Best Apps for Android

Updated August 2026

Best Drawing Apps for Android

Updated 26 August 2026 · every rating, review count, install band, price and in-app purchase range on this page is read from the app's own Google Play listing and carries the date it was read

Our answer

Infinite Painter is our best overall pick because on 26 August 2026 its listing showed 4.5, no ads label and purchases from $1.99 to $9.99.

Pixilart is our best free pick for pixel art because on 26 August 2026 its listing published no purchase range and no ads label.

ibis Paint X is our manga pick because on 26 August 2026 its listing showed 4.5, free to install, with purchases to $79.99 and the Contains ads label.

Data checked: 26 August 2026.

This page reports what eleven Google Play listings publish about eleven Android drawing apps, each figure carrying the date it was read: rating and review count, install band, price and in-app purchase range, the Contains ads label, the Data Safety section, and what each developer's own description states. It does not describe how any of them behaves in use.

Looking for what arrived this year rather than the settled shortlist? Our page on this year's new Android drawing listings re-reads six listings, only one of which first appeared in 2026, and that one is a second MediBang app rather than the one covered here. Five of its six are also on this page.

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Compare all 11 drawing apps at a glance

No data collected, one purchase price

Sketchbook · one purchase price, and nothing said about what it buys

Rating 4.1 from 705,354 reviews · Installs 100,000,000+ · Free to install · in-app purchases at $2.99 an item · The listing description sets out brush types, guides and rulers, and layers with blend modes, and calls the interface clean and unobtrusive · Listing updated 30 May 2026 · first published 8 October 2014 · no version number on the record read here · Developer Sketchbook · Category Art & Design · Data Safety: no data shared with third parties, and no data collected · Contains ads: No · checked 16 August 2026

Google Play listing · 4.1 (705,354) · read 16 August 2026

Sketchbook is the only entry here that publishes a single in-app purchase price rather than a range. Its Play listing, read on 16 August 2026, gives that price as $2.99, the lowest ceiling of the nine listings here that publish a purchase price at all, while PENUP and Pixilart publish no purchase range at all. The same listing carries no advertising label, and its Data Safety section declares no data shared with third parties and no data collected. It is rated 4.1 from 705,354 reviews on an install band of 100,000,000+. The blunt part: the description says nothing at all about what is free and what is paid, so what that $2.99 buys is not answerable from the listing.

Skip this one if you want the listing to spell out where the paid line falls before you install: Infinite Painter and Concepts both publish free and paid feature lists in their descriptions, and this description publishes neither. Choose Sketchbook over Infinite Painter when a Data Safety section that declares no collection at all matters more to you than a longer tool list.

  • Good: Its Data Safety section declares no data shared with third parties and no data collected, and carries no other line (read 16 August 2026)
  • Good: The listing carries no advertising label, and it publishes one purchase price rather than a range
  • Good: An install band of 100,000,000+, the top band on this page, shared with two other listings
  • Con: Rated 4.1, a figure five of the eleven listings here beat, and one other listing publishes the same figure
  • Con: The record read here publishes no version number and no minimum Android version, so it carries no version string to name and nothing to check a phone against
  • Con: The description does not say what the purchase unlocks, while several other descriptions read for this page set out their free and paid tiers explicitly

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4.1705,354 reviews on Google PlayGet it on Google Play

Stylus pressure and tilt, no ads label

Infinite Painter · its own description says what is free

Rating 4.5 from 242,538 reviews · Installs 10,000,000+ · Free to install · in-app purchases $1.99 to $9.99 per item · The listing description publishes a free feature list and a Pro feature list side by side, and states that the app is designed for stylus devices with full pressure and tilt support · Version 7.2.9 · listing updated 11 May 2026 · first published 2 April 2012 · Developer Infinite Studio LLC · Category Art & Design · Data Safety: the app may share data types with third parties, may collect data types, data encrypted in transit, deletion can be requested · Contains ads: No · checked 16 August 2026

Google Play listing · 4.5 (242,538) · read 16 August 2026

Infinite Painter sets out where its paid line falls under two headings of its own description. On the Play listing, read on 16 August 2026, the free heading gives three layers at the device resolution, all the built-in brushes and brush editing, solid fill, lasso selection, basic transform and symmetry tools, seamless pattern projects and smart shape detection; the paid heading adds HD canvas sizes, more layers, adjustment and filter layers, and layer groups and masks. The same listing shows 4.5 from 242,538 reviews, no advertising label, and in-app purchases from $1.99 to $9.99 per item.

Its Data Safety section is the blunt half: it declares that the app may share data types with third parties, and may is the listing's own word, so the section records what the developer declares rather than what the app does. Skip this one if a section that declares no sharing at all is what you want, and look at Sketchbook or Krita first, the two entries here that declare neither sharing nor collection. Choose Infinite Painter over Sketchbook when you want the description to tell you where the paid line falls before you install anything.

