# Pastela vs HEAVYPAINT

The clearest difference is rating: Pastela at 4.6 against HEAVYPAINT's 4.0. Pastela also leads on review sentiment (87% vs 58%) and update cadence (every 10 days vs every 5 weeks). HEAVYPAINT's advantage is ads (none vs shown) and device support (3 vs 1). On price, ratings volume, in-app purchases and monetization model there is nothing between them.

Both are free to download. Pastela sells 4 in-app purchases, starting at $3.99 per month 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.

Pastela holds the better App Store score, 4.6 against 4.0. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 100 and 66 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 87% of Pastela's written reviews are positive against 58% of HEAVYPAINT's.

Pastela ships an update every 10 days, HEAVYPAINT every 5 weeks. The most recent releases landed on November 4, 2026 and November 8, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | Pastela | HEAVYPAINT |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | **[4.6 (100 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/pastela/id6478907270/reviews)** | [4.0 (66 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/heavypaint/id6654887306/reviews) |
| Number of ratings | **100** | 66 |
| Positive reviews | **86.8% of reviews** | 57.7% of reviews |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Ads | Yes | **No** |
| Update frequency | **Every 10 days** | Every 5 weeks |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free with in-app purchases |
| Size | 203 MB | 37 MB |
| Requires iOS | 17.0 | **15.0** |
| Devices | iPad | **iPhone, iPad, iPod** |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | [pixiv Inc.](https://appshunter.io/developer/337248566) | [HEAVYPOLY, Inc.](https://appshunter.io/developer/1469848545) |

## What reviewers say

### Pastela

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/pastela/id6478907270)

This app offers a seamless drawing and illustration experience with a spacious canvas, a wide variety of brushes, and cloud-based autosave. It features screen customization for iPad users and integrates with pixiv for easy sharing of your artwork.

**Highlights:** Spacious canvas, Variety of brushes, Cloud-based autosave, iPad screen customization, Pixiv integration, Detailed brush customization

**In-app purchases (4)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Light plan | $3.99 | per month |
| Standard plan | $7.99 | per month |
| Advanced plan | $15.99 | per month |
| Deluxe plan | $23.99 | per month |


### HEAVYPAINT

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/heavypaint/id6654887306)

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.

**Highlights:** Unique digital brushes, Color Jitter for texture, Fast color blocking tools, Line Blend for gradients, Liquify tool, Minimalist interface, Gallery for creations

**Features:** macOS Compatibility, Family Sharing, Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases (3)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Gallery Sync Monthly | $2.99 | per month |
| Gallery Sync Yearly | $19.99 | per year |
| Unlock Full Version | $9.99 | one-time |

**What reviewers like**

- 🚀 Powerful brushes and tools
- 👍 Intuitive and easy to use
- 💡 Unique and distilled painting experience
- 👍 Responsive and dedicated developer
- 👍 Great community support

**What reviewers complain about**

- 🐛 Bugs and crashes
- 🐛 Issues with saving and restoring purchases
- 🐛 Inconsistent UI and missing features

**Reported bugs**

- Gallery crashes
- Artwork files not saving properly
- Eyedropper tool not working as expected

**Requested features**

- Improved layer management
- More customization options
- Better color controls and eyedropper tool


## Frequently asked questions

### Is Pastela free?

Pastela is free to download, with in-app purchases available.

### Is HEAVYPAINT free?

HEAVYPAINT is free to download, with in-app purchases available.

### Which has better reviews, Pastela or HEAVYPAINT?

Pastela is rated higher. Pastela averages 4.6 out of 5 from 100 ratings, while HEAVYPAINT averages 4.0 from 66 ratings.

### Do Pastela or HEAVYPAINT have ads?

Pastela shows ads; HEAVYPAINT does not.

### Which is updated more often, Pastela or HEAVYPAINT?

Pastela ships an update every 10 days, and HEAVYPAINT every 5 weeks. Most recently, Pastela was updated on November 4, 2026 and HEAVYPAINT on November 8, 2026.

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*Compared by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/) from daily US App Store data. Review summaries are generated from verbatim App Store reviews.*