Skelly vs Draw Gestures
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Skelly
This app provides artists with a fully poseable, anatomically correct skeleton model for reference. Easily create custom poses, adjust lighting, and view from any angle to improve your drawing, sculpting, and illustration skills.
- Anatomically correct skeleton
- Poseable joints
- Pose library
- Movable camera
- Adjustable light source
- Simplified 'Robo Skelly' model
Read full descriptionHide full description
Hey artists! Tired of scouring the internet for reference material? Does the NSA think you’re a weirdo for looking up all those skeleton pictures? Got no-body to pose for you? Its going tibia ok, the Skelly app is just what you need! With the Skelly app you can literally pull the inspiration you need right out of your pocket anywhere, anytime! Skelly is a fully poseable, anatomically correct reference skeleton for artists. A simplified version of the skeleton is also included, named “Robo-Skelly”. These figures were created to make the study of anatomy easier and more enjoyable for students and professionals without leaving your wallets bone dry. They can also be used to inspire poses for drawing, painting, sculpting, illustration, animation, comics, manga, storyboarding, twerking, and to fully understand the anatomy of the human skeleton. No need for super gluteus, Skelly comes pre-assembled and ready to pose as soon as you launch the app! Learning the structure of the human body is the skeleton key to drawing the figure in an anatomically correct manner without having to clear your browser history to avoid awkward conversations with your loved ones. Whether you want to make works like Michelangelo or Miyazaki, Skelly will help you focus on your art and let you personalize his poses, rather than searching for reference material and hiring models. Learn to draw the skeleton from any angle without the inconvenient and morally questionable need to go grave robbing. FEATURES: Anatomically correct skeleton Simplified “Robo Skelly” Proportions based on the teachings of Dr. Paul Richer Skull fits perfectly into a “Loomis Head” as taught by Andrew Loomis Poseable joints Pose Library - choose from pre made poses and save your own Movable camera Adjustable light source Choose light or dark background Reset to neutral “Anatomical Pose” PEOPLE LOVE IT: James Gurney, author of ‘Color and Light’ and ‘Imaginative Realism’ Says: "Bend him, twist him, contort him! The Skelly app lets you put a virtual human skeleton into any pose, and to see him from any angle, and in any lighting. It’s a great tool for art students or professionals wondering what the skeleton is really doing beneath a life pose, or for anyone wanting to visualize a pose from scratch. The interface is intuitive to learn and easy to use, without sacrificing any of the nuances of the human body’s complex range of movement. Skelly is a big improvement over the old wooden mannikin." - Chris Oatley, Director Of The Oatley Academy Of Visual Storytelling Says: "Skelly is the fastest, most fluid anatomical reference I have ever seen. I was shocked at how easy it is to pose the figure and direct the light source. Finally! It’s the app visual artists have been waiting for." Have any questions? CONTACT US: skelly@proko.com
Draw Gestures
Master figure and gesture drawing with timed pose practice. This app offers a smooth drawing experience with pressure sensitivity and tracks your progress. Ideal for artists of all levels looking to improve speed, accuracy, and confidence.
