PainterTool vs A Starting Point
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
PainterTool
This app helps artists of all levels improve their drawing skills by comparing their work to reference photos. It offers tools like customizable grids and transparent overlays to assist with proportions, colors, and shading throughout the creative process.
- Reference photo comparison
- Customizable grid overlay
- Transparent overlay
- Real-time color and shading comparison
- Progress video creation
- Automatic photo saving
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Master the art of drawing with PainterTool - the ultimate learning companion for artists of all levels. Take a photo as your reference model, create your sketch, then use PainterTool to compare your work with the original. Adjust and refine until you achieve perfection. Perfect for beginners learning to draw, students developing their skills, and professionals seeking precise proportions. Practice with photos of friends, from the internet, or magazines. As your skills grow, you'll draw longer before comparing, eventually creating art without any digital assistance. Professional artists, illustrators, sculptors, designers, and art students use PainterTool for exact proportions before applying their unique style and materials. Unlike simple image projection, PainterTool works throughout your entire creative process, helping you compare colors, shading, and expressions in real-time. Add a customizable grid overlay for methodical square-by-square drawing, or work freely with the transparent overlay. All your model and artwork photos are automatically saved to your Photos app for easy sharing. You can also create and share video of your progress. Transform your drawing skills with PainterTool - where digital precision meets artistic creativity. PainterTool is a rare app that will let you use a digital tool to create a physical object. Terms of use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/
A Starting Point
This app provides a bipartisan platform for Americans to communicate with their elected officials. It offers concise, video-based explanations of current issues to foster a more informed electorate.
- Bipartisan communication channel
- Connect with elected leaders
- Video-based issue explanations
- Understand issues in under 2 minutes
- Informed electorate creation
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A Starting Point is a civic engagement app that creates a clear and bipartisan channel of communication and connectivity between Americans and their elected leaders. The video-based platform helps voters better understand the issues of the day in less than two minutes. Our goal is to create a more informed electorate.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: A Starting Point at Free against PainterTool's $0.99. A Starting Point also leads on in-app purchases (none vs 1) and ads (none vs shown). On review sentiment, update cadence 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
A Starting Point is free to download; PainterTool costs $0.99 up front. PainterTool sells 1 in-app purchase, starting at $1.99 per 3 months. A Starting Point asks for nothing beyond the download.
A Starting Point holds the better App Store score, 4.9 against 4.5. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: A Starting Point has 757 ratings behind it against 2, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 100% of PainterTool's written reviews are positive against 95% of A Starting Point's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.
PainterTool ships an update every 3 weeks, A Starting Point every 5 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 16, 2026 and October 22, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | PainterTool | A Starting Point |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $0.99 | Free — better |
| Rating | 4.5 (2 ratings) | 4.9 (757 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 100.0% of reviews — better | 95.3% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 2 | 757 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 3 weeks — better | Every 5 weeks |
| Ads | Yes | No — better |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Paid | Ad-supported — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 15.6 | 12.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 39 MB | 38 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 12+ |
| Developer | Demagic AB | A Starting Point Llc |
Customer experience
PainterTool
A Starting Point
Bugs and requests
PainterTool
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
A Starting Point
Reported bugs
2 issues- Login screen not functioning properly
- Video playback issues and stuttering
Requested features
4 requests- Add dark mode option
- Implement a way for users to submit questions
- Provide a filter to view content by home state
- Expand the range of topics and issues covered
In-app purchases
PainterTool
- PainterTool$1.993 Months
A Starting Point
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is PainterTool free?
Is A Starting Point free?
Which has better reviews, PainterTool or A Starting Point?
Do PainterTool or A Starting Point have ads?
Which is updated more often, PainterTool or A Starting Point?
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