Comparison

KaleidoPaint vs Brushes Redux

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

Head to head
About

KaleidoPaint

Create intricate, repeating designs by mirroring your brushstrokes in real-time. Offers extensive editing tools for precise control over every element of your artwork. Export your creations as tileable images or standard graphics.

Highlights
  • Real-time mirrored brushstrokes
  • 17 symmetry patterns
  • Vector graphics editing
  • Curve smoothing and area fill
  • Undo/Redo functionality
  • Export tileable rectangles
Read full description

As you draw, KaleidoPaint mirrors your brushstrokes to create a beautiful infinitely repeating design. Image Gallery: http://www.geometrygames.org/KaleidoPaint/Gallery Features: - vector graphics - 17 symmetry patterns - scroll, rotate, zoom - curve smoothing - area fill - Edit Mode: reshape and recolor any dot, line or area - unlimited Undo/Redo - export your favorite paintings - export tileable rectangles Screenshots by Amber van Hoek.

About

Brushes Redux

This app offers a powerful and responsive painting experience on iOS devices. Create large, detailed artwork with a versatile brush engine, layer management, and import/export options. Relive your creative process with step-by-step playback.

Highlights
  • OpenGL-based painting engine
  • Record and replay paintings
  • Up to 10 layers
  • Import/export JPEG, PNG, PSD
  • Simulated pressure
  • Unlimited undo/redo
Features
Read full description

Brushes Redux is a painting app designed exclusively for iOS. Rewritten from the ground up, Brushes Redux is universal — the same version runs on both your iPhone and your iPad. Move paintings between your devices and keep working wherever you go. An accelerated OpenGL-based painting engine makes painting smooth and responsive — even with huge brush sizes. Brushes also records every step in your painting. Show off your creative process by replaying your paintings directly on your device. General Features: – Create paintings with dimensions up to 4096x4096 – Full support for all Retina devices – Background autosave – Unlimited undo and redo – Simple and approachable interface Painting: – Full screen painting – Record and replay paintings – Ultrafast OpenGL-based painting engine – Huge brush sizes up to 512x512 pixels – Simulated pressure – 64-bit painting on the latest hardware – 14 parameterized brush shapes – Adjustable brush settings (spacing, jitter, scatter, etc.) – Adjustable color opacity – Invert color and desaturate – Flip and arbitrarily transform layers – Adjustable color balance (iPad only) – Adjustable hue, saturation and brightness (iPad only) Layers: – Create up to 10 layers – Lock and hide layers – Lock layer transparency – Adjust layer opacity – Duplicate, rearrange, and merge layers – Change blending modes: normal, multiply, screen, exclude Import and Export: – Integrated with Dropbox – Import native Brushes 3 files, JPEG, and PNG files – Export as native Brushes 3 files, JPEG, PNG, and Photoshop files (with layers) – Place images from your photo album into paintings – Copy paintings to the pasteboard Gestures: – Zoom with two finger pinch – Zoom in with two finger double tap – Zoom to fit with two finger double tap – Toggle interface visibility with a single tap (this can be changed to a two finger tap in the app settings) – Tap and hold to access eyedropper tool Screenshot credit: "Portrait of Ally" by John Bavaro (http://johnbavaro.com)

Screenshots

KaleidoPaint4 screens
Brushes Redux4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: KaleidoPaint at 4.6 against Brushes Redux's 3.6. KaleidoPaint also leads on review sentiment (81% vs 63%). Brushes Redux's advantage is ratings volume (303 vs 77) and iOS requirement (8.0 vs 17.1). On price, update cadence, ads and in-app purchases 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. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

KaleidoPaint holds the better App Store score, 4.6 against 3.6. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 77 and 303 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 81% of KaleidoPaint's written reviews are positive against 63% of Brushes Redux's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

KaleidoPaint ships an update every 5 months, Brushes Redux every 9 months. Both last shipped on November 1, 2026.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
KaleidoPaint versus Brushes Redux: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterKaleidoPaintBrushes Redux
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.6 (77 ratings) — better3.6 (303 ratings)
Positive reviews80.9% of reviews — better62.8% of reviews
Number of ratings77303 — better
Update frequencyEvery 5 months — betterEvery 9 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationPaidPaid
DevicesiPhone, iPad, MaciPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS17.18.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size4 MB15 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperJeff WeeksChristoffer Hoel

