# CREATE vs iPencil

The clearest difference is review sentiment: CREATE at 56% against iPencil's 0%. CREATE also leads on rating (4.6 vs 3.5) and ratings volume (3.1K vs 4). iPencil's advantage is monetization model (free with in-app purchases vs subscription). On price, update cadence, ads and in-app purchases there is nothing between them.

Both are free to download. CREATE sells 5 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month and iPencil sells 4 in-app purchases, starting at $0.99 per 7 days. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

CREATE holds the better App Store score, 4.6 against 3.5. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: CREATE has 3.1K ratings behind it against 4, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 56% of CREATE's written reviews are positive against 0% of iPencil's.

Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 19, 2026 and October 8, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | CREATE | iPencil |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | **[4.6 (3.1K ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/create-graphic-design-plus-fonts/id703295475/reviews)** | [3.5 (4 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/ipencil-vector-design/id1456256101/reviews) |
| Number of ratings | **3.1K** | 4 |
| Positive reviews | **56.1% of reviews** | 0.0% of reviews |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Ads | No | No |
| Update frequency | Every 3 weeks | Every 3 weeks |
| Monetization | Subscription | **Free with in-app purchases** |
| Size | 114 MB | 26 MB |
| Requires iOS | **9.0** | 10.0 |
| Devices | **iPhone, iPad, iPod** | iPad |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | [Anything is](https://appshunter.io/developer/568194234) | [Bon Tran](https://appshunter.io/developer/973739151) |

## What reviewers say

### CREATE

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/create-graphic-design-plus-fonts/id703295475)

Design sophisticated graphics, logos, and social media content with a powerful yet easy-to-use app. Add photos, fonts, and shapes to create vector art, collages, and more. Collaborate on projects and export in various formats.

**Highlights:** Graphic design and drawing tools, Photo and PDF editing, Font and graphic customization, Vector art creation, Collaboration on projects, Import/export vector files

**Features:** macOS Compatibility, Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases (5)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| CREATE PRO - Monthly | $4.99 | per month |
| CREATE PRO - 3 Monthly | $12.99 | per 3 months |
| CREATE PRO - 6 Monthly | $24.99 | per 6 months |
| Install fonts | $3.99 | one-time |
| All features | $49.99 | one-time |

**What reviewers like**

- 🚀 Fast & Fun
- 👍 Intuitive and easy to use
- 💡 Powerful features
- 👍 Great for graphic design
- 👍 Excellent for logos and branding

**What reviewers complain about**

- 🐛 Crashes and bugs
- 🐛 Unreliable text editing features
- 👎 Difficult to navigate and learn
- 👎 Frustrating user interface
- 🐛 Frequent freezes and loss of work

**Reported bugs**

- Crashes when trying to select all text
- Inability to change font or color
- Layers and shapes becoming offset
- Saved projects not loading properly
- Restore purchase functionality issues

**Requested features**

- Add gradient support
- Improve text editing capabilities
- Implement video export options
- Introduce more font and shape options
- Allow importing custom fonts


### iPencil

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/ipencil-vector-design/id1456256101)

Create sophisticated vector graphics on your iPad with unlimited layers, powerful editing tools, and extensive import/export options. Customize your workspace with light, dark, or tinted themes.

**Highlights:** Unlimited layers, Path and text manipulation, Gradient fills, Boolean operations, Color wheel and swatch library, SVG, PDF, PNG, JPEG import/export

**Features:** macOS Compatibility

**In-app purchases (4)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Activity tools in a week | $0.99 | per 7 days |
| Activity tools in month | $3.49 | per month |
| Activity tools in 3 month | $6.49 | per 3 months |
| Activity tools in year | $49.99 | per year |


## Frequently asked questions

### Is CREATE free?

CREATE is free to download, with in-app purchases available.

### Is iPencil free?

iPencil is free to download, with in-app purchases available.

### Which has better reviews, CREATE or iPencil?

CREATE is rated higher. CREATE averages 4.6 out of 5 from 3.1K ratings, while iPencil averages 3.5 from 4 ratings.

### Do CREATE or iPencil have ads?

Neither CREATE nor iPencil shows ads.

### Which is updated more often, CREATE or iPencil?

CREATE ships an update every 3 weeks, and iPencil every 3 weeks. Most recently, CREATE was updated on October 19, 2026 and iPencil on October 8, 2026.

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*Compared by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/) from daily US App Store data. Review summaries are generated from verbatim App Store reviews.*