  • Good: The description states that the app is designed for stylus devices with full pressure and tilt support, and names perspective, symmetry and shape guides among its tools
  • Good: Rated 4.5 on its Play listing, re-read on 26 August 2026 and unchanged, from a published review count of 242,538 read on 16 August 2026
  • Good: Its description publishes its free tier and its paid tier side by side, which most of the descriptions read for this page do not do
  • Con: Its Data Safety section declares that the app may share data types with third parties, one of five listings here that declare sharing
  • Con: The listing was last updated on 11 May 2026, and only two listings on this page have gone longer without an update: Tayasui Sketches and Pixilart
  • Con: It was first published on 2 April 2012, the oldest listing here, so the reviews behind its rating were left across many years and many versions

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4.5242,538 reviews on Google PlayGet it on Google Play

Largest review sample, ads label

ibis Paint X · manga tools, and the ads label

Rating 4.5 from 2,983,099 reviews · Installs 100,000,000+ · Free to install · in-app purchases $2.99 to $79.99 per item · The listing description names the purchase plans: a free version, a paid version, an Ad Removal Upgrade, and a Premium Membership on a monthly or yearly plan · Version 14.0.11 · listing updated 21 August 2026, both re-read 26 August 2026 · first published 27 February 2014 · Developer ibis inc. · Category Art & Design · Data Safety: the app may share data types with third parties, may collect data types, data encrypted in transit, deletion can be requested · Contains ads: Yes · checked 16 August 2026

Google Play listing · 4.5 (2,983,099) · read 16 August 2026

ibis Paint X carries the largest published sample on this page by a wide margin: 4.5 from 2,983,099 reviews, on an install band of 100,000,000+, read on 16 August 2026. Two things come attached to it. Its listing carries the Contains ads label, which is the store's own statement that the app contains advertising, and its Data Safety section declares that the app may share data types with third parties. In-app purchases run $2.99 to $79.99 per item, and the developer's description on the Play listing states that the paid and free versions differ in the presence or absence of advertisements and in nothing else.

The purchase names are the listing's own, and they are worth reading apart: the description sets out an Ad Removal Upgrade as one purchase and a Premium Membership on a monthly or yearly plan as a different one, so taking the advertising away and unlocking the premium features are not the same transaction. Both lines of its Data Safety section are hedged: the listing says the app may share and may collect, and may is its own word. Skip this one if the advertising label decides it for you, and look at Infinite Painter or PENUP first, the two entries here that publish the same rating figure and carry no advertising label. Choose ibis Paint X over MediBang Paint when the size of the published sample is what reassures you.

  • Good: Rated 4.5 from 2,983,099 reviews, the largest published sample on this page by a wide margin (read 16 August 2026)
  • Good: The description sets out its manga tools in the developer's own words: screentones, a text tool with vertical and horizontal settings, clipping and ruler features
  • Good: Version 14.0.11, with the listing updated on 21 August 2026, both read on 26 August 2026
  • Con: The listing carries the Contains ads label, so the store states that the app contains advertising
  • Con: The per item range is not the whole of the money: the description sets out a Premium Membership on a monthly or yearly plan as well
  • Con: Its Data Safety section declares that the app may share data types with third parties and may collect data types

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4.52,983,099 reviews on Google PlayGet it on Google Play

Comics, on a plan to save or export

Clip Studio Paint · a plan to save or export on tablet

Rating 4.4 from 47,624 reviews · Installs 10,000,000+ · Free to install · in-app purchases $0.99 to $119.99 per item · The listing description opens with a free trial and states under its Tablet heading that a plan is needed to save or export artwork · Version 5.1.1 · listing updated 30 July 2026 · first published 4 December 2020 · Developer CELSYS,Inc. · Category Art & Design · Data Safety: no data shared with third parties, the app may collect data types, data encrypted in transit, deletion can be requested · Contains ads: No · checked 16 August 2026

Google Play listing · 4.4 (47,624) · read 16 August 2026

Clip Studio Paint is the comics entry here whose money question is settled on the listing itself. Under its Tablet heading the developer's description on the Play listing, read on 16 August 2026, states: You need an annual or monthly plan to save or export your artwork. The same listing publishes 4.4 from 47,624 reviews, an install band of 10,000,000+, no advertising label, and in-app purchases from $0.99 to $119.99 per item, the highest ceiling on this page apart from one.

Its description sets out two different free windows, one under a Tablet heading and one under a Smartphone heading, so which one applies depends on the device rather than on the app. Skip this one if you want to pay once rather than keep paying, and look at Sketchbook first, whose listing publishes a single purchase price and no plan at all. Choose Clip Studio Paint over MediBang Paint when print ready comic pages are the work and a plan is acceptable.

