# Sketchbook® vs RoughAnimator

The clearest difference is price: Sketchbook® at Free against RoughAnimator's $7.99. Sketchbook® also leads on ratings volume (221K vs 3K). RoughAnimator's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 1) and update cadence (fortnightly vs every 2 months). On rating, review sentiment, ads and device support there is nothing between them.

Sketchbook® is free to download; RoughAnimator costs $7.99 up front. Sketchbook® sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. RoughAnimator asks for nothing beyond the download.

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.8 for Sketchbook® against 4.6 for RoughAnimator. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Sketchbook® has 221K ratings behind it against 3K, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 77% of Sketchbook®'s written reviews are positive against 79% of RoughAnimator's.

Sketchbook® ships an update every 2 months, RoughAnimator fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on November 4, 2026 and November 1, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | Sketchbook® | RoughAnimator |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | **Free** | $7.99 |
| Rating | **[4.8 (221K ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/sketchbook/id883738213/reviews)** | [4.6 (3K ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/roughanimator-animation-app/id954718244/reviews) |
| Number of ratings | **221K** | 3K |
| Positive reviews | 76.6% of reviews | **78.6% of reviews** |
| In-app purchases | Yes | **No** |
| Ads | No | No |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months | **Fortnightly** |
| Monetization | **Free with in-app purchases** | Paid |
| Best chart rank | #38 | **#8** |
| Size | 144 MB | 31 MB |
| Requires iOS | 15 | **13** |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | [Sketchbook, Inc.](https://appshunter.io/developer/1569383806) | [Jacob KAFKA](https://appshunter.io/developer/954718243) |

## What reviewers say

### Sketchbook®

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/sketchbook/id883738213)

**Currently charting:** #38 Top Free · Graphics & Design (US App Store)

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)

**In-app purchases (1)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Premium Bundle | $2.99 | one-time |

**What reviewers like**

- 🚀 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

**What reviewers complain about**

- 🐛 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

**Reported bugs**

- 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**

- 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


### RoughAnimator

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/roughanimator-animation-app/id954718244)

**Currently charting:** #8 Top Paid · Graphics & Design (US App Store)

Create traditional hand-drawn, frame-by-frame animations on your iPad. This app offers professional-grade tools like unlimited layers, onion skinning, and audio import, making it suitable for both beginners and experienced animators. Export your work in various formats or import it into professional animation software.

**Highlights:** Timeline with unlimited layers, Onion skinning, Audio and video import, Custom brushes, Apple Pencil support, Export to video, GIF, image sequence, Import to professional software

**In-app purchases:** none

**What reviewers like**

- 👍 Easy to use
- 🚀 Smooth animation
- 💡 Useful features like camera and audio
- 👍 Intuitive interface
- 👍 Great for beginners

**What reviewers complain about**

- 🐛 Crashes when importing video/audio
- 🐛 Laggy performance with larger projects
- 🐛 Pixelated/blurry drawings when playing animation
- 🐛 Onion skin not working
- 🐛 Brush issues like splotchy lines

**Reported bugs**

- Crashes when importing audio
- Onion skin not working
- Pixelated drawings when playing animation
- Laggy performance with larger projects

**Requested features**

- Add transparency support for exports
- Implement a text tool
- Provide more brush options and customization
- Add a ruler/shape tool
- Improve audio handling (record, import, sync)


## Frequently asked questions

### Is Sketchbook® free?

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

### Is RoughAnimator free?

RoughAnimator costs $7.99, with no in-app purchases.

### Which has better reviews, Sketchbook® or RoughAnimator?

Sketchbook® is rated higher. Sketchbook® averages 4.8 out of 5 from 221K ratings, while RoughAnimator averages 4.6 from 3K ratings.

### Do Sketchbook® or RoughAnimator have ads?

Neither Sketchbook® nor RoughAnimator shows ads.

### Which is updated more often, Sketchbook® or RoughAnimator?

Sketchbook® ships an update every 2 months, and RoughAnimator fortnightly. Most recently, Sketchbook® was updated on November 4, 2026 and RoughAnimator on November 1, 2026.

### Which is more popular, Sketchbook® or RoughAnimator?

Sketchbook® currently peaks at #38 in the App Store charts, and RoughAnimator at #8. Chart position reflects recent download velocity rather than total install base.

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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.*