Art Set vs Paintstorm Studio Lite
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Art Set
Experience a realistic virtual art studio on your iPad. This app offers a wide range of tools like oil paints, pastels, and pens, with features like pressure sensitivity and blending for natural results. Create detailed artwork with zoom and import your own images.
- Photo-realistic interface
- 3D textured oil paint
- Five blending tools
- Metallic and fluorescent colors
- Zoom and pan for detail
- Import custom images
- Apple Pencil support
Read full descriptionHide full description
This stunningly beautiful app is like having a virtual art set right inside your iPad. Paint and draw via the photo realistic interface with tools that look and feel like the real thing. Art Set gives an alternative to complex and mechanical like paint apps for all to enjoy - artist or not! But simplicity comes without sacrificing quality, from pens to pencils, paints to pastels, each has been carefully crafted to produce natural results in real time. The 3D textured oil paint gives amazing thick gloopy strokes or thin delicate detail via virtual pressure sensitivity. Sparkle and glow with special metallic and fluorescent colours. Build up subtle tones and textures with oil pastels, wax crayons, coloured pencils and marker pens. Add fine detail via multitouch pinch and zoom. Choose from different paper colours and textures, or import your own photos. The blending tools give you many ways to mix and smudge colour around on the canvas with varying effects. Create anything from smooth gentle gradients to roughly textured scratches and splatters. - thick 3D textured oil paint - five blending tools - metallic colours sparkle and shine - fluorescent colours that glow and dazzle - zoom and pan for fine detail - high resolution canvas on retina screens at near 4 Mega pixels (1728 x 2304) - import your own photos and images - export to your photo album, email or social networks - recent tool list keeps used colours and tools to hand - virtual pressure sensitivity - unlimited undo - real time high performance - Apple Pencil support for pressure and tilt Art Set is a wonderfully creative addition to any iPad! Also available : 'Art Set - Pro Edition' with many more features. For iPhone and iPod touch users 'Art Set - Pocket Edition' is available too!
Paintstorm Studio Lite
This app offers professional digital painting tools for artists of all levels. It provides extensive brush customization, stroke correction, and intuitive controls to enhance the mobile art creation experience. Discover new possibilities for digital drawing with advanced features and Apple Pencil support.
- Extensive brush customization
- Stroke post-correction
- Apple Pencil support
- Dynamic interface
- Mirror drawing
- Standard tools pack
Read full descriptionHide 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 - Standard tools pack (Lasso, Magic wand, Crop, Fill, Gradient and etc) - Control of the random amounts - Apple Pencil support (Pressure, Tilt, Direction) Lite version restrictions: - It is not possible to load and save psd files - A watermark is added to the picture Upgrade to the full version and get rid of the limits!
Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: Art Set at 70% against Paintstorm Studio Lite's 24%. Art Set also leads on iOS requirement (9.3 vs 13.1). Paintstorm Studio Lite's advantage is price (Free vs $2.99) and rating (4.0 vs 3.7). On 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
Paintstorm Studio Lite is free to download; Art Set costs $2.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
Paintstorm Studio Lite holds the better App Store score, 4.0 against 3.7. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 79 and 262 respectively. Written reviews complicate that: 70% of Art Set's written reviews are positive against 24% of Paintstorm Studio Lite's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.
Art Set ships an update every 11 months, Paintstorm Studio Lite every 4 months. The most recent releases landed on October 5, 2026 and October 15, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Art Set | Paintstorm Studio Lite |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $2.99 | Free — better |
| Rating | 3.7 (79 ratings) | 4.0 (262 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 70.1% of reviews — better | 24.1% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 79 | 262 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 11 months | Every 4 months — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Paid | Free — better |
| Devices | iPad | iPad |
| Requires iOS | 9.3 — better | 13.1 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 84 MB | 103 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | LOFOPI | Sergei Komarov |
Customer experience
Art Set
Paintstorm Studio Lite
User reviews
Art Set
From 79 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🎨 Realistic art tools and textures
- 👍 Simple and intuitive interface
- 💰 Good value for the price
- 🎨 Wide variety of drawing mediums
- 👨🎨 Suitable for both beginners and experienced artists
Room to improve
- 🎨 Limited color palette and mixing options
- 🎨 Blending tools could be improved
- 🎨 Lack of layer support
- 🎨 Eraser tool is not as effective as desired
- 🐛 Occasional loss of artwork due to bugs
Paintstorm Studio Lite
From 262 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 💎 Excellent brushes and color mixing
- 🎨 Sophisticated drawing tools
- 🖌️ Advanced interface like desktop apps
- 🖥️ Powerful features on par with desktop software
Room to improve
- 🚧 Cluttered and confusing interface
- 🐛 Frequent crashes and performance issues
- 💦 Annoying watermark on exported artwork
- 🔍 Lack of clear instructions and tutorials
Bugs and requests
Art Set
Reported bugs
3 issues- Artwork disappearing or getting corrupted
- Blurring/pixelation issues with some drawings
- Inconsistent performance on newer iPad models
Requested features
5 requests- Ability to adjust brush/tool size and opacity
- More color options and a color wheel
- Layering support
- Improved eraser functionality
- Retina display support
Paintstorm Studio Lite
Reported bugs
3 issues- App crashes when opening or switching between projects
- Brush settings and color wheel disappearing unexpectedly
- Inability to save or recover unsaved artwork
Requested features
4 requests- Remove watermark option
- Ability to import photos and images
- Better organization and customization of UI
- More intuitive brush and tool controls
In-app purchases
Art Set
No in-app purchases
Paintstorm Studio Lite
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Art Set free?
Is Paintstorm Studio Lite free?
Which has better reviews, Art Set or Paintstorm Studio Lite?
Do Art Set or Paintstorm Studio Lite have ads?
Which is updated more often, Art Set or Paintstorm Studio Lite?
Other comparisons















