Verithiathe honest score on any app
Updated July 2026 · real, multi-region App Store reviews
Head-to-head

Sketch a Day vs Simply Draw

Sketch a Day 4.8★ · Free + IAP 75
Winner Sketch a Day
Simply Draw 4.7★ · Free + IAP 30

Sketch a Day is the better choice for artists seeking daily inspiration and a supportive community, while Simply Draw is largely criticized for its aggressive paywall after a single free drawing.

Full reviews: Sketch a Day · Simply Draw

Sketch a Day offers daily prompts and a positive community for artists of all levels, though some users report technical glitches and moderation issues. Simply Draw, despite its high lifetime rating, is overwhelmingly criticized for requiring payment after only one free drawing, leading to widespread user frustration.

Head to head

Features & Content edge: Sketch a DayR2R5R9R11
Sketch a Day Sketch a Day provides daily drawing prompts that help users branch out, challenge themselves, and find inspiration R2R5R11. It also offers lessons and tutorials R2. Users appreciate seeing diverse interpretations of prompts R2R23 and the ability to share their work R9.
Simply Draw Simply Draw offers drawing tutorials that some users find helpful, especially for beginners and children, enabling them to draw things like fish, cats, and pandas . However, the content is severely limited by a paywall, with most users only accessing one free drawing R70R75.
Ease of Use & Reliability edge: Sketch a DayR5R6R9R12
Sketch a Day Many users find Sketch a Day easy to use for posting art and navigating the community . However, there are frequent complaints about glitches, such as inability to see the reward gallery R5, deleted posts still showing R6, prompts not loading R9, inability to upload from iPad R12, losing streaks , app crashing or freezing , and comment writing issues R20.
Simply Draw Simply Draw's core drawing functionality seems straightforward for the single free drawing it offers . However, the app's design is heavily criticized for immediately hitting users with a paywall after the introductory drawing, which many perceive as deceptive R64R75.
Community & Support edge: Sketch a DayR2R6R8R16
Sketch a Day Sketch a Day is highly praised for its positive, supportive, and inspiring community R2R8R20R23. Users enjoy interacting with other artists, getting feedback, and seeing diverse interpretations R23. However, there are significant issues with moderation, including deleted posts without explanation R6, accusations of plagiarism R16, and moderators being perceived as mean or unfair . Customer service is also reported as non-existent or unhelpful R19.
Simply Draw Simply Draw's reviews do not mention a community aspect, focusing almost entirely on the drawing tutorials and payment model. There is no evidence of user interaction or support features within the app from the reviews.
Price & Value edge: Sketch a DayR1R2R7R13
Sketch a Day Sketch a Day is a 'Free + IAP' app. Many users appreciate that it can be used effectively without paying, offering daily prompts and community access R2. However, recent updates have introduced more aggressive ads, making the free experience 'nearly unusable' for some R7R13R19. There are also complaints about 'dark patterns' regarding one-time payments not unlocking expected features R1 and a lack of a reasonable one-time fee to remove ads R13.
Simply Draw Simply Draw is also a 'Free + IAP' app, but users overwhelmingly report that it functions as a paid app after a single free drawing. Many feel deceived by the 'free' advertising R61R64. Subscription prices mentioned include $14-$15 a month or $100-$200 a year, which users find too expensive for a drawing app R75.
Pick Sketch a Day if

Pick Sketch a Day if you are an artist looking for daily inspiration, a supportive community, and a platform to share your work, and you don't mind occasional ads or minor glitches R2R8R11R23.

Pick Simply Draw if

Pick Simply Draw if you are looking for very basic drawing tutorials and are willing to pay a significant monthly or annual subscription fee after a single free drawing .

Evidence note: Simply Draw has a high lifetime rating, but recent reviews are overwhelmingly negative due to its aggressive paywall, which contradicts the 'free' advertising. The vast majority of Simply Draw reviews focus solely on the payment model, making it difficult to assess other aspects of the app. Sketch a Day's reviews are more balanced, discussing both positive features and areas for improvement.

Frequently asked

Is Simply Draw truly free?
No, Simply Draw is not truly free; users report that after completing one introductory drawing (like a fish), the app requires a monthly subscription of around $14-$15 or an annual payment of $100-$200 to access additional content R61R64R70R75.
What kind of community does Sketch a Day offer?
Sketch a Day offers a positive, supportive, and inspiring community where artists of all levels can share their work, receive feedback, and see diverse interpretations of daily prompts R2R8R20R23.
Does Sketch a Day have ads?
Yes, Sketch a Day has ads, and while some users report no ads or minimal pushing to upgrade, recent updates have introduced 'absurd' and 'unbearable' long ads that make the app nearly unusable for others R2R7R13R19.

What reviewers actually said

Built only from these 120 real reviews (foreign ones translated). Superscripts jump to the quote here. Apple has no per-review links, so [ref] opens that app's reviews on the App Store.

