Loose Leaf vs Charcoal
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Loose Leaf
Capture your thoughts, sketches, and ideas with an intuitive digital notebook. Offers unlimited pages, customizable templates, and easy import/export options. Its simple interface mimics the feel of pen and paper for effortless creativity.
- Unlimited pages
- Customizable templates
- Image and PDF import
- Moveable scraps with scissors tool
- Ruler and protractor tool
- Sidebar scrap drawer
- Export and share options
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Loose Leaf is great for notes, sketches, ideas, and more! Watch the video and find out more: https://getlooseleaf.com FEATURES • Unlimited pages • Templates! Blank, lined, grid, and more! • Easy image and PDF import • As easy as pen and paper • Scissors create moveable scraps • Ruler / protractor tool for simple shapes • Sidebar scrap drawer • Export and share ideas via major social networks • Send pages quickly to other apps • Share pages to your contacts in Loose Leaf • Simple two-finger gesture page navigation EASY TO USE 1 finger to draw, erase, or cut 2 fingers to move and navigate NO HIDDEN COSTS • No in app purchases • No subscriptions • No settings TRANSLATE Want Loose Leaf in your language? Help us translate it at http://bit.ly/translate-looseleaf ! If you have any questions or suggestions, you can always send us an email at hello@getlooseleaf.com or reach out to @getlooseleaf.
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 rating: Charcoal at 4.5 against Loose Leaf's 4.2. Charcoal also leads on review sentiment (77% vs 68%) and device support (4 vs 1). Loose Leaf's advantage is iOS requirement (10.0 vs 15.0). On price, ratings volume, 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
Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
Charcoal holds the better App Store score, 4.5 against 4.2. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 57 and 144 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 68% of Loose Leaf's written reviews are positive against 77% of Charcoal's.
Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on October 15, 2026 and October 17, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Loose Leaf | Charcoal |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.2 (57 ratings) | 4.5 (144 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 67.9% of reviews | 76.9% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 57 | 144 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months | Every 2 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPad | iPhone, iPad, iPod, Vision Pro — better |
| Requires iOS | 10.0 — better | 15.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 60 MB | 29 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Milestone Made, LLC | Lars Augustin |
Customer experience
Loose Leaf
Charcoal
User reviews
Loose Leaf
From 57 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 👍 Simple and functional
- 💡 Versatile for various uses
- ✨ Mimics real-life experience
- 🎨 Customizable paper/templates
- ✍️ Easy to use interface
Room to improve
- 🐛 Unadjustable eraser size
- 🐛 No landscape mode support
- 🐛 Difficult to use for left-handed users
- 🐛 Laggy performance
- 🐛 No text box insertion
Charcoal
From 144 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
Loose Leaf
Reported bugs
16 issues- Does not rotate to landscape view
- Sidebar makes writing difficult on the left
- Cannot insert text box
- Cannot crop pictures
- No way to delete projects
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- No way out of current project
- Biased against left-handed users
- Issues importing photos from library
- PDFs not imported directly from app
- Low resolution import for photos
- Appends advertisements even after purchase
- Freezes up for long periods
- Control buttons unresponsive or delayed
- Crashes during startup
- Cannot change pen size
- Slow execution on older devices
Requested features
14 requests- Adjustable eraser size
- RGB color selector for pencil
- PDF as paper template
- Text box insertion
- Crop pictures in square/rectangle
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- Day timer sheet offerings
- Zooming for writing/drawing
- Export selected pages
- Landscape mode
- More colors
- EPUB import
- Implement text input
- iPhone version
- Albums feature
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
Loose Leaf
No in-app purchases
Charcoal
No in-app purchases