  • Good: The description sets out its comic tools in the developer's own words: speech bubbles, frames, action lines and a webtoon preview
  • Good: Its Data Safety section declares that no data is shared with third parties, that data is encrypted in transit, and that deletion can be requested
  • Good: The record is current: version 5.1.1, with the listing updated on 30 July 2026
  • Con: Saving and exporting sit behind a plan: under its Tablet heading the description states that an annual or monthly plan is needed to save or export artwork
  • Con: In-app purchases reach $119.99 per item, a ceiling only one other listing on this page passes
  • Con: Its rating rests on 47,624 reviews, a far smaller sample than the largest listings here carry, so the two figures are not the same kind of measurement

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4.447,624 reviews on Google PlayGet it on Google Play

Self declared beta, lowest rating here

Krita · the developer calls the Android build a beta

Rating 3.3 from 6,083 reviews · Installs 1,000,000+ · Free to install · in-app purchases $2.49 to $13.99 per item · The listing description calls this a beta release and states that the app is not being made available for phones yet · Version 5.3.3 · listing updated 4 August 2026 · first published 8 April 2024 · Developer Stichting Krita Foundation · Category Art & Design · content rating All ages · Data Safety: no data shared with third parties, and no data collected · Contains ads: No · checked 16 August 2026

Google Play listing · 3.3 (6,083) · read 16 August 2026

Krita is the entry whose own listing sets the expectation before any figure does. The developer's description on the Play listing, read on 16 August 2026, says: This is a beta release of Krita and is not suitable for real work yet. It adds that the interface is currently optimized for big screen devices, tablets and chromebooks, and that the app is not being made available for phones yet. The same listing publishes 3.3 from 6,083 reviews, the lowest rating on this page, no advertising label, and a Data Safety section declaring no data shared with third parties and no data collected.

That 3.3 rests on 6,083 reviews, a far smaller sample than the largest listings on this page carry, so it is not the same kind of measurement as a score built from millions of reviews. The record does bear on the score in one respect, and in the developer's own words rather than ours: a build the description calls a beta, and does not offer for phones, is not the same proposition as a finished phone app. Skip this one if a published score is what you decide on, and look at Sketchbook first, the other entry here that pairs a declaration of no collection at all with no advertising label. Choose Krita over Clip Studio Paint when you want no plan at all and can live with what the description says about itself.

  • Good: Its Data Safety section declares no data shared with third parties and no data collected, and carries no other line
  • Good: The listing carries no advertising label and was updated on 4 August 2026, as read on 16 August 2026
  • Good: Published by Stichting Krita Foundation, with a content rating of All ages on the listing
  • Con: Rated 3.3, the lowest of the eleven ratings on this page
  • Con: Its own description calls this a beta release that is not suitable for real work yet, and states that the app is not being made available for phones yet
  • Con: Its Data Safety section carries two lines and no others, so it states nothing about encryption in transit or about deletion, which most of the other sections read here do state something about

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3.36,083 reviews on Google PlayGet it on Google Play

Infinite vector canvas, free tier published

Concepts · strokes you can reshape after drawing them

Rating 4.4 from 23,965 reviews · Installs 5,000,000+ · Free to install · in-app purchases $1.99 to $29.99 per item · The listing description publishes its free tier in full, and offers both a premium subscription and one time purchases beside it · Version 2026.06.4 · listing updated 10 July 2026 · first published 16 November 2018 · Developer TopHatch, Inc. · Category Art & Design · Data Safety: no data shared with third parties, the app may collect data types, data encrypted in transit, deletion can be requested · Contains ads: No · checked 16 August 2026

Google Play listing · 4.4 (23,965) · read 16 August 2026

Concepts is the planning tool of the eleven. The developer's description on the Play listing, read on 16 August 2026, calls it a vector based workspace in which every stroke stays editable and scalable, on an infinite canvas meant for plans, notes, storyboards and product sketches. The listing publishes 4.4 from 23,965 reviews, an install band of 5,000,000+, no advertising label, and in-app purchases from $1.99 to $29.99 per item. The blunt part is where the paid line falls: the free list in that description stops at five layers and JPG exports.

That description offers a subscription and one time purchases at once, and states that the one time purchases are limited to the platform you buy them on, which is the kind of condition a price range on its own never shows. Skip this one if finished painting rather than planning is the work, and look at Infinite Painter or Clip Studio Paint first: one gives brushes a heading of its own in the description, the other names its brush engine there. Choose Concepts over Sketchbook when strokes you can reshape after drawing them matter more than a fixed canvas.

