Calligraphy HD vs Charcoal
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Calligraphy HD
Explore the art of calligraphy with a wide selection of digital nibs and brushes. Customize stroke thickness, texture, and pen angle to develop your unique lettering style. Save your creations to your device's photo gallery.
- Customizable nibs and brushes
- Adjustable stroke thickness
- Varying stroke texture
- Pen angle control
- Variety of backgrounds
- Save artwork to gallery
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Develop and create your very personal lettering style with Calligraphy HD Calligraphy HD comes with a choice of nibs and brushes, simply select your favourite tool and instantly vary nib thickness, stroke texture and pen angle. Discover a variety of backgrounds and save your artwork to your device photo gallery.
Charcoal
This app offers a simple yet powerful sketching experience with rich tools and beautiful color palettes. Easily create and export your artwork for use in other graphics programs. It supports modern iOS features like multiple windows and dark mode for enhanced productivity.
- Simple sketching interface
- Rich drawing tools
- Beautiful color palettes
- Export sketches
- Multiple window support
- Dark mode
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• Charcoal is incredibly easy to use: Just create or open a sketch and start sketching. There are no layers or confusing settings. Instead, Charcoal features rich tools and beautiful color palettes. • Charcoal allows you to export a sketch to use it in your favorite graphics program. • Charcoal supports modern iOS and iPadOS features like multiple windows and dark mode: use it at night or open multiple sketches, even side by side.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: Charcoal at 77% against Calligraphy HD's 12%. Charcoal also leads on rating (4.5 vs 1.6) and in-app purchases (none vs 1). Calligraphy HD's advantage is iOS requirement (9.0 vs 15.0). On price, ratings volume, update cadence 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. Calligraphy HD sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Charcoal asks for nothing beyond the download.
Charcoal holds the better App Store score, 4.5 against 1.6. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 64 and 143 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 12% of Calligraphy HD's written reviews are positive against 77% of Charcoal's.
Calligraphy HD ships an update every 3 months, Charcoal every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on September 25, 2026 and September 8, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Calligraphy HD | Charcoal |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 1.6 (64 ratings) | 4.5 (143 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 11.5% of reviews | 76.9% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 64 | 143 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 3 months | Every 2 months — better |
| Ads | Yes | No — better |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod, Vision Pro — better |
| Requires iOS | 9.0 — better | 15.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 19 MB | 28 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | TOUCHSCREEN LEARNING LTD | Lars Augustin |
Customer experience
Calligraphy HD
Charcoal
Bugs and requests
Calligraphy HD
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
Charcoal
Reported bugs
3 issues- Saved sketches lose quality
- Palette colors change unexpectedly
- Freezing when opening color palette
Requested features
4 requests- Ability to change brush/pen size
- Layers and blending tools
- Color wheel and custom color selection
- Import/export options
In-app purchases
Calligraphy HD
- Calligraphy HD Full App$2.99
Charcoal
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Calligraphy HD free?
Is Charcoal free?
Which has better reviews, Calligraphy HD or Charcoal?
Do Calligraphy HD or Charcoal have ads?
Which is updated more often, Calligraphy HD or Charcoal?
Other comparisons
