Procreate is the better app overall, scoring 9.4 to 9.1. Procreate wins on 3 of the 5 scores, Blender on 2.
Illustrators, letterers and hobby painters who draw on an iPad with Apple Pencil
3D artists, indie game makers and animators who want pro tools for free
Score by score
The details
| Feature | Procreate | Blender |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Design & Creativity | Design & Creativity |
| Category rank | #1 of 10 | #2 of 10 |
| Developer | Savage Interactive | Blender Foundation |
| Pricing | Paid | Free |
| Usable for free | No | Yes |
| iPhone & iPad | ✓ | — |
| Mac | — | ✓ |
| Windows | — | ✓ |
| Linux | — | ✓ |
Common questions
Is Procreate better than Blender?
Procreate is the better app overall, scoring 9.4 to 9.1. Procreate wins on 3 of the 5 scores, Blender on 2.
Which is cheaper, Procreate or Blender?
Procreate: $12.99 once on the App Store; the iPhone version, Procreate Pocket, is $5.99. Blender: Free forever for any purpose, including commercial work. On value for money, Blender scores higher.
Do Procreate and Blender work on the same devices?
Only Procreate runs on iPhone & iPad. Only Blender runs on Mac, Windows, Linux.
Which is more private, Procreate or Blender?
Procreate scores higher on privacy (9.8/10). App Store label: Data Not Collected. There are no accounts and no tracking, and Procreate has publicly committed to keeping generative AI out of its apps.
Strengths and weaknesses
Procreate
- Pay $12.99 once, with no subscription
- No account, no tracking and no data collected
- Huge brush set plus tools to build your own
- iPad only, with no Mac, Windows or Android version
- No account means no built-in cloud backup
- Still no built-in gradient tool
Procreate turns an iPad and Apple Pencil into a serious sketchbook. You get hundreds of brushes, a Brush Studio for making your own, QuickShape and StreamLine for clean lines, Page Assist for comics and even painting on 3D models. You pay $12.99 once, there's no account, and Apple's label says it collects no data. The catch: it's iPad only, and there's still no built-in gradient tool.
Full Procreate review
Blender
- Free and open source, even for commercial work
- No account, and it works fully offline
- One app covers modeling through final render
- Steep learning curve with a dense interface
- Mac version needs Apple silicon
- No iPad or Android tablet version yet
Blender is a complete 3D studio that costs nothing. Model, sculpt, animate, simulate, render with Cycles or real-time EEVEE, draw 2D animation with Grease Pencil and even edit video, all in one app. It's open source, needs no account and works offline, and version 5.2 added node-based cloth and hair physics. Be ready for a steep learning curve, and on Mac it needs Apple silicon.
Full Blender review
