ibisPaint: The Phone Drawing App That 100 Million Artists Actually Use
ibisPaint has over 100 million downloads. That is not a typo. More people have downloaded ibisPaint than will ever buy Procreate, Clip Studio Paint, and Adobe Fresco combined. The reason is simple: it is free, it runs on any phone, and it has 15,000+ brushes and materials. For millions of young artists worldwide, a smartphone running ibisPaint is their first and only digital art tool.
Now at version 7.0.2 (July 2026), ibisPaint has matured from a simple mobile sketch tool into a genuinely capable painting application. The question is whether it is a serious tool for professional work, or just a stepping stone to "real" art software. The answer is both. Professional artists have created portfolio-quality work entirely in ibisPaint. But it also has real limitations: 256 layer cap, no vector layers, no 3D models, and ads that interrupt your workflow unless you pay.
What Makes ibisPaint Different
The Social Art Community
ibisPaint is not just a drawing app. It is a social platform built around drawing. The built-in community lets artists share work, discover other artists, participate in challenges, and watch how others draw. This social layer is what keeps users engaged and is something no competitor offers at this scale.
The Drawing Process Video feature automatically records your entire drawing process as a timelapse. Share it to YouTube, TikTok, or Instagram directly from the app. This feature alone has made ibisPaint enormously popular on social media, where process videos attract massive engagement. For learning, watching other artists' process recordings provides real insight into professional workflows.
The Brush Library
ibisPaint's 15,000+ brushes and materials cover an extraordinary range: inking brushes for clean linework, painting brushes that simulate oil, watercolour, and acrylic, airbrush tools for smooth gradients, texture brushes for surface detail, and specialty brushes for effects like fire, clouds, and foliage. The brush engine supports pressure sensitivity on compatible devices, and custom brush parameters let you fine-tune behavior.
Is the brush quality as good as Clip Studio Paint? No. CSP's brush engine has more natural feel and better pressure curve handling. But ibisPaint's brushes are good enough for professional work, and the sheer variety compensates for what individual brushes lack in refinement.
Layer System
The layer system supports blending modes, opacity control, clipping masks, layer folders, and alpha lock. These are the same features you find in Photoshop and Clip Studio Paint. The main limitation is the 256 layer cap, which sounds like a lot until you are working on a complex illustration with separate layers for line art, flat colors, shading, highlights, effects, and adjustments.
Stabilization
ibisPaint's line stabilization is among the best available on mobile. It smooths hand tremor and touchscreen imprecision to produce clean, confident strokes. Adjustable stabilization strength lets you balance between smooth lines and responsive marks. For inking on a phone screen, this stabilization makes professional-quality results achievable.
Manga and Comic Tools
ibisPaint includes manga-specific tools: panel borders, screen tones, speech bubbles, and the Divide Tool for splitting panels. The Perspective Form tool creates adjustable perspective grids. The Symmetry Ruler draws symmetrically. These tools are not as deep as Clip Studio Paint's comic production suite, but they are surprisingly capable for a free mobile app.
What Is New in 2026
The 7.0.x updates through 2026 have added:
- Replay Feature: Step through any drawing stroke by stroke, forward and backward. Useful for studying your own process or learning from shared artwork.
- Prime Fonts: 1,000+ fonts included with Prime subscription, covering multiple languages and styles.
- Improved Dividers: Better panel border tools for manga production.
- Performance improvements: Faster rendering on newer devices, better memory management for large canvases.
- Windows version updates: The Windows version continues to receive updates but still trails the mobile versions in feature parity.
Pricing: Free, Prime, or Add-on Prime
Free Tier
- Full drawing and painting tools
- 15,000+ brushes and materials
- Layer system (up to 256 layers)
- Drawing process video
- Social community access
- Ads displayed between actions
The free tier is genuinely useful. You can create professional work without paying. The ads are the main annoyance. They appear between actions, not during drawing, but they interrupt your flow.
