Comparison

ibis Paint vs RoughAnimator

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

Head to head
About

ibis Paint

This professional drawing application offers a vast array of brushes, materials, and fonts for digital art creation. Record your drawing process, utilize advanced layer features, and access helpful rulers and filters. It's designed for artists seeking powerful tools on their mobile devices.

Highlights
  • Over 47,000 brushes
  • Unlimited layers
  • Drawing process recording
  • Stroke stabilization
  • Various ruler types
  • Clipping mask features
  • Advanced text tool
Features
Read full description

For everyone around the world who wants to draw and animate, freely and without pressure. ibisPaint is a full-featured illustration and animation app for smartphones and tablets, with over 500 million cumulative downloads across the series. "Drawing looks hard" — this app is made especially for people who think that. A creative experience that doesn't compromise, an interface simple enough to use without hesitation, and a comfortable familiarity that grows the more you use it. ibisPaint keeps serving as an easy entry point for anyone to start "drawing," while continually expanding what's possible — from a single illustration to frame-by-frame animation, and on to videos with background music and audio. This app is the ad-free version of ibisPaint X. Unlocking all features additionally requires purchasing Premium Membership (an in-app purchase); in that case, downloading ibisPaint X and purchasing Premium Membership there works out cheaper. With over 130,000 brushes, 30,000+ materials, 3,000+ fonts, 86 image filters, 46 screentones, 27 layer blending modes, vector tools, a reference window, radial and symmetry rulers, animated filters, and an AI Disturbance feature, ibisPaint packs in serious functionality that rivals PC illustration software. It's a one-stop app that goes beyond drawing illustrations — into animation production, and even recording and sharing your creative process as a time-lapse video. It's chosen by people of all ages, countries, and experience levels around the world. *Drawing Tutorial YouTube Channel We post lots of videos on how to make the most of ibisPaint. Please subscribe! https://youtube.com/ibisPaint *Supported Digital Styluses https://ibispaint.com/stylus/supported_digital_stylus.jsp?platformType=1 *About Purchase Plans https://ibispaint.com/lecture/index.jsp?no=26 * If you do not cancel auto-renewal at least 24 hours before the free trial ends, you will be automatically charged upon renewal. *About App Access Permissions This app may access various device features to provide the service and improve usability. No access permission is required to use this app — all of the following are optional. You may decline any of these optional permissions. Even if declined, the app's core features remain available, but some features that require the relevant permission may be limited. •Photos/videos in your photo library To import artwork files and images, and to save the artwork files, images, and videos you create •Microphone audio input To connect and communicate with supported peripherals such as digital styluses •Bluetooth communication To connect and communicate with supported peripherals such as digital styluses •Push notifications To deliver notifications related to your artwork, app update information, and important announcements *Questions & Bug Reports We're unable to respond to questions or bug reports left in reviews. Please contact our support desk below instead. https://ssl.ibis.ne.jp/en/support/Entry?svid=25 *ibisPaint Terms of Service https://ibispaint.com/agreement.jsp

About

RoughAnimator

Create traditional hand-drawn, frame-by-frame animations on your iPad. This app offers professional-grade tools like unlimited layers, onion skinning, and audio import, making it suitable for both beginners and experienced animators. Export your work in various formats or import it into professional animation software.

Highlights
  • Timeline with unlimited layers
  • Onion skinning
  • Audio and video import
  • Custom brushes
  • Apple Pencil support
  • Export to video, GIF, image sequence
  • Import to professional software
Read full description

A fully featured hand drawn animation application for iPad. Made by an animator, for animators. Powerful enough for professionals, simple enough for beginners. Everything you need to create traditional hand drawn frame-by-frame animation, anywhere you go! Features: - Timeline with unlimited layers and easily adjustable exposure length of individual drawings, for pose-to-pose or straight-ahead animating - Onion skinning - Preview playback - Scrub along timeline - Import audio for lip syncing - Import video for rotoscoping animation - Custom brushes - Supports Apple Pencil, Logitech Crayon - Control framerate and resolution - Export animation to Quicktime video, GIF, or image sequence - RoughAnimator projects can be imported to Adobe Flash/Animate, After Effects, and Toon Boom Harmony - Also available on desktop See a short film animated with RoughAnimator: https://youtu.be/vaHuJNNPoMM

