Sketchthru vs TraceLock
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Sketchthru
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Sketchthru turns your phone into a drawing projector. Pick a photo, prop your phone over real paper, and trace what you see on screen with a real pencil. The camera shows your paper live while your reference photo floats on top at the opacity you choose. Line up your shot, lock it in place, and start drawing. Smart Lock uses AR to keep the overlay glued to your paper even if your phone shifts. HOW IT WORKS 1. Pick a photo you love 2. Prop your phone over your paper 3. Trace what you see on screen DRAW ANYTHING, ONTO ANYTHING A sketchbook, a canvas, a greeting card, a wall. If your camera can see it, you can trace onto it. EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO TRACE - Sample gallery to get you started - Opacity slider so you can see paper and photo at once - Pinch, drag and twist to place your photo, or drag the corners to resize it - Nudge the camera view instead of the picture when that lines up faster - Rule of thirds grid and flip tool - Undo and redo for every adjustment - Press and hold to peek at your drawing RECORD YOUR PROCESS Record while you draw and Sketchthru turns hours of sketching into a shareable timelapse. Start and stop from the volume button or your Apple Watch so you never knock the phone out of line, and keep an eye on the take from your Lock Screen. GO PRO - Upload photos from your camera roll - Edges and Posterize filters turn any photo into clean line art, ready to ink and paint inside - Subject filter lifts your subject off its background - Strobe mode blinks the overlay to check your lines - Timelapse in crisp 1080p without a watermark - Unlimited saved traces ALSO INCLUDED - Share a photo straight into Sketchthru from any app - Home Screen and Lock Screen widgets for your last session and your drawing streak - Ask Siri to start a trace or start recording Sketchthru is made for beginners, doodlers, and anyone who wants to put real pencil to real paper. No account needed. Start tracing in under a minute. Terms of Service: https://parra.io/terms-of-service.html Privacy Policy: https://parra.io/privacy-policy.html
TraceLock
Transform your device into a digital tracing lightbox. Import images, adjust them to fit your paper, and lock the screen to prevent accidental touches while you trace. Enjoy a focused, ad-free experience with on-device processing.
- Import images from Photos
- Convert images to sketch styles
- Scale, move, rotate, and mirror images
- Lock screen to prevent accidental touches
- Keep display awake and at full brightness
- Safe unlock by holding for two seconds
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Turn your iPhone or iPad into a tracing lightbox: import an image, position it, lock the screen against accidental touches, place paper on top, and trace. TraceLock is intentionally focused. It solves one specific job with no account, no ads, and no cloud photo uploads. • Import an image from Photos • Convert it to sketch, outline, comic, black-and-white, or high contrast • Scale, move, rotate, and mirror it to fit your paper • Lock the canvas so paper and palms do not move the image • Keep the display awake and use full brightness while tracing • Hold for two seconds to unlock safely Photo processing happens on your device. TraceLock does not collect personal data. Try every feature with total peace of mind.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is update cadence: TraceLock at every 6 days against Sketchthru's fortnightly. On price, ads, in-app purchases 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
Both are free to download. Sketchthru sells 4 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per 7 days and TraceLock sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
Sketchthru ships an update fortnightly, TraceLock every 6 days. Both last shipped on October 31, 2026.
| Parameter | Sketchthru | TraceLock |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | — | 5.0 (1 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | — | 100.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | — | 1 — better |
| Update frequency | Fortnightly | Every 6 days — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | — | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, Apple Watch | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 17.0 | 16.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 5 MB | 12 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Parra LLC | 帅 王 |
In-app purchases
Sketchthru
- Sketchthru Pro Weekly$2.997 Days
- Sketchthru Pro Monthly$5.991 Month
- Sketchthru Pro Yearly$29.991 Year
- Sketchthru Pro Lifetime$49.99
TraceLock
- Lifetime Unlock$3.99