  • Good: The description states that every stroke is editable and scalable, and that the canvas is infinite
  • Good: It publishes its free list in full, so what the free tier gives is answerable before installing anything
  • Good: Its Data Safety section declares no data shared with third parties, encryption in transit, and that deletion can be requested
  • Con: The free list stops at five layers and JPG exports: more layers, the editing tools, and PSD, SVG and DXF export are named as paid in the same description
  • Con: It sells a subscription as well as one time purchases, and the description states that the one time purchases are limited to the platform you buy them on
  • Con: Its rating rests on 23,965 reviews, a small sample beside the largest listings here, so its 4.4 is not the same kind of measurement as a score built from hundreds of thousands of reviews

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4.423,965 reviews on Google PlayGet it on Google Play

Cloud sync for comics, ads label

MediBang Paint:Draw Art, Comic · cloud sync, and the ads label

Store title MediBang Paint:Draw Art, Comic · Rating 3.7 from 302,194 reviews · Installs 10,000,000+ · Free to install · in-app purchases $2.49 to $8.99 per item · The listing description sets out comic panel and screen tone tools, PSD and CMYK support, cloud sync across devices, and further brushes on a subscription plan · Version 28.24 · listing updated 2 June 2026 · first published 16 June 2015 · Developer MediBang Inc. · Category Art & Design · Data Safety: the app may share data types with third parties, may collect data types, data encrypted in transit, deletion can be requested · Contains ads: Yes · checked 16 August 2026

Google Play listing · 3.7 (302,194) · read 16 August 2026

MediBang Paint is the cross device comics entry. The developer's description on the Play listing, read on 16 August 2026, states that you can work across devices with cloud sync and collaborate on the same canvas, and it names comic panel tools, screen tones, speech bubbles and PSD and CMYK support. The listing publishes 3.7 from 302,194 reviews, an install band of 10,000,000+, in-app purchases from $2.49 to $8.99 per item, and it carries the Contains ads label.

Read this first. The listing read for this page is titled MediBang Paint:Draw Art, Comic, with a full width colon, and its package is com.medibang.android.paint.tablet. MediBang Paletta is a different app from the same developer, on its own listing and a far smaller sample of reviews, and not one figure on this page was read from it. Our page on this year's new drawing listings covers that one instead.

Skip this one if you work on a single device and the advertising label bothers you: look at Clip Studio Paint first, the one of the three comics entries here that carries no advertising label, and which asks for a plan instead. Choose MediBang Paint over ibis Paint X when moving pages between devices matters more to you than the size of the review sample.

  • Good: The description states cloud sync across devices and collaboration on the same canvas
  • Good: PSD and CMYK support is named in the description, together with comic panel, screen tone and speech bubble tools
  • Good: Rated 3.7 on 302,194 reviews, one of the three largest published samples on this page
  • Con: The listing carries the Contains ads label, so the store states that the app contains advertising
  • Con: Rated 3.7: only one of the eleven ratings here sits lower, and one other listing publishes the same figure
  • Con: Its Data Safety section declares that the app may share data types with third parties, and the further brushes its own description names sit behind a subscription plan

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MediBang Paint canvas with brush strokes, the HSV colour picker, brush size and opacity controls, and the layer bar
Screenshot of the MediBang Paint canvas. App by MediBang Inc. · Google Play
MediBang Paint canvas with brush strokes, the HSV colour picker, brush size and opacity controls, and the layer bar
The canvas, with the colour picker and brush controls to the left
Tap ✕ to close
Sketching mostly words and margin notes? Our handwriting apps guide covers the apps whose listings are built around handwriting with a stylus.

3.7302,194 reviews on Google PlayGet it on Google Play

No purchases and no ads label

PENUP · no purchases listed, published by Samsung

Rating 4.5 from 221,990 reviews · Installs 100,000,000+ · Free to install · no in-app purchase range published on the listing · The listing description sets out coloring pages, templates, Live Drawing and Photo Drawing, drawing challenges, and commenting on other people's drawings · Listing updated 4 August 2026 · first published 7 September 2013 · no version number on the record read here · Developer Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. · Category Art & Design · Data Safety: the app may share data types with third parties, may collect data types, the listing states that data is not encrypted, deletion can be requested · Contains ads: No · checked 16 August 2026

Google Play listing · 4.5 (221,990) · read 16 August 2026

PENUP is one of two entries here with no in-app purchase range at all. Its Play listing, read on 16 August 2026, publishes no purchase range and carries no advertising label, and it is rated 4.5 from 221,990 reviews on an install band of 100,000,000+. Its description is about drawing together rather than about tools: coloring pages, templates, Live Drawing and Photo Drawing, challenges, and commenting on other people's work. The blunt part is in its Data Safety section, which states that data is not encrypted.

