Comparison

Comic Draw by plasq vs Artist Lightbox

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

Head to head
About

Comic Draw by plasq

Create and view comics on your iPad with a comprehensive set of tools. Features include brushes, fonts, layers, and perspective guides. An in-app purchase unlocks full editing capabilities.

Highlights
  • Comic creation and viewing
  • 34 bundled brushes
  • 130+ bundled comic fonts
  • Layer support
  • Perspective guides
  • Comic lettering tools
  • In-app purchase for full editing
Features
Read full description

"I've only had it for a day but it is by far my favorite app on my iPad Pro. It is the app I have been waiting for. Thank you!" - Alex Ogle, Comic Book Artist. View and create awesome comics right on your iPad! Comic Draw comes with everything you need: brushes, fonts and tools to make reading & creating cartoons and comics easy and fun! While the basic app allows viewing and sharing of Comic Draw comics, an In-App Purchase unlocks the full editing capabilities. Start with a comic or cartoon template and get creating today! • Comic Viewer Feature Highlights - Optimized for iPad Pro - Integrated fullscreen comic reader - Import and Export Comic Draw files • Comic Editor Feature Highlights - Optimized for iPad Pro and Apple Pencil - Supports Adonit & Wacom pressure sensitive styluses - Standard comic and cartoon templates - 34 bundled brushes - 130+ bundled comic fonts - Layers and layer groups - 1, 2 & 3 point and isometric perspective guides - Fast and easy comic lettering - Auto-save enabled - never lose your artwork - Integrated publishing system • Brushes - 34 bundled brushes - Textures and screentones - Lots of customization options - Easy favoriting system - Import and export brushes for fast sharing • Layers - Build up your artwork with layers - Layer groups help separate your stages of work - Lock, hide and merge layers as you go - Layer blend modes for advanced effects - Clipping and masking modes • Color - Create custom color palettes - Multiple bundled palettes including a classic comic color palette - Fast color blocking with automatic edge detection from higher layers - Quick shade adjustment slider - Canvas color sampling • Perspective Guides - 1, 2 and 3 point guides available - Multiple guides per page - Automatic perspective snap of strokes, lines, rectangles and ovals - Simple guide calibration from reference photo or sketch • Selection and Masking - Copy, flip, distort and filter selected areas - Filters include hue, saturation, brightness, recolor, background exclusion and foreground selection. - Mask regions for safe painting • Lettering - 130+ bundled fonts - Advanced balloon support including extension balloons - Sophisticated lettering controls including warping and 3D effects - Advanced style system for consistent fonts and graphic design across multiple pages • Script Editor - Full comic script editor included - Automatic keyword recognition - Drag and drop lettering elements from the script to comic page • Sketchpad - Separate sketch area with simplified tools - Fast switching between sketch and final artwork - Lettering layer available for panel layout planning • Publishing & Sharing - Record video of your creative process - Upload to Comic Connect for fast and easy publishing - Import Comic Draw native format - Export as Comic Draw native format, PDF, ePub, JPG or PNG - Export to AirDrop, iCloud Drive, Photos, iTunes, email and many more

About

Artist Lightbox

Transform your device into a digital lightbox for tracing and transferring images. Adjust image contrast and saturation, lock your image in place, and use any photo from your camera roll. The app offers biometric security and a togglable toolbar for a seamless tracing experience.

Highlights
  • Image adjustments (contrast, saturation)
  • Lock image during tracing
  • Biometric security
  • Togglable toolbar
  • Image rotation
  • Use camera roll images
Read full description

Artist Lightbox is an app that makes your device into a lightbox! Trace images or even just use the white screen to use with transfer paper! Features: Image Adjustments Adjust the Contrast and Saturation of images. Lock Image Lock the image to keep from adjusting the image while you are tracing. Biometric Security Lock your image from loading until authenticated. Togglable Toolbar Triple tap the screen to hide and un-hide the toolbar. Image Rotation Easily rotate your images with a click of a button. Use Any Image Pick and use any image in your camera roll.

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Artist Lightbox at none against Comic Draw by plasq's 3. Artist Lightbox also leads on ads (none vs shown). Comic Draw by plasq's advantage is rating (4.1 vs 3.7) and ratings volume (754 vs 13). On price, update cadence, device support and iOS requirement 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. Comic Draw by plasq sells 2 one-off in-app purchases. Artist Lightbox asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Comic Draw by plasq holds the better App Store score, 4.1 against 3.7. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Comic Draw by plasq has 754 ratings behind it against 13, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 67% of Comic Draw by plasq's written reviews are positive against 50% of Artist Lightbox's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Comic Draw by plasq ships an update every 2 months, Artist Lightbox every 3 months. The most recent releases landed on November 6, 2026 and November 3, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 4 level
Comic Draw by plasq versus Artist Lightbox: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterComic Draw by plasqArtist Lightbox
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.1 (754 ratings) — better3.7 (13 ratings)
Positive reviews67.2% of reviews — better50.0% of reviews
Number of ratings754 — better13
Update frequencyEvery 2 months — betterEvery 3 months
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree — better
DevicesiPadiPad
Requires iOS11.011.0
Further details — not scored
Size240 MB10 MB
Age rating4+4+
Developerplasq LLCHayden Watson

Customer experience

Comic Draw by plasq

All ratings686 ratings
Positive80.8%
Neutral5.0%
Negative14.3%
Written reviews329 reviews
Positive67.2%
Neutral9.1%
Negative23.7%

Artist Lightbox

All ratings11 ratings
Positive72.7%
Neutral0.0%
Negative27.3%
Written reviews6 reviews
Positive50.0%
Neutral16.7%
Negative33.3%

Bugs and requests

Comic Draw by plasq

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Brush freehand tool not working with Apple Pencil
  • Layers getting misaligned when using undo
  • Crashes when trying to drag and zoom images
  • Saved comics disappearing after updates

Requested features

6 requests
  • Ability to import/export PSD files
  • More keyboard shortcuts and power user features
  • Improved color picker with RGB/CMYK/Hex support
  • Ability to work on double-page spreads
  • Masking/clipping tools for panels
Show 1 more
  • More default font options, especially non-Latin scripts

Artist Lightbox

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

2 purchases

Comic Draw by plasq

One-time2
  • Free Trial2 variantsFree
  • Unlock Full App$9.99
None

Artist Lightbox

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Comic Draw by plasq free?
Comic Draw by plasq is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Artist Lightbox free?
Artist Lightbox is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Comic Draw by plasq or Artist Lightbox?
Comic Draw by plasq is rated higher. Comic Draw by plasq averages 4.1 out of 5 from 754 ratings, while Artist Lightbox averages 3.7 from 13 ratings.
Do Comic Draw by plasq or Artist Lightbox have ads?
Comic Draw by plasq shows ads; Artist Lightbox does not.
Which is updated more often, Comic Draw by plasq or Artist Lightbox?
Comic Draw by plasq ships an update every 2 months, and Artist Lightbox every 3 months. Most recently, Comic Draw by plasq was updated on November 6, 2026 and Artist Lightbox on November 3, 2026.

Other comparisons