Comparison

WowPaint vs Paintstorm Studio

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

Head to head
About

WowPaint

Create seamless patterns for backgrounds, textures, and more with intuitive drawing tools. Adjust parameters live while painting and utilize fingertip-based stroke sizing. Supports Apple Pencil and multiple layers.

Highlights
  • Seamless pattern creation
  • Wrapped painting mode
  • Fingertip stroke size adjustment
  • Live parameter changes
  • Multiple layers
  • Photo tracing mode (Pro)
Features
Read full description

Pattern/texture designers: You’ll find the app’s unique feature set very useful when making repeatable images (patterns). Other artists: WowPaint is great for drawing and painting “normal” art as well! • CREATE SEAMLESS PATTERNS • Use the Seamless Pattern Options to aid you in creating seamless patterns that can be used as website or desktop backgrounds, in print, or for textures in 3d modeling. When you have switched on Wrap X/Y, any strokes you paint that go over the picture’s edge will continue on the opposite side. That means that there will be no hard edges where strokes are cut off (since they continue instead), which makes the picture a perfect candidate for being seamlessly repeated. A tremendous help when using the Wrapped Painting mode is the option of having the picture displayed as tiles next to each other. You’re free to paint anywhere on these tiles, and you will see the results in real time. You can also switch on Edge Indicators, to make it easier to see where the picture being repeated begins and ends. • FINGERTIP = STROKE SIZE • When you paint, the app measures how much of your finger is touching the screen and changes the stroke size accordingly. There’s a huge difference between using just the corner of your fingertip and pressing down the whole fingerprint area! A 2nd tool assigned to your finger will still use this feature, so don’t ignore it just because you have an Apple Pencil! • LEFT-HANDED? • Just swipe the toolbar over to the other side! • PARAMETERS CAN BE CHANGED LIVE • Use any buttons or controls to change/adjust color, size, force, simultaneously while painting. • UNIVERSAL PURCHASE • If you choose to buy the Pro upgrade, this one-time in-app purchase will unlock all Pro features in the app on all available platforms (iPad-iPhone-Mac)! • METAL • The engine is based on Metal, with 128-bit color and floating-point arithmetic. • SWIFT • The app was developed entirely using Swift (earlier versions used C++). • APPLE PENCIL SUPPORT • FULL SCREEN PAINTING • • DARK MODE • LANDSCAPE • PORTRAIT • WIDE COLOR • • MULTIPLE LAYERS • PHOTO TRACING MODE (Pro feature) •

About

Paintstorm Studio

This app offers a professional digital painting experience on iOS devices, leveraging Apple Pencil for advanced control. It provides a vast array of customizable brushes, stroke correction, and intuitive tools for artists of all levels to create masterpieces on the go.

Highlights
  • Advanced brush customization
  • Stroke post-correction
  • Perspective-aware parameters
  • Dynamic and custom interface
  • Mask brush functionality
  • Photoshop PSD and ABR support
  • Apple Pencil integration
Read full description

Paintstorm Studio is the first iOS App designed not only for simple sketches, but professional digital painting of any level, genre and technique. Paintstorm helps you to discover the magnificence and unleash the full potential of Apple Pencil and brings you to a whole new level of drawing. Creating an art masterpiece has never been so mobile. A major feature of Paintstorm Studio is the array of brushes to choose from. We did our best so that you can easily and quickly adjust the brushes suitable to your painting style. Anyone who has ever painted knows it's hard to overestimate the painting tool and the importance of all the seemingly insignificant details. We tried not to miss any of them. Our goal was to create an intuitive, simple-to-use but at the same time functionally powerful tool that brings the process of digital painting to a new level, making it as comfortable as possible. - Full control of all brush options (Incredible possibilities for brush settings) - Bristle brushes of any form and kind - Stroke post correction (You can take an action on any option. Not only on the stroke thickness) - Parameters binding to the perspective - Dynamic interface (Global interface scale, panels scale, opacity, color) - Custom panels - Full controlled mask-brush (Each brush can work as mask for other brush) - Takes underlayer's color while blending - "Close gaps" function when you fill or select - Dirty brush mode - Stroke stabilizer - Usable color mixer - Different gradient strokes - Mirror drawing - Standart tools pack (Lasso, Magic wand, Crop, Fill, Gradient and etc) - Control of the random amounts - Photoshop PSD and ABR supported - Apple Pencil support (Pressure, Tilt, Direction)

Screenshots

WowPaint4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: WowPaint at Free against Paintstorm Studio's $12.99. WowPaint also leads on rating (4.7 vs 4.4) and review sentiment (76% vs 60%). Paintstorm Studio's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 6) and ratings volume (368 vs 119). On update cadence, ads and iOS requirement 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

WowPaint is free to download; Paintstorm Studio costs $12.99 up front. WowPaint sells 6 one-off in-app purchases. Paintstorm Studio asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

WowPaint holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 4.4. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 119 and 368 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 76% of WowPaint's written reviews are positive against 60% of Paintstorm Studio's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

WowPaint ships an update every 2 months, Paintstorm Studio every 4 months. Both last shipped on October 16, 2026.

Scorecard7 real differences · 3 level
WowPaint versus Paintstorm Studio: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterWowPaintPaintstorm Studio
PriceFree — better$12.99
Rating4.7 (119 ratings) — better4.4 (368 ratings)
Positive reviews75.9% of reviews — better59.9% of reviews
Number of ratings119368 — better
Update frequencyEvery 2 months — betterEvery 4 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases — betterPaid
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac — betteriPad
Requires iOS12.0 — better13.1
Further details — not scored
Size22 MB103 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperNorbyteSergei Komarov

Customer experience

WowPaint

All ratings119 ratings
Positive94.1%
Neutral2.5%
Negative3.4%
Written reviews29 reviews
Positive75.9%
Neutral10.3%
Negative13.8%

Paintstorm Studio

All ratings368 ratings
Positive84.2%
Neutral4.3%
Negative11.4%
Written reviews282 reviews
Positive59.9%
Neutral10.6%
Negative29.4%

Bugs and requests

WowPaint

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

Paintstorm Studio

Reported bugs

5 issues
  • Crashes on startup or when using certain tools
  • Brush lag and performance issues with large canvases
  • Unreliable autosave and file management
  • Unresponsive or glitchy UI elements
  • Incompatibility with older iPad models

Requested features

5 requests
  • Improved brush customization and management
  • Seamless canvas rotation and zooming
  • Expanded layer and selection tools
  • Better text and typography support
  • Integrated cloud/online sync and sharing

In-app purchases

6 purchases

WowPaint

One-time6
  • Tip Jar: Smallest Tip$1.00
  • Tip Jar: Small Tip$2.00
  • Tip Jar: Medium Tip$5.00
Show 3 more
  • Pro Upgrade$7.00
  • Tip Jar: Big Tip$10.00
  • Tip Jar: Biggest Tip$25.00
None

Paintstorm Studio

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is WowPaint free?
WowPaint is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Paintstorm Studio free?
Paintstorm Studio costs $12.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, WowPaint or Paintstorm Studio?
WowPaint is rated higher. WowPaint averages 4.7 out of 5 from 119 ratings, while Paintstorm Studio averages 4.4 from 368 ratings.
Do WowPaint or Paintstorm Studio have ads?
Neither WowPaint nor Paintstorm Studio shows ads.
Which is updated more often, WowPaint or Paintstorm Studio?
WowPaint ships an update every 2 months, and Paintstorm Studio every 4 months. Most recently, WowPaint was updated on October 16, 2026 and Paintstorm Studio on October 16, 2026.

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