pixiv Sketch vs dotpict
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
pixiv Sketch
This app allows users to draw and communicate with a large community of artists. It offers easy-to-use drawing tools, AI-powered coloring, and collaborative features like "Redraw" and "Reply" to interact with other users' artwork.
- Easy-to-use pens and brushes
- AI automatic coloring
- Drawing Motivator Voice
- Redraw feature for collaboration
- Reply feature for illustration conversations
- Community feed with millions of illustrations
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Over 10 million users! A drawing and communication app that makes your daily creative activities more fun! It includes a Draw feature that allows you to easily draw at any time, and a community with over 11 million illustrations posted! About pixiv Sketch pixiv Sketch is a drawing and communication app by pixiv Inc. ・The Draw feature makes drawing feel just like sketching on paper, so you'll have no trouble getting exactly the results you want. ・The app features the latest drawing support technology, including automatic coloring using AI. About pixiv Sketch's Draw feature pixiv Sketch's Draw feature is the simplest you'll find around! Enjoy drawing digitally right away, even if it's your first time. ● Easy-to-use pens and brushes ・The app comes with pens and brushes that are easy for anyone to use, including first-time painters. ・The Sketch pencil feels as smooth as a real pencil. ・The variety of available brushes covers a wide range of media, including watercolor. ● Simple and intuitive interface ・The clean UI leaves room for a wider drawing canvas. ・The app includes special layouts for both right-handed and left-handed artists. ・No menus or tools getting in the way, allowing you a smooth drawing experience. ● Unique features to enhance your drawing experience ・Color your line drawings with AI! An automatic coloring feature is available for no-hassle coloring. ・The Drawing Motivator Voice feature will let you experience a new height of motivation! ・The Redraw feature allows you to add to other people's illustrations and daily themes. Find new drawing friends with the Community feature Communicate with your drawing buddies in a community where a total of over 11 million illustrations have already been posted. ● Enjoy a constant flow of illustrations on your Timeline ・Many new illustrations are posted every day. Check them out on your very own wall! ・Interact with your favorite illustrations by leaving a heart. ・Follow artists you like and connect with them. ● The Reply feature lets you respond to an illustration with another illustration ・Reply to everyone's posts with your illustrations. ・Use the Reply feature to easily join contests or post your own interpretation of daily themes. ・Send illustrations to other artists, or even have entire conversations using only artwork; how you use the Reply feature is up to you! ● Use the Redraw feature to add to existing illustrations ・Draw on the illustrations that others have posted. ・It's a great way to collaborate with other artists, for example by joining in on the daily theme or by coloring other people's line art drawings. Notes: A pixiv account is required to use some of the features. If you have any questions or to report a problem, please contact pixiv Sketch Support. https://www.pixiv.net/support.php?mode=select_type&service=sketch
dotpict
Create and share pixel art with an intuitive drawing tool. Features include animation creation, autosave, and daily drawing challenges. Connect with a vibrant community of artists, browse thousands of daily artworks, and participate in events.
- Pixel art creation
- Animation creation
- Daily themes and events
- Community posting and interaction
- Autosave
- Mesh pens, borders, and previews
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More than 4 million downloads! "dotpict" is an application specialized to drawing pixel art! "dotpict" has a community function that allows you to post pixelart drawn with dotpict as well as those drawn with other applications! We recommend it to anyone like this. - Like pixelart! - Want to draw pixelart quickly and easily on a phone! - Want to show pixelart many users! - Want to communicate with pixelart creators! --------------------- What can you do with dotpict? --------------------- ◆Features specifically designed to create pixelart! - You can also create animations! - You can use most of the features for free, such as mesh pens, borders and previews. - Autosave your pixelart during creation, so you can create pixelart without worry. ◆Participate in daily themes and events! - If you are having trouble finding something to draw or an idea, try the daily challenges! - Event provides a palette of colors that are easy to draw, and templates making it easy! - You can also create your own events and other people to join in! ◆Browse, communicate and have fun with everyone's pixelart! - More than 2,000 artworks are posted on dotpict every day! - You can "like" your favorite pixelart and comment. - You can follow users you like and meet your favorite pixelart more and more! ◆You can also post your artwork created outside of dotpict! - About 99% of the artworks poosted have received a response.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: pixiv Sketch at none against dotpict's 1. dotpict's advantage is update cadence (every 4 days vs monthly) and ratings volume (787 vs 213). On price, rating, review sentiment and 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
Both are free to download. dotpict sells 1 in-app purchase, starting at $3.99 per month. pixiv Sketch asks for nothing beyond the download.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.7 for pixiv Sketch against 4.6 for dotpict. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 213 and 787 respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 73% of pixiv Sketch's written reviews are positive against 77% of dotpict's.
