Comparison

Paintsight vs Undertone

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

Head to head
About

Paintsight

This app helps artists analyze and draw from reference photos. It offers tools for value studies, color analysis, composition guides, and proportional drawing grids. Users can also compare their work directly against references.

Highlights
  • Notan and value studies
  • Color palette analysis
  • Drawing grids and guides
  • Painting comparison tools
  • Reference photo organization
  • iPad-optimized interface
Features
Read full description

Paint from photos with a painter's eye. Paintsight keeps your reference photos in one place and gives you the studio tools to read them: notan and value studies, grids, color palettes, design tools, and a way to check your painting against the reference. SEE THE VALUES • Notan and value study: simplify any photo into 2 to 7 values, then tap a value to highlight it • Notan options: several ways to design the lights and darks, side by side • Thumbnail: see the design at postage-stamp size, where only the big shapes count • Squint and grayscale views, to judge light and dark without detail or color in the way • Sample: tap any spot to read its value on a 0 to 10 scale, its color and whether it reads warm or cool READ THE COLOR • Palette: the main color masses with their share of the picture, value, hex and RGB. Tap one to see everywhere it appears • Color blocks: flat color masses for the block-in • Warm and cool map, and a chroma map of where the most intense color sits • Gamut wheel: the palette on a color wheel, with its color scheme named SEE THE DESIGN • Planes: the photo as flat facets, finer where the form turns • Silhouette: check that the subject reads as a single shape • Focal point, big lines and flow: where the eye goes first, the main directions, and the direction of form for planning brushstrokes • Hard and soft edges: see how sharply shapes meet • Contours: clean lines for drawing in or transferring DRAW IT IN PROPORTION • Drawing grid with numbered and lettered squares, sized to your canvas (such as 16x20 in) so you can scale up square by square • Rule of thirds, golden section, diagonals and harmonic armature guides • Measure angles and proportions, with a plumb line • Sketch over a reference with Apple Pencil. The sketch is saved with the photo • Mirror, rotate, and crop to your canvas shape or a standard ratio CHECK YOUR PAINTING • Photograph your painting, straighten it, and compare it with the reference: overlaid, flicking between the two, or side by side • Compare in any view, such as values or color blocks, to see where the painting has drifted KEEP YOUR REFERENCES ORGANIZED • Import from the camera or your photo library, one at a time or in bulk • Tag photos, such as hands, skies, fabric or portraits, and filter in a tap • Add notes to each reference: palette ideas, mixes, what to try next time • Syncs with iCloud, so the same library is on your iPhone and iPad BUILT FOR iPAD • Library sidebar, and tool options in a side panel so the photo stays full size • Open a reference in its own window beside your painting app in Split View or Stage Manager • Drag a reference straight into Procreate, Files or another app • Keyboard shortcuts for the main tools MADE FOR PAINTERS For oil, acrylic, watercolor, gouache and plein air painters, and for anyone drawing from reference. Plan a painting at the kitchen table, then prop your iPad or iPhone by the easel while you work. The screen stays awake while a reference is open. SIMPLE PRICING Try Paintsight free with up to 3 reference photos and every tool. One payment unlocks unlimited photos for life. No subscription, no account, no ads. Questions or ideas? Get in touch from Settings. Paintsight is made by an independent developer.

About

Undertone

Features
Read full description

Every image has a color structure. Undertone shows it to you. Bring in any image, a photo, a painting, a screenshot. In seconds, the app breaks down the color structure underneath: palette, harmony, temperature, and value. The relationships that make an image feel right, made visible. All processing happens on your device. Your images never leave your device. What you get with every analysis: Palette with proportions. Not flat swatches. Dominant colors shown by actual weight. A 60% warm neutral with a 5% cool accent is a different palette than 50/50. Every color labeled with hex codes and painter-friendly names. Yellow Ochre, not "Autumn Sunset Dream." Color harmony. The relationship between your colors identified and named: complementary, analogous, triadic, split-complementary, tetradic, square, or monochromatic. Real palettes rarely sit on textbook angles, so Undertone names the closest fit. Colors plotted on a wheel so you can see the geometry. Temperature map. A warm-cool overlay on your image that makes the invisible visible. Muddy shadows? Probably a temperature problem, warm paint leaking into your cools. Golden hour magic? Warm light forces cool shadows by contrast. Toggle the map on, and the thing you couldn't diagnose becomes obvious. Value structure. Your image stripped to grayscale, divided into clear zones: light, mid-tone, dark. Value does more work than color. A painting with strong values and wrong colors still reads. This automates the painter's squint. Built for people who work with color: Painters studying a master painting at the museum, analyzing a reference before mixing, or diagnosing why the shadows look muddy. Photographers translating a mood board into concrete editing decisions, or understanding why golden hour works so they can repeat it. Designers extracting palettes from real-world references and showing clients why a color scheme works. With evidence, not "trust me." Art students crossing the gap between intuition and understanding. Every analysis is a micro-lesson in color theory. Every analysis is saved automatically. Your library becomes a personal color reference you can browse anytime. Free: 20 analyses at a time with the Original, Temperature, Values, and Saturation modes, plus the palette and harmony for every image. Premium: Composition (10 guide types), Contrast focal analysis, tinted value bands and 2 to 9 tonal steps, unlimited history, full-resolution export. One-time purchase. No subscription. Stop guessing. Start seeing.

Screenshots

Paintsight4 screens
Undertone4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is device support: Undertone at 4 against Paintsight's 2. Undertone also leads on iOS requirement (15.0 vs 26.0). 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. Paintsight sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and Undertone sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Paintsight ships an update every 2 weeks, Undertone every 9 days. The most recent releases landed on October 24, 2026 and October 27, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences · 7 level
Paintsight versus Undertone: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterPaintsightUndertone
PriceFreeFree
Rating1.0 (1 ratings) — better—
Number of ratings1 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 2 weeksEvery 9 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree—
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac — better
Requires iOS26.015.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size8 MB32 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperGruffydd JohnstonPaintingstack Technologies SpA

In-app purchases

1 purchases

Paintsight

One-time1
  • Lifetime$4.99
1 purchases

Undertone

One-time1
  • Lifetime Premium$9.99

Questions

Is Paintsight free?
Paintsight is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Undertone free?
Undertone is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Paintsight or Undertone have ads?
Neither Paintsight nor Undertone shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Paintsight or Undertone?
Paintsight ships an update every 2 weeks, and Undertone every 9 days. Most recently, Paintsight was updated on October 24, 2026 and Undertone on October 27, 2026.

Other comparisons