Comparison

Drawing Box Ltd vs Castlerama

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

Head to head
About

Drawing Box Ltd

This mobile studio offers a wide range of tools for sketching and painting, from pencils and brushes to creative pen effects and stickers. Users can enjoy features like symmetrical drawing, unlimited undo, and video replays of their creations. It's ideal for quick sketches, artistic studies, and sharing finished artwork.

Highlights
  • Multiple pencil modes and art brushes
  • Creative pen effects and stickers
  • Symmetrical drawing and painting
  • Video replay of artwork
  • Unlimited undo/redo functionality
  • Pictures for coloring and leisure
Features
Read full description

Enjoy the LIGHT VERSION of one of the most awarded painting app on the market. You will be surprised by the incredible number of features provided by this app. Bring along this small mobile studio with you, make life sketching, studying forms, shapes, architecture, human figures. This is an excellent tool for a quick sketch, even drawn with small modeling effects with the smooth art brushes. Publish your works directly on Twitter, Facebook or Sina Weibo. Send them to the photo library or to your friends by mail. Main features:  - 3 pencil modes  - 3 art brushes - 2 paint rollers - 3 eraser sizes  - 78 premixed and ready to use colors. - 10 incredible creative pen effects. - 187 stickers in 3 sizes  - Video replay of your paintings  - Symmetrical drawing and painting. - Unlimited undo, redo, clear drawing page  - Pictures for coloring and leisure activities - Drawing lessons (in-app purchase) - You can choose a color for the canvas background from the 78 premixed colors. How it works: just push the color tube to the top and release it.

About

Castlerama

Experience a photorealistic 3D exploration of a charming Italian-inspired town. Navigate through detailed settings using touch and sight, blurring the lines between the real and imaginary. Immerse yourself in a world designed to trick your senses into believing it's all real.

Highlights
  • Photorealistic 3D environment
  • Italian-inspired town setting
  • Touch and sight navigation
  • Immersive sensory experience
  • Unreal Engine powered
Features
Read full description

Castlerama takes you on a photorealistic walk through a beautiful, detailed and accurately lit 3D setting. Merging real and imaginary elements, it draws inspiration from the charming town of Assisi, in Italy. You are left to find your own way around by touch and sight alone. Exploring a whole world becomes a matter of lifting your fingers. Our goal? To fool your eyes and brain considering it all real. When you go back with your memory to the day you first opened this Mentalbox, you will think it was you on the cobblestone, you in the alleys, you in the catacombs... While developing Castlerama, we had to face the fact that newer devices such as iPhone4s and iPad2s are very different from their predecessors, iPhone3GSs and iPads, in that the former have twice as much memory. In order to have the app run on all devices, we had to compromise quite a bit, pushing the old devices to their limits (risking crash if other applications are left running) while keeping the new devices well behind their capabilities. Powered by Unreal Engine.

Screenshots

Castlerama3 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Drawing Box Ltd at 94% against Castlerama's 52%. Drawing Box Ltd also leads on update cadence (every 3 months vs every 19 months) and rating (4.6 vs 4.3). Castlerama's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 2) and device support (3 vs 1). On price, ratings volume and ads 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

Both are free to download. Drawing Box Ltd sells 2 one-off in-app purchases. Castlerama asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Drawing Box Ltd holds the better App Store score, 4.6 against 4.3. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 10 and 16 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 94% of Drawing Box Ltd's written reviews are positive against 52% of Castlerama's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Drawing Box Ltd ships an update every 3 months, Castlerama every 19 months. The most recent releases landed on October 23, 2026 and October 26, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard7 real differences · 3 level
Drawing Box Ltd versus Castlerama: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterDrawing Box LtdCastlerama
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.6 (10 ratings) — better4.3 (16 ratings)
Positive reviews94.2% of reviews — better52.4% of reviews
Number of ratings1016 — better
Update frequencyEvery 3 months — betterEvery 19 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases — betterPaid
DevicesiPadiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS11.06.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size117 MB237 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperEtienne Nguyen Tan HonCODENRAMA

Customer experience

Drawing Box Ltd

All ratings9 ratings
Positive77.8%
Neutral22.2%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews347 reviews
Positive94.2%
Neutral4.3%
Negative1.4%

Castlerama

All ratings16 ratings
Positive75.0%
Neutral18.8%
Negative6.3%
Written reviews349 reviews
Positive52.4%
Neutral16.0%
Negative31.5%

User reviews

Drawing Box Ltd

From 10 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Easy to use
  • 🎨 Lots of drawing tools and features
  • 💡 Helpful for kids and adults
  • 🎨 Wide range of colors and brushes
  • 👍 Intuitive interface

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Occasional crashes and glitches
  • 🐛 Blending issues with colors
  • 🔒 Limited save/export options in free version
  • 💡 Could use more advanced tools (e.g. smudge, bucket fill)

Castlerama

From 16 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Amazing graphics
  • 🌄 Atmospheric environment
  • 🐴 Interesting details (e.g. cows, horse)
  • 👍 Great potential

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Crashes and stability issues
  • 🔍 Limited exploration area
  • 🌑 Dark and difficult to see
  • 🕹️ Clunky controls

Bugs and requests

Drawing Box Ltd

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Crashes when importing images
  • Drawings sometimes rotate the wrong way
  • Occasional freezing when saving drawings

Requested features

4 requests
  • Add a bucket fill tool
  • Improve color blending capabilities
  • Increase save/export options in free version
  • Implement a smudge tool

Castlerama

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Crashes on startup or during gameplay
  • Falling through the world in certain areas
  • Compatibility issues with older devices

Requested features

5 requests
  • Expand the explorable area
  • Add more interactive elements
  • Improve lighting and visibility
  • Optimize controls and movement
  • Introduce a day/night cycle

In-app purchases

2 purchases

Drawing Box Ltd

One-time2
  • Pencil Sketching Lessons$0.99
  • Buy Drawing Box Full version$2.99
None

Castlerama

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Drawing Box Ltd free?
Drawing Box Ltd is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Castlerama free?
Castlerama is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Drawing Box Ltd or Castlerama?
Drawing Box Ltd is rated higher. Drawing Box Ltd averages 4.6 out of 5 from 10 ratings, while Castlerama averages 4.3 from 16 ratings.
Do Drawing Box Ltd or Castlerama have ads?
Neither Drawing Box Ltd nor Castlerama shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Drawing Box Ltd or Castlerama?
Drawing Box Ltd ships an update every 3 months, and Castlerama every 19 months. Most recently, Drawing Box Ltd was updated on October 23, 2026 and Castlerama on October 26, 2026.

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