One thing the description does not do is name the S Pen: it talks about pen drawn content in general. The listing page is not silent on it, though. A developer reply from Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., dated 10 July 2026 and read on 16 August 2026, states that PENUP is optimized for devices that use the S Pen and that a device supporting it is required for pressure sensitivity adjustment and the auto fix tools. That is a reply to one review rather than a line of the store record, and which stylus this or any other app suits best is not something a store record answers. Skip this one if you want layers, export control and a studio tool set, because the description names none of them. Choose PENUP over Pixilart when coloring pages and challenges rather than a pixel grid are what you are after.

  • Good: No in-app purchase range and no advertising label on the listing, one of two entries here with neither
  • Good: Rated 4.5 from 221,990 reviews, as read on 16 August 2026
  • Good: The listing was updated on 4 August 2026, as read on 16 August 2026
  • Con: Its Data Safety section states that data is not encrypted, and no other section read for this page states that (read 16 August 2026)
  • Con: It declares that the app may share data types with third parties and may collect data types
  • Con: The description is about sharing and coloring rather than about a tool set: it names no layers, no brush engine and no export options

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4.5221,990 reviews on Google PlayGet it on Google Play

Small tool set, weekly or yearly plan

Tayasui Sketches · a named tool list, and the oldest update here

Rating 3.8 from 77,728 reviews · Installs 10,000,000+ · Free to install · in-app purchases $2.99 to $49.99 per item · The listing description states that premium features are reached by subscription, weekly or yearly · Version 1.5.41 · listing updated 16 October 2025 · first published 29 October 2020 · Developer Tayasui Sketches · Category Art & Design · Data Safety: no data shared with third parties, the app may collect data types, data encrypted in transit, and the listing states that data cannot be deleted · Contains ads: No · checked 16 August 2026

Google Play listing · 3.8 (77,728) · read 16 August 2026

Tayasui Sketches is the deliberately small tool set on this page, and its own description says so: a claimed twenty plus tools, fifteen of them named one by one under a list of tools heading, plus layers, photo import and a brush editor, with the rest on a plan. Its Play listing, read on 16 August 2026, publishes 3.8 from 77,728 reviews, an install band of 10,000,000+, no advertising label, and in-app purchases from $2.99 to $49.99 per item. The blunt part: it has gone longer without an update than any other listing here, since 16 October 2025.

Its description also lists Shapes as iPad only, inside an Android listing, which is worth reading twice before paying for anything on it. Skip this one if you want depth to grow into, because Infinite Painter and ibis Paint X both publish far longer tool lists. Choose Tayasui Sketches over Sketchbook when a small, named set of drawing tools is the point rather than a limitation.

  • Good: The description names its tools individually, including watercolor dry and wet brushes, an oil pastel, an acrylic brush and a smudge tool
  • Good: Its Data Safety section declares no data shared with third parties and states that data is encrypted in transit
  • Good: Its 3.8 rests on 77,728 reviews, the sixth largest of the eleven published samples on this page, so it is neither the thinnest evidence here nor the strongest
  • Con: Premium features are on a subscription, weekly or yearly, which the description states outright
  • Con: The listing was last updated on 16 October 2025, longer ago than any other listing on this page
  • Con: Its Data Safety section states that data cannot be deleted, and no other section read for this page states that (read 16 August 2026)

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3.877,728 reviews on Google PlayGet it on Google Play

Pixel art, and no subscriptions

Pixilart · pixel art and sprites

Rating 4.1 from 10,798 reviews · Installs 1,000,000+ · Free to install · no in-app purchase range published on the listing · The listing description states in its own words that there are no subscriptions, and sets out a public community with swearing and spam filters on by default · Version 1.9.0 · listing updated 31 March 2026 · first published 5 November 2018 · Developer Pixilart · Category Art & Design · Data Safety: no data shared with third parties, the app may collect data types, data encrypted in transit, deletion can be requested · Contains ads: No · checked 16 August 2026

Google Play listing · 4.1 (10,798) · read 16 August 2026

Pixilart is the pixel grid on this page, and its description is the only one read here that settles the money question outright: under a subscriptions heading of its own, its Play listing, read on 16 August 2026, states that there are no subscriptions. The same listing publishes 4.1 from 10,798 reviews, an install band of 1,000,000+, no in-app purchase range and no advertising label. The blunt part: it is a pixel editor, and its description offers nothing else.

That description spends as much space on the community as on the editor: all conversations are public, there is no private messaging, and swearing and spam filters are on by default. That is worth having in front of you if the person drawing is a child. Skip this one if you draw anything other than pixels, because every other entry here is broader. Choose Pixilart over PENUP when a pixel grid rather than coloring pages is the point.

