Comparison

Flame Painter for iPad vs Paintstorm Studio Lite

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

Head to head
About

Flame Painter for iPad

Create original artworks, design effects, and paint with dynamic particle brushes. This app offers an intuitive interface for both adults and children to explore their artistic side, mix colors, and share creations.

Highlights
  • Paint original artworks and flame effects
  • Create custom brushes with dynamic sliders
  • Mix beautiful colors and gradients
  • Paint over existing photos
  • Share artworks via email and social media
Features
Read full description

We believe that everyone can be an artist, we just need an inspiration. That is why Flame Painter was born - a unique paint application that lets you easily create original artworks, design or light effects with particle brushes. Download, be inspired and have fun! • "I'm very impressed. How beautiful and brilliantly executed." - S.C. Kavassalis, painter • "It is a powerful and extremely fun creative tool." - Maura Ackley, artist • "Flame Painter is truly an unique and remarkable instrument to create the most beautiful impressionnist images." - Jean-Michel Paris, painter • "The creative possibilites are innumerable." - Michael F., photographer • "Uaaaaau!!!" - children when painting :) It is a little brother of Flame Painter for Mac OS and Windows, which is used by thousands of professional CG artists, designers, enthusiasts or children in school and we have had nothing but great feedback. "Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once we grow up." - Pablo Picasso iPhone and iPad edition not only offers a new ways of creative painting, but we designed a beautiful and intuitive user interface to enjoy and have fun with flame brushes, colors and gradients. We believe that it encourages every grown up and every child to discover and awake an artist within more easily. Flame Painter for iPad lets you: • paint original artworks and flame effects • create your own brushes with dynamic sliders • mix beautiful colors and gradients • enjoy a beautiful app design • paint over pictures from iOS photo gallery • share your artworks by e-mail and on main social networks • have fun while unleashing your creativity Tip: Try to paint with two fingers.

About

Paintstorm Studio Lite

This app offers professional digital painting tools for artists of all levels. It provides extensive brush customization, stroke correction, and intuitive controls to enhance the mobile art creation experience. Discover new possibilities for digital drawing with advanced features and Apple Pencil support.

Highlights
  • Extensive brush customization
  • Stroke post-correction
  • Apple Pencil support
  • Dynamic interface
  • Mirror drawing
  • Standard tools pack
Read full description

Paintstorm Studio is the first iOS App designed not only for simple sketches, but professional digital painting of any level, genre and technique. Paintstorm helps you to discover the magnificence and unleash the full potential of Apple Pencil and brings you to a whole new level of drawing. Creating an art masterpiece has never been so mobile. A major feature of Paintstorm Studio is the array of brushes to choose from. We did our best so that you can easily and quickly adjust the brushes suitable to your painting style. Anyone who has ever painted knows it's hard to overestimate the painting tool and the importance of all the seemingly insignificant details. We tried not to miss any of them. Our goal was to create an intuitive, simple-to-use but at the same time functionally powerful tool that brings the process of digital painting to a new level, making it as comfortable as possible. - Full control of all brush options (Incredible possibilities for brush settings) - Bristle brushes of any form and kind - Stroke post correction (You can take an action on any option. Not only on the stroke thickness) - Parameters binding to the perspective - Dynamic interface (Global interface scale, panels scale, opacity, color) - Custom panels - Full controlled mask-brush (Each brush can work as mask for other brush) - Takes underlayer's color while blending - "Close gaps" function when you fill or select - Dirty brush mode - Stroke stabilizer - Usable color mixer - Different gradient strokes - Mirror drawing - Standard tools pack (Lasso, Magic wand, Crop, Fill, Gradient and etc) - Control of the random amounts - Apple Pencil support (Pressure, Tilt, Direction) Lite version restrictions: - It is not possible to load and save psd files - A watermark is added to the picture Upgrade to the full version and get rid of the limits!

