Comparison

Lux Draw vs Sketchar

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

Head to head
About

Lux Draw

Create unique art with light-inspired tools and gritty textures. Draw from scratch or enhance photos with glow pens and special effects. Offers advanced features like HDR brushes and Apple Pencil support for a professional artistic experience.

Highlights
  • Live-calculated HDR brushes
  • Glow Pen, Hot Pen, Light Spheres
  • Gritty paper/canvas textures
  • Smear tool for flame art
  • Apple Pencil support
  • Multiple layers
  • Photo tracing mode (Pro)
Features
Read full description

Draw with light-inspired tools, for a unique art style! Create a drawing from scratch, or add effects to your photos. Let your creativity run wild! • LIVE-CALCULATED HDR BRUSHES • The app features live-calculated brushes and strokes, that together with HDR values make it feel like drawing with light! Drawing tools include Glow Pen, Hot Pen, Light Spheres, and more. Tip: Use the Smear tool on a photo or drawing to achieve immensely cool flame art (seriously, try it!). • GRITTY PAPER/CANVAS TEXTURES • Having a paper/canvas texture interacting in real-time with the drawing tools will give your artwork a satisfying, gritty look. You can remove or change the default-generated texture to something else. • 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++). • FINGERTIP = STROKE SIZE • CHANGE SIZE/FORCE/COLOR WHILE DRAWING • • APPLE PENCIL SUPPORT • FULL SCREEN DRAWING • SEAMLESS PATTERN EDITING MODE • • DARK MODE • LANDSCAPE • PORTRAIT • WIDE COLOR • • MULTIPLE LAYERS • PHOTO TRACING MODE (Pro feature) •

About

Sketchar

Learn to draw with augmented reality and AI-powered lessons. This app offers a comprehensive drawing tool, community contests, and personalized learning plans to enhance your artistic skills. Practice art to relieve stress and impress others with your creations.

Highlights
  • Augmented Reality drawing guidance
  • AI-powered personalized learning plans
  • 550+ drawing lessons
  • Comprehensive drawing toolset
  • Community contests and collaboration
  • Stress relief through art practice
Features
Read full description

Sketchar is for you if you want to improve your drawing skills, express yourself through art, impress friends and family with stunning artwork, collaborate with peers, relieve stress, or become a Pro. We have merged AR and AI together to speed up your learning experience and make it more entertaining.  Here are the unique features that can only be found on the Sketchar app:  1.COURSES 550+ drawing lessons based on characters you love. You can start with a beginner set or delve deeper into a specific topic to improve your artistic skills, for example, in creating portraits or anime.  2. PERSONALIZED PLAN Based on AI to speed up your creative growth 3. DRAWING TOOL Powerful toolset to create stunning art in minutes. 4.CONTESTS Join the community to collaborate with peers. 5. AUGMENTED REALITY for drawing  We invented that in 2012. Through your smartphone camera, you can see an AR sketch on the surface in front of you. Just take a pencil and follow the virtual lines on the paper step-by-step. This function is also employed by professional artists to scale sketches onto surfaces like walls. Use carefully and follow the video guide. and many other features.  Btw, practicing art helps relieve stress. Download Sketchar now and learn to draw like never before. ---  In-app purchases: Sketchar offers four paid auto-renewable subscription options that give you unlimited access to the app's premium content and features.  1-Week Subscription - $7.99 / Week 1 -Month Subscription – $14.99 / Month  1-Year Subscription with 3-Day Trial – $69.99 / Year  1-Year Special Offer Subscription – $34.99 / Year  Prices may vary across countries. Prices are equal to the value that Application Store Matrix determines as the equivalent of the subscription price in USD.  We are always interested in your opinion, so please email us at hi@sketchar.io.

