ads and lacks advanced features like undo/redo.
- 8 types of brushes
- Auto save image
- Transfer to Mac via iTunes file sharing
- Share images via email, Twitter, Facebook, Flickr
- Banner ads displayed
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PaintBox Basic is paint software. -8 type of brushes. -Auto save image. -The transfer of the image to your Mac iTune file sharing. -Share of image send the image email, twitter, Facebook, Flickr etc. What is different from the Pro version -Banner AD is displayed on the screen. -There is no Undo Redo function. -It is impossible to create and edit color palette.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: Doodle at 3.3 against PaintBox Basic's 2.0. Doodle also leads on ads (none vs shown) and update cadence (every 3 weeks vs every 7 months). PaintBox Basic's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 1). On price 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
Both are free to download. Doodle sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. PaintBox Basic asks for nothing beyond the download.
Doodle holds the better App Store score, 3.3 against 2.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Doodle has 8 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 14% of Doodle's written reviews are positive against 0% of PaintBox Basic's.
Doodle ships an update every 3 weeks, PaintBox Basic every 7 months. The most recent releases landed on October 19, 2026 and October 11, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Doodle | PaintBox Basic |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 3.3 (8 ratings) — better | 2.0 (1 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 14.0% of reviews — better | 0.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 8 — better | 1 |
| Update frequency | Every 3 weeks — better | Every 7 months |
| Ads | No — better | Yes |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Ad-supported — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 7.0 — better | 12.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 15 MB | 17 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Orgajja Co Ltd | Kouichi Hayashi |
Customer experience
Doodle
PaintBox Basic
Bugs and requests
Doodle
Reported bugs
11 issues- App opens upside down then crashes
- Crashes immediately upon opening
- Crashes when tapping twice simultaneously
- Crashes when no WiFi/internet available
- Drawings save upside down or backwards
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- App freezes and closes unexpectedly
- Cannot clear drawings after update
- Only saves fraction of overall sketch
- App won't open at all
- Distorts images when uploading photos
- Paid version still contains advertisements
Requested features
11 requests- Eraser tool
- Undo button
- More color options and variety
- Different drawing modes/backgrounds
- Ability to change wooden board aesthetic
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- Stencils and stamps
- Text tool
- Better line quality and drawing precision
- Multiple drawing modes in free version
- Full screen drawing without ads blocking area
- Offline functionality without WiFi requirement
PaintBox Basic
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Doodle
- additional features$0.99
PaintBox Basic
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Doodle free?
Is PaintBox Basic free?
Which has better reviews, Doodle or PaintBox Basic?
Do Doodle or PaintBox Basic have ads?
Which is updated more often, Doodle or PaintBox Basic?
Other comparisons
