Procreate Pocket vs Clip Studio Paint for iPhone
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Procreate Pocket
Create expressive sketches, rich paintings, and beautiful illustrations on your iPhone. This app offers a complete art studio with hundreds of brushes, advanced layering, and powerful design tools.
- Hundreds of handmade brushes
- Advanced layer system
- High resolution canvases
- Revolutionary QuickShape feature
- Frame-by-frame animation
- Customizable brush studio
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App of the Year winner Procreate Pocket is the most feature-packed and versatile art app ever designed for iPhone. Procreate Pocket has everything you need to create expressive sketches, rich paintings, gorgeous illustrations, and beautiful animations. Offering hundreds of handmade brushes, a suite of intuitive artistic tools, an advanced layer system, and the powerful Valkyrie graphics engine. Work on the couch, on the train, at the beach, or while waiting in line for coffee. It’s a complete art studio in the palm of your hand. Highlights: • High resolution canvases — up to 16k by 4k on compatible devices • Intuitive Dark Mode interface made for iPhone • Revolutionary QuickShape feature for perfect shapes • Smooth and responsive smudge sampling • Powered by Valkyrie, the lightning-fast 64-bit painting engine • Create art in stunning 64-bit color • 250 levels of undo and redo • Continuous auto-save — never lose work again Breakthrough brushes: • Packed with 100s of beautifully crafted brushes • Brush sets keep your painting, sketching, and drawing brushes organized • Over 100 customizable settings for every brush • Brush Studio — design custom brushes • Import and export custom Procreate brushes • Import Adobe® Photoshop® brushes, and run them faster than Photoshop® Full-featured layering system: • Layer your art for precise control over details and composition • Create Layer and Clipping Masks for non-destructive editing • Stay organized by combining layers into groups • Transform objects simultaneously across multiple layers • Access over 25 layer blend modes for industry-grade compositing Color without compromise: • Fill your line work with ColorDrop • Disc, Classic, Harmony, Value, and Palette color panels • Import color profiles for color matching • Assign Color Dynamics to any brush Precision design tools: • Add vector text to your illustrations • Easily import all your favorite fonts • Crop and resize your canvas for perfect composition • Perspective, isometric, 2D, and symmetry visual guides • Drawing Assist perfects your strokes in real time • StreamLine smooths your strokes for beautiful lettering and expert inking Animation Assist: • Easy frame-by-frame animation with customizable onion skinning • Create storyboards, GIFs, animatics, and simple animations • Export your animations in the full resolution of your canvas Dramatic finishing effects: • Gradient Map — remap your image’s colors with a customizable gradient • Glitch, Chromatic Aberration, Glow, and Halftone to add new dimensions to your work • Gaussian and Motion Blur filters for depth and movement, or use Sharpen for perfect clarity • Advanced Noise filter gives you more control for a classic, retro look • Adjust Hue, Saturation, or Brightness in real time • Powerful image adjustments including Color Balance, Curves, and HSB • Bring your art to life with the fun, intuitive, and creative Warp, Symmetry, and Liquify Dynamics Time-lapse replay: • Relive your creative journey with Procreate's celebrated Time-lapse Replay • Export your Time-lapse recording in 4K for high-end video production • Share a short, 30-second version of your Time-lapse on your socials Reference Companion: • Keep a full canvas or reference image with you at all times • Paint on your face with AR • Color-pick right from the reference window Import assets and share your creations: • Import or export your art as Adobe® Photoshop® PSD files • Import Adobe® ASE and ACO Color Palettes • Import images files such as JPG, PNG, and TIFF • Drag and drop artworks, brushes, palettes, and fonts between applications• Export to AirDrop, iCloud Drive, Photos, iTunes, Dropbox, Google Drive, Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), Instagram, TikTok, Weibo, Mail, and more • Share your art as PDF, JPEG, PNG, TIFF, GIF, HEVC, or MP4 files
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.
- 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
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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
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: Clip Studio Paint for iPhone at Free against Procreate Pocket's $5.99. Clip Studio Paint for iPhone also leads on rating (4.4 vs 3.8) and update cadence (every 3 weeks vs every 3 months). Procreate Pocket's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 11) and review sentiment (61% vs 35%). On ads 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
Clip Studio Paint for iPhone is free to download; Procreate Pocket costs $5.99 up front. Clip Studio Paint for iPhone sells 11 in-app purchases, starting at $0.99 per month. Procreate Pocket asks for nothing beyond the download.
Clip Studio Paint for iPhone holds the better App Store score, 4.4 against 3.8. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Procreate Pocket has 13K ratings behind it against 1.7K, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 61% of Procreate Pocket's written reviews are positive against 35% of Clip Studio Paint for iPhone's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.
Procreate Pocket ships an update every 3 months, Clip Studio Paint for iPhone every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on September 25, 2026 and September 23, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Procreate Pocket | Clip Studio Paint for iPhone |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $5.99 | Free — better |
| Rating | 3.8 (13K ratings) | 4.4 (1.7K ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 61.1% of reviews — better | 34.9% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 13K — better | 1.7K |
| Update frequency | Every 3 months | Every 3 weeks — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | Paid | Free with in-app purchases — better |
| Best chart rank | #1 — better | #120 |
| Devices | iPhone, iPod — better | iPhone |
| Requires iOS | 15.4.1 — better | 18.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 372 MB | 560 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Savage Interactive Pty Ltd | CELSYS,Inc. |
Customer experience
Procreate Pocket
Clip Studio Paint for iPhone
User reviews
Procreate Pocket
From 13K App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🚀 Excellent drawing app for iPhone
- 👍 Customizable brushes and palettes
- 👍 Convenient for on-the-go sketching
- 👍 Affordable price point
- 👍 Seamless integration with iPad version
Room to improve
- 🐛 Frequent crashes and bugs
- 🔍 Limited features compared to iPad version
- 🔍 Lack of undo/redo buttons
- 🔍 Pixelated output when transforming layers
- 🔍 Difficult to draw precise lines and shapes
Clip Studio Paint for iPhone
From 1.7K App Store ratingsWhat 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
Procreate Pocket
Reported bugs
4 issues- Imported images/brushes not showing up
- Layers merging unexpectedly
- Color issues when tracing or filling
- Navigation bar disappearing during use
Requested features
5 requests- Add blending and smudge tools
- Increase layer limit and canvas size
- Implement dark mode option
- Add text and fill tools
- Improve undo/redo functionality
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
Procreate Pocket
No in-app purchases
Clip Studio Paint for iPhone
- PRO Monthly Smartphone Plan$0.991 Month
- EX Monthly Smartphone Plan$2.491 Month
- PRO Monthly Single-Device Plan3 Days trial$4.891 Month
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- 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 Procreate Pocket free?
Is Clip Studio Paint for iPhone free?
Which has better reviews, Procreate Pocket or Clip Studio Paint for iPhone?
Do Procreate Pocket or Clip Studio Paint for iPhone have ads?
Which is updated more often, Procreate Pocket or Clip Studio Paint for iPhone?
Which is more popular, Procreate Pocket or Clip Studio Paint for iPhone?
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