Interactive Sketchbook vs Animation Desk® Ultimate
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Interactive Sketchbook
Learn professional illustration techniques with interactive tutorials and digital sketching tools. Practice drawing alongside a professional artist or import your own photo references. This app offers a digital alternative to traditional sketchbooks with advanced features for artists.
- Interactive tutorials from professional illustrator
- Import photo references for drawing
- Three custom layers for sketching and detailing
- Split view for side-by-side drawing and reference
- Full-page tracing and full-screen drawing modes
- Unlimited pages and undo/redo functionality
- Portfolio to store and manage digital art
Read full descriptionHide full description
Draw beautifully organic pencil illustrations using professional tutorials, or from photo reference! Practice advance techniques by drawing alongside portrait tutorials from acclaimed illustrator Matt Busch. Or sketch on your own with the option to import your own photo reference. •INNOVATIVE APPROACH• THE RIGHT TOOLS Three custom layers allow you to efficiently switch between the types of tools that are most useful. Draw loosely and plan your work in the "Sketch Layer". Enjoy precise control of line and value in the "Detail Layer" to make highlights and intricate details shine. Enjoy a unique "Tone Layer" that makes smooth shading easy and fun! Each layer's visibility can be toggled on and off. SIDE BY SIDE Whether using your own photo or a tutorial, split view allows you to use reference in a unique way, side by side. Pinch to zoom in on detail and both the drawing and reference stay perfectly in sync! Awesome for artists who want to draw from reference without being forced to trace. INTUITIVE FULL-PAGE MODE But when you do want to trace. . . -swipe the binder over to utilize the full page where you can use your reference as a guide to get proportions picture perfect. Or enjoy full-screen mode with the reference layer toggled off to focus on detail, and maximize the iPad’s work surface. ENDLESS REAL-ESTATE With Interactive Sketchbook, you’ll never run out of pages. And with an undo and redo function you can explore being more creative without ruining your drawing or wasting paper. Like a tangible paper sketchbook Interactive Sketchbook is portable and always ready when inspiration strikes. •MATT BUSCH TUTORIALS• LEARN FROM A PRO Have a professional illustrator as your personal tour guide! Matt Busch has been illustrating some of the hottest properties in movies, books, and comics for over 30 years! And now he’s your interactive instructor, sharing his secrets and teaching you the basics of sketching portraits. LOTS OF OPTIONS The application has 4 different interactive tutorials that guide you through the steps of creating great portraits. Follow along with Busch at your own pace across 11 visual steps and see every pencil stroke he makes. For more specific guidance, touch an area within a step to reveal Busch’s detailed tips. (Over 3 dozen detailed tips per tutorial!) •PORTFOLIO AND BEYOND• Store, view, edit and resume your drawings in the portfolio. A clean layout and professional presentation allows you to view all your sketches at a glance. Tap a thumbnail to view your latest creations up close. And now, with the new "Animate Sketch" feature, you can watch your drawings redraw themselves step by step! All your sketches are automatically saved and stored in the portfolio. And you can always continue any sketch from where you last left off! •APPLE PENCIL SUPPORT• Take your sketching even further by connecting an Apple Pencil or Logitech Crayon. All styluses support palm rejection to prevent stray marks while resting a hand on the screen during drawing. Also enjoy pressure sensitive strokes for better control of your line work and shading with supporting styluses. Treat yourself to Interactive Sketchbook now, or surprise a friend and “Gift this App”. Whether you are an occasional doodler or a professional illustrator, Interactive Sketchbook is a must-have tool for your iPad and iPhone!
Animation Desk® Ultimate
Create frame-by-frame animations from scratch or over existing media. This app offers a robust set of drawing tools, layer support, and various export options for your animated projects. It's designed for both beginners and experienced animators.
