Paint Codex vs Color Study
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Paint Codex
This app helps miniature and model painters document their creative process. Organize projects, record every step with custom phases, and build a personal gallery of your work. Export your progress to share with clients or the community.
- Create custom paint doctrines
- Record painting steps and phases
- Capture progress via camera/gallery
- Export projects as .paintcodex files
- Offline-first design for privacy
- Personal gallery for completed work
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Paint Codex, by Battle Servo Studios, is your all-in-one companion for miniature and model painters — from weekend hobbyists to professional commission artists. Document every step of your painting process, stay organized across projects, and build a personal archive of your creative journey. Features • Create detailed Paint Doctrines to record every phase of your work • Start with classic preset painting phases like Building, Priming, and Highlights — or rename, add, and reorder them to fit your own creative process and style. Paint Codex is made for hobbyists of all levels. • Capture progress directly from your camera or device gallery • Export projects as ".paintcodex" files to archive, share, or trade with other painters • Offline-first design — your data stays private on your device • Free plan supports up to 3 Doctrines; upgrade to Premium for unlimited projects, export functionality, and other Your Personal Gallery Paint Codex doubles as a showcase for everything you’ve created or collected. Scroll through your personal Gallery to revisit the models, armies, and art you’ve brought to life — or admire Paint Doctrines you’ve imported from your favorite artists. Take awesome cover photos for each project — they become your Gallery cards and visual trophies of your progress and passion. A Powerful Tool Built to Empower Artists — from Hobbyists to Professionals Beyond tracking colors and steps, Paint Codex gives artists a new creative asset. Export detailed paint breakdowns to share with clients, fans, and collectors — showing the depth of craft behind every project. Use your ".paintcodex" files as part of your professional toolkit: • Bundle them with finished models or tutorials • Share them with your community as premium educational content • Build trust and transparency with clients by revealing your process By helping painters document, share, and leverage their creativity, Paint Codex supports a more sustainable future for artists — and helps the hobby continue to grow. Built on an original system designed by Battle Servo Studios — a patent-pending framework made to preserve and share artistic workflows like never before. Subscription Details: Paint Codex Premium unlocks unlimited gallery card slots, and export functionality allowing you to share your work with your friends and collect as many Paint Doctrines as you like! Subscription options: Monthly ($2.99) or Annual ($24.99) Subscriptions automatically renew unless canceled at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. Payment is charged to your Apple ID account upon purchase. Manage or cancel your subscription in your App Store account settings. Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy Policy: https://sites.google.com/view/battleservostudios/privacy-policy?authuser=0 Developed by Battle Servo Studios LLC Privacy-friendly • No ads • Patent pending
Color Study
This app helps artists simplify images into essential shapes and colors for study. It provides tools for accurate color matching, paint mixing guidance, and detailed analysis of value, saturation, and color codes. Advanced features for deeper analysis and paint mixing are available via subscription.
- Image simplification to shapes and colors
- Accurate color picker with pixel averaging
- Paint mixing guidance
- Value, saturation, and color code inspection
- Interactive analysis maps
- Customizable grid overlay
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Color Study is a tool for artists to simplify images, study color and value, and accurately match colors through paint mixing. Load any photo and reduce it to clear shapes and essential color information. Color Study generates a clear color map of your reference and provides guidance for mixing paints to match the colors you see, giving you a practical guide you can use at the easel or in study. Focus on the fundamentals that matter in drawing and painting. Made for artists Core tools: • Accurate color picker with magnification and pixel averaging options • Place and customize color markers directly on your reference • Inspect value, saturation, and color codes (RGB, HSV, HSL, CMYK, LAB) • Automatically extract key colors and accents in an image, and mark their locations • Compare colors to assess value, relative temperature, saturation, and perceptual difference • Customizable grid overlay for precise alignment Advanced tools: • Interactive value maps, shape simplification, temperature maps and notan controls • Paint-mixing guidance designed for opaque paints, with real-time feedback from photographed mixes • Export analysis views and color maps as images for reference or study • Advanced grid controls for precision alignment and subdivision • Generate simplified line drawings and contour maps to clarify structure, edges, and major shapes • Organize your work into projects with images, paint palettes, and artwork details • iCloud sync keeps your projects and palettes in sync across all your Apple devices Advanced tools available with subscription. Train your artistic eye Color Study is not a design tool or palette generator. It is a learning tool for painters, illustrators, and art students who want to analyze what they see and make better decisions in their artwork. Study master paintings, analyze your own photos, and deepen your understanding of value structure, color harmony, and visual design. Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is ratings volume: Color Study at 352 against Paint Codex's 8. Color Study also leads on chart position (#114 vs unranked) and device support (3 vs 1). Paint Codex's advantage is review sentiment (100% vs 88%). 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. Paint Codex sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per month and Color Study sells 7 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 — 5.0 for Paint Codex against 4.9 for Color Study. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Color Study has 352 ratings behind it against 8, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 100% of Paint Codex's written reviews are positive against 88% of Color Study's.
Paint Codex ships an update fortnightly, Color Study every 11 days. The most recent releases landed on October 8, 2026 and October 17, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Paint Codex | Color Study |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 5.0 (8 ratings) — better | 4.9 (352 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 100.0% of reviews — better | 87.7% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 8 | 352 — better |
| Update frequency | Fortnightly | Every 11 days — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Freemium | Free with in-app purchases |
| Best chart rank | — | #114 — better |
| Devices | iPhone | iPhone, iPad, Mac — better |
| Requires iOS | 16.0 — better | 16.6 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 63 MB | 195 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Mitch Zavala | BrushLabs LLC |
Customer experience
Paint Codex
Color Study
In-app purchases
Paint Codex
- Paint Codex Premium (Monthly)$1.991 Month
- Paint Codex Premium (Annual)$14.991 Year
Color Study
- Color Study Pro monthly$2.991 Month
- Color Study Pro monthly$4.991 Month
- Color Study Pro yearly7 Days trial$19.991 Year
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- Color Study Pro Yearly7 Days trial$24.991 Year
- Color Study tip$1.99
- Color Study tip$19.99
- Color Study tip$29.99









