Comparison

Sketchbook® vs Clip Studio Paint for iPhone

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

Head to head
About

Sketchbook®

This app provides a professional-grade drawing and painting experience for artists and illustrators. It offers a natural drawing feel with customizable tools, layers, and guides for precision. Unlock advanced features like custom brushes and canvas resizing with an optional premium purchase.

Highlights
  • Full complement of brush types
  • Highly customizable brushes
  • Guides, rulers, and stroke tools
  • Layers with blend modes
  • Clean and unobtrusive interface
  • Custom brush creation (premium)
  • Canvas resizing (premium)
Read full description

From quick sketches to fully finished artwork, Sketchbook goes where your creativity takes you. Sketchbook is an award-winning sketching, painting, and drawing app for anyone who loves to draw. Artists and illustrators love Sketchbook for its professional-grade feature set and highly customizable tools. Everyone loves Sketchbook for its elegant interface and natural drawing experience, free of distractions so you can focus on capturing and expressing your ideas. • A full complement of brush types: pencils markers, airbrushes, smear and more that look and feel just like their physical counterparts • Brushes are highly customizable so you can create just the look you want • Guides, rulers and stroke tools support precision when you need it • Layers with a full complement of blend modes deliver the flexibility to build up and explore drawings and color • Purpose-built for sketching, the interface is clean and unobtrusive so you can focus on drawing Purchase the Premium Bundle to unlock more... • Import and export brushes • Create your own custom brushes • Resize your canvas or image • Set canvas resolution in px/inch or px/cm • Clipping masks • Time-lapse recording: choose fixed canvas view or show pan/zoom navigation • Additional layer adjustments including blur, sharpen, brightness/contrast, greyscale, and invert • Additional color harmonies • Additional custom gradients • Select color from reference images • Extract color palettes from images • Import and export color palettes • Layer grouping • Layer masking Blend Modes • Draw Outline tool • Lasso Fill tool • Export to PDF • plus more to come!

About

Clip Studio Paint for iPhone

Create professional-quality digital art, comics, and animations with a vast array of brushes, materials, and editing tools. Offers features for beginners and pros, including 3D models for reference and advanced layer management.

Highlights
  • Unlimited brushes with realistic textures
  • Vast library of artist-made materials
  • Advanced coloring tools with Shading Assist
  • 3D models for anatomy and perspective reference
  • Comprehensive comic creation tools
  • Professional animation features
  • Non-destructive editing and layer management
Read full description

Draw with unlimited features for free for 30 hours monthly with no ads! Now with new, powerful features! Clip Studio Paint makes drawing a piece of cake, in any style! Whether you are a beginner or a pro, Clip Studio Paint will improve every aspect of your art experience, while helping you grow as an artist. Unlimited amount of brushes at your fingertips to recreate any style - Use brushes with the same textures as real art materials - Adjust details such as brush shape and paper quality to your liking - Make unique colors with realistic color mixing, like traditional paints - Draw with transparency to erase, so no need to switch brushes Countless artist-made materials - Level up your art with free materials, for backgrounds and more - Discover community-made brushes from creators worldwide - Add details with materials like frills and more Coloring made easy - Easily color even with line gaps using the magnetic lasso tool - Lock transparency to paint over layers without affecting other areas - Set light source and shadow position with Shading Assist - Instantly reference and apply colors from an image to your art using Color Match - Enhance your art with filters like Chromatic Aberration, Retro Film, Pencil, and more Learn alongside other creators - Loads of official tutorials and creator tips available - Watch tutorials on the Clip Studio Paint YouTube channel, for step-by-step advice - Ask questions on the Clip Studio Ask community Create the perfect reference with 3D models - Use 3D drawing figures to help out your anatomy - Customize character face and body models with beginner-friendly tools - Attach 3D objects like hats and shoes to characters for more specific references - Use 3D shapes to draw perspective Adjust after you draw - Liquify to make adjustments to the balance of your illustrations - Mesh Transformation allows you to transform to different shapes - Change up the poses of your character drawings with Puppet warp - Non-destructive color adjustment layers to get your art just right - Gradient maps give color to your grayscale illustrations Stress-free layer features - Assign colors and make multiple columns of layers to browse them at a glance - Enjoy the freedom of masking and clipping on multiple layers to edit and move your work - Add various effects to apply to the layer in a non-destructive way The ultimate comic creation app - All the tools you need for comic creation, from sketches to finishing touches - Panel frames, speech balloons, text, effect lines, and screen tones in an instant - Make high-resolution print data (6 GB+ memory recommended) - Manage multi-page projects Professional animation, on any device - Use all the same tools as animation studios - Unique features allow you to draw your frames as you like - Expand your drawings to 4K resolution without losing quality by saving it as vector data ●Grade features ・FREE: 30 hours/month ・PRO: All the tools you need to create stunning illustrations & short animations ・EX: All the above + multi-page functionality for comic/manga artists and unlimited animation frames *Clip Studio account needed to buy a plan. ● Target Devices and Specifications ・Minimum free storage space: 3GB, 4GB recommended ・Recommended display size: 5.5"+ Please see the following for supported devices. https://support.clip-studio.com/en-us/faq/articles/20200154 You can use the app fully for free for up to 30 hours each month. After this free period has ended, please purchase a plan to: - Save your canvas - Export your data in various file formats on iPhone and more Smartphone plan: PRO: US$0.99 per month, get an annual plan for up to 5 months' worth of savings! EX: US$2.49 per month, get an annual plan for up to 5 months' worth of savings! Clip Studio Paint End User License Agreement https://www.celsys.com/en/information/csp/ https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

