# Pastela vs Micapaint

The clearest difference is ads: Micapaint at none against Pastela's shown. Micapaint also leads on review sentiment (100% vs 87%). Pastela's advantage is rating (4.6 vs 4.4) and ratings volume (100 vs 12). On price, update cadence, 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 Micapaint sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

Pastela holds the better App Store score, 4.6 against 4.4. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Pastela has 100 ratings behind it against 12, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 87% of Pastela's written reviews are positive against 100% of Micapaint's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

Pastela ships an update every 10 days, Micapaint every 9 days. The most recent releases landed on November 4, 2026 and November 8, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | Pastela | Micapaint |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | **[4.6 (100 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/pastela/id6478907270/reviews)** | [4.4 (12 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/micapaint/id6752224685/reviews) |
| Number of ratings | **100** | 12 |
| Positive reviews | 86.8% of reviews | **100.0% of reviews** |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Ads | Yes | **No** |
| Update frequency | Every 10 days | **Every 9 days** |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free with in-app purchases |
| Size | 203 MB | 13 MB |
| Requires iOS | 17.0 | 17 |
| Devices | iPad | iPad |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | [pixiv Inc.](https://appshunter.io/developer/337248566) | [SHOGO SEKI](https://appshunter.io/developer/1838315840) |

## 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 |


### Micapaint

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/micapaint/id6752224685)

This drawing application offers a fluid and intuitive painting experience with a focus on performance and a clean interface. It provides a wide array of free tools and features, with optional pro features available for purchase.

**Highlights:** 120fps smooth brush performance, Slime Brush for precise filling, Workspace-first UI, Unlimited layers, Filter layers for non-destructive adjustments, Liquify tools, PSD import/export

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

**In-app purchases (1)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Micapaint Pro (Lifetime) | $11.99 | one-time |


## Frequently asked questions

### Is Pastela free?

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

### Is Micapaint free?

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

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

Pastela is rated higher. Pastela averages 4.6 out of 5 from 100 ratings, while Micapaint averages 4.4 from 12 ratings.

### Do Pastela or Micapaint have ads?

Pastela shows ads; Micapaint does not.

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

Pastela ships an update every 10 days, and Micapaint every 9 days. Most recently, Pastela was updated on November 4, 2026 and Micapaint 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.*