  • Good: No in-app purchase range and no advertising label on the listing, and the description states plainly that there are no subscriptions
  • Good: The description sets out the moderation rules: no private messaging, public conversations, and swearing and spam filters on by default
  • Good: Its Data Safety section declares no data shared with third parties, encryption in transit, and that deletion can be requested
  • Con: An install band of 1,000,000+, the smallest on this page, shared with one other listing
  • Con: Its 4.1 rests on 10,798 reviews, one of the two smallest published samples here, so it rests on far less than most of the ratings beside it
  • Con: The description offers pixel editing and a community and nothing else, so it is no use for painting or comic pages

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4.110,798 reviews on Google PlayGet it on Google Play

AR tracing, purchases to $699.99

Sketchar · AR tracing for beginners

Rating 3.7 from 76,684 reviews · Installs 5,000,000+ · Free to install · in-app purchases $0.99 to $699.99 per item · The listing description sets out augmented reality tracing onto paper, step by step lessons, an in-app canvas with layers and custom brushes, and three auto renewable subscriptions · Version 10.9.1-play · listing updated 24 July 2026 · first published 10 May 2017 · Developer Sketchar Inc · Category Art & Design · Data Safety: the app may share data types with third parties, may collect data types, data encrypted in transit, deletion can be requested · Contains ads: No · checked 16 August 2026

Google Play listing · 3.7 (76,684) · read 16 August 2026

Sketchar is the learner's entry. The developer's description on the Play listing, read on 16 August 2026, sets out augmented reality tracing of an image onto real paper through the camera, step by step lessons, and an in-app canvas with layers and custom brushes. The figure to look at before any other is the purchase ceiling: this listing publishes in-app purchases from $0.99 to $699.99 per item. It is rated 3.7 from 76,684 reviews on an install band of 5,000,000+, with no advertising label.

Read this first. In-app purchases on this listing reach $699.99 per item. That is the store's own published range, read on 16 August 2026, and it is more than five times the next highest ceiling on this page. What any single item at that price buys is not something the listing says.

Its description names three auto renewable subscriptions as well, so the per item range is not the whole of the money either. Skip this one if you already draw without a guide, because the tracing is what this listing is built around. Choose Sketchar over Pixilart when learning to draw on paper is the goal rather than making digital art.

  • Good: Tracing an image onto paper through the camera is set out in the developer's own description, along with step by step lessons
  • Good: Its description names its three subscription tiers and prices each of them, so the recurring cost is on the listing rather than hidden behind the per item range
  • Good: Version 10.9.1-play, with the listing updated on 24 July 2026
  • Con: In-app purchases reach $699.99 per item, by a wide margin the highest ceiling on this page
  • Con: Rated 3.7: only one of the eleven ratings here sits lower, and one other listing publishes the same figure
  • Con: Its Data Safety section declares that the app may share data types with third parties and may collect data types

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3.776,684 reviews on Google PlayGet it on Google Play

How to choose a drawing app for Android

Match the app to the work, and use the table above rather than a feature list.

All eleven are free to install, so free is not a reason to pick one of them over another, and nine of the eleven publish an in-app purchase price or a range, so almost none of them is free of money either. Two carry the Contains ads label: ibis Paint X and MediBang Paint. Five declare in their Data Safety sections that they may share data types with third parties: Infinite Painter, ibis Paint X, MediBang Paint, PENUP and Sketchar. Two declare that no data at all is collected: Sketchbook and Krita. Those groups overlap, so each app's full Data Safety section is printed in its own section above rather than summarised.

Comics and manga are where the descriptions differ most, and they differ from each other too. MediBang Paint is the one that names both comic panel tools and screen tones. ibis Paint X names screentones and a text tool with vertical and horizontal settings, and no panel tool in those words. Clip Studio Paint names speech bubbles, frames and action lines instead, and of the three it is the only one with no advertising label. Painting is where the descriptions say most about brushes: Krita and Clip Studio Paint name a brush engine in those words, and Infinite Painter and ibis Paint X each give brushes a heading of their own. Planning and diagrams are Concepts, whose description is built around strokes that stay editable after they are drawn. Pixel work is Pixilart. Learning to draw on paper is Sketchar. Coloring pages and company are PENUP.

A pressure stylus changes what any of these can do, and a store record is thin evidence about styluses. Five of the eleven descriptions read for this page say something about them, and two of the five, Infinite Painter and Concepts, state pressure and tilt support in so many words; the other six name no stylus, though the PENUP description is built around pen drawn content, and the FAQ below names all five. Which app handles one particular pen best, and whether it offers a stylus only input mode, is a question for the developer's own documentation rather than for a store listing, and it is not something this page answers.

Pair it with: a photo editor app for cleaning up reference shots, a scanner app to digitise paper sketches, and a handwriting app for S Pen notes and lettering.