Prime ($7.99/month or $64.99/year)
- Ad removal
- 1,000+ Prime Fonts
- Hide watermark on exports
- Prime materials and brushes
- 30-day free trial available
Add-on Prime ($2.99/month)
- Hides ads only
- No Prime materials or fonts
- Cheapest option if ads are your only complaint
Compare to Procreate at $12.99 one-time (no ads, no subscription, superior brush engine). If you have an iPad, Procreate is the better deal. If you have an Android phone, ibisPaint Prime at $64.99/year is the cost of keeping ads away from your workflow.
ibisPaint vs. Procreate vs. Clip Studio Paint
| Feature | ibisPaint | Procreate | Clip Studio Paint |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price | Free / $7.99-mo Prime | $12.99 one-time | $63 (PRO) / $277 (EX) |
| Platform | iOS/Android/Windows | iPad only | Win/Mac/iPad/Android/iPhone/ChromeOS |
| Brushes | 15,000+ | Hundreds (custom) | Natural + 100,000+ ASSETS |
| Layer limit | 256 | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| Vector layers | No | No | Yes |
| 3D models | No | Limited | Yes (extensive) |
| Social community | Yes (built in) | No | No |
| Process video | Yes (automatic) | Yes (automatic) | No (manual) |
| Comic tools | Basic | Basic | Best available |
| Ads | Yes (free tier) | No | No |
ibisPaint wins on accessibility (free, any phone), social community, and process video. Procreate wins on brush quality, price (one-time), and iPad experience. Clip Studio Paint wins on professional features, vector layers, 3D models, and comic production.
The Mobile Art Revolution
ibisPaint is both a product and a driver of the mobile art revolution. For millions of young artists worldwide, particularly in regions where desktop computers and professional tablets are prohibitively expensive, a smartphone running ibisPaint is their primary digital art tool. The quality of work being produced on smartphones challenges assumptions about the hardware required for serious digital art.
This democratisation has had real impact on global art communities. Artists from countries where professional art supplies and digital equipment are luxury goods can now create, share, and develop their work using the phone they already own. The resulting influx of talent from previously underrepresented regions has enriched online art communities and proven that artistic ability is universal even when access to professional tools is not.
Insider Tips
- Ads between actions: Ads do not appear during drawing, only between actions like saving or exporting. If they bother you, the $2.99/month Add-on Prime is the cheapest fix.
- PSD export: ibisPaint exports to PSD, which opens in Photoshop and Clip Studio Paint. This makes ibisPaint a viable sketching front-end for a desktop workflow.
- Replay for learning: Use the Replay feature to step through shared artwork from other artists. It is the closest thing to watching over someone's shoulder as they draw.
- 256 layer limit: If you hit the layer cap, merge finished layers to free space. Plan your layer structure to avoid running out mid-project.
- Windows version: The Windows version exists but is less capable than the mobile versions. If you have a Windows tablet, compare ibisPaint with Clip Studio Paint ($0.99/month subscription) before committing.
- Finger drawing: ibisPaint is optimised for finger drawing, not just stylus input. The stabilizer compensates for the imprecision of finger input better than most apps.
Who Should Use ibisPaint (and Who Should Not)
Young and aspiring artists who are developing their skills and cannot invest in professional equipment. ibisPaint provides genuinely capable tools at no cost.
Smartphone-only artists in regions where tablets and computers are inaccessible. ibisPaint makes serious digital art possible on hardware they already own.
Social media artists who want to share process videos alongside finished work. The automatic recording feature is uniquely valuable for building audience engagement.
Hobbyists and casual artists who want to draw on their phone without buying an iPad or paying for software.
Who should look elsewhere: Professional illustrators who need vector layers, 3D models, unlimited layers, and production tools should use Clip Studio Paint. iPad owners should buy Procreate ($12.99 one-time) for a superior brush engine and no ads. Artists who need natural media simulation should try Adobe Fresco (free) or ArtRage Vitae ($4.99 mobile). Desktop artists should use Adobe Photoshop or Affinity Photo (now free).
Final Verdict: Who Is This Actually For?
ibisPaint is not trying to compete with Photoshop or Clip Studio Paint on features. It is trying to put a capable drawing tool in the hands of anyone with a phone, for free. On that metric, it succeeds brilliantly. 100 million downloads is not an accident. The 15,000+ brushes, layer system, stabilization, manga tools, and social community give you a genuinely useful art application that costs nothing.
The limitations are real: 256 layer cap, no vector layers, no 3D models, ads in the free version. If you hit these walls, it is time to move to a professional tool. But for learning, sketching, social sharing, and creating art on hardware you already own, ibisPaint is the best free option available.
Download ibisPaint for free from the App Store, Google Play, or Microsoft Store. Also compare with Clip Studio Paint for professional comic production, Adobe Fresco for natural media on iPad, and Procreate for the best iPad painting experience at $12.99.
