Comparison

RoughAnimator vs Adobe Illustrator

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

Head to head
About

RoughAnimator

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
Read full description

A fully featured hand drawn animation application for iPad. Made by an animator, for animators. Powerful enough for professionals, simple enough for beginners. Everything you need to create traditional hand drawn frame-by-frame animation, anywhere you go! Features: - Timeline with unlimited layers and easily adjustable exposure length of individual drawings, for pose-to-pose or straight-ahead animating - Onion skinning - Preview playback - Scrub along timeline - Import audio for lip syncing - Import video for rotoscoping animation - Custom brushes - Supports Apple Pencil, Logitech Crayon - Control framerate and resolution - Export animation to Quicktime video, GIF, or image sequence - RoughAnimator projects can be imported to Adobe Flash/Animate, After Effects, and Toon Boom Harmony - Also available on desktop See a short film animated with RoughAnimator: https://youtu.be/vaHuJNNPoMM

About

Adobe Illustrator

Create logos, illustrations, and graphics on your iPad with intuitive Apple Pencil support. Design vector art, manipulate type, and create patterns on the go, even offline. Seamlessly sync your work across devices and other Adobe apps.

Highlights
  • Vector drawing with Apple Pencil
  • Advanced typography tools
  • Pattern creation
  • Image vectorization
  • Cross-device syncing
  • Gradient and color tools
Read full description

Create logos, illustrations, graphics and more. Illustrator on the iPad works intuitively with your Apple Pencil so you can design on the go from anywhere, even offline - it’s never been easier to take your creativity to new places. Design with precision, as naturally as you would with pen and paper. Create vector lines, shapes, type, gradients, and effects. Merge or cut graphics with quick, intuitive Pencil gestures to remove unwanted areas. Make your graphics pop with effects, and access over 18,000 fonts, 20+ color palettes, up-to-the-minute live streams from famous creatives, and guided tutorials. Work on a project across Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop, and Fresco. Plus, your Illustrator work is automatically synced to the cloud, so you and your team can always access the latest version from your desktop or iPad. This app is part of Adobe Creative Cloud. It’s free for Creative Cloud members who have a plan that includes Illustrator. INTUITIVE AND PRECISE DRAWING WITH APPLE PENCIL • Natural ways to draw — Make lines and curves using the Pen, Pencil, and Brush tools • Art and Calligraphic Brushes — Create and apply brush strokes to add artistic elements to your artwork. • Pinpoint editing — Create perfect graphics without quality loss with Smart Delete, Simplify Path, and more • Point precision — Edit graphics down to the point, radius, or angle level NEW WAYS TO MAKE STUNNING PATTERNS AND SHAPES • Vectorize — Convert raster images or paper sketches into vector images. • Radial, grid, and mirror repeat — Turn graphics into sophisticated patterns • Polygon shape creation — Make objects out of circles, triangles, squares, and stars • Transform as Shape — Transform paths and curves without manual manipulation of anchor points. • Blend Tool — Smoothly blend one shape into another across a specified number of steps. THE MOST COMPREHENSIVE TYPE TOOLKIT FOR IPAD • 18,000+ fonts — Use one of the thousands of high-quality fonts included in the Adobe Fonts library • Fonts of your own — Upload and design with any of your own licensed fonts and use them on both desktop and iPad • Type on a path — Bend and flow text onto the surface of lines and shapes • Outlined text — Turn text into an editable format that can be modified without limits • Variable fonts — They’re infinitely customizable • Color fonts — Explore gorgeous color variations and gradients that are built into the font BRILLIANT COLORS AND GRADIENTS • Point gradients — Drag and drop colors to create dynamic blends of diffused colors • 20+ color books — Use industry-standard color swatches or incorporate your own SEAMLESS MOVEMENT BETWEEN DEVICES AND APPS • File syncing between Illustrator on the desktop and on the iPad — Projects are automatically synced and accessible across devices • Photoshop import — Easily place a Photoshop image into your Illustrator design • Standard file format export — Create, save, and open Illustrator (AI) files with no loss of quality, and export in the most common formats, including SVG, PDF, PNG, and PSD. KEEPING TABS ON THE LATEST CREATIVE TRENDS • Livestreaming — Watch and learn from top design-industry creatives daily, right within the app • Trends to discover — Explore projects by other creatives Terms & Conditions: Your use of this application is governed by the Adobe General Terms of Use http://www.adobe.com/go/terms_linkfree_en and the Adobe Privacy Policy http://www.adobe.com/go/privacy_policy_linkfree_en Do Not Sell My Personal Information: www.adobe.com/go/ca-rights-linkfree

