ibis Paint X

Review by eFreeware

Most people who would like to draw never start. The blank canvas is intimidating, the software looks like it was designed for professionals, and the price of a serious art program is hard to justify before you know whether you enjoy the work. That gap between wanting to make something and actually making it is exactly what ibis Paint X is built to close. It is a free illustration and animation app from ibis inc. for Android phones and tablets, and it has been one of the standard answers to "where do I start?" for a long time.

The numbers behind it are hard to ignore. The app has passed 100 million installs on Google Play, holds a 4.5 average from more than three million ratings, and the developer says the wider series has reached 500 million cumulative downloads. It first appeared in February 2014 and is still being updated, with the most recent release in September 2026. That kind of staying power matters when you are choosing where to put your practice time.

What appeals to me most is the framing. The developer pitches this at people who assume drawing is difficult, and promises a creative experience that does not compromise even at the free tier. Whether that promise holds for you will depend on how far you push it, but the intent is clear: lower the barrier, then let the tool grow with you.

A starting point for people who do not draw yet

The app is described as an entry point for anyone who wants to draw, and the developer says it is chosen by people across ages, countries and experience levels. That range is the point. Someone picking up a stylus for the first time and someone who already draws regularly are both meant to find something here, which is unusual for a free app in this category.

If you are the hesitant beginner, the appeal is that nothing has to be committed up front. You install it, you draw, and if it does not stick you have lost nothing but time. If you already draw, the draw is the depth underneath the friendly surface: a large brush library, layer controls, vector tools and animation, all in the same app rather than split across several purchases.

It also suits people who want to record and share how a piece came together. The app can capture your process as a time-lapse video, and it can go further into videos with background music and audio. For anyone who posts work online, that turns a finished illustration into something with a bit more reach.

Where I would temper expectations is scope. This is a phone and tablet app, aimed at desktop-class illustration work rather than replacing a full studio setup. Treat it as a serious mobile workspace and the feature set lines up with what you would want.

Brushes, materials and the sheer size of the toolbox

The headline feature is volume. The app offers over 130,000 brushes, more than 30,000 materials and 3,000-plus fonts. Those are marketing figures, and I would not read them as 130,000 brushes you will personally use. Read them as a sign that whatever mark you are trying to make, someone has probably already built a brush for it, and that you are unlikely to run out of textures, stamps or lettering options.

Alongside that sits a set of tools that matter more once you are past the beginner stage. Layer work covers 27 blending modes, plus 46 screentones and 86 filters. Vector tools let you work with shapes and lines that hold their quality when resized, which is useful for clean line art and logos. A reference window keeps an image visible while you draw, so you can work from a photo without switching apps.

The drawing aids are the part I find most interesting for anyone nervous about precision. Radial and symmetry rulers handle repeated patterns and mirrored designs, which is the sort of thing that looks impressive and is genuinely tedious to do by hand. Animated filters add movement to your work, and there is an AI Disturbance feature for those who want to alter an image in less predictable ways.

The practical consequence is a learning curve that scales with ambition. You can ignore most of this and just paint, or you can spend months working through the layers of the toolbox. Both are legitimate ways to use the app, and the size of the library means the ceiling is high.

From a single illustration to frame-by-frame animation

Drawing is only part of what the app does. It supports frame-by-frame animation, which means you can build movement one drawing at a time rather than relying on preset effects. That is the traditional way animation is learned, and having it in the same app as your illustration tools removes a lot of friction for anyone curious about the medium.

It goes further than that. You can produce videos with background music and audio, so a finished piece can be more than a still image. Combined with the animated filters, there is a path from a single sketch to something you could post as a short clip, all without leaving the app.

The time-lapse recording is the feature I would expect to get the most quiet use. It captures your creative process as it happens, which is both a record of how you work and a ready-made piece of content. For anyone trying to build an audience or simply document progress over months, that is a meaningful addition rather than a gimmick.

Recent fixes address vector shapes distorting after being applied when a selection area was present, and a crash when leaving a tutorial. Maintenance of that sort does not make headlines, but it is the difference between a tool you trust and one you fight.

What the free price tag involves

ibis Paint X is free to download, and it carries ads. It also offers in-app purchases. Those three facts together describe the arrangement: you are not paying up front, and there are things you can choose to buy inside it.

Purchase plans are also offered, and a free trial renews automatically unless it is canceled at least a day before it ends. If you start a trial, that is the date worth putting in your calendar. It is a standard arrangement, but it is the kind of detail that is easy to skim past.

On permissions, the developer is explicit that none are required. Photo and video access covers importing images and saving your work; the microphone is used for connecting peripherals such as digital styluses; push notifications carry artwork updates, app news and announcements. All of them are optional, and the core features remain available if you decline, though some features tied to a given permission may be limited.

So the cost of entry is attention rather than money. You decide what to grant, whether to buy anything, and whether to keep a trial running. For a free app with this much packed into it, that seems a fair trade, provided you go in knowing the terms.

How it compares with the alternatives

The obvious comparison is a paid illustration app. Those typically ask for money up front. If you already know you will draw regularly and you dislike interruptions, paying once and owning the tool outright is a reasonable position.

The other comparison is a lighter sketching app. There are simpler options built around a handful of brushes and quick results, and they can be genuinely pleasant for casual doodling. What you give up is the depth: animation, vector tools, screentones, blending modes and the sheer breadth of the material library are the reasons to accept a heavier app in the first place.

There is also the desktop route. A full illustration suite on a computer will generally offer more raw power and a larger screen to work on, at the cost of being tied to a desk and a bigger financial commitment. This app is a mobile option with comparable ambition, which is the interesting middle ground: serious capability on a device you already carry.

My read is that the free model is the right fit for someone still deciding whether drawing is for them, and the depth is what keeps them there once they have decided. The two things pull in the same direction rather than against each other.

A free studio worth starting in

ibis Paint X earns a recommendation for a specific reader: someone who wants to draw or animate on a phone or tablet, does not want to pay before knowing whether they will stick with it, and would rather grow into a deep toolbox than hit a ceiling in a month. The combination of a huge brush and material library, layer controls, vector tools, animation and time-lapse recording in one free app is a lot to offer at no cost.

It is not the tidiest choice. A trial will renew unless you cancel in time. The breadth that makes it powerful also means there is a lot to learn, and the developer's own framing of it as an entry point is a reminder that you are meant to start small and expand.

If you have been telling yourself that drawing is too hard or too expensive to begin, this is a sensible place to find out whether that is true. Install it, make one thing, and see whether you want to make another.

What's new in version 14.1.2

[Fixed Bugs and Problems] - Fixed an issue where, when there was a Selection Area, a shape drawn with Smart Shape on a Vector Layer could be distorted after being applied. - Fixed an issue where the app could crash when returning to My Gallery with a keyboard shortcut while a tutorial was displayed. etc. For more details, see: https://ibispaint.com/historyAndRights.jsp?newsID=309076693