Comparison

Smarty Paints vs Canvas Tracker

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

Head to head
About

Smarty Paints

This app helps watercolor artists manage their paint collections, find substitute colors, and match tutorial supplies. It simplifies tracking what you own, identifying dupes, and ensuring your paints align with class or tutorial requirements.

Highlights
  • Track watercolor paint collections
  • Find close-enough paint dupes
  • Match tutorial supplies to your stash
  • Compare paint properties across brands
  • Create digital palette layouts
  • Searchable paint database
Read full description

Watercolor paints, simplified: track what you own, find close-enough dupes, match your stash to any class supplies list, and finally remember which blue is *that* blue. - Can't remember which watercolor paints you already have at home? - Forgot which red you put in that palette, or whether it stains, granulates, or glazes? - Following a video tutorial and not sure your paint substitutes will behave the same way? - Or if you could *mix* a substitute with paints you already own? Smarty Paints can help. It's your watercolor sidekick: a searchable, stash-organizing, tutorial-matching watercolor app for anyone who's ever said "Shoot, which one's Quin Gold again?" *Search, Discover & Learn* Browse a growing database of 3000+ paints. Filter paints by brand, pigment code, transparency, granulation, and more. Go on, nerd out. *Palette Layouts That Match Real Life* Drag and drop your digital palette to match your real one—so you're not guessing which little paint pot is which. No more cross-referencing paint tubes or binders of hand-labeled swatches. *Color Theory Fast Track* Every palette gets the wheel treatment. Your paints plotted, so the missing slot is obvious at a glance. Find the gap. Plan the next pick. Finally see what "warm blue" means. *Follow Any Video Tutorial With Your Paints* Paste a link or browse tutorials right in the app. Smarty Paints maps every tutorial's paint to your collection — own it, have a dupe, or need to grab it — with property-level comparison so you know *why* a substitute works (or won't). No more pausing to wonder if your Phthalo Blue is close enough to the instructor's Prussian Blue. *Find Dupes (or Mix One Yourself)* Smarty Paints compares transparency, granulation, staining, pigment, and lightfastness across brands, so you can see exactly where a match holds up and where it doesn't. When it doesn't, find a mix recipe using paints you already own. No new tubes required. *Collection & Wishlist Tracking* See what you've got. Spot what you're missing. Track usage, log your favorites, and never buy the same paint twice. (Unless you meant to.) Free features: - Full paint database search - Compare swatches and paint properties across brands - Find dupes and suggested mixes - Browse and match video tutorials to your collection - Create one drag-and-drop palette Want more? Go premium for unlimited palettes, cross-device sync, single-pigment filtering, and palette customization. Watercolor is easier for Smarty Paints. Just hear it from some of the smartest: “I love this app!! It’s so fun to keep track of everything!!” - Michelle S. “I used the app this morning to see if I had a color that matched the one used in the tutorial I was watching. Thankfully I had one that was almost perfect. So it’s a very handy app.” - Barbara H. “I've been looking for an app like this for years. Finally something I can really use to track the pigments I use for each painting. I love it!“ - Tim G.

About

Canvas Tracker

This app helps artists monitor their creative process by automatically tracking time spent on projects and sessions. It offers goal setting, habit visualization, and organization tools to understand your art journey.

Highlights
  • Real-time art making habit tracking
  • Automatic session time tracking
  • Project creation/completion dates
  • Goal setting for art habits
  • Calendar visualization of habits
  • Artwork organization with tags
  • Cumulative practice statistics
Features
Read full description

Canvas Tracker lets you easily track your art making habits in real time. Metrics like time spent and creation/completion dates for each session are tracked automatically so that you can focus on creating. In addition to tracking project and session times, Canvas Tracker also lets you: - Set goals around your art habits - Visualize your daily / monthly art habits with the calendar tool - Organize your artwork with tags and filters - Quantify your art practice with cumulative statistics If you want an app that helps you understand your art journey, then give Canvas Tracker a try.

Screenshots

Smarty Paints4 screens
Canvas Tracker4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is monetization model: Canvas Tracker at free against Smarty Paints's freemium. Canvas Tracker also leads on review sentiment (100% vs 78%) and rating (5.0 vs 4.7). Smarty Paints's advantage is ratings volume (38 vs 9) and iOS requirement (15.6 vs 18.6). On price, update cadence, ads and in-app purchases 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. Smarty Paints sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $12.99 per year and Canvas Tracker sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Canvas Tracker holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.7. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 38 and 9 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 78% of Smarty Paints's written reviews are positive against 100% of Canvas Tracker's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Smarty Paints ships an update every 11 days, Canvas Tracker weekly. The most recent releases landed on October 15, 2026 and October 14, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
Smarty Paints versus Canvas Tracker: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterSmarty PaintsCanvas Tracker
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.7 (38 ratings)5.0 (9 ratings) — better
Positive reviews77.8% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings38 — better9
Update frequencyEvery 11 daysWeekly — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFreemiumFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS15.6 — better18.6
Further details — not scored
Size111 MB48 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperNeural Appworks LLCUgochukwu Madagu

Customer experience

Smarty Paints

All ratings38 ratings
Positive89.5%
Neutral2.6%
Negative7.9%
Written reviews18 reviews
Positive77.8%
Neutral5.6%
Negative16.7%

Canvas Tracker

All ratings9 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews2 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

2 purchases

Smarty Paints

Subscriptions1
  • Pro$12.991 Year
One-time1
  • Unlock Premium Features$39.99
1 purchases

Canvas Tracker

One-time1
  • Unlimited Sessions$2.99

Questions

Is Smarty Paints free?
Smarty Paints is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Canvas Tracker free?
Canvas Tracker is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Smarty Paints or Canvas Tracker?
Canvas Tracker is rated higher. Smarty Paints averages 4.7 out of 5 from 38 ratings, while Canvas Tracker averages 5.0 from 9 ratings.
Do Smarty Paints or Canvas Tracker have ads?
Neither Smarty Paints nor Canvas Tracker shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Smarty Paints or Canvas Tracker?
Smarty Paints ships an update every 11 days, and Canvas Tracker weekly. Most recently, Smarty Paints was updated on October 15, 2026 and Canvas Tracker on October 14, 2026.

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