Brushes Redux vs Paint book
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Brushes Redux
This app offers a powerful and responsive painting experience on iOS devices. Create large, detailed artwork with a versatile brush engine, layer management, and import/export options. Relive your creative process with step-by-step playback.
- OpenGL-based painting engine
- Record and replay paintings
- Up to 10 layers
- Import/export JPEG, PNG, PSD
- Simulated pressure
- Unlimited undo/redo
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Brushes Redux is a painting app designed exclusively for iOS. Rewritten from the ground up, Brushes Redux is universal — the same version runs on both your iPhone and your iPad. Move paintings between your devices and keep working wherever you go. An accelerated OpenGL-based painting engine makes painting smooth and responsive — even with huge brush sizes. Brushes also records every step in your painting. Show off your creative process by replaying your paintings directly on your device. General Features: – Create paintings with dimensions up to 4096x4096 – Full support for all Retina devices – Background autosave – Unlimited undo and redo – Simple and approachable interface Painting: – Full screen painting – Record and replay paintings – Ultrafast OpenGL-based painting engine – Huge brush sizes up to 512x512 pixels – Simulated pressure – 64-bit painting on the latest hardware – 14 parameterized brush shapes – Adjustable brush settings (spacing, jitter, scatter, etc.) – Adjustable color opacity – Invert color and desaturate – Flip and arbitrarily transform layers – Adjustable color balance (iPad only) – Adjustable hue, saturation and brightness (iPad only) Layers: – Create up to 10 layers – Lock and hide layers – Lock layer transparency – Adjust layer opacity – Duplicate, rearrange, and merge layers – Change blending modes: normal, multiply, screen, exclude Import and Export: – Integrated with Dropbox – Import native Brushes 3 files, JPEG, and PNG files – Export as native Brushes 3 files, JPEG, PNG, and Photoshop files (with layers) – Place images from your photo album into paintings – Copy paintings to the pasteboard Gestures: – Zoom with two finger pinch – Zoom in with two finger double tap – Zoom to fit with two finger double tap – Toggle interface visibility with a single tap (this can be changed to a two finger tap in the app settings) – Tap and hold to access eyedropper tool Screenshot credit: "Portrait of Ally" by John Bavaro (http://johnbavaro.com)
Paint book
Unleash your creativity with this drawing app designed for beginners and enthusiasts alike. It offers a user-friendly interface with essential tools like brushes, layers, and an eraser. Explore a variety of avatars and sketches for inspiration while you draw.
- Artboard and multiple brushes
- Layer support
- Eraser modification
- Color adjustment
- Avatar and sketch resources
- Free creative graffiti
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Paint book is a super cute drawing app for novice drawing lovers. The interface is concise and the operation is convenient, both professionals and painting enthusiasts can easily use it. • Full-featured: artboard, multiple brushes, layers, eraser modification, color adjustment, easy to use. • Drawing resources: There are a lot of avatars and sketches for reference, which are interesting and effective. • Full of creativity: support free creative graffiti and unleash unlimited creativity. Paint book welcomes your valuable suggestions and hopes to make progress with you. When confirming the purchase, a deduction will be made from your Apple ID account. Unless you cancel the subscription at least 24 hours before the end of the current subscription period, the subscription will automatically renew. The system will deduct the renewal fee from your account within 24 hours before the end of the current subscription period. If the subscription is not cancelled during the trial period, the unused trial duration will be automatically invalidated after purchasing the subscription. After completing the purchase, you can go to the account settings in the App Store to manage and cancel your subscription. Service Terms: https://suixiang2022.github.io/posts/suixiang/fuwu Privacy terms: https://suixiang2022.github.io/posts/suixiang/privacy
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: Paint book at 4.3 against Brushes Redux's 3.6. Paint book also leads on update cadence (fortnightly vs every 9 months). Brushes Redux's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 2) and ads (none vs shown). On price, review sentiment, ratings volume 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
Both are free to download. Paint book sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per 3 months. Brushes Redux asks for nothing beyond the download.
Paint book holds the better App Store score, 4.3 against 3.6. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 303 and 178 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 63% of Brushes Redux's written reviews are positive against 67% of Paint book's.
Brushes Redux ships an update every 9 months, Paint book fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on November 1, 2026 and November 3, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Brushes Redux | Paint book |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 3.6 (303 ratings) | 4.3 (178 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 62.8% of reviews | 66.7% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 303 — better | 178 |
| Update frequency | Every 9 months | Fortnightly — better |
| Ads | No — better | Yes |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | Paid | Free with in-app purchases — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 8.0 — better | 15.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 15 MB | 33 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Christoffer Hoel | 随香 林 |
Customer experience
Brushes Redux
Paint book
Bugs and requests
Brushes Redux
Reported bugs
4 issues- Drawings disappearing or unable to open
- Color picker issues causing unintended color changes
- Dropbox integration problems
- Compatibility issues with newer iOS versions
Requested features
6 requests- Add blending tool
- Increase layer limit
- Implement video export
- Add text tool
- Improve Apple Pencil support
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- Add color stabilizer
Paint book
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Brushes Redux
No in-app purchases
Paint book
- Vip three months3 Days trial$2.993 Months
- Pro Version$2.99
Questions
Is Brushes Redux free?
Is Paint book free?
Which has better reviews, Brushes Redux or Paint book?
Do Brushes Redux or Paint book have ads?
Which is updated more often, Brushes Redux or Paint book?
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