- Timed pose practice
- Smooth, responsive drawing engine
- Pressure sensitivity support
- Practice tracking and history
- Relaxed mode for untimed drawing
- Cloud library for reference import
- Customizable timers
Read full descriptionHide full description
Draw Gestures is a timed pose reference app for gesture and figure drawing practice. Pick a pose, set a timer, and quick sketch like you would in a real life drawing class. For beginners learning figure drawing and for illustrators, animators and concept artists who want a structured daily warmup. How it works 1. Choose your reference - figure drawing poses, animals, faces, hands, or your own photos 2. Set your timer - 30 seconds to 10 minutes per pose 3. Draw and improve - track your gesture drawing progress over time Practice 15 minutes a day to build confidence, speed and flow in your figure drawing. Included for everyone - Timed gesture drawing sessions with a built-in drawing timer - Built-in pose reference library, plus your own photos and files - Draw straight onto the reference image, with tracing mode included - A real sketch canvas with brushes, layers, eraser and undo - Grid overlay for proportions and line of action - Streaks, practice heatmap and full session history - Daily practice reminders to build a drawing habit - Sessions run up to 30 minutes with up to 20 reference images Draw Gestures Pro - Unlimited reference images and practice libraries - Unlimited session length - Cloud reference libraries from Pinterest, Google Drive and Dropbox - Classroom mode to simulate art school life drawing sessions - Quantity mode and custom intervals - Relaxed mode to practice with no timer pressure - Side-by-side and floating reference layouts - Left-hand mode - Shuffle your pose reference order - Export without a watermark - Import your own paper textures Built for artists who practice - Art students studying anatomy and figure drawing - Illustrators and concept artists warming up - Animators practicing gesture, movement and action poses - Character designers studying poses and silhouettes - Anyone doing daily croquis or 30-second gesture drills Made for iPad and Apple Pencil Pressure and tilt support, a stylus-only drawing option so your palm never leaves a mark, and a full-screen canvas for life drawing practice anywhere. Your pose reference, your pace, your practice. drawgestures.com Subscriptions renew automatically unless cancelled at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. Manage or cancel in your Apple ID settings. Terms: https://drawgestures.com/terms Privacy: https://drawgestures.com/privacy
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: Draw Gestures at Free against Skelly's $6.99. Draw Gestures also leads on update cadence (weekly vs every 8 months) and rating (4.0 vs 3.8). Skelly's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 6) and iOS requirement (12.0 vs 16.0). On review sentiment, ratings volume, ads 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
Draw Gestures is free to download; Skelly costs $6.99 up front. Draw Gestures sells 6 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per month. Skelly asks for nothing beyond the download.
Draw Gestures holds the better App Store score, 4.0 against 3.8. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 117 and 45 respectively. Written reviews complicate that: 69% of Skelly's written reviews are positive against 64% of Draw Gestures's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.
Skelly ships an update every 8 months, Draw Gestures weekly. The most recent releases landed on November 1, 2026 and October 29, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Skelly | Draw Gestures |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $6.99 | Free — better |
| Rating | 3.8 (117 ratings) | 4.0 (45 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 69.3% of reviews — better | 63.9% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 117 — better | 45 |
| Update frequency | Every 8 months | Weekly — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | Free — better | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 12.0 — better | 16.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 104 MB | 135 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 12+ |
| Developer | Proko | Avinash Kumawat |
Customer experience
Skelly
Draw Gestures
Bugs and requests
Skelly
Reported bugs
10 issues- Camera controls are unintuitive and frustrating
- Selecting one bone sometimes selects a different bone
- Zoom function accidentally rotates the model
- Hip rotation rotates entire skeleton instead of just hips
- iPad Pro UI elements are too large and obstruct view
Show 5 moreShow fewer
- Save/export image function broken
- App slows down with 7+ saved poses
- Lighting quality poor on Retina displays
- Controls operate in opposite direction of intended movement
- iPad split-screen multitasking incompatibility
Requested features
26 requests- Posable fingers and toes with individual joint control
- Movable jaw with open/close functionality
- Undo/redo functionality
- Physics toggle to prevent unrealistic poses
- Female skeleton model with different proportions
Show 21 moreShow fewer
- Muscle layer visualization
- Adjustable limb lengths for different body types
- Multiple skeleton models at once
- Photo overlay/underlay for pose matching
- Customizable field of view (focal length)
- Preset hand gestures (fist, relaxed, etc.)
- Inverse kinematics (IK) rigging for limbs
- Ground plane and perspective plane options
- Joint locking capability
- Anatomically-correct range of motion limits
- Export with transparent background (PNG)
- White background option
- Front/side/top/bottom orthographic views
- Multiple light sources with color control
- Articulated hand-only or skull-only modes
- Child, adolescent, and infant skeleton options
- Background upload capability
- Animation/keyframe support
- Improved hip/pelvis posing controls
- Elbow side-to-side rotation
- Thoracic spine articulation
Draw Gestures
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Skelly
No in-app purchases
Draw Gestures
- Pro$1.991 Month
- Starter$1.991 Month
- Pro Monthly7 Days trial$4.991 Month
Show 2 moreShow fewer
- Pro Annual7 Days trial$14.991 Year
- Pro Annual7 Days trial$29.991 Year
- Lifetime Access$49.99









