Comparison

HuePaint vs FocalPaint

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

Head to head
About

HuePaint

Create digital art with realistic brushes and dynamic stroke sizes based on fingertip pressure. Offers a user-friendly interface with customizable tools and supports advanced features like layers and photo tracing.

Highlights
  • Live-calculated brushes and strokes
  • Dynamic stroke size based on fingertip pressure
  • Adjustable parameters while painting
  • Left-handed toolbar option
  • Multiple layers
  • Photo tracing mode (Pro feature)
Features
Read full description

Paint and create beautiful works of art using this app’s expressive painting tools and workflow-friendly user interface. • COLORFUL PAINTING TOOLS • HuePaint features live-calculated brushes and strokes that interact in real time with a canvas texture that is uniquely generated for each picture. • FINGERTIP = STROKE SIZE • When you paint, the app measures how much of your finger is touching the screen and changes the stroke size accordingly. Apply just the corner of your fingertip for a thin line, or the whole fingerprint area for a broad stroke. A 2nd tool assigned to your finger will still use this feature, so don’t ignore it just because you have an Apple Pencil! • LEFT-HANDED? • Just swipe the toolbar over to the other side! • PARAMETERS CAN BE CHANGED LIVE • Use any buttons or controls to change/adjust color, size, force, simultaneously while painting. • 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++). • APPLE PENCIL SUPPORT • FULL SCREEN PAINTING • • DARK MODE • LANDSCAPE • PORTRAIT • WIDE COLOR • • MULTIPLE LAYERS • PHOTO TRACING MODE (Pro feature) •

About

FocalPaint

This app offers a unique brush engine for realistic paint simulation, pigment mixing, and canvas textures. It allows for custom brush and layer creation using Metal GPU or Javascript code, with advanced features like spectral color models and Apple Pencil Pro support.

Highlights
  • Realistic paint and pigment mixing
  • Custom brush and layer creation
  • Transparent ink simulation
  • Apple Pencil Pro support
  • Spectral color model
  • Open source shader code library
Features
Read full description

FocalPaint's unique brush engine simulates thick paint and real pigment mixing with accurate physics models. Features: - Realistic color blending behaves like real paint! - Real canvas texture and paint thickness - Transparent Ink simulation - Open Source GPU shader code library for reference and customization - Write your own custom brush with Metal GPU or Javascript code - Write your own custom layer modes with Metal GPU code - Apple Pencil Pro support with hover - 16 channel "spectral" color model (256 bits per pixel) - Wide color gamut (P3) Please note: Apple A12 GPU or newer is required Terms of Use: https://www.focalpaint.com/p/terms-of-use.html Privacy Policy: https://www.focalpaint.com/p/privacy.html Special Thanks to: Scott Allen Burns Troy James Sobotka & Friends colour-science.org python library MyPaint painting software team Anna Timm (@anti-art)

Screenshots

HuePaint4 screens
FocalPaint1 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: HuePaint at Free against FocalPaint's $4.99. HuePaint also leads on rating (4.7 vs 4.2) and ratings volume (164 vs 13). FocalPaint's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 6) and review sentiment (79% vs 69%). On update cadence 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

HuePaint is free to download; FocalPaint costs $4.99 up front. HuePaint sells 6 one-off in-app purchases. FocalPaint asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

HuePaint holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 4.2. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: HuePaint has 164 ratings behind it against 13, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 69% of HuePaint's written reviews are positive against 79% of FocalPaint's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

HuePaint ships an update every 2 months, FocalPaint monthly. The most recent releases landed on November 6, 2026 and November 7, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard8 real differences · 2 level
HuePaint versus FocalPaint: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterHuePaintFocalPaint
PriceFree — better$4.99
Rating4.7 (164 ratings) — better4.2 (13 ratings)
Positive reviews69.4% of reviews78.6% of reviews — better
Number of ratings164 — better13
Update frequencyEvery 2 monthsMonthly — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases — betterPaid
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS12.0 — better18.6
Further details — not scored
Size23 MB557 MB
Age rating4++4
DeveloperNorbytebrien dieterle

Customer experience

HuePaint

All ratings164 ratings
Positive93.9%
Neutral1.2%
Negative4.9%
Written reviews36 reviews
Positive69.4%
Neutral11.1%
Negative19.4%

FocalPaint

All ratings13 ratings
Positive84.6%
Neutral0.0%
Negative15.4%
Written reviews14 reviews
Positive78.6%
Neutral0.0%
Negative21.4%

Bugs and requests

HuePaint

Reported bugs

6 issues
  • App gets rid of work
  • Colors keep changing
  • Inability to save
  • Disappearing menu
  • Low-resolution output
Show 1 more
  • Super slow performance

Requested features

10 requests
  • Improve tool sizing interface
  • Improve layering feature
  • Add ability to change background design
  • Add vector graphics and text
  • Add predefined shapes and straight lines
Show 5 more
  • Export directly to Facebook
  • Go back to previous update's UI
  • Add paper color selection
  • Make color samples larger
  • Easier eyedropper functionality

FocalPaint

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

6 purchases

HuePaint

One-time6
  • Tip Jar: Smallest Tip$1.00
  • Tip Jar: Small Tip$2.00
  • Tip Jar: Medium Tip$5.00
Show 3 more
  • Pro Upgrade$6.00
  • Tip Jar: Big Tip$10.00
  • Tip Jar: Biggest Tip$25.00
None

FocalPaint

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is HuePaint free?
HuePaint is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is FocalPaint free?
FocalPaint costs $4.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, HuePaint or FocalPaint?
HuePaint is rated higher. HuePaint averages 4.7 out of 5 from 164 ratings, while FocalPaint averages 4.2 from 13 ratings.
Do HuePaint or FocalPaint have ads?
Neither HuePaint nor FocalPaint shows ads.
Which is updated more often, HuePaint or FocalPaint?
HuePaint ships an update every 2 months, and FocalPaint monthly. Most recently, HuePaint was updated on November 6, 2026 and FocalPaint on November 7, 2026.

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