ibispaint.com

One-line Overview

ibisPaint is a mobile drawing and illustration app developed by the Japanese company ibis inc. Built around mobile creation, it has become a highly popular entry-level tool among drawing enthusiasts worldwide thanks to its rich brush library, layer features, and social sharing mechanics. It offers a Chinese interface, making it friendly for Chinese users, and is well suited to digital drawing practice or lightweight illustration work during spare moments.

Business Overview

Since its launch in 2010, ibisPaint has focused deeply on mobile drawing and has accumulated over 100 million downloads across iOS and Android. Its core offering is a complete set of hand-drawing and illustration tools, including more than 15,000 brushes, multiple layer blending modes, filters, perspective rulers, animation creation, and more. Users can complete the entire workflow from sketching to coloring with just a phone or tablet, without needing professional hardware.

ibisPaint also includes built-in recording of the drawing process, making it easy for users to share their creative steps on social media and helping form an active community ecosystem. In terms of market position, it is often seen as an affordable mobile alternative to Procreate, with a particular advantage in the Android ecosystem. Its main users are hobbyists, students, and beginner illustrators.

Who It’s For

ibisPaint is mainly aimed at individual users, especially beginners and casual hobbyists who like drawing on a phone or tablet. It is suitable for users who do not want to invest in expensive hardware such as an iPad Pro + Apple Pencil, or paid software such as Procreate or Clip Studio Paint, and want to get started quickly with the devices they already own.

It is not a good fit for small teams or business users, as ibisPaint lacks collaboration features, cloud storage sync, and commercial licensing options. Professional artists may also move to desktop tools due to performance ceilings, such as limits on maximum layer count and canvas size. Typical use cases include sketching during a commute, creating social media avatars, or drawing simple illustrations for a personal blog.

Key Features and Highlights

• Massive brush library and customization: Offers over 15,000 preset brushes, including pencils, watercolor, oil painting, manga-specific pens, and more. Users can adjust parameters or import external brush files to support a wide range of art styles.
• Full layer system: Supports up to hundreds of layers, depending on device performance, with layer groups, blending modes, masks, and alpha lock for more professional layered drawing.
• Drawing process replay: Automatically records the entire drawing process and can export it as a video, making it easy to share creative ideas or use as teaching material. This is relatively uncommon among similar free apps.
• Animation tools: Includes simple frame-by-frame animation tools with onion-skin support, allowing users to create short animations or GIFs, suitable for stickers, memes, or small animations.
• Chinese interface and localization: The full interface supports Simplified Chinese, with Chinese tutorials and community resources, reducing the learning curve for Chinese users.
• Free + in-app purchase model: Core features are free to use, while paid upgrades unlock premium brushes, remove ads, and extend replay duration, without forcing users into a subscription.

Pricing Analysis

ibisPaint uses a freemium model. Basic drawing features, including common brushes, layers, replay, and exports, are completely free, with no export limits. The paid option is a one-time purchase of “ibisPaint Premium,” priced at around USD 3.99, or about RMB 28, which permanently unlocks all brushes, removes ads, and enables unlimited replay duration.

There are no monthly or annual subscription fees, and no hidden costs. Compared with Procreate, which costs around RMB 68 as a one-time purchase but is iPad-only, or Clip Studio Paint, which costs around RMB 35 per month, ibisPaint sits firmly in the low-cost category. It is especially cost-effective for Android users. Note that the premium price may fluctuate slightly due to app store exchange rate adjustments, but overall it remains very inexpensive.

How Chinese Users Can Use It

In terms of network accessibility, ibisPaint can be downloaded directly in mainland China from the Apple App Store or some Android app stores such as Huawei and Xiaomi’s app markets, without needing a VPN or other circumvention tools. Some in-app features, such as brush downloads, community browsing, and video sharing, require an internet connection, but basic drawing features can be used offline. Network latency is generally low, and the experience is smooth.

For payments, purchasing the premium version through the app store supports Alipay, WeChat Pay, or bank cards, making it fully compatible with common domestic payment habits. One thing to note is that ibisPaint does not provide invoice issuance, as it is aimed at individual consumers. Business users who need reimbursement may need to look for alternatives.

Domestic alternatives in China include “画世界Pro” and “妙笔生花.” The former has a more active community, while the latter has slightly fewer brushes. However, ibisPaint still has advantages in brush variety and animation features.

Pros and Cons

Pros:

• ✅ Free features are complete enough for zero-cost entry
• ✅ Chinese interface and tutorials make it easy to learn
• ✅ Available on both Android and iOS, without being tied to a specific device
• ✅ Animation creation is rare among similar free apps
• ✅ One-time purchase for the premium version, with no subscription burden

Cons:

• ❌ Lower performance ceiling; large canvases or complex layer stacks may lag
• ❌ No desktop version, and project files cannot be synced across platforms
• ❌ No cloud backup; works must be exported and saved manually
• ❌ Community features are relatively basic and not as strong as the social ecosystem of “画世界Pro”
• ❌ No clear commercial licensing guidance, so professional commercial use requires caution

Comparison with Similar Products

• Procreate (iPad exclusive): Costs around RMB 68 as a one-time purchase. Its brushes and performance are far better than ibisPaint, but it is limited to the Apple ecosystem and has no built-in animation features unless you buy Procreate Dreams separately. ibisPaint is better suited to Android users or beginners on a limited budget.
• 画世界Pro (Chinese app): Free with an active community, supporting live drawing and social sharing, but it has fewer brushes and less customization than ibisPaint. ibisPaint is slightly stronger in terms of professional drawing tools.
• Clip Studio Paint (cross-platform): Subscription-based, at around RMB 35 per month. It covers the full workflow from manga and illustration to animation and offers powerful performance, but it is expensive and has a steep learning curve. ibisPaint is a lighter-weight alternative.

Final Recommendation

ibisPaint is best suited to hobbyists, students, and occasional users who want to do non-professional drawing on a phone or tablet, especially Android users or people who do not want to buy an iPad and Apple Pencil. Its free model is almost risk-free, so it is worth downloading the free version first to try the core features. If the brush selection or replay duration feels insufficient, then consider spending around RMB 28 for the one-time premium upgrade.

It is not suitable for scenarios that require high-resolution commercial output, such as printed posters, team collaboration, or professional illustrators with extreme performance requirements. Those users should consider Clip Studio Paint or Procreate instead. Overall, ibisPaint is a “sweet spot” mobile drawing tool with excellent value for money, though it is not designed for heavy-duty creative production.