# ibis Paint vs Pastela

The clearest difference is price: Pastela at Free against ibis Paint's $15.99. Pastela also leads on update cadence (every 10 days vs monthly). ibis Paint's advantage is ads (none vs shown) and ratings volume (4.1K vs 100). On rating, review sentiment, in-app purchases and monetization model there is nothing between them.

Pastela is free to download; ibis Paint costs $15.99 up front. ibis Paint sells 7 in-app purchases, starting at $4.49 per month and Pastela sells 4 in-app purchases, starting at $3.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.7 for ibis Paint against 4.6 for Pastela. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: ibis Paint has 4.1K ratings behind it against 100, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews split almost evenly too, at 86% and 87% positive.

ibis Paint ships an update monthly, Pastela every 10 days. Both last shipped on November 4, 2026.

## The numbers

| Metric | ibis Paint | Pastela |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | $15.99 | **Free** |
| Rating | **[4.7 (4.1K ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/ibis-paint/id441179131/reviews)** | [4.6 (100 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/pastela/id6478907270/reviews) |
| Number of ratings | **4.1K** | 100 |
| Positive reviews | 86.3% of reviews | **86.8% of reviews** |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Ads | **No** | Yes |
| Update frequency | Monthly | **Every 10 days** |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free with in-app purchases |
| Best chart rank | **#4** | — |
| Size | 118 MB | 203 MB |
| Requires iOS | **15.0** | 17.0 |
| Devices | **iPhone, iPad, iPod** | iPad |
| Age rating | +4 | 4+ |
| Developer | [ibis inc.](https://appshunter.io/developer/300834419) | [pixiv Inc.](https://appshunter.io/developer/337248566) |

## What reviewers say

### ibis Paint

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/ibis-paint/id441179131)

**Currently charting:** #4 Top Paid · Graphics & Design, #110 Top Paid, #163 Top Grossing · Graphics & Design (US App Store)

This app offers a comprehensive suite of tools for drawing and animation, suitable for beginners and experienced artists alike. It provides a vast array of brushes, materials, and filters, enabling the creation of illustrations, animations, and even videos with music. The ad-free experience ensures uninterrupted creativity.

**Highlights:** Over 130,000 brushes, 30,000+ materials, Frame-by-frame animation, Vector tools, 86 image filters, Time-lapse video recording

**Features:** Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases (7)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Premium Membership (Monthly plan) | $4.49 | per month |
| Premium Membership (Yearly plan) | $27.99 | per year |
| Smart Credit 300pt | $2.99 | one-time |
| Smart Credit 900pt | $8.99 | one-time |
| Smart Credit 2,500pt | $23.99 | one-time |
| Smart Credit 5,000pt | $44.99 | one-time |
| Smart Credit 10,000pt | $79.99 | one-time |

**What reviewers like**

- 💎 Excellent brushes and tools
- 🎨 Customizable brushes and textures
- 🔍 Helpful tutorials and guidance
- 🚀 Smooth performance and responsiveness
- 👍 Easy to use and navigate

**What reviewers complain about**

- 🔒 Premium features locked behind subscription
- 🗂️ Lack of organization tools like folders
- 🐛 Occasional crashes and bugs
- 🔍 Difficulty finding specific brushes
- 🔋 High battery consumption

**Reported bugs**

- Speedpaint feature not recording all actions
- Blurring tool causing color leakage
- Layers not working as expected on certain devices
- Crashes when opening large files

**Requested features**

- Add animation tools and features
- Implement better organization options like folders
- Improve search and filtering for brushes
- Add blending and liquify tools
- Allow importing custom brushes and textures


### Pastela

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/pastela/id6478907270)

This app offers a seamless drawing and illustration experience with a spacious canvas, a wide variety of brushes, and cloud-based autosave. It features screen customization for iPad users and integrates with pixiv for easy sharing of your artwork.

**Highlights:** Spacious canvas, Variety of brushes, Cloud-based autosave, iPad screen customization, Pixiv integration, Detailed brush customization

**In-app purchases (4)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Light plan | $3.99 | per month |
| Standard plan | $7.99 | per month |
| Advanced plan | $15.99 | per month |
| Deluxe plan | $23.99 | per month |


## Frequently asked questions

### Is ibis Paint free?

ibis Paint costs $15.99, and also offers in-app purchases.

### Is Pastela free?

Pastela is free to download, with in-app purchases available.

### Which has better reviews, ibis Paint or Pastela?

ibis Paint is rated higher. ibis Paint averages 4.7 out of 5 from 4.1K ratings, while Pastela averages 4.6 from 100 ratings.

### Do ibis Paint or Pastela have ads?

Pastela shows ads; ibis Paint does not.

### Which is updated more often, ibis Paint or Pastela?

ibis Paint ships an update monthly, and Pastela every 10 days. Most recently, ibis Paint was updated on November 4, 2026 and Pastela on November 4, 2026.

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*Compared by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/) from daily US App Store data. Review summaries are generated from verbatim App Store reviews.*