Customer experience

KaleidoPaint

All ratings76 ratings
Positive90.8%
Neutral1.3%
Negative7.9%
Written reviews68 reviews
Positive80.9%
Neutral2.9%
Negative16.2%

Brushes Redux

All ratings297 ratings
Positive62.0%
Neutral8.8%
Negative29.3%
Written reviews288 reviews
Positive62.8%
Neutral12.8%
Negative24.3%

User reviews

KaleidoPaint

From 77 App Store ratings

What we love

  • ✨ Intuitive and easy to use
  • 🎨 Great for creating patterns and designs
  • 💎 Free and ad-free
  • 💡 Vector-based editing
  • 🔄 Allows for easy line adjustment (Bezier curves)

Room to improve

  • 🐛 App crashes or doesn't open
  • 🐛 Opens files app instead of the app itself
  • 🐛 Blank page with no controls
  • 🐛 Recent changes made the app confusing and less user-friendly
  • 🐛 Old drawings ruined by updates

Brushes Redux

From 303 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Easy to use
  • 🎨 Great for drawing and painting
  • 💯 No ads or in-app purchases
  • ⭐ Excellent for beginners
  • 🎨 Customizable brushes

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Crashes frequently
  • 🔍 Limited selection of tools (no blending, fill, etc.)
  • 🔍 Pixelated output when zoomed in
  • 🔍 Inconsistent color output
  • 🔍 Difficulty using with Apple Pencil

Bugs and requests

KaleidoPaint

Reported bugs

10 issues
  • App opens files app and no files are selectable
  • App opens an empty page without any controls
  • App immediately opens files without allowing creation
  • App doesn't work, opens files app and doesn't allow creation
  • Old drawings ruined by updates
Show 5 more
  • Fill color not changing with line color
  • Color and background tabs no longer work
  • Sharing button not working
  • Tileable rectangle export not working
  • Saving as JPG only

Requested features

28 requests
  • Ability to break a line from a selected point
  • Eraser tool
  • Export as SVG option
  • More features like different brushes, blending colors, more symmetrical choices, and better stroke control
  • Ability to export in a square format
Show 23 more
  • Transparent background option
  • Export function for tilable squares
  • Layers
  • RGB color value sliders
  • Opacity, blending modes
  • Selection tool
  • Ability to switch mirroring on and off
  • Ability to export layers to Photoshop
  • More control over drawing strokes
  • Adjustable stroke smoothing
  • More precise color selection (e.g., RGB or HLS)
  • Ability to change grid line color
  • Designs that save evenly in any size for multiple tiling
  • Export and import patterns within the app
  • Basic block repeat option
  • Zoom in color selector
  • More patterns to choose from and purchase
  • Ability to set custom image size
  • Export .png files with a transparent background
  • More symmetry options
  • Line and shape tools
  • Apple Pencil support
  • Option to minimize tool windows

Brushes Redux

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Drawings disappearing or unable to open
  • Color picker issues causing unintended color changes
  • Dropbox integration problems
  • Compatibility issues with newer iOS versions

Requested features

6 requests
  • Add blending tool
  • Increase layer limit
  • Implement video export
  • Add text tool
  • Improve Apple Pencil support
Show 1 more
  • Add color stabilizer

In-app purchases

None

KaleidoPaint

No in-app purchases

None

Brushes Redux

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is KaleidoPaint free?
KaleidoPaint is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Brushes Redux free?
Brushes Redux is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, KaleidoPaint or Brushes Redux?
KaleidoPaint is rated higher. KaleidoPaint averages 4.6 out of 5 from 77 ratings, while Brushes Redux averages 3.6 from 303 ratings.
Do KaleidoPaint or Brushes Redux have ads?
Neither KaleidoPaint nor Brushes Redux shows ads.
Which is updated more often, KaleidoPaint or Brushes Redux?
KaleidoPaint ships an update every 5 months, and Brushes Redux every 9 months. Most recently, KaleidoPaint was updated on November 1, 2026 and Brushes Redux on November 1, 2026.

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