Comparison

Lux Draw vs Mandalas Drawing Studio

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

Mandalas Drawing Studio

Create intricate mandala paintings with a simple virtual canvas. Enjoy a clean, modern interface designed to keep you focused on your creativity. Produce high-quality vector drawings with smooth zoom and sharp graphics, all without any advertisements.

Highlights
  • Create beautiful mandala paintings
  • Simple virtual canvas
  • High quality vector based drawings
  • Smooth zoom with sharp graphics
  • No ads for uninterrupted drawing
Features
Read full description

Create beautiful mandalas with just a few simple strokes. Mandalas: Drawing Studio turns every line you draw into a perfectly symmetrical pattern. Choose how many rotations you want, start drawing, and watch an intricate mandala bloom around the center. No artistic training required. Focus on your drawing and let your creativity flow. SYMMETRY DOES THE WORK • Set your number of rotations and every stroke is repeated around the canvas instantly • Mirror mode for perfectly balanced, reflected designs • On-screen guides show your symmetry axes while you draw, and step aside when you don't need them TOOLS THAT STAY OUT OF YOUR WAY • Brush, paint roller and eraser — that's all it takes • Full-spectrum color picker with transparency support • Adjustable line width and canvas background color • A clean, modern editor designed for both iPhone and iPad MADE FOR APPLE PENCIL • Hover preview shows exactly where your stroke will land before you touch the canvas • Squeeze your Apple Pencil Pro for a quick tool palette — switch tools and undo without breaking your flow • Low-latency drawing that keeps up with your hand TRUE VECTOR ARTWORK • Every stroke is a vector, so you can zoom as deep as you like and your artwork never looks pixelated • Export high-resolution images to share, post or print • Export SVG vectors to use in Illustrator, Affinity, Figma or your cutting machine WORK IN LAYERS • Build up a piece in layers, and show or hide them as you go • Undo and redo freely as you build up your drawing YOUR FILES, YOUR WAY • Your mandalas live in the Files app and iCloud Drive — open, rename, duplicate and organize them however you like • No account, no sign-up, and it works completely offline NO ADS. NO SUBSCRIPTION. Draw whenever and wherever you want. There are no ads anywhere in Mandalas: Drawing Studio, and premium features — layers, HD image export and alternative app icons — are unlocked with a single one-time purchase. Never a subscription. Mandalas: Drawing Studio is made by an independent developer, and every purchase goes directly into making it better.

Screenshots

Lux Draw4 screens
Mandalas Drawing Studio3 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is device support: Lux Draw at 4 against Mandalas Drawing Studio's 2. Lux Draw also leads on iOS requirement (12.0 vs 17.0). Mandalas Drawing Studio's advantage is ratings volume (3.1K vs 939). On price, rating, review sentiment and update cadence 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 Mandalas Drawing Studio sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.7 for Lux Draw against 4.7 for Mandalas Drawing Studio. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 939 and 3.1K respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 82% of Lux Draw's written reviews are positive against 84% of Mandalas Drawing Studio's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Lux Draw ships an update every 2 months, Mandalas Drawing Studio every 6 weeks. Both last shipped on November 6, 2026.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
Lux Draw versus Mandalas Drawing Studio: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterLux DrawMandalas Drawing Studio
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.7 (939 ratings)4.7 (3.1K ratings) — better
Positive reviews81.5% of reviews84.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings9393.1K — better
Update frequencyEvery 2 monthsEvery 6 weeks — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS12.0 — better17.0
Further details — not scored
Size24 MB7 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperNorbyteMarco Antônio Pompei

Customer experience

Lux Draw

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

Mandalas Drawing Studio

All ratings3,084 ratings
Positive94.0%
Neutral3.5%
Negative2.5%
Written reviews219 reviews
Positive84.0%
Neutral6.4%
Negative9.6%

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

Mandalas Drawing Studio

From 3.1K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Fun and entertaining
  • 🧘‍♀️ Calming and relaxing
  • 👍 Simple and intuitive
  • 💯 Excellent for meditation
  • 🎨 Allows creative expression

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Occasional crashes or bugs
  • ✏️ Needs better line smoothing
  • 🎨 Limited color/tool options in free version
  • 💾 Difficulty saving/exporting designs
  • 🔍 Zooming in could be improved

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

Mandalas Drawing Studio

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Saving issues resulting in lost progress
  • Inconsistent performance after updates
  • Difficulty accessing certain settings

Requested features

5 requests
  • Add a fill tool
  • Improve undo/redo functionality
  • Allow saving designs as vector files
  • Provide more color customization options
  • Enhance the zoom and panning capabilities

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
1 purchases

Mandalas Drawing Studio

One-time1
  • Premium Features Package$2.99

Questions

Is Lux Draw free?
Lux Draw is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Mandalas Drawing Studio free?
Mandalas Drawing Studio is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Lux Draw or Mandalas Drawing Studio?
Mandalas Drawing Studio is rated higher. Lux Draw averages 4.7 out of 5 from 939 ratings, while Mandalas Drawing Studio averages 4.7 from 3.1K ratings.
Do Lux Draw or Mandalas Drawing Studio have ads?
Neither Lux Draw nor Mandalas Drawing Studio shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Lux Draw or Mandalas Drawing Studio?
Lux Draw ships an update every 2 months, and Mandalas Drawing Studio every 6 weeks. Most recently, Lux Draw was updated on November 6, 2026 and Mandalas Drawing Studio on November 6, 2026.

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