Handy Art Reference Tool vs Artista
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Handy Art Reference Tool
This app provides artists with rotatable 3D models of hands, heads, and feet for drawing reference. Customize poses and lighting to achieve realistic results for your artwork. Additional packs for animal skulls and foot rigs are available for purchase.
- Rotatable 3D limb models
- Customizable poses
- Adjustable 3-point lighting
- 3D head busts
- Animal skull reference pack
- Material editing
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"Thanks to this useful app, drawing realistic hands can become a whole lot easier" - ImagineFX "Pencillers, inkers, and colorists should all give this a look!" - Tony Moore, co-creator of The Walking Dead If you're an artist and ever wanted just quick and easy drawing reference for hands, heads, or even feet (IAP) without having to awkwardly pose your limbs in front of a mirror, this app is for you! HANDY® is an artist's reference tool, consisting of several rotatable 3D limbs with a variety of poses useful for drawing. You can also customize and edit your own poses for hands, feet, and skulls. Fully adjustable 3-point lighting means you can get easy lighting reference when using any of the 10+ included 3D head busts. Handy if you’re painting and need to know what shadows the head casts from a certain angle! Also available is the Animal Skulls pack. With over 10 different animal species, it's great for anatomical reference or creature design inspiration. [Foot rigs and Animal Skull pack require additional purchase] NEW in Handy v5: Edit the materials of models! Selectively turn off their textures, adjust their specularity, or tint them a certain color. Perfect for comic book artists, painters, or just casual sketchers! Featured in ImagineFX's Top 10 Must-Have Apps! Check out the video demo: https://www.youtube.com/@handyarttool Sign up for the HANDY newsletter for information about new upcoming updates! http://www.handyarttool.com/newsletter Follow HANDY on Bluesky https://bsky.app/profile/handyarttool.bsky.social
Artista
Access thousands of high-quality reference photos for your art. Share your creations, learn from others' interpretations, and track your artistic progress over time. This app also features an art community for inspiration and feedback.
- Thousands of reference photos
- Share your drawings
- View others' interpretations
- Track progress
- Art community
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A photo reference tool and art community! - Thousands of high quality reference photos - Share your drawings with others - See how others drew a reference to help improve your own - See previous sessions and your progress over time
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: Artista at Free against Handy Art Reference Tool's $1.99. Artista also leads on in-app purchases (none vs 2) and update cadence (every 3 weeks vs every 5 months). Handy Art Reference Tool's advantage is ratings volume (1.2K vs 17) and chart position (#147 vs unranked). On rating, review sentiment, ads 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
Artista is free to download; Handy Art Reference Tool costs $1.99 up front. Handy Art Reference Tool sells 2 one-off in-app purchases. Artista asks for nothing beyond the download.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.8 for Handy Art Reference Tool against 4.8 for Artista. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Handy Art Reference Tool has 1.2K ratings behind it against 17, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 85% of Handy Art Reference Tool's written reviews are positive against 89% of Artista's.
Handy Art Reference Tool ships an update every 5 months, Artista every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on September 29, 2026 and June 1, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Handy Art Reference Tool | Artista |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $1.99 | Free — better |
| Rating | 4.8 (1.2K ratings) — better | 4.8 (17 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 85.0% of reviews | 88.9% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 1.2K — better | 17 |
| Update frequency | Every 5 months | Every 3 weeks — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free — better |
| Best chart rank | #147 — better | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 — better | 16.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 361 MB | 14 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 17+ |
| Developer | Belief Engine | Max Buster |
Customer experience
Handy Art Reference Tool
Artista
Bugs and requests
Handy Art Reference Tool
Reported bugs
3 issues- Crashes on launch for some users
- Purchased content not unlocking
- Positioning and movement issues
Requested features
6 requests- Add full body models and poses
- Include more facial expressions and emotions
- Allow for custom hand and finger posing
- Implement ability to save custom poses
- Add more diverse skin tones and ethnicities
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- Improve lighting controls and options
Artista
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Handy Art Reference Tool
- Feet Models$1.99
- Animal Skull Pack$1.99
Artista
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Handy Art Reference Tool free?
Is Artista free?
Which has better reviews, Handy Art Reference Tool or Artista?
Do Handy Art Reference Tool or Artista have ads?
Which is updated more often, Handy Art Reference Tool or Artista?
Other comparisons
