Infinite Painter vs Sketchbook

Price

Both are free to download, but they charge for different things.

Infinite Painter is free to download. The free version includes every built-in brush, brush editing and up to 5 layers, and a 7-day trial unlocks everything. The Pro upgrade is a one-time $9.99 purchase on the US App Store, with no subscription.

Sketchbook is free, and a one-time $2.99 Premium Bundle unlocks extras such as custom brushes, clipping masks, layer grouping, extra adjustments and PDF export. There is no subscription.

Platforms

Both run on iPad, iPhone, Mac and Android. Only Infinite Painter runs on Chromebook. Only Sketchbook runs on Windows.

Infinite Painter is one app across iPad and iPhone, also runs on Apple silicon Macs, and has an Android version for phones, tablets and Chromebooks. Pro is bought separately through the App Store or Google Play.

Sketchbook is one app for iPhone and iPad, with separate versions for Android, Mac and Windows.

Brushes

Infinite Painter has hundreds of built-in brushes with more than 100 settings each. It imports and exports its own brushes and sets, can sample lower layers when blending, and applies live color adjustments and filters to any brush.

Sketchbook has a full set of pencils, markers, airbrushes and smear brushes that feel like their physical versions, and every brush is highly customizable. Creating, importing and exporting custom brushes is part of the Premium Bundle.

Comics and manga

Infinite Painter includes screentone brushes, editable shapes and text layers, but it does not advertise comic panel layouts.

Sketchbook does not advertise comic panel or screentone tools; its strengths are sketching, rulers and perspective guides.

Layers and editing

Infinite Painter: In Pro it offers live adjustment and filter layers with more than 40 filters, masks on layers, adjustments and groups, and 30 blend modes, so you can change an effect later without repainting. The free version stops at 5 layers.

Sketchbook: Layers come with a full set of blend modes. The Premium Bundle adds clipping masks, layer masks, layer groups, and adjustments such as blur, sharpen and brightness/contrast.

Drawing tools and extras

Infinite Painter: Drawing aids include five perspective guides, a hatching guide, radial and kaleidoscope symmetry, smart shape detection, a gradient fill tool and editable text layers. It also has seamless pattern projects and CMYK print presets. It does not advertise animation.

Sketchbook is built for sketching and precision, with guides, rulers, symmetry, perspective guides and Predictive Stroke for clean lines and shapes. Its clean interface stays out of the way so the canvas gets the screen.