How we verify these picks

How we verify. Every app here is read from its own Google Play listing: the rating and review count from the listing's own structured data, the install band, the price and the in-app purchase range, the Contains ads label, the developer, the version where one is published, the date the listing was last updated, the full Data Safety section, and what the developer's own description states about what the money buys. Where a listing publishes no such field, this page says so rather than leaving a blank. Ratings drift and counts climb, so every figure carries the date it was read. Nothing here rests on our own use of the apps. Last full pass: 16 August 2026, repeated quarterly.

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Questions, answered

Do I need a stylus to draw on Android?

None of the eleven descriptions read for this page states that a stylus is required. Five of them say something about styluses: Infinite Painter states full pressure and tilt support, Concepts says its pencils, pens and brushes respond to pressure, tilt and velocity, Tayasui Sketches lists stylus support among its tools, Clip Studio Paint says lines can be adjusted with a finger or a stylus, and ibis Paint X names one particular stylus only in a note about data collection. The other six name no stylus, though the PENUP description is built around pen drawn content, and a developer reply on the PENUP listing, dated 10 July 2026, is the one place any of these records ties a drawing feature to a particular pen. What a pen feels like against a finger is general Android guidance rather than anything these listings publish, and this page does not answer it.

What is the best free drawing app for Android?

All eleven apps on this page are free to install, so the real question is what each listing asks for after that. Sketchbook publishes a single in-app purchase price rather than a range, and carries no advertising label. Pixilart and PENUP publish no in-app purchase range at all. Krita is free to install with no advertising label too, and its own description calls the Android build a beta that is not suitable for real work yet.

Are these drawing apps better on a phone or a tablet?

A larger screen gives your hand room to move and your artwork space to breathe, and several of these descriptions are written around tablets. Krita says so outright: its description states that the interface is currently optimized for big screen devices, tablets and chromebooks, and that the app is not being made available for phones yet. Clip Studio Paint publishes different free windows for tablets and for smartphones. Read the description on the listing before choosing on a phone.

Can I edit photos inside a drawing app?

Several of these descriptions name photo import as a reference or tracing layer, Concepts, Infinite Painter and Tayasui Sketches among them, and Infinite Painter also names color correction and filter effects among its tools. None of the eleven descriptions read for this page presents the app as a photo retouching tool. For cropping, color correction and filters you want a dedicated app. Take a look at our guides to the best photo editor apps and the best camera apps for that side of things.

Why do my layers disappear when I share a drawing?

Sharing usually exports a flattened PNG or JPG, which merges every layer into one image so it can be viewed anywhere. Your layers are not lost. They stay in the app's own project file. If you want to keep editable layers when moving to a computer, export a layered PSD instead, and open that file in desktop software. Four descriptions read for this page name PSD: MediBang Paint, Krita, Concepts and Infinite Painter. Clip Studio Paint does not name it in its description at all. How sharing behaves in each app is not something a store listing states, and that part of this answer is general Android guidance rather than a claim about any of these eleven.

Will a heavy drawing app slow down my phone?

Nothing these eleven listings publish answers that, and this page does not measure it. Two descriptions do say something about devices: Krita states that its interface is currently optimized for big screen devices, tablets and chromebooks, and Clip Studio Paint points at a recommended device specification page of its own. As general Android guidance rather than a listing claim, a large canvas with many layers asks more of a device than a small one, and lowering the canvas size or the layer count is the usual answer.

Is Procreate available on Android?

No. A Google Play search on 16 August 2026 returned thirty app listings and no listing for Procreate itself, so it is not one of the apps this page can read or compare. That is a search result rather than a listing that was opened, and it is the one claim here whose source is not a store record. Which Android app comes closest to it is not a question a store record answers either.

Which drawing app is best with the Samsung S Pen?

PENUP is published by Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., and its description is built around pen drawn content, coloring pages and drawing challenges, although it does not name the S Pen itself. A developer reply on that listing, dated 10 July 2026, does name it: it states that PENUP is optimized for devices that use the S Pen and that such a device is required for pressure sensitivity adjustment and the auto fix tools. Of the others, Infinite Painter states full pressure and tilt support in its description, Concepts says its tools respond to pressure and tilt, and Tayasui Sketches lists stylus support among its tools. How any of them handles one particular pen is not something a store listing answers.

Can any of these apps do animation?

Three of the descriptions read for this page mention it. Krita says it supports animation with onion skinning and storyboarding, Clip Studio Paint says you can make anything from GIFs to full length animations, and ibis Paint X lists an animation feature among its features. If animation is the main goal rather than a bonus, a dedicated animation app will serve you better than a drawing app.

Is Adobe Fresco available for Android?

No. A Google Play search on 16 August 2026 returned thirty app listings, several of them published by Adobe, and no listing for Adobe Fresco itself, which is why it is not one of the eleven apps read for this page. That is a search result rather than a listing that was opened. If you want painting brushes described at length on an Android listing, Infinite Painter and ibis Paint X each give brushes a heading of their own in the description, and Krita and Clip Studio Paint name a brush engine in those words.