pixiv Sketch ships an update monthly, dotpict every 4 days. The most recent releases landed on September 21, 2026 and September 24, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | pixiv Sketch | dotpict |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.7 (213 ratings) — better | 4.6 (787 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 72.8% of reviews | 77.1% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 213 | 787 — better |
| Update frequency | Monthly | Every 4 days — better |
| Ads | Yes | Yes |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 16.0 — better | 16.7 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 90 MB | 59 MB |
| Age rating | 12+ | 12+ |
| Developer | pixiv Inc. | DOT PICTO LIMITED LIABILITY CO. |
Customer experience
pixiv Sketch
dotpict
User reviews
pixiv Sketch
From 213 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- ✨ Kind and supportive community
- 🎨 Simple and fun to use
- 👍 Easy to upload art
- 🖼️ Great for showcasing artwork
- 💖 Feels safe to share art
Room to improve
- 🌐 Mostly in different languages
- 🤔 Hard to draw on
- 📉 Live stream quality is bad
- 🚫 No full screen/high quality option
- 🗣️ User base mostly Japanese
dotpict
From 787 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 👍 Easy to use
- 🎨 Variety of color palettes
- 🙌 Great community
- 💻 Convenient for mobile pixel art
- 🎨 Simple and intuitive drawing tools
Room to improve
- 🐛 Crashes and glitches
- 🔒 Strict content moderation leading to false bans
- 💬 Lack of messaging/commenting system
- 🎨 Limited color palette options
- 🔍 Difficulty finding and viewing other users' art
Bugs and requests
pixiv Sketch
Reported bugs
11 issues- App freezes when trying to sketch/stream
- App crashes when trying to remove photo layer
- App crashes on opening
- Login always failed
- Live stream quality is very bad
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- No full screen and high quality option for live stream
- Cannot save art to photos
- New update drawing feature is hard to adapt
- Cannot login with existing Pixiv account
- Verification code not sent for account creation
- Newest update: unable to see new posts, notifications, follows, followers, posted works, or liked works.
Requested features
19 requests- Add translations for non-Japanese users
- Add furigana on posts
- Add layer zooming edit tool
- Add month-by-month history section
- Improve image quality on upload
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- Better censorship options
- Add image editing options (pen, lasso, stickers)
- Add English translation feature
- Add option to choose highest quality for live stream
- Co-stream live function on iPad
- Allow importing more than one photo
- Add an eyedropper/color picker tool
- Add a mirror option for drawings
- Add landscape drawing mode
- Add finger canvas rotation
- Add image transform tool (resize on canvas)
- Add English version of the app
- Add Facebook, Twitter, and Google login options
- Add a color tool
dotpict
Reported bugs
4 issues- Frequent crashes and login issues
- Drawing tools and cursor glitching
- Inability to save or transfer canvases between devices
- Inconsistent performance on older devices
Requested features
6 requests- Add layers and ability to rearrange them
- Implement onion skinning for animations
- Allow custom canvas sizes
- Introduce a premium version to remove ads
- Add a reference window for drawing
Show 1 moreShow fewer
- Implement a color wheel and numerical color values
In-app purchases
pixiv Sketch
No in-app purchases
dotpict
- dotpict Premium7 Days trial$3.991 Month








