RefCanvas vs HEAVYPAINT
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
RefCanvas
This app helps artists and designers organize visual references for their projects. Import images and GIFs, arrange them on a canvas, add notes, and export your creations.
- Import images and GIFs
- Add text notes
- Move, scale, and rotate references
- Group references with nodes
- Supports split screen and pop-up view
- Export boards as SVG or images
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RefCanvas is an intuitive tool for artists and designers who need a comprehensive reference app to bring their creative vision to life. Key Features: - Import images and gifs. - Notes - Add text notes. - Move, scale and rotate references to create the perfect layout. - Multi selection - edit multiple references at one. - Nodes - Useful for grouping references. - Drag and drop - Drag and drop files from others apps like the gallery. - Paste files from the clipboard. - Supports split screen and pop-up view: Use it as a companion app with your favorite drawing app like Ibis Paint or Infinite Painter. - Save your progress as boards for future use. - Auto set thumbnails for boards after saving. - Eye dropper - Tap and hold to pick a color from your references as a hex code. - Drawing. Animated GIF support: - Reference your favorite animated gifs. - Pause animation and play frame by frame to better understand referenced animations. - Animation timeline gives you an interactive visual breakdown of all the frames. Easy to use reference tools: - Grayscale toggle. - Flip horizontally and vertically. - Add link - allows you to visit the source of your reference. Export: Export boards to share. Export board as SVG. Export Images/Gifs as files. Using RefCanvas to make reference boards & mood boards is easy, simply import your images or gifs, and move them around the canvas to arrange them in the layout that works best for your project. You can adjust their size, rotation and position to your liking, giving you maximum control over your creative process.
HEAVYPAINT
This app offers a raw digital painting experience with unique tools for creating textured art and quick studies. It's designed for artists who embrace digital chaos and seek a streamlined, mobile art studio.
- Unique digital brushes
- Color Jitter for texture
- Fast color blocking tools
- Line Blend for gradients
- Liquify tool
- Minimalist interface
- Gallery for creations
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Raw digital painting with unique brushes & color chaos. The painter's painting app that celebrates digital chaos. HEAVYPAINT is unapologetically digital and a bit unhinged. It’s a celebration of digital impressionism. Whether you're sketching on the train, painting outdoors, or creating quick color studies, this is your pocket art studio. Unique Digital Tools Color Jitter: Unleash beautiful digital chaos and texture Fan Fill and Lasso Fill for fast color blockins, textured foliage, notan, organic shapes. Rake tool for softening up edges in a graphic way Line Blend for instant gradients Liquify to adjust proportions and shapes Built for Speed & Mobility Perfect pochade box replacement for pleinair painting. Great for quick paintings on public transit, many will finger paint on their phones. Streamlined interface.Focus on pure color and shape without digital clutter. Streamlined Experience Minimalist interface puts painting first Customizable tools that adapt to your style Strong shape design tools for bold, crisp artwork Gallery to review and organize your creations + Plein air painters who want to ditch heavy supplies + Quick color studies and concept sketches + Figure painting and gesture drawing + Artists wanting to rediscover digital painting joy + Anyone seeking a uniquely digital aesthetic HEAVYPAINT balances professional capabilities with unhinged creativity. Embrace procedural randomness / crunchiness / glitchiness that digital enables. Touch grass. Ideal for pleinair painting and quick studies This app is subject to Apple's standard EULA: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: HEAVYPAINT at 4.0 against RefCanvas's 2.3. HEAVYPAINT also leads on update cadence (every 6 weeks vs every 17 months) and review sentiment (58% vs 43%). On price, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model 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. RefCanvas sells 2 one-off in-app purchases and HEAVYPAINT sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
HEAVYPAINT holds the better App Store score, 4.0 against 2.3. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: HEAVYPAINT has 65 ratings behind it against 7, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 43% of RefCanvas's written reviews are positive against 58% of HEAVYPAINT's.
RefCanvas ships an update every 17 months, HEAVYPAINT every 6 weeks. The most recent releases landed on September 15, 2026 and September 26, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | RefCanvas | HEAVYPAINT |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 2.3 (7 ratings) | 4.0 (65 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 42.9% of reviews | 58.4% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 7 | 65 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 17 months | Every 6 weeks — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 | 15.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 131 MB | 35 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | youcef boukit | HEAVYPOLY, Inc. |
Customer experience
RefCanvas
HEAVYPAINT
Bugs and requests
RefCanvas
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
HEAVYPAINT
Reported bugs
3 issues- Gallery crashes
- Artwork files not saving properly
- Eyedropper tool not working as expected
Requested features
3 requests- Improved layer management
- More customization options
- Better color controls and eyedropper tool
In-app purchases
RefCanvas
- Pro version$2.99
- Pro version2 variants$3.99
HEAVYPAINT
- Gallery Sync Monthly7 Days trial$2.991 Month
- Gallery Sync Yearly$19.991 Year
- Unlock Full Version$9.99