Checked 26 August 2026: Three of the eleven listings were re-read today: Infinite Painter, Pixilart and ibis Paint X. Rating, install band, price, the Contains ads label and the in-app purchase range are unchanged on all three. The ibis Paint X record has moved to version 14.0.11 with its listing updated on 21 August 2026, a date later than any update date this page recorded on 16 August 2026, so the update date rankings in the ibis Paint X, Krita and PENUP sections are withdrawn and the plain dates left in their place. Review counts are not reprinted from today's read and keep their 16 August 2026 date, and the eight listings not opened today keep every figure and date from that pass.

Checked 16 August 2026: This is a re-read of a page that was already enriched on 6 August 2026, and every figure on it has been read again from each app's own Google Play listing today. Six of the eleven records had moved in the ten days between the two reads. ibis Paint X: the in-app purchase range this page printed as $1.99 to $49.99 is $2.99 to $79.99 on its listing today. Krita: the page printed 3.4 from 5.98K reviews and called that the lowest rating on this list; the same listing today gives 3.3 from 6,083 reviews, still the lowest of the eleven, and every review count on this page is now printed in full rather than rounded to thousands. Concepts: the rating its listing displays has moved from 4.3 to 4.4. Clip Studio Paint, Tayasui Sketches and Pixilart: their review counts have all climbed, and the new counts are in their fact lines. Sketchbook, Infinite Painter, MediBang Paint, PENUP and Sketchar: rating, install band, price and ads label are unchanged from the previous read, and each carries today's date because it was read today, not because it moved. Every count here is what the listing published at the moment it was read on that date: a count read a few hours later, on this page or on a sister page dated the same day, can differ by a handful of reviews without either read being wrong.

MediBang Paint: the page named it only as MediBang Paint. Its store title today is MediBang Paint:Draw Art, Comic, with a full width colon, and the heading and the fact line now use that title. Two different MediBang apps exist and both are real: this page links com.medibang.android.paint.tablet, and our page on this year's new drawing listings links a different product from the same developer, on its own listing and a far smaller sample of reviews. That is now stated inside the MediBang section, so a reader moving between the two pages does not read one figure as a contradiction of the other.

Claims withdrawn from the body, each of them in the stored page until today. Claims about using the apps, which the owner's rule forbids in every channel: "runs well on mid range tablets", "genuinely usable on a phone", "the touch interface still feels rough", "light on storage and battery", "lovely watercolor rendering" and "the AR tracing genuinely builds hand confidence". Superlatives and absolutes that no listing read today supports: "the best perspective and symmetry guides on Android", "the closest thing to desktop illustration software on an Android tablet", "smallest install base on this list", which was wrong because Krita publishes the same install band, and "preloaded on Galaxy devices", which the PENUP listing does not state. Claims contradicted by the listings themselves: "free with every pro tool", against a listing that publishes a purchase price and a description that says nothing about what is free; "removing them takes a subscription", against an ibis Paint X description that names an Ad Removal Upgrade as a purchase separate from its monthly or yearly plan; "the free version is a trial", against an Infinite Painter description that publishes a free feature list in full; "one time pro upgrade, no subscription", against a Tayasui Sketches description that sets out a weekly or yearly subscription; and "full brushes and layers need a subscription", against a Concepts description that offers one time purchases alongside the subscription.

Added in this pass: a Data Safety line and a description line in every app's fact line, a version and a listing update date for every app whose record publishes them, and the developer's own words quoted and linked in the same sentence for Clip Studio Paint and Krita. The Krita quote is now taken from the Play description read today rather than from the project FAQ the page quoted before. The decision table was already here and there is still exactly one; it now carries an Ads column and a Rating column, so the two facts most readers filter on sit in the table rather than only in the sections, and the standout and pick it for columns it used to carry are folded into the single best for cell. A dated How we verify section and a verdict paragraph were already here; both were rewritten, and both now use the box and capsule markup the standard asks for, which the stored page did not carry.

Removed from the body: the inline card that linked our page on this year's new drawing listings. Its artwork carries a July framing and wording that the linked page itself withdrew when it was rewritten earlier today, and the image file cannot be edited from this account, so the link stays as text and the picture goes. The MediBang screenshot stays where it was, inside the MediBang section; its caption stated that the image was captured in-app on Android 14, and it now names what the picture shows and who publishes the app and claims nothing about where the image came from, because verificat, nu testat applies to captions as well as to prose and nothing available to this pass could establish the origin of that file either way. No app was removed from this page and none was added: all eleven store links the live page carried resolved today with status ok, and nothing on this page rests on installing or running any of these apps.

Best Drawing Apps for Android in 2026: Free and Pro, Compared