RoughAnimator vs Mental Canvas Draw
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
Mental Canvas Draw
Explore ideas and communicate concepts in a new dimension with this spatial drawing application. Create on infinite canvases, navigate your creations from any perspective, and easily edit and share your work. It's ideal for designers, artists, and storytellers.
- Infinite spatial canvases
- Freely navigate perspectives
- Unlimited canvases and layers
- Import images and drawings
- Create animated flythroughs
- Projection tools for stroke reinterpretation
- Interactive web experience sharing
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Pick up where pen and paper leave off with Mental Canvas Draw. Creatives are using Mental Canvas Draw every day to explore ideas, communicate concepts, design products and tell stories. Infinite space for your creative freedom: • Draw on infinite canvases arranged in space • Freely navigate the spatial drawing to view perspectives you never could on paper • Unlimited canvases, layers and bookmark views Draw with the ease of pen and paper: • Get started with templates or create scenes from scratch • Choose from several brushes with adjustable sizes and a fill tool • Select color swatches or custom colors • Use layers to organize the drawings, group strokes and adjust opacity Easy editing & image import: • Import JPEGs and PNGs to seamlessly collage images and drawings together or create entirely image-based scenes • Select, duplicate, edit and transform drawings and images • Import and replace layers from your favorite drawing apps with ease Quickly create animated flythroughs: • Save bookmark views throughout the spatial drawing to create a flythrough • Customize the flythrough animation by adjusting the timing, transitions and visibility of canvases Transform and develop spatial drawings with projection: • Seamlessly place new canvases in the scene • Reinterpret existing strokes using novel projection tools • Draw first, arrange strokes on canvases later Share your creations: • Turn your drawing into an interactive web experience, shareable across phones, desktops, and VR • Export video of animated flythrough with your choice of aspect ratio and resolution • Save high resolution images of bookmarks Optimized for Apple Pencil and the Apple iPad Pro. Mental Canvas Draw supports iPad Pro (all except 1st gen), iPad (7th gen or later), iPad Air (3rd gen or later), iPad Mini (5th gen). Please note older iPads aren’t supported. Questions: https://www.mentalcanvas.com/faq/ Privacy Policy & Terms of Service: https://www.mentalcanvas.com/company/legal/ Follow us on Instagram and TikTok: @mental_canvas
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: Mental Canvas Draw at Free against RoughAnimator's $7.99. RoughAnimator's advantage is rating (4.6 vs 3.8) and review sentiment (79% vs 42%). On ads 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
Mental Canvas Draw is free to download; RoughAnimator costs $7.99 up front. Mental Canvas Draw sells 4 in-app purchases, starting at $9.99 per month. RoughAnimator asks for nothing beyond the download.
RoughAnimator holds the better App Store score, 4.6 against 3.8. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 3K and 673 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 79% of RoughAnimator's written reviews are positive against 42% of Mental Canvas Draw's.
RoughAnimator ships an update fortnightly, Mental Canvas Draw every 5 weeks. The most recent releases landed on November 11, 2026 and November 3, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | RoughAnimator | Mental Canvas Draw |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $7.99 | Free — better |
| Rating | 4.6 (3K ratings) — better | 3.8 (673 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 78.6% of reviews — better | 42.4% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 3K — better | 673 |
| Update frequency | Fortnightly — better | Every 5 weeks |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | Paid | Free with in-app purchases — better |
| Best chart rank | #9 — better | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPad |
| Requires iOS | 13 — better | 16.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 31 MB | 43 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Jacob KAFKA | Mental Canvas |
Customer experience
RoughAnimator
Mental Canvas Draw
User reviews
RoughAnimator
From 3K 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
Mental Canvas Draw
From 673 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🚀 Extremely unique
- 🚀 Nothing else like it
- 👍 Wonderful, creative app
- 👍 Brings creations to a new level
- 👍 Great for storyboarding and animation
Room to improve
- 🐛 Crashes and loses work
- 🐛 Drawing tools don't work properly
- 🔒 Requires Apple Pencil, no finger drawing
- 💰 Overpriced subscription plans
- 👎 Confusing and unintuitive to use
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
Mental Canvas Draw
Reported bugs
4 issues- Crashes when trying to save large files
- Drawing tools stop working randomly
- Imported images don't maintain transparency
- Depth/3D tools suddenly stop functioning
Requested features
6 requests- Add finger/stylus drawing support
- Improve layer and canvas management
- Implement basic drawing tools like lines, shapes
- Allow exporting layers separately
- Provide more brushes and blending options
Show 1 moreShow fewer
- Add preset camera angles and perspective tools
In-app purchases
RoughAnimator
No in-app purchases
Mental Canvas Draw
- Mental Canvas Pro (Monthly)$9.991 Month
- Mental Canvas Premium (Month)$59.991 Month
- Mental Canvas Pro (Yearly)$89.991 Year
Show 1 moreShow fewer
- Mental Canvas Premium (Annual)$569.991 Year
Questions
Is RoughAnimator free?
Is Mental Canvas Draw free?
Which has better reviews, RoughAnimator or Mental Canvas Draw?
Do RoughAnimator or Mental Canvas Draw have ads?
Which is updated more often, RoughAnimator or Mental Canvas Draw?
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