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Flame Painter for iPad at 73% against Paintstorm Studio Lite's 24%. Flame Painter for iPad also leads on rating (4.4 vs 4.0) and update cadence (every 6 weeks vs every 4 months). Paintstorm Studio Lite's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 1). On price, ratings volume, ads and device support 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. Flame Painter for iPad sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Paintstorm Studio Lite asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Flame Painter for iPad holds the better App Store score, 4.4 against 4.0. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 162 and 262 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 73% of Flame Painter for iPad's written reviews are positive against 24% of Paintstorm Studio Lite's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Flame Painter for iPad ships an update every 6 weeks, Paintstorm Studio Lite every 4 months. The most recent releases landed on June 10, 2026 and September 21, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 4 level
Flame Painter for iPad versus Paintstorm Studio Lite: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterFlame Painter for iPadPaintstorm Studio Lite
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.4 (162 ratings) — better4.0 (262 ratings)
Positive reviews73.1% of reviews — better23.6% of reviews
Number of ratings162262 — better
Update frequencyEvery 6 weeks — betterEvery 4 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree — better
DevicesiPadiPad
Requires iOS9.0 — better13.1
Further details — not scored
Size38 MB103 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperEscape Motions, s.r.oSergei Komarov

Customer experience

Flame Painter for iPad

All ratings162 ratings
Positive85.8%
Neutral5.6%
Negative8.6%
Written reviews108 reviews
Positive73.1%
Neutral8.3%
Negative18.5%

Paintstorm Studio Lite

All ratings262 ratings
Positive72.9%
Neutral7.3%
Negative19.8%
Written reviews140 reviews
Positive23.6%
Neutral13.6%
Negative62.9%

User reviews

Flame Painter for iPad

From 162 App Store ratings

What we love

  • ✨ Unique particle-based brush effects with no parallel in other apps
  • 🎨 Mesmerizing color combinations and magical visual results
  • 👍 Intuitive and easy-to-use interface
  • 🎯 Great for creating special effects (flames, lasers, particles)
  • 💰 Affordable pricing ($1.99-$2.69 for full version)

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Frequent app freezing and crashes
  • ❌ No transparent background/PNG export capability
  • 📦 Limited features in free version (only 3 brushes)
  • 💳 Requires purchase to unlock most functionality
  • 🖼️ Image cropping issues when importing photos

Paintstorm Studio Lite

From 262 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 💎 Excellent brushes and color mixing
  • 🎨 Sophisticated drawing tools
  • 🖌️ Advanced interface like desktop apps
  • 🖥️ Powerful features on par with desktop software

Room to improve

  • 🚧 Cluttered and confusing interface
  • 🐛 Frequent crashes and performance issues
  • 💦 Annoying watermark on exported artwork
  • 🔍 Lack of clear instructions and tutorials

Bugs and requests

Flame Painter for iPad

Reported bugs

11 issues
  • App freezes during or after brush strokes
  • App crashes when importing images
  • Restore purchases not working properly
  • Repeated prompts to purchase full version despite already owning it
  • Apple Pencil not functioning properly
Show 6 more
  • Images become pixelated when uploaded
  • Zoom functionality broken or unusable
  • UI elements misaligned or dislocated
  • Back button missing or only works once
  • Performance degradation with iOS updates
  • Image cropping beyond user control

Requested features

12 requests
  • Transparent background and PNG export with transparency
  • Layer support for more advanced editing
  • HD/4K video recording of artwork creation
  • Undo/redo functionality
  • Confirmation dialog before erasing all work
Show 7 more
  • Higher resolution/export options
  • Color adjustment and opacity controls
  • Apple Pencil pressure sensitivity support
  • Import from iCloud Drive and Files app
  • In-app purchases for additional brush sets (crystals, frost, leaves, etc.)
  • Support for vertical image orientation
  • Ability to specify custom image sizes

Paintstorm Studio Lite

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • App crashes when opening or switching between projects
  • Brush settings and color wheel disappearing unexpectedly
  • Inability to save or recover unsaved artwork

Requested features

4 requests
  • Remove watermark option
  • Ability to import photos and images
  • Better organization and customization of UI
  • More intuitive brush and tool controls

In-app purchases

1 purchases

Flame Painter for iPad

One-time1
  • Full VersionFree
None

Paintstorm Studio Lite

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Flame Painter for iPad free?
Flame Painter for iPad is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Paintstorm Studio Lite free?
Paintstorm Studio Lite is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Flame Painter for iPad or Paintstorm Studio Lite?
Flame Painter for iPad is rated higher. Flame Painter for iPad averages 4.4 out of 5 from 162 ratings, while Paintstorm Studio Lite averages 4.0 from 262 ratings.
Do Flame Painter for iPad or Paintstorm Studio Lite have ads?
Neither Flame Painter for iPad nor Paintstorm Studio Lite shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Flame Painter for iPad or Paintstorm Studio Lite?
Flame Painter for iPad ships an update every 6 weeks, and Paintstorm Studio Lite every 4 months. Most recently, Flame Painter for iPad was updated on June 10, 2026 and Paintstorm Studio Lite on September 21, 2026.

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