Concepts vs Sketchbook®
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Concepts
This flexible vector-based sketchbook offers an infinite canvas for ideation and design. Easily sketch, take notes, and create detailed designs with editable strokes and powerful tools. Share your work in various formats for seamless collaboration and professional output.
- Infinite canvas
- Vector-based sketching
- Realistic pens, pencils, and brushes
- Editable vector elements
- Unlimited layers
- Scale and measurement tools
- Object libraries
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Think, plan & create – Concepts is a flexible vector-based sketchbook where you can take your ideas from concept to reality. Concepts reimagines the ideation process – offering a safe and dynamic workspace to iterate and explore your ideas, organize your thoughts, and experiment with designs. With our infinite canvas, you can: • Sketch plans and whiteboard ideas • Make notes, doodles, and mindmaps • Draw storyboards, product sketches and designs Concepts is vector-based, making every stroke editable and scalable. With our Nudge, Slice and Select tools, you can easily change any element of your sketch without redrawing it. Talented creators at Disney, Playstation, Philips, HP, Apple, Google, Unity and Illumination Entertainment use Concepts to develop and realize extraordinary ideas. Join us! Concepts has: • An infinite canvas with optional paper types and grids • Realistic pens, pencils and brushes that flow with pressure, tilt and velocity or create your own • A tool wheel or bar you can personalize • HSL, RGB and COPIC color wheels • Editable vector-based sketching – move, organize and edit the tool, color, size, scale, smoothing, opacity; transform or nudge lines to shape them • Unlimited layers • Scale and measurement tools that calculate real-world dimensions With Concepts, you can: • Drag + drop images + PDF files • Create, store and share vector Object libraries • Export images, vector SVG + PDFs to scale for printing or efficient flow between apps (including Procreate, Sketchbook, AutoCAD and Adobe) • Share directly to email, text, Files, cloud, photos, or your favorite social apps and present with AirPlay or a second screen • Store your work safely in your personal iCloud Drive FREE FEATURES • Infinite canvas • A selection of paper, grid types & tools to get you started • The full COPIC color spectrum, RGB and HSL color wheels • Five layers • Unlimited drawings • JPG exports PAID FEATURES Subscription: • 200+ brush and Object libraries, features, and services • Enjoy Team Sharing for smooth collaboration, including live-sharing of object libraries, color palettes & brushes, with new updates arriving all the time • Unlocks everything across platforms • TRY PREMIUM FREE FOR 7 DAYS One-time-purchases: • Buy the Essentials for life and unlock selection & editing tools, infinite layers, shape guides, custom brushes, custom grids, and exports to PNG / PSD / SVG / DXF. • Pay for advanced features as you need them – object packs & professional brushes are sold separately • Limited to the platform you purchase on Terms & Conditions: • Monthly and yearly subscription payments are charged to your iTunes account at the time of purchase. • Your plan will renew automatically at the end of the billing period unless canceled 24 hours before the billing period ends. • You can cancel or make changes to your subscription at any time in your iTunes Account settings. • Unused portions of any free trial period are forfeited if you make changes to your subscription. We’re dedicated to quality and update frequently based on your feedback. Your experience matters to us. Chat with us in-app via Ask Us Anything, email us at concepts@tophatch.com, or find us anywhere with @ConceptsApp. COPIC is the trademark of Too Corporation. Many thanks to Lasse Pekkala and Osama Elfar for the cover art!
Sketchbook®
This app provides a professional-grade drawing and painting experience for artists and illustrators. It offers a natural drawing feel with customizable tools, layers, and guides for precision. Unlock advanced features like custom brushes and canvas resizing with an optional premium purchase.
- Full complement of brush types
- Highly customizable brushes
- Guides, rulers, and stroke tools
- Layers with blend modes
- Clean and unobtrusive interface
- Custom brush creation (premium)
- Canvas resizing (premium)
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From quick sketches to fully finished artwork, Sketchbook goes where your creativity takes you. Sketchbook is an award-winning sketching, painting, and drawing app for anyone who loves to draw. Artists and illustrators love Sketchbook for its professional-grade feature set and highly customizable tools. Everyone loves Sketchbook for its elegant interface and natural drawing experience, free of distractions so you can focus on capturing and expressing your ideas. • A full complement of brush types: pencils markers, airbrushes, smear and more that look and feel just like their physical counterparts • Brushes are highly customizable so you can create just the look you want • Guides, rulers and stroke tools support precision when you need it • Layers with a full complement of blend modes deliver the flexibility to build up and explore drawings and color • Purpose-built for sketching, the interface is clean and unobtrusive so you can focus on drawing Purchase the Premium Bundle to unlock more... • Import and export brushes • Create your own custom brushes • Resize your canvas or image • Set canvas resolution in px/inch or px/cm • Clipping masks • Additional layer adjustments including blur, sharpen, brightness/contrast, greyscale, and invert • Additional color harmonies • Additional custom gradients • Select color from reference images • Extract color palettes from images • Import and export color palettes • Layer grouping • Layer masking Blend Modes • Draw Outline tool • Lasso Fill tool • Export to PDF • plus more to come!
