RoughAnimator vs Looom
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
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.
- 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
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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
Looom
Create hand-drawn animations with a playful, instrument-like interface. This robust app focuses on loopable animation, offering a dynamic, non-destructive workflow for both beginners and professionals. Explore lines, shapes, and colors in a delightful environment designed for learning and experimentation.
- Hand-drawn animation creation
- Loopable animation focus
- Musical interface inspiration
- Dynamic non-destructive workflow
- Fluid time control
- Infinite canvas
- SVG native file format
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A new way to create hand-drawn animation. So playful you’ll think it’s a toy, but it's secretly a robust app with a reimagined UI for animators and creators. Taking inspiration from music creation tools, using Looom feels more like playing an instrument than operating software - exploring lines, shapes and colors through loopable time and rhythm. Looom is all about looping animation with a smile. It was designed for professionals and beginners of any age and is already being used by some influential indie animators. A delightful environment to learn, experiment, practice and create drawn animation. Wonderfully musical, Next-gen dynamic non-destructive workflow. FLUID TIME No first frame or last. Looom’s threads are independent in length and speed, always tweak-able. INFINITE CANVAS Lets you go as deep or as far as you want thanks to a completely resolution-independent vector engine. OPEN-ENDED Looom uses SVG as it’s native file format. Your work can be viewed in browsers and opened in desktop animation software.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: RoughAnimator at 4.6 against Looom's 3.8. RoughAnimator also leads on update cadence (fortnightly vs every 4 months) and ratings volume (2.9K vs 122). On ads, in-app purchases, monetization model 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
RoughAnimator costs $7.99 and Looom $9.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
RoughAnimator holds the better App Store score, 4.6 against 3.8. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: RoughAnimator has 2.9K ratings behind it against 122, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 79% of RoughAnimator's written reviews are positive against 62% of Looom's.
RoughAnimator ships an update fortnightly, Looom every 4 months. The most recent releases landed on October 3, 2026 and October 2, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | RoughAnimator | Looom |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $7.99 — better | $9.99 |
| Rating | 4.6 (2.9K ratings) — better | 3.8 (122 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 78.7% of reviews — better | 61.7% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 2.9K — better | 122 |
| Update frequency | Fortnightly — better | Every 4 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Paid | Paid |
| Best chart rank | #7 — better | #94 |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 13 | 13.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 31 MB | 43 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Jacob KAFKA | IORAMA AB |
Customer experience
RoughAnimator
Looom
User reviews
RoughAnimator
From 2.9K App Store ratingsWhat 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
Looom
From 122 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 💡 Innovative and unique animation interface
- 🎨 Intuitive drawing experience once learned
- 🎬 Real-time animation playback while drawing
- 📱 Works seamlessly on iPad and iPhone
- 🎯 Simple and minimalist design approach
Room to improve
- 🐛 Frequent crashes losing user work
- 😕 Non-intuitive UI despite minimalist design
- 🎨 Limited to single color per layer/thread
- 🖌️ Only one basic brush option available
- 📤 Extremely cumbersome export process
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 moreShow fewer
- Implement a tween/animation feature
- Add layer grouping and organization tools
- Provide a dark mode option
Looom
Reported bugs
12 issues- App crashes mid-animation causing work loss
- Grey screen on launch preventing app opening
- Drawing not registering properly
- Frame navigation swiping goes wrong direction
- Accidental marks appearing from sensitive touch controls
Show 7 moreShow fewer
- Eraser functionality not working on some devices
- Zoom controls triggering timeline instead
- Disappearing artwork when switching frames
- Export controls not grabbable on iPad Pro
- Accidental deletion of projects with no recovery option
- Non-Apple Pencil input not recognized without settings change
- Performance issues and stuttering
Requested features
23 requests- Better export options (GIF, video, SVG with proper formatting)
- Increase frame limit beyond 24 frames
- More than 5 layers/threads
- Multiple colors and brush sizes per layer
- Frame duplication and copy-paste functionality
Show 18 moreShow fewer
- Undo/redo gesture support (two-finger tap)
- Shape tools (circles, rectangles, lines)
- Background image import for reference tracing
- Hex color input and color picker tool
- Partial eraser (erase parts of lines, not entire lines)
- Double-tap Apple Pencil to toggle eraser
- Layer naming and hiding capabilities
- Adjustable frame rate and FPS control
- Sound/audio support
- Ability to rearrange frame order
- Onion skin customization (forward and backward)
- Static/pinned layers
- Higher resolution export options
- Video import for rotoscoping
- Pressure sensitivity support
- Animation scene management
- Seamless looping export
- Left-hand mode accessibility
In-app purchases
RoughAnimator
No in-app purchases
Looom
No in-app purchases