Screenshots

ibis Paint4 screens
RoughAnimator1 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: RoughAnimator at $7.99 against ibis Paint's $15.99. RoughAnimator also leads on in-app purchases (none vs 7) and update cadence (fortnightly vs monthly). On rating, review sentiment, 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

ibis Paint costs $15.99 and RoughAnimator $7.99 up front. ibis Paint sells 7 in-app purchases, starting at $4.49 per month. RoughAnimator asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.7 for ibis Paint against 4.6 for RoughAnimator. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 4.1K and 2.9K respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 86% of ibis Paint's written reviews are positive against 79% of RoughAnimator's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

ibis Paint ships an update monthly, RoughAnimator fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on September 24, 2026 and September 25, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 6 level
ibis Paint versus RoughAnimator: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
Parameteribis PaintRoughAnimator
Price$15.99$7.99 — better
Rating4.7 (4.1K ratings) — better4.6 (2.9K ratings)
Positive reviews86.4% of reviews — better78.7% of reviews
Number of ratings4.1K — better2.9K
Update frequencyMonthlyFortnightly — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFreemium — betterPaid
Best chart rank#6 — better#7
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS15.013 — better
Further details — not scored
Size118 MB31 MB
Age rating4+4+
Developeribis inc.Jacob KAFKA

Customer experience

ibis Paint

All ratings4,063 ratings
Positive94.1%
Neutral2.2%
Negative3.6%
Written reviews799 reviews
Positive86.4%
Neutral5.5%
Negative8.1%

RoughAnimator

All ratings2,936 ratings
Positive92.5%
Neutral3.3%
Negative4.2%
Written reviews848 reviews
Positive78.7%
Neutral9.4%
Negative11.9%

User reviews

ibis Paint

From 4.1K App Store ratings

What we love

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

Room to improve

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

RoughAnimator

From 2.9K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Easy to use
  • 🚀 Smooth animation
  • 💡 Useful features like camera and audio
  • 👍 Intuitive interface
  • 👍 Great for beginners

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Crashes when importing video/audio
  • 🐛 Laggy performance with larger projects
  • 🐛 Pixelated/blurry drawings when playing animation
  • 🐛 Onion skin not working
  • 🐛 Brush issues like splotchy lines

Bugs and requests

ibis Paint

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • 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

6 requests
  • 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
Show 1 more
  • Improve speed and stability for larger canvases

RoughAnimator

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Crashes when importing audio
  • Onion skin not working
  • Pixelated drawings when playing animation
  • Laggy performance with larger projects

Requested features

8 requests
  • Add transparency support for exports
  • Implement a text tool
  • Provide more brush options and customization
  • Add a ruler/shape tool
  • Improve audio handling (record, import, sync)
Show 3 more
  • Implement a tween/animation feature
  • Add layer grouping and organization tools
  • Provide a dark mode option

In-app purchases

7 purchases

ibis Paint

Subscriptions2
  • Premium Membership (Monthly plan)7 Days trial$4.491 Month
  • Premium Membership (Yearly plan)1 Month trial$27.991 Year
One-time5
  • Smart Credit 300pt$2.99
  • Smart Credit 900pt$8.99
  • Smart Credit 2,500pt$23.99
Show 2 more
  • Smart Credit 5,000pt$44.99
  • Smart Credit 10,000pt$79.99
None

RoughAnimator

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is ibis Paint free?
ibis Paint costs $15.99, and also offers in-app purchases.
Is RoughAnimator free?
RoughAnimator costs $7.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, ibis Paint or RoughAnimator?
ibis Paint is rated higher. ibis Paint averages 4.7 out of 5 from 4.1K ratings, while RoughAnimator averages 4.6 from 2.9K ratings.
Do ibis Paint or RoughAnimator have ads?
Neither ibis Paint nor RoughAnimator shows ads.
Which is updated more often, ibis Paint or RoughAnimator?
ibis Paint ships an update monthly, and RoughAnimator fortnightly. Most recently, ibis Paint was updated on September 24, 2026 and RoughAnimator on September 25, 2026.
Which is more popular, ibis Paint or RoughAnimator?
ibis Paint currently peaks at #6 in the App Store charts, and RoughAnimator at #7. Chart position reflects recent download velocity rather than total install base.

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