Zbrush vs HEAVYPAINT
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Zbrush
Create professional 3D models and digital sculptures on your iPad. This app offers advanced sculpting, painting, and modeling tools with desktop-quality performance, ideal for artists on the go. Seamlessly integrate with desktop workflows for a complete creative experience.
- Pressure-sensitive sculpting with Apple Pencil
- 200+ digital sculpting brushes
- Advanced 3D modeling tools
- Seamless desktop-iPad workflow
- High-resolution polygon support
- 3D painting without UV setup
Read full descriptionHide full description
ZBrush for iPad. Create stunning 3D models, digital sculptures, concept art and detailed characters with ZBrush for iPad - the award winning, industry-leading digital sculpting app trusted by professional artists across film, games, collectibles, toy design, jewelry, illustration and 3D design. ZBrush for iPad brings unrivaled design power to the iPad for a fully immersive 3D sculpting and painting experience. Take creativity on the go with our proprietary brush system, intuitive controls and boundless resolution capabilities. Get started at no cost with ZBrush for iPad, which offers a comprehensive feature set designed to enable you to begin creating immediately, with the option to upgrade at any time. Already a subscriber to Maxon One or ZBrush for desktop? Simply download the iPad app and activate your license in the app. WHY ARTISTS CHOOSE ZBrush? ZBrush is the industry-leading 3D sculpting software built for Apple workflows and trusted by professional 3D creators worldwide. With over 200 digital sculpting brushes, advanced 3D modeling tools and desktop-quality performance, ZBrush offers game, film and concept artists powerful tools for 3D designing, printing and digital sculpting. TURN YOUR TABLET INTO A PROFESSIONAL CANVAS: • Pressure-sensitive sculpting with Apple Pencil • Sculptris Pro dynamic tessellation • DynaMesh digital clay workflow • ZRemesher automatic retopology • Live Boolean modeling tools • PolyPaint 3D painting without UV setup • NanoMesh & Array Mesh workflows • Surface Noise procedural detailing • Retopo Brush for clean topology • Subdivision modeling tools • VDM Brushes for advanced detailing Sculpt, carve, smooth, cut and paint directly onto your 3D models with fluid, responsive controls built for touch and stylus workflows. SEAMLESS DESKTOP-iPAD WORKFLOW • Use GoZ to move ZTool and ZProject files between iPad and desktop in one-click. • Use custom hotkeys and keep identical controls across devices for uninterrupted sculpting and 3D modeling. • Unwrap models with UV Master • Export directly to 3D printers using 3D Print Hub • Get full control over surface detail with our Texture, UV and Displacement Map tools • Start with built-in base meshes or scan real-world objects using photogrammetry tools to accelerate your workflow. DESKTOP-LEVEL 3D PERFORMANCE ON iPAD ZBrush for iPad supports up to 90+ million polygons per mesh on an M4 or newer iPad, delivering powerful high-resolution sculpting wherever you work, while Apple Pencil Pro offers squeeze and roll support, double-tap gestures, intuitive touch controls and fast undo and redo gestures to keep your creative flow uninterrupted. WHO USES ZBRUSH? 1. Game Developers who sculpt detailed characters, environments and in-game assets from concept to final 3D model 2. 3D creators who design toys, collectibles or cosplay and simply want to achieve accurate 3D printing 3. Visual designers who build realistic characters and visual effects for film and concept art 4. Industry product designers who design jewelry, sneakers and components 5. Creative artists that want to take advantage of today's 3D printers for costume, architecture, hardware and more. 6. 2D artists who want to ‘level up’ learning how to design in 3D Download ZBrush for iPad today and create professional 3D art, digital sculptures and high-resolution models anywhere. LANGUAGE SUPPORT ZBrush supports English, Japanese, Korean, Chinese, Spanish, German, French and Portuguese (BR).
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
Read full descriptionHide full description
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
Zbrush and HEAVYPAINT both sit at 4.1 stars, but that hides the real split: 85% of Zbrush's written reviews are positive against 58% of HEAVYPAINT's. Zbrush also leads on ratings volume (245 vs 65). HEAVYPAINT's advantage is device support (3 vs 1) and iOS requirement (15.0 vs 17.0). On price, rating, update cadence and ads 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. Zbrush sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $9.99 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.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.1 for Zbrush against 4.0 for HEAVYPAINT. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 245 and 65 respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 85% of Zbrush's written reviews are positive against 58% of HEAVYPAINT's.
Zbrush ships an update monthly, HEAVYPAINT every 6 weeks. Both last shipped on September 26, 2026.
| Parameter | Zbrush | HEAVYPAINT |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.1 (245 ratings) — better | 4.0 (65 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 85.0% of reviews — better | 58.4% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 245 — better | 65 |
| Update frequency | Monthly — better | Every 6 weeks |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Freemium | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPad | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 17.0 | 15.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 1.1 GB | 35 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | MAXON Computer GmbH | HEAVYPOLY, Inc. |
Customer experience
Zbrush
HEAVYPAINT
Bugs and requests
Zbrush
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
Zbrush
- ZBrush Monthly$9.991 Month
- ZBrush Annual$89.991 Year
HEAVYPAINT
- Gallery Sync Monthly7 Days trial$2.991 Month
- Gallery Sync Yearly$19.991 Year
- Unlock Full Version$9.99








