Get the appdrawsta is a drawing app for working artists, with the best ways to trace built in. Free, no subscription, no account, no ads. Here is how it sits beside the five apps people ask about most.
| App | Price | Dedicated trace mode | Pictures to trace | iPhone | iPad |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| drawsta | Free | Yes: tap a picture, it arrives as a ghosted layer | Included: a feed of artwork, album covers and NASA photographs, or bring your own photo | Yes | Yes |
| Procreate | One-time $12.993 | No dedicated mode: insert a photo or file onto a layer1 | Bring your own: insert a photo or file1 | Procreate Pocket, separate app, $5.992 | Yes3 |
| Adobe Fresco | Free, optional paid plan4 | No dedicated mode: import an image, use it as a background layer and lower its opacity5 | Bring your own: import an image5 | Yes6 | Yes6 |
| Sketchbook | Free, optional in-app purchase7 | No dedicated mode: import an image and lower the layer's opacity8 | Bring your own: import an image8 | Yes7 | Yes7 |
| Infinite Painter | Free, optional Pro unlock9 | Yes: Trace mode9 | Included: built-in image search, over a million commercial-use images9 | Yes9 | Yes9 |
| ibis Paint | Free with ads; $4.49 a month or $27.99 a year; ad removal $15.99 one-off10 | Yes: tracing, plus a reference window11 | Bring your own: import a photo11 | Yes12 | Yes12 |
Every claim about another app comes from the numbered source beside it: its current App Store listing, its official site, or its official documentation. Checked 9 October 2026. Prices move and differ by region. There is no ads column because only one of these apps documents its advertising anywhere citable, and a column that can be filled for one row out of six is a column of guesses.
drawsta is a drawing app for working artists, with the best ways to trace built in. Procreate is a one-time purchase built around its brush engine and print-size canvases. What each app is actually for, checked against both App Store listings.
drawsta puts the picture under your line in one tap, as a dedicated trace layer. In Fresco you import it and lower a layer’s opacity. Fresco is also free, and it has live watercolour and oil brushes. Both claims checked against Adobe’s own pages.
drawsta is a drawing app for working artists, with the best ways to trace built in. Sketchbook is free, runs on iOS 14, and keeps its interface out of your way. What the Premium Bundle unlocks, and how tracing works in it.
drawsta is a drawing app for working artists, with the best ways to trace built in. Infinite Painter is a painting app with a Trace mode, CMYK output and print presets. What each is for, and what Infinite Painter’s free tier gets you before the Pro unlock.
drawsta is free, with no ads and nothing to cancel. ibis Paint has a very large brush and material library, and also ads, a subscription and a separate paid app. All three prices, from ibis’s own page.