Comparison

Arrette Sketch drafting tools vs Cardflow+ Mind Map Storyboard

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

Head to head
About

Arrette Sketch drafting tools

Create hand-drawn designs at a measurable scale, ideal for architects and designers. This app offers a simplified drawing experience with tools like freehand pens and an adjustable grid, allowing for easy sharing via email or saving to your device.

Highlights
  • Freehand drawing pens with vector scaling
  • Adjustable grid system (metric/decimal feet)
  • Load base images to draw on
  • Lasso tool for selections
  • Easy sharing via email
  • Save drawings to device
Features
Read full description

Rated #1 Technical App for Architects by ArchDaily! Arrette Sketch for iPad is an app for designers who want to draw freehand while maintaining a measurable drawing scale like vector drafting tools. Architects, urban planners, surveyors, home remodelers, field archaeologists and dozens of other kinds of professionals will find this app useful. Unlike other vector drawing tools, Arrette Sketch is simple to learn and use. Arrette Sketch is the basic version of Arrette Scale for iPad, available separately in the iTunes App Store. Compared to our professional version, Arrette Sketch is limited only in three ways: 1) distance and area measurement tools are disabled, 2) Edge drawing tools are disabled, and 3) users cannot export to PDF for sharing. For those functions, ideally suited for professionals working in business, Arrette Scale is the appropriate tool. Arrette Philosophy Arrette provides the platform to begin design work and generate ideas without moving too quickly to rigid straight lines and curves. We want to help you draw much as you would normally draw on paper, but to give you the extra tools and ways to share your work that make your life easier and make the design process simpler and more productive. The basic drawing structure is a familiar one - drawing layers which can be overlayed on a base image. The Grid keeps you aware of the size of what you're drawing at any scale. When you're ready, you can easily share drawings by email or save them to your device. We've designed Arrette to be extremely easy to learn. In a few minutes, you'll understand how to zoom and scale your canvas, draw lines, and load base images to work on top of. Our tools will seem familiar from other structured drawing applications, but every tool we've built has been simplified and optimized with scale in mind. Uses for Arrette Sketch for iPad: * An urban designer drafts plans for a new sub-division in a small town * A real estate agent snaps a photograph of a living space and begins to sketch out ideas for staging * A new home owner sketches the plan for an elaborate garden in the back yard * A construction manager notes progress on a work site, sending annotated precision-scale documents back to the general contractor live from the work site For these uses Arrette Sketch is a great tool for drawing freehand scale sketches, whether at home, on the go, or at work. For professional work, which includes sharing original Arrette documents for review, annotation, and modification, Arrette Scale is better suited for those purposes. Included drawing tools in Arrette Sketch (free application): * Freehand drawing pens that scale like vector lines but are as easy to use as pencil and paper * An adjustable grid system that you can easily flip between the metric system and decimal feet * The ability to load base images to draw on top of; base images respect their original scale and direction when the document is zoomed or panned * A lasso tool to select, move, copy and paste previously drawn lines * Layers, for separating out parts of composite objects or for adding new ideas to an existing document that overlay earlier designs * An eraser tool, for revising your designs or removing objects from previous work * The ability to adjust the width of all lines globally even after the lines have been drawn Additional professional features in Arrette Scale (available separately): * A tool for drawing perfectly straight lines, arrays of parallel lines, arcs and circles * Distance and area measurement tools for measuring the lengths, perimeters and areas of arbitrary pathways in your drawing at precise scale Document sharing features in Arrette Sketch: * Save your work to your Photo Gallery * Share raster versions of your work with anyone via email, Twitter, or Facebook Additional sharing features in Arrette Scale: * Send PDFs with scale and direction information to colleagues, clients, and other parties via email

About

Cardflow+ Mind Map Storyboard

This app digitizes the tactile experience of using index cards on an iPad. It allows users to brainstorm, plan projects, and organize ideas with a flexible, freeform layout. Capture thoughts with writing, drawing, or photos, and arrange them on a digital board.

Highlights
  • Digital index card creation
  • Freeform layout and organization
  • Inkflow vector ink system
  • Typing with various fonts
  • Photo import for backgrounds
  • Project planning and storyboarding
Features
Read full description