Screenshots

RoughAnimator1 screens

Verdict

The call

RoughAnimator and Adobe Illustrator both sit at 4.6 stars, but that hides the real split: 79% of RoughAnimator's written reviews are positive against 13% of Adobe Illustrator's. RoughAnimator also leads on in-app purchases (none vs 4) and update cadence (fortnightly vs every 2 months). Adobe Illustrator's advantage is price (Free vs $7.99) and ratings volume (38K vs 3K). On rating, ads 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

Adobe Illustrator is free to download; RoughAnimator costs $7.99 up front. Adobe Illustrator sells 4 in-app purchases, starting at $9.99 per month. RoughAnimator asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.6 for RoughAnimator against 4.5 for Adobe Illustrator. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Adobe Illustrator has 38K ratings behind it against 3K, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 79% of RoughAnimator's written reviews are positive against 13% of Adobe Illustrator's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

RoughAnimator ships an update fortnightly, Adobe Illustrator every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on October 29, 2026 and October 31, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard8 real differences · 3 level
RoughAnimator versus Adobe Illustrator: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterRoughAnimatorAdobe Illustrator
Price$7.99Free — better
Rating4.6 (3K ratings) — better4.5 (38K ratings)
Positive reviews78.6% of reviews — better13.3% of reviews
Number of ratings3K38K — better
Update frequencyFortnightly — betterEvery 2 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationPaidFree with in-app purchases — better
Best chart rank#8 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPad
Requires iOS13 — better14.0
Further details — not scored
Size31 MB856 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperJacob KAFKAAdobe Inc.

Customer experience

RoughAnimator

All ratings2,936 ratings
Positive92.5%
Neutral3.3%
Negative4.2%
Written reviews852 reviews
Positive78.6%
Neutral9.4%
Negative12.0%

Adobe Illustrator

All ratings36,153 ratings
Positive87.7%
Neutral3.9%
Negative8.4%
Written reviews547 reviews
Positive13.3%
Neutral14.4%
Negative72.2%

User reviews

RoughAnimator

From 3K App Store ratings

What we love

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

Room to improve

  • 🐛 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

Adobe Illustrator

From 38K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Smooth and intuitive
  • 👍 Great for on-the-go vector work
  • 🚀 Seamless sync with desktop Illustrator
  • 👍 Useful for quick sketches and illustrations

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Frequent crashes and freezes
  • 🔍 Missing key desktop features
  • 🔍 Buggy layer and selection handling
  • 🔍 Limited export options and quality
  • 🔍 Unintuitive interface in some areas

Bugs and requests

RoughAnimator

Reported bugs

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

Requested features

8 requests
  • 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)
Show 3 more
  • Implement a tween/animation feature
  • Add layer grouping and organization tools
  • Provide a dark mode option

Adobe Illustrator

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Layers disappearing or not updating properly
  • Eraser tool behaving inconsistently
  • Pasting content causing unexpected issues
  • Frequent crashes when working on complex files

Requested features

5 requests
  • Ability to rotate canvas
  • More brush and stroke customization options
  • Implement Gaussian blur and other effects
  • Add support for keyboard shortcuts
  • Improve file management and cloud sync

In-app purchases

None

RoughAnimator

No in-app purchases

4 purchases

Adobe Illustrator

Subscriptions4
  • Illustrator on iPad : Monthly1 Month trial$9.991 Month
  • Adobe Design Mobile: Monthly1 Month trial$14.991 Month
  • Illustrator on iPad : Yearly1 Month trial$79.991 Year
Show 1 more
  • Adobe Design Mobile: Yearly1 Month trial$149.991 Year

Questions

Is RoughAnimator free?
RoughAnimator costs $7.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Adobe Illustrator free?
Adobe Illustrator is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, RoughAnimator or Adobe Illustrator?
RoughAnimator is rated higher. RoughAnimator averages 4.6 out of 5 from 3K ratings, while Adobe Illustrator averages 4.5 from 38K ratings.
Do RoughAnimator or Adobe Illustrator have ads?
Neither RoughAnimator nor Adobe Illustrator shows ads.
Which is updated more often, RoughAnimator or Adobe Illustrator?
RoughAnimator ships an update fortnightly, and Adobe Illustrator every 2 months. Most recently, RoughAnimator was updated on October 29, 2026 and Adobe Illustrator on October 31, 2026.

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