Comparison

Interactive Sketchbook vs Calligraphy Art

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

Head to head
About

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.

Highlights
  • 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 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!

About

Calligraphy Art

Learn and practice the art of calligraphy on your iPad. This app replicates real pen strokes with adjustable angle, thickness, and color. Create beautiful letters and designs with guided exercises for Western and Chinese alphabets.

Highlights
  • Realistic pen stroke simulation
  • Western and Chinese alphabet exercises
  • Adjustable pen angle, thickness, and color
  • Zoom and undo/redo functionality
  • Save and share creations
  • Import photos as textures
Features
Read full description

Calligraphy is an ancient art that just anyone can do. Now comes on the iPad. CALLIGRAPHY ART replicates the strokes of the pen in real life: angle, thickness and colors. You can really enjoy calligraphy with this app for its learning ability, then draw beautiful letters on papers with the same easiness. ********** REVIEWS ********** 1/ PRODUCT-REVIEWS: "Every writing page has help and guidelines that coincide with the font. Calligraphy Art uses the same functions that you would find using a pen including different colors, width and the angles. Practice to get beautiful letters in this easy to use application and adapt your own authentic style." "With Calligraphy Art, you will find a beautiful ancient technique to drawing letters that are currently used for all types of great looking documents." --------------------------- 2/ APPADVICE: "Calligraphy Art is a beautiful and functional app that will teach you how to create graceful lettering in traditional calligraphy style or help you perfect your letter art. This app stands out from others because of the way that the virtual pens perfectly mimic their real counterparts." --------------------------- This application is not for language learning. It is divided is 3 parts: - A main page for freehand calligraphy and creation. This is the most complete featured page with ALL TOOLS available. - Western alphabets exercises - Chinese words exercises All writing surfaces are pre-filled with guidelines according to the hand (font) presented. Today calligraphy is used in many documents and papers, giving to them an elegant and unique touch: graphic design, logo design, type design, paintings, scholarship, maps, menus, greeting cards, invitations, legal documents, diplomas, cut stone inscriptions, memorial documents, props and moving images for film and television, business cards, lettering envelopes, place cards, poems and much more. MAIN FEATURES: - Specific long paper size: 1536X458 - 21 Western hands - 3 Chinese writing styles - 16 inkpens, 4 brushes - 24 preselected pen angles - 9 pen sizes - Zoom rate 2000%, undo redo, clear, eraser. - Save to photos gallery with or without background. - Share by email - 12 old style backgrounds - Color palette - Stylish letter textures. Import photo as texture. - 1 flourish tutorial

Screenshots

Interactive Sketchbook4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Calligraphy Art at 89% against Interactive Sketchbook's 43%. Calligraphy Art also leads on ratings volume (172 vs 2) and price ($3.99 vs $4.99). Interactive Sketchbook's advantage is rating (5.0 vs 4.8). On update cadence, 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Interactive Sketchbook costs $4.99 and Calligraphy Art $3.99 up front. Interactive Sketchbook sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and Calligraphy Art sells 2 one-off in-app purchases. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Interactive Sketchbook holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.8. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Calligraphy Art has 172 ratings behind it against 2, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 43% of Interactive Sketchbook's written reviews are positive against 89% of Calligraphy Art's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Interactive Sketchbook ships an update every 4 months, Calligraphy Art every 3 months. Both last shipped on November 1, 2026.

Scorecard6 real differences · 4 level
Interactive Sketchbook versus Calligraphy Art: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterInteractive SketchbookCalligraphy Art
Price$4.99$3.99 — better
Rating5.0 (2 ratings) — better4.8 (172 ratings)
Positive reviews43.0% of reviews89.4% of reviews — better
Number of ratings2172 — better
Update frequencyEvery 4 monthsEvery 3 months — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree — betterFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad — betteriPad
Requires iOS17.69.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size345 MB271 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperDigital Wave CreativeEtienne Nguyen Tan Hon

Customer experience

Interactive Sketchbook

All ratings2 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews86 reviews
Positive43.0%
Neutral12.8%
Negative44.2%

Calligraphy Art

All ratings160 ratings
Positive93.8%
Neutral3.8%
Negative2.5%
Written reviews407 reviews
Positive89.4%
Neutral5.7%
Negative4.9%

Bugs and requests

Interactive Sketchbook

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

Calligraphy Art

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Crashes when using undo function
  • Difficulty exporting work without artifacts
  • Inconsistent behavior when rotating device

Requested features

5 requests
  • Ability to print or export calligraphy creations
  • More calligraphy font styles and scripts
  • Option to import images and write on them
  • Improved palm rejection and stroke precision
  • Larger practice canvas and ability to save work in-app

In-app purchases

1 purchases

Interactive Sketchbook

One-time1
  • Paper Pack Pro$3.99
2 purchases

Calligraphy Art

One-time2
  • Tracing letters pack 1$0.99
  • Tracing letters pack 2$0.99

Questions

Is Interactive Sketchbook free?
Interactive Sketchbook costs $4.99, and also offers in-app purchases.
Is Calligraphy Art free?
Calligraphy Art costs $3.99, and also offers in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Interactive Sketchbook or Calligraphy Art?
Interactive Sketchbook is rated higher. Interactive Sketchbook averages 5.0 out of 5 from 2 ratings, while Calligraphy Art averages 4.8 from 172 ratings.
Do Interactive Sketchbook or Calligraphy Art have ads?
Neither Interactive Sketchbook nor Calligraphy Art shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Interactive Sketchbook or Calligraphy Art?
Interactive Sketchbook ships an update every 4 months, and Calligraphy Art every 3 months. Most recently, Interactive Sketchbook was updated on November 1, 2026 and Calligraphy Art on November 1, 2026.

Other comparisons