Inkflow Visual Notebook vs Charcoal
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Inkflow Visual Notebook
This app offers a fluid digital writing and sketching experience, allowing users to easily capture, resize, and reorganize ideas. It supports high-resolution zooming for detailed work and integrates text, photos, and custom paper backgrounds. Users can share their creations in various formats.
- Fluid digital ink for writing and sketching
- Resize and reorganize content with touch gestures
- High-resolution zoom for precision detail
- Insert text, photos, and custom paper backgrounds
- Export to PDF, JPEG, and PNG
- Inkport for scanning real-world notes
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Inkflow is a note-taking and brainstorming experience unlike any other! Capture your ideas as easily as with pen and paper, then resize and reorganize them with your fingers. DIGITAL WRITING DONE RIGHT Inkflow's ink feels like a really smooth fountain pen. Great for expressive writing or sketching. Effortlessly scale or move anything you select. This will change the way you think about ink: Jot down a list of concepts then rearrange them to fit into the bigger picture. literally move your thoughts around the page, and assemble big ideas with your fingers. This works great for brainstorming and planning. It's also perfect for prototyping layouts, sketching, and drawing. FULL RESOLUTION ZOOM Zoom and pan with two fingers. Inkflow's ink stays sharp no matter how much you zoom in, so you can add fine details at full quality. It's also lightning fast and lag free. This allows writing and drawing with incredible precision, with or without a stylus. TEXT, PHOTOS, and PAPER BACKGROUNDS TOO Insert text boxes and photos anywhere on the page and resize them seamlessly with the ink. You can also choose from a selection of different paper backgrounds. EASILY CREATE and SHARE Inkflow let's you export your books to PDF, high-resolution JPEG, and share them via Twitter, Email, or with other Apps. TRY INKFLOW FOR FREE Rather than just read about Inkflow, go ahead and try it out: We've decided to make the Basic Edition of Inkflow completely FREE. The Basic Edition is a full featured note-taking and sketching app. It comes with the Fountain Pen with black ink, photos, and a standard set of 5 popular fonts for text. Books max out at 20 pages each, but you can create as many as you like. *** NOTE: To delete ink, tap on the selection then tap delete. Tap on the book name to delete a book. If you're looking for more, there is... INKFLOW PLUS Upgrade instantly at any time to the Plus Edition to get: - Inkport - A customizable, full color palette, - Pencil, Eraser, and Paint Brush tools, - The Write-Behind Hilighter tool, - Rotate, Cut, Copy, Paste Ink, and Page Management, - Export as PNG with transparent backgrounds, - Notebooks with unlimited pages, - Custom paper backgrounds, - An additional 50+ fonts, - And more! The Plus Edition lets you do even more things such as: Painting, cartooning, page layouts, and brainstorming in full color. Learn more in the in-App Quickstart Guide. INKPORT: COPY AND PASTE FROM THE REAL WORLD Only Inkflow Plus includes the revolutionary Inkport tool. Inkport uses your iPad's camera to instantly convert your written notes and sketches into Inkflow's native vector ink. Easily pull in materials from multiple sources and go from paper to iPad without missing a beat. Inkport is going to change the way you use paper in your workflow. Universal App for iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch: Upgrade once and get Inkflow Plus on all your compatible devices connected to your iTunes account! EDUCATORS: Inkflow Plus is also available as a standalone App, and qualifies for Apple's Volume Purchase Program. A PLATFORM FOR CREATIVITY We strongly believe that the iPad is not just a consumption device. It's a creativity device. Check out our whole range of creativity Apps on our website. Keep on creating!
Charcoal
This app offers a simple yet powerful sketching experience with rich tools and beautiful color palettes. Easily create and export your artwork for use in other graphics programs. It supports modern iOS features like multiple windows and dark mode for enhanced productivity.
- Simple sketching interface
- Rich drawing tools
- Beautiful color palettes
- Export sketches
- Multiple window support
- Dark mode
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• Charcoal is incredibly easy to use: Just create or open a sketch and start sketching. There are no layers or confusing settings. Instead, Charcoal features rich tools and beautiful color palettes. • Charcoal allows you to export a sketch to use it in your favorite graphics program. • Charcoal supports modern iOS and iPadOS features like multiple windows and dark mode: use it at night or open multiple sketches, even side by side.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Charcoal at none against Inkflow Visual Notebook's 1. Charcoal also leads on update cadence (every 2 months vs every 5 months). Inkflow Visual Notebook's advantage is ratings volume (1.9K vs 143) and iOS requirement (12.1 vs 15.0). On price, rating, review sentiment 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. Inkflow Visual Notebook sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Charcoal asks for nothing beyond the download.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.6 for Inkflow Visual Notebook against 4.5 for Charcoal. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Inkflow Visual Notebook has 1.9K ratings behind it against 143, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 71% of Inkflow Visual Notebook's written reviews are positive against 77% of Charcoal's.
Inkflow Visual Notebook ships an update every 5 months, Charcoal every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on September 20, 2026 and September 8, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Inkflow Visual Notebook | Charcoal |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.6 (1.9K ratings) — better | 4.5 (143 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 71.2% of reviews | 76.9% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 1.9K — better | 143 |
| Update frequency | Every 5 months | Every 2 months — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod, Vision Pro — better |
| Requires iOS | 12.1 — better | 15.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 42 MB | 28 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Qrayon, LLC | Lars Augustin |
Customer experience
Inkflow Visual Notebook
Charcoal
User reviews
Inkflow Visual Notebook
From 1.9K App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 👍 Easy to use
- 🚀 Intuitive interface
- 💡 Great for brainstorming and sketching
- 👍 Useful for note-taking and journaling
- 👍 Versatile for various purposes (work, school, art)
Room to improve
- 🔒 Limited features in free version
- 💰 Paid upgrade is expensive for some users
- 🐛 Occasional crashes and data loss issues
- 🔒 Lack of cloud sync and cross-device access
- 🔒 Difficult to organize and manage notebooks/pages
Charcoal
From 143 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🚀 Simple and intuitive
- 👍 Great for quick sketching
- 🎨 Aesthetically pleasing design
- 💰 Free with no ads
Room to improve
- 🎨 Limited color palette
- 🎨 Lack of customization options
- 🎨 Missing advanced drawing tools
- 🐛 Occasional bugs and crashes
Bugs and requests
Inkflow Visual Notebook
Reported bugs
4 issues- Frequent crashes and data loss
- Unreliable auto-save and syncing
- Compatibility issues with newer devices/OS
- Pen/input lag and inconsistent responsiveness
Requested features
5 requests- Add more pen/brush options and customization
- Implement layers and advanced drawing tools
- Improve page management (insert, delete, reorder)
- Integrate cloud sync and cross-device access
- Add password protection and locking features
Charcoal
Reported bugs
3 issues- Saved sketches lose quality
- Palette colors change unexpectedly
- Freezing when opening color palette
Requested features
4 requests- Ability to change brush/pen size
- Layers and blending tools
- Color wheel and custom color selection
- Import/export options
In-app purchases
Inkflow Visual Notebook
- Inkflow Plus$5.99
Charcoal
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Inkflow Visual Notebook free?
Is Charcoal free?
Which has better reviews, Inkflow Visual Notebook or Charcoal?
Do Inkflow Visual Notebook or Charcoal have ads?
Which is updated more often, Inkflow Visual Notebook or Charcoal?
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