Comparison

HEAVYPAINT vs DarkRef

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

Head to head
About

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.

Highlights
  • Unique digital brushes
  • Color Jitter for texture
  • Fast color blocking tools
  • Line Blend for gradients
  • Liquify tool
  • Minimalist interface
  • Gallery for creations
Features
Read 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/

About

DarkRef

Organize your visual inspiration with images, GIFs, and notes. This app offers a free, intuitive platform for artists to manage references across all devices, with optional cloud sync for seamless backup and access.

Highlights
  • Unlimited boards and images
  • Image and GIF support
  • Notes and annotations
  • Folder organization
  • Offline access
  • Cross-device sync
Features
Read full description

Your own library of art references, organised and on all your devices. DarkRef is a powerful reference board designed for digital artists. Organize your inspiration with images, GIFs, notes, videos and folders; all in one beautiful, minimalist library and use canvases to plan your next big artwork. 100% FREE TO USE All core features are completely free including your reference library, automatic image tagging, canvases and more. Create unlimited boards, add unlimited images and GIFs, take notes, and organize with folders. The only features requiring a paid plan are for syncing your files across devices and for live collaboration boards where you can work with your team together on a shared board. All the core features are completely free. WORKS OFFLINE All your references are stored locally on your device. Work anywhere, even without internet. With a DarkRef paid plan, your changes sync automatically when you're back online. WHY DARKREF? Unlike other reference board apps, DarkRef truly works everywhere. Whether you're sketching on your iPad at a coffee shop, at the office on your Mac or working at home, your references are always with you. Perfect for: • Digital artists and illustrators • Concept artists • Character designers • Environment artists • Animators • Game artists • Anyone who needs organized visual references Download DarkRef for free today and never lose track of your inspiration again.

Screenshots

HEAVYPAINT4 screens
DarkRef3 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: HEAVYPAINT at 4.0 against DarkRef's 2.8. HEAVYPAINT also leads on review sentiment (58% vs 25%) and ratings volume (66 vs 4). 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. HEAVYPAINT sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month and DarkRef sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

HEAVYPAINT holds the better App Store score, 4.0 against 2.8. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: HEAVYPAINT has 66 ratings behind it against 4, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 58% of HEAVYPAINT's written reviews are positive against 25% of DarkRef's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

HEAVYPAINT ships an update every 6 weeks, DarkRef every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 13, 2026 and September 28, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
HEAVYPAINT versus DarkRef: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterHEAVYPAINTDarkRef
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.0 (66 ratings) — better2.8 (4 ratings)
Positive reviews58.4% of reviews — better25.0% of reviews
Number of ratings66 — better4
Update frequencyEvery 6 weeksEvery 3 weeks — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFreemium
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac — better
Requires iOS15.015.0
Further details — not scored
Size35 MB62 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperHEAVYPOLY, Inc.Timothy Patrick Dommett

Customer experience

HEAVYPAINT

All ratings66 ratings
Positive68.2%
Neutral13.6%
Negative18.2%
Written reviews77 reviews
Positive58.4%
Neutral15.6%
Negative26.0%

DarkRef

All ratings4 ratings
Positive25.0%
Neutral25.0%
Negative50.0%
Written reviews4 reviews
Positive25.0%
Neutral25.0%
Negative50.0%

Bugs and 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

DarkRef

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

3 purchases

HEAVYPAINT

Subscriptions2
  • Gallery Sync Monthly7 Days trial$2.991 Month
  • Gallery Sync Yearly$19.991 Year
One-time1
  • Unlock Full Version$9.99
2 purchases

DarkRef

Subscriptions2
  • Sync Monthly1 Month trial$1.991 Month
  • Sync Annual$9.991 Year

Questions

Is HEAVYPAINT free?
HEAVYPAINT is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is DarkRef free?
DarkRef is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, HEAVYPAINT or DarkRef?
HEAVYPAINT is rated higher. HEAVYPAINT averages 4.0 out of 5 from 66 ratings, while DarkRef averages 2.8 from 4 ratings.
Do HEAVYPAINT or DarkRef have ads?
Neither HEAVYPAINT nor DarkRef shows ads.
Which is updated more often, HEAVYPAINT or DarkRef?
HEAVYPAINT ships an update every 6 weeks, and DarkRef every 3 weeks. Most recently, HEAVYPAINT was updated on October 13, 2026 and DarkRef on September 28, 2026.

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