Cardflow+ is the full version of Cardflow: index cards on a big, free-form board, with the tools to connect, style, and share them. Write or sketch on a card with Apple Pencil, flip it over like the real thing, and arrange as many as you need. No rigid structure up front. Lay things out however makes sense to you. WE LOVE INDEX CARDS. We use them a lot. They are a versatile and surprisingly powerful tool for all kinds of tasks. From brainstorming to storyboards, to planning entire projects, they have a place in your workflow. Cardflow captures the ease and flexibility of paper index cards and brings that experience to the iPad. Rather than impose a rigid structure up front, Cardflow allows you to lay things out however you like, and organize them in the way that makes sense to you. Jot down ideas or sketch diagrams on cards and arrange them on a large board. Write and draw using the buttery smooth Inkflow vector ink system, or type in a variety of fonts. You can even snap photos of actual cards to use as a background. Turbocharge your workflow today! Whether you are drafting story boards for a movie, laying out the plot and characters for your novel, or learning a new language, Cardflow has a place in your toolbox. Have all the fun of using index cards, without the forest-pulping guilt of paper. EDUCATORS: Cardflow+ qualifies for Apple's Volume Purchase Program. Purchase it in quantities of 20 or more at a discount from Apple's VPP site. HOW TO TRANSFER FILES FROM CARDFLOW Cardflow+ is installed as a separate App. To transfer a file from Cardflow to Cardflow+: 1. Tap on the file name in the Cardflow Gallery. 2. Tap "Transfer" in the context menu. 3. Select Cardflow+ from the list of Apps. Cardflow is perfect for: + Storyboards for videos or movies + Studying for an exam + Learning a new language + Writing the plot for a novel or book + Organizing weddings, parties, and other events + Corporate training + Project management + Agile, Scrum, and other methodologies + Group brainstorming + Writing your daily goals and to-dos + And much more! CREATIVE TOOLS FOR THE ULTIMATE CREATIVITY DEVICE We strongly believe that the iPad is not just a consumption device; It's a creativity device. Thanks for supporting us in our journey of building Creative Apps like Cardflow. We hope you enjoy using it! -- The App Makers @ Qrayon

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Arrette Sketch drafting tools at Free against Cardflow+ Mind Map Storyboard's $29.99. Arrette Sketch drafting tools also leads on iOS requirement (12.4 vs 15.6). Cardflow+ Mind Map Storyboard's advantage is rating (4.6 vs 3.4) and ads (none vs shown). On 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Arrette Sketch drafting tools is free to download; Cardflow+ Mind Map Storyboard costs $29.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Cardflow+ Mind Map Storyboard holds the better App Store score, 4.6 against 3.4. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Cardflow+ Mind Map Storyboard has 1.5K ratings behind it against 9, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 56% of Arrette Sketch drafting tools's written reviews are positive against 70% of Cardflow+ Mind Map Storyboard's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Arrette Sketch drafting tools ships an update every 3 months, Cardflow+ Mind Map Storyboard every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on November 1, 2026 and November 9, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard8 real differences · 2 level
Arrette Sketch drafting tools versus Cardflow+ Mind Map Storyboard: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterArrette Sketch drafting toolsCardflow+ Mind Map Storyboard
PriceFree — better$29.99
Rating3.4 (9 ratings)4.6 (1.5K ratings) — better
Positive reviews55.6% of reviews69.5% of reviews — better
Number of ratings91.5K — better
Update frequencyEvery 3 monthsEvery 3 weeks — better
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationAd-supported — betterPaid
DevicesiPadiPad
Requires iOS12.4 — better15.6
Further details — not scored
Size53 MB22 MB
Age rating4+17+
DeveloperArrette, Inc.Qrayon, LLC

Customer experience

Arrette Sketch drafting tools

All ratings9 ratings
Positive55.6%
Neutral22.2%
Negative22.2%
Written reviews9 reviews
Positive55.6%
Neutral0.0%
Negative44.4%

Cardflow+ Mind Map Storyboard

All ratings1,473 ratings
Positive90.1%
Neutral4.6%
Negative5.3%
Written reviews256 reviews
Positive69.5%
Neutral11.7%
Negative18.8%

Bugs and requests

Arrette Sketch drafting tools

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

Cardflow+ Mind Map Storyboard

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Cards randomly losing content
  • Exporting issues with images and links
  • Inconsistent behavior when flipping cards

Requested features

6 requests
  • Add a study/quiz mode for flashcards
  • Improve syncing and cloud integration
  • Allow multiple images per card
  • Provide more customization options for text and formatting
  • Implement a highlighter tool separate from the pen
Show 1 more
  • Add the ability to lock or protect boards

In-app purchases

None

Arrette Sketch drafting tools

No in-app purchases

None

Cardflow+ Mind Map Storyboard

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Arrette Sketch drafting tools free?
Arrette Sketch drafting tools is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Cardflow+ Mind Map Storyboard free?
Cardflow+ Mind Map Storyboard costs $29.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Arrette Sketch drafting tools or Cardflow+ Mind Map Storyboard?
Cardflow+ Mind Map Storyboard is rated higher. Arrette Sketch drafting tools averages 3.4 out of 5 from 9 ratings, while Cardflow+ Mind Map Storyboard averages 4.6 from 1.5K ratings.
Do Arrette Sketch drafting tools or Cardflow+ Mind Map Storyboard have ads?
Arrette Sketch drafting tools shows ads; Cardflow+ Mind Map Storyboard does not.
Which is updated more often, Arrette Sketch drafting tools or Cardflow+ Mind Map Storyboard?
Arrette Sketch drafting tools ships an update every 3 months, and Cardflow+ Mind Map Storyboard every 3 weeks. Most recently, Arrette Sketch drafting tools was updated on November 1, 2026 and Cardflow+ Mind Map Storyboard on November 9, 2026.

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