- Frame-by-frame animation creation
- Import Photoshop layers (PSD)
- Animate over videos and images
- Advanced drawing tools and brushes
- Onion skinning with color-coding
- Multiple export formats (video, GIF, PDF, PSD)
- Add music to animations
Read full descriptionHide full description
Dream big with Animation Desk. Draw frame-to-frame animation from scratch, or create animations upon videos, images, Photoshop layers. Animation Desk supports multiple export formats. Create animation on your iPad and iPhone with Animation Desk. AWARDS - Featured in Top100 iPad Entertainment apps in 86 App Stores - Featured by Apple on iTunes Home Page - Featured by Yahoo Tech - Featured by TechCrunch - Recommended by EdTech Impact, Edshelf, EducationalAppStore.com, All about apps in YOUR classroom, iPad Educators CREATE ANIMATION • Import Photoshop layers (PSD) • Make animation over videos and pictures • Create animations with a different aspect ratio, FPS, and duration DRAWING TOOLS • Brushes and Erasers • Custom Brush • Onion skin • Color-coded onion skinning • Selection tools • Layers • Color palettes for developing and managing color schemes • Caption* • Perfect with Apple Pencil 1,2, Wacom and Adonit styli HELPFUL TOOLS • Frame tags • Ruler tools • Frame viewer and timeline • Zoom-in and zoom-out • Canvas rotation EXPORT • Export individual frame into image • Export videos • Export PSD layers, PDF, and GIF (up to 640x480 px), PDF* • Export video with different aspect of ratio • Add music to the animations • Combine multiple animation sequences into an animatic storyboard CAN WE GIVE A HAND? Got a question? Contact us at helpdesk@kdanmobile.com or check out http://support.kdanmobile.com Term of Use: https://www.kdanmobile.com/en/terms_of_service Privacy Policies: https://www.kdanmobile.com/en/privacy_policy
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: Interactive Sketchbook at 5.0 against Animation Desk® Ultimate's 4.0. Interactive Sketchbook also leads on price ($4.99 vs $9.99). Animation Desk® Ultimate's advantage is ratings volume (300 vs 2) and update cadence (monthly vs every 4 months). On review sentiment, ads, in-app purchases 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
Interactive Sketchbook costs $4.99 and Animation Desk® Ultimate $9.99 up front. Interactive Sketchbook sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and Animation Desk® Ultimate sells 10 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
Interactive Sketchbook holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Animation Desk® Ultimate has 300 ratings behind it against 2, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 43% of Interactive Sketchbook's written reviews are positive against 39% of Animation Desk® Ultimate's.
Interactive Sketchbook ships an update every 4 months, Animation Desk® Ultimate monthly. The most recent releases landed on October 21, 2026 and October 26, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Interactive Sketchbook | Animation Desk® Ultimate |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $4.99 — better | $9.99 |
| Rating | 5.0 (2 ratings) — better | 4.0 (300 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 43.0% of reviews — better | 39.4% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 2 | 300 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 4 months | Monthly — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free — better | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 17.6 | 10.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 345 MB | 374 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Digital Wave Creative | Kdan Mobile Software LTD |
Customer experience
Interactive Sketchbook
Animation Desk® Ultimate
Bugs and requests
Interactive Sketchbook
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
Animation Desk® Ultimate
Reported bugs
4 issues- Frames randomly disappearing or getting corrupted
- Layers merging unexpectedly or not behaving as expected
- Crashes when trying to import certain media files
- Onion skin and playback issues causing problems
Requested features
5 requests- Add more brush customization options
- Improve the timeline and layer management tools
- Implement a better undo/redo system
- Allow importing and syncing of audio for lip-syncing
- Provide more export options beyond just video
In-app purchases
Interactive Sketchbook
- Paper Pack Pro$3.99
Animation Desk® Ultimate
- Kdan Cloud$2.991 Month
- All Access Pack-1 Month3 Days trial$9.991 Month
- Kdan Cloud$9.991 Year
Show 2 moreShow fewer
- All Access Pack-3 Months3 Days trial$19.993 Months
- All Access Pack - 1 Year7 Days trial$59.991 Year
- 10 Kdan Credits$0.99
- 100 Kdan Credits$7.99
- 200 Kdan Credits$15.99
Show 2 moreShow fewer
- 500 Kdan Credits$37.99
- 1000 Kdan Credits$59.99
Questions
Is Interactive Sketchbook free?
Is Animation Desk® Ultimate free?
Which has better reviews, Interactive Sketchbook or Animation Desk® Ultimate?
Do Interactive Sketchbook or Animation Desk® Ultimate have ads?
Which is updated more often, Interactive Sketchbook or Animation Desk® Ultimate?
Other comparisons