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is update cadence: Concepts at fortnightly against Sketchbook®'s every 6 weeks. Sketchbook®'s advantage is ratings volume (220K vs 27K) and chart position (#44 vs #187). 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. Concepts sells 13 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month and Sketchbook® sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.7 for Concepts against 4.8 for Sketchbook®. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Sketchbook® has 220K ratings behind it against 27K, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews split almost evenly too, at 77% and 77% positive.
Concepts ships an update fortnightly, Sketchbook® every 6 weeks. Both last shipped on October 20, 2026.
| Parameter | Concepts | Sketchbook® |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.7 (27K ratings) | 4.8 (220K ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 76.9% of reviews — better | 76.7% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 27K | 220K — better |
| Update frequency | Fortnightly — better | Every 6 weeks |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free with in-app purchases |
| Best chart rank | #187 | #44 — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 | 14 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 267 MB | 142 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | TopHatch, Inc. | Sketchbook, Inc |
Customer experience
Concepts
Sketchbook®
User reviews
Concepts
From 27K App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🚀 Infinite canvas
- 👍 Intuitive and customizable interface
- 🎨 Powerful drawing and sketching tools
- 💡 Versatile for various use cases (architecture, design, note-taking)
- 🔒 Responsive customer support
Room to improve
- 🐛 Occasional crashes and bugs
- 🔍 Steep learning curve for some users
- 💰 Subscription model can be expensive for casual users
- 🔧 Limited text handling and editing capabilities
- 🔀 Inconsistent behavior of certain tools (e.g., eraser, alignment)
Sketchbook®
From 220K App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🚀 Amazing, free, and no ads
- 👍 Lots of brushes and customization options
- 👍 Intuitive and easy to use
- 👍 Great for beginners and professionals
- 👍 Smooth performance and no lag
Room to improve
- 🐛 Occasional freezing and crashing issues
- 🐛 Blurry or corrupted images when saving or copying
- 🐛 Glitches with color selection and layers
- 🐛 Inability to rotate canvas or access gallery easily
- 🐛 Lack of blurring and clipping mask tools
Bugs and requests
Concepts
Reported bugs
4 issues- Memory issues when working with large, complex drawings
- Inconsistent behavior of the eraser tool
- Inaccuracies in the snap-to-grid and measurement tools
- Exporting issues, such as loss of data or poor quality
Requested features
5 requests- Improved text editing and formatting options
- Better color selection and customization tools
- Collaboration and real-time sharing features
- Seamless integration with other design/productivity apps
- Syncing and backup capabilities across devices
Sketchbook®
Reported bugs
4 issues- Layers randomly deleted or corrupted
- Freezing when using certain tools like the eyedropper
- Saving issues leading to loss of progress
- Incompatibility with newer iPad Pro devices
Requested features
7 requests- Add blurring and clipping mask tools
- Improve gallery and canvas rotation functionality
- Allow custom font import
- Add effects like glow, stroke, and drop shadow
- Implement layer grouping and organization
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- Add real-time collaboration features
- Improve time-lapse recording and saving
In-app purchases
Concepts
- Everything Monthly$4.991 Month
- Everything Monthly + Trial7 Days trial$4.991 Month
- Everything Yearly$29.991 Year
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- Everything Yearly + Trial7 Days trial$29.991 Year
- Shape Library$1.99
- Pen Brush Pack$1.99
- Body Forms$1.99
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- Make Your Own Objects$3.99
- Essentials (iPhone Only)$4.99
- PDF Essentials$4.99
- Pro Pack [Legacy]$7.99
- 10 Object Packs$14.99
- Essentials$39.99
Sketchbook®
- Premium Bundle$2.99
Questions
Is Concepts free?
Is Sketchbook® free?
Which has better reviews, Concepts or Sketchbook®?
Do Concepts or Sketchbook® have ads?
Which is updated more often, Concepts or Sketchbook®?
Which is more popular, Concepts or Sketchbook®?
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