  1. [R2] Sketch a Day 5/5 · US I recommend this app!: This app is pretty good. It actually has NO ads, I’d say it doesn’t push on you to upgrade. There is a lot of positivity in the comments and it feels great! The lessons are helpful. Like learning how to properly draw hands and the way of clothing. And the daily prompts are simple, yet so big! Like we had ‘echo’ once, everyone thought many things. It’s nice to see multiple pe
  2. [R5] Sketch a Day 4/5 · US love this app but one small thing..: I love the idea of a different prompt everyday. It really helps you branch out and draw things you normally wouldn’t. The only thing I dislike is the glitch i’m having with the “reward gallery”. I cant see any of the art and it’s disappointing because I have 4 unclaimed rewards at the moment. Other than that I love this app.
  3. [R9] Sketch a Day 3/5 · US Good but could improve: Hey so sketch a day is great I can share my art work and I love that and I love discovering amazing artists but it will glitch we’re it will not let me see today’s prompt and I have great Internet connection but sometimes it will never load also sometimes the prompts are weird and just not fun to draw I think they should make multiple prompts for the day but overall it is p
  4. [R11] Sketch a Day 5/5 · US Beneficial: Having a daily prompt is brilliant. Challenges you to attempt topics you might not ever think about
  5. [R6] Sketch a Day 3/5 · US Good community: The only reason I’m giving a three star is because they deleted one of my posts and when I delete a post it still says it’s there. I have 25 sketches but it says I have 29. And it says I have 646 likes but I really only have 616. So the one they deleted had 30 likes. But it still shows on profile that it’s there (doesn’t even show the drawing). I like it when they can tell us why t
  6. [R12] Sketch a Day 3/5 · US Great app and community, unable to upload from iPad: Maybe it’s a bug but when I click “photo library” nothing happens. I tried creating a file named photo library and that still didn’t help. I have jpegs and pngs to upload but I cannot get the app to interact with my gallery. I am on an iPad Pro 5th gen.
  7. [R8] Sketch a Day 5/5 · US Love the community ❤️: I live sketch a day so much the community is so nice and supportive! I love the suggestions each day for the prompt to give you ideas! I wish that you could see who follows you though. But that’s ok because I really just do it for the streak not the likes 🙂
  8. [R16] Sketch a Day 1/5 · US Plagiarism: Was erased for paganism on my own work. Said they found out on Pinterest. Of course they did cause it was my Pinterest. 😂 jealous moderators I reckon!
  9. [R1] Sketch a Day 1/5 · US Dark pattern: They changed the way you can see upcoming prompts (used to be ad supported). It says to unlock and gives the option for the monthly subscription and if you click “more” lets you do a 1 time payment as a supporter. Since I clicked “unlock” and then “more” I assumed the one time payment would unlock the thing I clicked unlock on. It did not. This is a dark pattern designed to steal yo
  10. [R7] Sketch a Day 1/5 · US Ads are absurd: There are so many ads the app is nearly unusable
  11. [R13] Sketch a Day 1/5 · US Don’t update if you have an older version - unbearable ads: The newer version of this app forces you to watch extremely long ads over and over, even to browse the app. This app is not usable anymore. Depressing. Give us a reasonable one time fee to have it free forever.
  12. [R61] Simply Draw 1/5 · US Me: I hate it when it makes you pay and doesn’t let you draw without paying
  13. [R64] Simply Draw 1/5 · US >:(: It said that it would be free, but once you’re done with the intro you have to pay so it is a lie don’t get it (trust)
  14. [R70] Simply Draw 1/5 · US Simply draw sucks: I was only able to draw one thing?!?!
  15. [R75] Simply Draw 3/5 · US Do not download ⚠️: They get you all exited because they complement you and other things and then if you want to do another drawing…… BOOM you get hit with the free trial screen. And once the free trial is done they want you to pay 200 dollars a year for a “ premium” experience. ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
  16. [R20] Sketch a Day 5/5 · US Love this app: Bad thing first..it is glitchy when you try to write a comment. That’s why I gave 4 instead of 5 stars The good. I love this app. I love the positivity and this art community. It definitely sparks inspiration. I kept this review short sweet and to the point
  17. [R23] Sketch a Day 5/5 · US Inspiring & Helpful: Joined to improve/sharpen my illustration hand skills. Getting a daily random subject to illustrate is a great way for me to unlock my creativity. Drawing every day is helping me to hone my skills and style. Additionally I set a 30 minute time limit for myself to push myself to work rapidly. Love seeing the creativity ways others around the world interpret the same subject ma
  18. [R19] Sketch a Day 1/5 · US Development issues: The new update was very lack luster and you are not able to upload the daily prompts without ads taking over and see can no longer see the recent art from others as you were previously. I sent a message to the customer support just to get an message back from Tom telling me to delete the free app if I was so unhappy. Talk about a letdown I’ve been on the app for a couple years

Synthesized from 120 recent App Store reviews · updated July 2026 · View on the App Store