Doodle.ly vs Kindly Ink
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Doodle.ly
Create and share drawings with friends using a variety of realistic art tools. This free app offers an intuitive interface suitable for all ages, from toddlers to artists. Save your creations or publish them directly to social media.
- Realistic drawing tools
- Easy sharing to social media
- Unlimited undos/redos
- Friend interaction (likes/following)
- Save multiple canvases
Read full descriptionHide full description
Doodle.ly is a fun, free and easy way to share drawings with friends. Draw a picture, then publish it or save it - it's that easy. Our custom-designed drawing engine accurately simulates real pencil, pen, crayons and markers. The UI is highly intuitive, creating a joyful drawing experience simple enough for a toddler, and yet powerful enough for a serious artist. "the closest thing I had to real pen and paper" Lance Ulanoff, Editor-in-Chief, Mashable Features: • 100% free custom designed drawing tools: Crayon, Ballpoint, Highlighter, Pencil, Resizable Eraser, Chisel Tip Marker and Fine Point Marker in an array of colors. • Sharing to Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Text, Email and AirDrop • Unlimited undos and redos • Interact with friends by sharing likes and following one another • Keep up to 180 canvases in progress at one time (iPad)
Kindly Ink
Create and send personalized handwritten letters via email. Choose from various stationery and envelopes to craft unique messages. Save digital copies of your creations.
- Handwritten letter creation
- Email delivery
- Customizable stationery and envelopes
- Digital letter saving
- iPad exclusive experience
- Easy sign-up
Read full descriptionHide full description
Handwrite heartfelt messages to your friends and loved ones on your iPad and send them as beautifully crafted letters via email. Whether it's a quick hello or a thoughtful note, Kindly Ink brings the art of letter-writing into the digital age; and makes every message personal, creative, and memorable. Key Features Easy Sign-Up: Get started quickly with Google sign-in. Beautiful Handwritten Letters: Use your finger or Apple Pencil to write on various stationery styles and pair them with elegant envelopes. Seamless Email Delivery: Send your letters directly to your friends' email inboxes. Download and Keep: Save your letters to your personal device as digital keepsakes. Universal Viewing: Recipients can view your letters anywhere, ensuring your message always gets across. iPad Exclusive: Write, send, and reply to letters using the iPad app, designed for the ultimate handwritten experience. Experience the joy of thoughtful communication with Kindly Ink. Download the app today and start sending letters that truly matter. Developer's Thoughts In today's world of technology and digital communication, we have many apps to connect with others. Most of the time, these are fragmented pieces of information, and they rarely carry the depth of emotion that we want to express to each other. That’s why I came up with the idea to create this app—so everyone can rediscover the joy of handwritten letters and share them with family and close friends. During the development process, countless ideas kept coming, but I chose to exercise restraint and focus on perfecting the core functions and user experience first. So if there's a feature you really want, please leave a comment or give me feedback within the app. I read every suggestion and opinion! Automatic Subscription Service Description Subscription Services: Annual Subscription Monthly Subscription Subscription Prices: Annual Subscription: $24.99/year. Monthly Subscription: $3.99/month. Automatic Renewal Your Apple iTunes account will be charged 24 hours before the subscription expires. Once the payment is successful, the subscription will be extended for another subscription period. Cancel Subscription To manage the subscription, go to your iPhone - Settings - Tap on "iTunes & App Store" - Click on Apple ID - Select "View Apple ID" to access the "Account Settings" page. Tap on "Subscriptions" to manage your automatic subscription service. To cancel, simply turn off the subscription 24 hours before the end of each billing cycle. No charge will be made if canceled within 24 hours before the renewal date. User Agreement https://kindlyink.com/user_agreement.html Privay Agreement https://kindlyink.com/privacy_agreement.html Renew Rules https://kindlyink.com/auto-renewal-rules.html
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Doodle.ly at none against Kindly Ink's 3. Doodle.ly also leads on review sentiment (50% vs 25%) and ratings volume (228 vs 13). Kindly Ink's advantage is update cadence (every 2 days vs every 6 weeks). On price, rating and ads 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
Both are free to download. Kindly Ink sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month. Doodle.ly asks for nothing beyond the download.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 3.9 for Doodle.ly against 3.8 for Kindly Ink. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Doodle.ly has 228 ratings behind it against 13, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 50% of Doodle.ly's written reviews are positive against 25% of Kindly Ink's.
Doodle.ly ships an update every 6 weeks, Kindly Ink every 2 days. The most recent releases landed on October 22, 2026 and October 25, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Doodle.ly | Kindly Ink |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 3.9 (228 ratings) — better | 3.8 (13 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 50.4% of reviews — better | 25.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 228 — better | 13 |
| Update frequency | Every 6 weeks | Every 2 days — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | Free — better | Subscription |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPad |
| Requires iOS | 7.0 — better | 15.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 9 MB | 24 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Doodle.ly, Inc. | guoyong dong |
Customer experience
Doodle.ly
Kindly Ink
Bugs and requests
Doodle.ly
Reported bugs
4 issues- Drawings disappearing after exiting app
- Undo button causing crashes
- Login issues with Twitter/Facebook
- App freezing and force closing
Requested features
5 requests- More color options
- Adjustable brush/tool sizes
- Ability to save/resume drawings
- In-app account creation
- Commenting/feedback system
Kindly Ink
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Doodle.ly
No in-app purchases
Kindly Ink
- Monthly Subscription$2.991 Month
- Yearly Subscription$19.991 Year
- Lifetime$69.99









