Comparison

Calligro vs Meshk

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

Head to head
About

Calligro

Features
Read full description

Welcome to Calligro, the ultimate platform designed to help you master the timeless art of Arabic calligraphy and improve your everyday handwriting. Whether you are a complete beginner holding a reed pen for the first time or an advanced artist refining your Thuluth or Diwani scripts, Calligro has everything you need. Key Features: • Expert-Led Courses: Enroll in comprehensive courses taught by professional calligraphers covering styles like Jali Thuluth, Jali Diwani, Persian (Ta'liq), Muhaqqaq, and Rayhani. • Improve Your Handwriting: Dedicated lessons to help you fix your grip, posture, and daily handwriting for a clean, professional look. • Interactive Community: Share your artwork, get feedback from peers and teachers, and get inspired by a feed full of beautiful creations. • Teacher Portal: Are you an expert? Apply to become a teacher, create your own courses, upload video recordings, and earn money sharing your passion. • Track Your Progress: Submit your assignments directly to your teachers for personalized feedback and grading. Unleash your creativity and preserve a beautiful heritage. Download Calligro today and start your calligraphy journey!

About

Meshk

Master beautiful handwriting with real-time stroke guidance and validation across multiple writing systems. Learn Latin, Chinese, Japanese, Arabic, and Devanagari with structured courses, animated guides, and scored practice sessions. Designed for iPad and Apple Pencil.

Highlights
  • Real-time stroke guidance and validation
  • Support for 6+ writing systems
  • Animated stroke guides
  • Structured courses and exams
  • Lined notebook mode
  • Custom font import
Features
Read full description

Learn to write by hand — really write. Meshk is a handwriting and calligraphy trainer that guides your pen stroke by stroke, scores every stroke in real time, and covers 140 writing systems in one app. From Latin cursive and Arabic calligraphy to Chinese hanzi, Japanese kana, Korean Hangul, Devanagari, Tamil, Thai, Cherokee, Ge'ez and N'Ko — 73 scripts in living use today, 66 historic ones, 163 practice packs and 12,818 characters, every one with authentic stroke order. WHAT YOU PRACTICE 140 writing systems Latin (print, cursive, formal script, school manuscript) and Cyrillic · Arabic, Hebrew, Syriac and Thaana · Chinese Simplified and Traditional, Japanese kanji and kana, Korean Hangul and hanja, Bopomofo · 39 Brahmic scripts including Devanagari, Bengali, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam, Gujarati, Gurmukhi, Odia, Sinhala and Tibetan · 17 Southeast Asian scripts including Thai, Lao, Khmer, Burmese, Javanese, Balinese and Baybayin · African scripts including Ge'ez, N'Ko, Tifinagh, Vai, Adlam and Bamum · Armenian, Georgian and Greek · and 66 historic scripts from Egyptian-era alphabets to Runic, Gothic, Glagolitic, Old Turkic, Brahmi, Linear B and Cuneiform-era writing. Hat — classical Arabic calligraphy Five historical styles taught the traditional way: Naskh, Thuluth, Diwani, Ruq'ah and Kufi, with right-to-left guides and reed-pen (qalam) simulation that reproduces the angled nib of a real calligrapher. Hat Studio Meşk the way calligraphers learn it: 896 Arabic compositions, from single words and joined words to full lines, stacked compositions, panels, the tughra and mirrored writing, each written stroke by stroke with a reed pen. Eight more pen hands (Foundational, Uncial, Cyrillic and Greek broad pen, Hebrew Ashuri, Hangul Panbonche, Chinese Kaishu, Japanese Kaisho) and a drawing shelf of 84 exercises in line, ellipse, form, perspective, value, contour and construction. Real stroke scoring Not tracing theatre. Every stroke is compared with the master stroke for direction, order, shape and placement, then scored. Hints show exactly where your stroke went off. Animated stroke guides Watch each character written stroke by stroke, replay at your own speed, then write it yourself over a dotted outline, on lines, or on a blank page. Courses, lessons and exams Every script has a structured course: single letters, lowercase and uppercase, connecting letters, words, then an exam that scores you and awards stars. Kids Zone Playful, age-appropriate letter tracing for children — shapes, letters, words, badges and streaks, with a progress map they want to finish. Your own practice material Add your own words, your own texts and blank practice papers. Meshk builds lessons from whatever you want to write — a name, a poem, a vocabulary list. Import your own fonts Bring any writing style in as SVG and Meshk turns it into a guided, scored course. MADE FOR APPLE PENCIL Low-latency ink, pressure and tilt response, paper-texture haptics and hover support. It feels like a pen on paper, not a finger on glass. Works on iPhone too. PERFECT FOR • Adults fixing their handwriting • Language learners who want to write, not just type • Calligraphy beginners and enthusiasts • Children learning their first letters • Teachers and tutors running handwriting classes • Anyone learning a new alphabet before a trip, a course or an exam MESHK PRO Meshk Pro opens connecting letters, word lessons, unlimited exams and your own words, texts and practice papers in every course. Download Meshk and write your first letter today.

Screenshots

Calligro4 screens
Meshk4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Meshk at none against Calligro's 7. Meshk also leads on update cadence (weekly vs every 2 months). Calligro's advantage is iOS requirement (15.5 vs 17.0). On price, ads and device support 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. Calligro sells 7 one-off in-app purchases. Meshk asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Calligro ships an update every 2 months, Meshk weekly. The most recent releases landed on October 25, 2026 and October 28, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
Calligro versus Meshk: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterCalligroMeshk
PriceFreeFree
Rating—4.0 (11 ratings) — better
Positive reviews—75.0% of reviews
Number of ratings—11 — better
Update frequencyEvery 2 monthsWeekly — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
Monetization—Paid
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS15.5 — better17.0
Further details — not scored
Size141 MB32 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperYazan QattousCihat Salik

In-app purchases

7 purchases

Calligro

One-time7
  • Calligro Course - $110$109.99
  • Calligro Course - $120$119.99
  • Calligro Course - $130$129.99
Show 4 more
  • Calligro Course - $170$169.99
  • Calligro Course - $180$179.99
  • Calligro Course - $190$189.99
  • Calligro Course - $200$199.99
None

Meshk

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Calligro free?
Calligro is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Meshk free?
Meshk is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do Calligro or Meshk have ads?
Neither Calligro nor Meshk shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Calligro or Meshk?
Calligro ships an update every 2 months, and Meshk weekly. Most recently, Calligro was updated on October 25, 2026 and Meshk on October 28, 2026.

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