Comparison

Keybench vs Dearscript

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

Head to head
About

Keybench

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Keybench is the iOS keyboard designer for people who want to type in their own style. Start by creating a style. Draw custom glyphs by hand using guided stroke input, or browse and select from a library of 1,000+ prepackaged fonts. Refine individual characters, preview the full alphabet, and save as many styles as you want. Then build a keyboard setup around your style. Customize colors for the keys, text, and background. Adjust key shape, corner radius, and spacing. Add a custom background image. Choose your active style and preview how it looks before syncing. When you're ready, sync your keyboard setup to the Keybench iOS keyboard extension. Switch to Keybench from any app using the globe key, and type with your custom look in Notes, Messages, Safari, Mail, and more. CREATE YOUR OWN STYLE Draw custom glyphs character by character with guided stroke input, or choose from 1,000+ prepackaged fonts to get started fast. Edit and refine individual glyphs at any time. Your styles are saved on-device and ready to use whenever you need them. DESIGN YOUR KEYBOARD THEME Set key colors, background colors, key shape, corner radius, spacing, and background images. Everything updates live in the theme preview so you can see exactly how your keyboard will look before you sync it. SYNC TO IOS Apply your keyboard setup and sync it to the Keybench iOS keyboard extension. The in-app Keyboard Setup screen walks you through adding the keyboard in iOS Settings, enabling Full Access, troubleshooting common issues, and confirming the keyboard is active. TYPE IN YOUR STYLE Switch to Keybench in any text field using the globe key. Full keyboard actions are supported: shift, backspace, space, return, number switching, and globe key to switch back. FREE INCLUDES - Up to 2 saved styles - Up to 2 keyboard setups PREMIUM UNLOCKS - Unlimited saved styles - Unlimited keyboard setups - Ad-free experience while designing and testing PRIVACY Keybench stores synced keyboard style data on-device using shared app group storage. The keyboard extension reads this data locally to render your style. Keybench does not send your typed keystrokes to its servers. Support: hello@scaleinitiative.com Privacy policy: https://keybench.storepage.app/privacy Terms: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

About

Dearscript

Features
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Your handwriting deserves to be more than ink. Dearscript turns what you write with Apple Pencil into a real, installable font — free, with no accounts and no subscriptions. Write each letter once on a guided, notebook-style canvas, and watch a live preview assemble your handwriting into sentences as you go. When you're happy, install your font on your iPad or iPhone and use it in Pages, Keynote, Word, and any app that supports custom fonts — or export the font file and use it on your Mac or PC. HOW IT WORKS • Draw each letter with Apple Pencil on a compact, guided canvas — faint reference letters and typographic guidelines keep everything lined up • Watch the live preview render your own sample text in your handwriting as you draw • Install your font system-wide, or share the font file anywhere MAKE IT YOURS • Five brushes — pen, monoline, fountain pen, marker, pencil — with adjustable width • Pressure-sensitive strokes carry into the finished font: write light, write bold, it shows • Draw multiple versions of any letter and Dearscript rotates them naturally as you type, so nothing looks stamped or robotic • Letter combinations like "th" and "oo" can be drawn as connected pairs for a flowing, natural look • Tune character and word spacing; add designer and license info to the font file itself A REAL FONT, DONE RIGHT Dearscript builds genuine TrueType fonts with smooth curves — not images of your writing. 105 glyphs: uppercase, lowercase, numbers, punctuation, symbols, and combinations. EVERYWHERE YOU ARE Your fonts sync privately through iCloud across your devices. No account to create, no data collected, nothing to pay.

Screenshots

Dearscript4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Dearscript at none against Keybench's 3. Dearscript also leads on device support. Keybench's advantage is iOS requirement (15.1 vs 26.5). On price there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price Ā· Rating Ā· Positive reviews Ā· Number of ratings Ā· Update frequency Ā· Ads Ā· In-app purchases Ā· Monetization Ā· Best chart rank Ā· Devices Ā· Requires iOS

CostPrice Ā· In-app purchases Ā· Ads Ā· Monetization

Both are free to download. Keybench sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per month. Dearscript asks for nothing beyond the download.

Scorecard3 real differences Ā· 2 level
Keybench versus Dearscript: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterKeybenchDearscript
PriceFreeFree
Ads—No
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
Devices—iPhone, iPad — better
Requires iOS15.1 — better26.5
Further details — not scored
Size78 MB1 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperScale Initiative LTDDennis Koch

In-app purchases

3 purchases

Keybench

Subscriptions2
  • Premium Monthly3 Days trial$1.991 Month
  • Premium Yearly3 Days trial$9.991 Year
One-time1
  • Remove Ads$2.99
None

Dearscript

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Keybench free?
Keybench is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Dearscript free?
Dearscript is free to download, with no in-app purchases.

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