Screenshots

Sketchbook®4 screens
Clip Studio Paint for iPhone4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Sketchbook® at 77% against Clip Studio Paint for iPhone's 36%. Sketchbook® also leads on rating (4.8 vs 4.4) and ratings volume (221K vs 1.8K). Clip Studio Paint for iPhone's advantage is update cadence (every 3 weeks vs every 2 months). On price, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model 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. Sketchbook® sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and Clip Studio Paint for iPhone sells 11 in-app purchases, starting at $0.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Sketchbook® holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 4.4. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Sketchbook® has 221K ratings behind it against 1.8K, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 77% of Sketchbook®'s written reviews are positive against 36% of Clip Studio Paint for iPhone's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Sketchbook® ships an update every 2 months, Clip Studio Paint for iPhone every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on November 1, 2026 and October 29, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard7 real differences · 4 level
Sketchbook® versus Clip Studio Paint for iPhone: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterSketchbook®Clip Studio Paint for iPhone
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.8 (221K ratings) — better4.4 (1.8K ratings)
Positive reviews76.6% of reviews — better35.7% of reviews
Number of ratings221K — better1.8K
Update frequencyEvery 2 monthsEvery 3 weeks — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
Best chart rank#36 — better#114
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone
Requires iOS15 — better18.0
Further details — not scored
Size144 MB561 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperSketchbook, Inc.CELSYS,Inc.

Customer experience

Sketchbook®

All ratings220,588 ratings
Positive95.8%
Neutral2.4%
Negative1.8%
Written reviews1,733 reviews
Positive76.6%
Neutral7.1%
Negative16.3%

Clip Studio Paint for iPhone

All ratings1,811 ratings
Positive84.3%
Neutral4.5%
Negative11.3%
Written reviews378 reviews
Positive35.7%
Neutral16.9%
Negative47.4%

User reviews

Sketchbook®

From 221K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Amazing, free, and no ads
  • 👍 Lots of brushes and customization options
  • 👍 Intuitive and easy to use
  • 👍 Great for beginners and professionals
  • 👍 Smooth performance and no lag

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Occasional freezing and crashing issues
  • 🐛 Blurry or corrupted images when saving or copying
  • 🐛 Glitches with color selection and layers
  • 🐛 Inability to rotate canvas or access gallery easily
  • 🐛 Lack of blurring and clipping mask tools

Clip Studio Paint for iPhone

From 1.8K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🎨 Great for digital art
  • 👍 Smooth drawing experience
  • 💡 Useful 3D model integration
  • 🎨 Powerful drawing tools

Room to improve

  • ⏱️ Restrictive time limit for free users
  • 💰 Expensive subscription model
  • 🤔 Confusing user interface
  • 🐛 Frequent crashes and bugs

Bugs and requests

Sketchbook®

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Layers randomly deleted or corrupted
  • Freezing when using certain tools like the eyedropper
  • Saving issues leading to loss of progress
  • Incompatibility with newer iPad Pro devices

Requested features

7 requests
  • Add blurring and clipping mask tools
  • Improve gallery and canvas rotation functionality
  • Allow custom font import
  • Add effects like glow, stroke, and drop shadow
  • Implement layer grouping and organization
Show 2 more
  • Add real-time collaboration features
  • Improve time-lapse recording and saving

Clip Studio Paint for iPhone

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Login and account issues
  • Unresponsive brushes and tools
  • Inability to access purchased content
  • Drawings not saving properly

Requested features

4 requests
  • Ability to save and continue drawings across sessions
  • More free brushes and tools
  • Improved mobile optimization
  • Perpetual license option for mobile

In-app purchases

1 purchases

Sketchbook®

One-time1
  • Premium Bundle$2.99
11 purchases

Clip Studio Paint for iPhone

Subscriptions11
  • PRO Monthly Smartphone Plan$0.991 Month
  • EX Monthly Smartphone Plan$2.491 Month
  • PRO Monthly Single-Device Plan3 Days trial$4.891 Month
Show 8 more
  • PRO Monthly Single-Device Plan3 Months trial$4.891 Month
  • PRO Monthly Dual-Device Plan3 Days trial$7.991 Month
  • PRO Monthly Dual-Device Plan3 Months trial$7.991 Month
  • PRO Monthly Premium Plan3 Months trial$9.491 Month
  • EX Monthly Single-Device Plan3 Days trial$9.691 Month
  • EX Monthly Single-Device Plan3 Months trial$9.691 Month
  • EX Monthly Dual-Device Plan3 Days trial$13.491 Month
  • EX Monthly Dual-Device Plan3 Months trial$13.491 Month

Questions

Is Sketchbook® free?
Sketchbook® is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Clip Studio Paint for iPhone free?
Clip Studio Paint for iPhone is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Sketchbook® or Clip Studio Paint for iPhone?
Sketchbook® is rated higher. Sketchbook® averages 4.8 out of 5 from 221K ratings, while Clip Studio Paint for iPhone averages 4.4 from 1.8K ratings.
Do Sketchbook® or Clip Studio Paint for iPhone have ads?
Neither Sketchbook® nor Clip Studio Paint for iPhone shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Sketchbook® or Clip Studio Paint for iPhone?
Sketchbook® ships an update every 2 months, and Clip Studio Paint for iPhone every 3 weeks. Most recently, Sketchbook® was updated on November 1, 2026 and Clip Studio Paint for iPhone on October 29, 2026.
Which is more popular, Sketchbook® or Clip Studio Paint for iPhone?
Sketchbook® currently peaks at #36 in the App Store charts, and Clip Studio Paint for iPhone at #114. Chart position reflects recent download velocity rather than total install base.

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