Screenshots

Lux Draw4 screens
Sketchar4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Lux Draw at 82% against Sketchar's 33%. Lux Draw also leads on rating (4.7 vs 4.2) and device support (4 vs 2). Sketchar's advantage is update cadence (every 3 weeks vs every 2 months) and ratings volume (9.9K vs 939). On price, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model 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

Both are free to download. Lux Draw sells 6 one-off in-app purchases and Sketchar sells 10 in-app purchases, starting at $7.99 per 7 days. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Lux Draw holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 4.2. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Sketchar has 9.9K ratings behind it against 939, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 82% of Lux Draw's written reviews are positive against 33% of Sketchar's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Lux Draw ships an update every 2 months, Sketchar every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on November 6, 2026 and November 10, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard7 real differences · 4 level
Lux Draw versus Sketchar: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterLux DrawSketchar
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.7 (939 ratings) — better4.2 (9.9K ratings)
Positive reviews81.5% of reviews — better33.4% of reviews
Number of ratings9399.9K — better
Update frequencyEvery 2 monthsEvery 3 weeks — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
Best chart rank—#119 — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS12.0 — better16.0
Further details — not scored
Size24 MB214 MB
Age rating4+12+
DeveloperNorbyteSketchAR

Customer experience

Lux Draw

All ratings939 ratings
Positive92.2%
Neutral4.7%
Negative3.1%
Written reviews92 reviews
Positive81.5%
Neutral10.9%
Negative7.6%

Sketchar

All ratings9,889 ratings
Positive79.7%
Neutral5.6%
Negative14.7%
Written reviews1,295 reviews
Positive33.4%
Neutral12.1%
Negative54.5%

User reviews

Lux Draw

From 939 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Excellent entertainment value
  • 👍 Creative drawing tools
  • 👍 No ads, totally free
  • 👍 Easy to use
  • 👍 Variety of brushes and colors

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Occasional glitches and freezing issues
  • 🐛 Compatibility issues with certain devices/platforms
  • 🔧 Limited functionality compared to other drawing apps
  • 🔧 Lack of advanced features like fill tool, shapes, and text
  • 🔧 Difficulty using with mouse/trackpad on laptops

Sketchar

From 9.9K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Great for projecting digital art
  • 🚀 AR technology makes a superior stencil
  • 👍 Helpful for learning to draw
  • 👍 Amazing app, game changer

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Glitchy AR tracking and detection
  • 🐛 Laggy and unstable performance
  • 💰 Overly restrictive free version
  • 💰 Expensive subscription model
  • 🔒 Difficult to cancel subscription

Bugs and requests

Lux Draw

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Freezing and unresponsiveness when switching tools
  • Leaving unwanted color dots when erasing
  • Compatibility issues with certain devices

Requested features

5 requests
  • Add fill tool, shapes, and text capabilities
  • Improve compatibility with tablets and styluses
  • Provide more customization options for brushes and colors
  • Implement undo/redo functionality
  • Add ability to export/share drawings easily

Sketchar

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • AR tracking frequently loses paper
  • App crashes and resets progress
  • Ads disrupt drawing and cause loss of work
  • Brightness/lighting issues affect performance

Requested features

5 requests
  • Add more free drawing lessons and content
  • Improve AR tracking and stability
  • Allow drawing without full page detection
  • Add more drawing tools and brushes for free users
  • Improve organization and navigation of lessons

In-app purchases

6 purchases

Lux Draw

One-time6
  • Tip Jar: Smallest Tip$1.00
  • Tip Jar: Small Tip$2.00
  • Pro Upgrade$5.00
Show 3 more
  • Tip Jar: Medium Tip$5.00
  • Tip Jar: Big Tip$10.00
  • Tip Jar: Biggest Tip$25.00
10 purchases

Sketchar

Subscriptions9
  • 1 Week$7.997 Days
  • Sketchar PRO$10.991 Month
  • 1 month$17.991 Month
Show 6 more
  • 1 Year$29.991 Year
  • 1 Year$34.991 Year
  • 1 Year1 Year trial$44.991 Year
  • 1 Year3 Days trial$69.991 Year
  • SketchAR PRO$69.991 Year
  • Sketchar: Learn to Draw7 Days trial$69.991 Year
One-time1
  • Lifetime$149.99

Questions

Is Lux Draw free?
Lux Draw is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Sketchar free?
Sketchar is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Lux Draw or Sketchar?
Lux Draw is rated higher. Lux Draw averages 4.7 out of 5 from 939 ratings, while Sketchar averages 4.2 from 9.9K ratings.
Do Lux Draw or Sketchar have ads?
Neither Lux Draw nor Sketchar shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Lux Draw or Sketchar?
Lux Draw ships an update every 2 months, and Sketchar every 3 weeks. Most recently, Lux Draw was updated on November 6, 2026 and Sketchar on November 10, 2026.

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