Tayasui
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2008
- HeadquartersParis, France
- Headcount1–10
- GTM typeB2C
- OfferingSoftware
Tayasui firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Tayasui
- Legal name
- Sketches Srl
- Website
- https://tayasui.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2008
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 1–10 employees
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Tayasui industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Digital Drawing / Creative Apps
- SIC
- Pens, Pencils & Other Artists' Materials (3950)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Creativity, Art & Music Learning Apps (EDACANAE)
Keywords
Where Tayasui is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Paris
- HQ country
- France
- HQ region
- Europe
Offices1 record
Markets served
Tayasui business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2C
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Personnel, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Infrastructure
Revenue model
- Freemium App Distribution with In-App Purchases: Tayasui Sketches operates on a freemium model where the base app is free to download. Users can upgrade to Pro version through a one-time in-app purchase that unlocks all premium features including unlimited layers, additional brush variations, extended brush editor, gradients, patterns, color palettes, and extra rulers.
- Institutional/School Licensing: Bulk licensing for schools, educational institutions, and students through dedicated purchase request forms. Includes Tayasui Sketches School and Tayasui Sketches bundled offerings for educational environments.
- Separate Platform Purchases: Despite similarities, iOS, Android, and Mac versions of Sketches are separate apps each requiring their own purchases. Pro purchases on one platform do not transfer to others.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Freemium | Others | Free version with basic drawing tools |
| One time/ perpetual license | Pay-as-you-go | Pro IAP (In-App Purchase) for advanced features |
| Subscription | Multi-year contract | Institutional/School Bulk Licensing |
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels4 records
Marketing channels9 records
Tayasui product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Tayasui develops and sells a portfolio of freemium creative/drawing mobile and desktop applications led by its flagship Tayasui Sketches app, available on iOS, Android, and Mac. Products use proprietary brush simulation optimized for Apple Pencil and stylus input to deliver realistic watercolor, pencil, ink, and acrylic drawing experiences, monetized through one-time Pro in-app purchases and complemented by an institutional Tayasui Sketches School offering licensed in bulk to educational institutions.
Product overview
Tayasui is a Paris-based creative apps studio founded in 2008, operating as a multi-product portfolio of standalone drawing and creative applications rather than a unified platform. The core offering is Tayasui Sketches — a freemium digital drawing app available on iOS, Android, and Mac — with a Pro in-app purchase unlocking advanced tools (unlimited layers, extended brush editor, extra rulers, PSD export). Complementary products include Tayasui Watercolor (dedicated watercolor brush app), Memopad (Apple Pencil-optimized note-taking), Doodle Book (guided drawing with templates), Tayasui Coloring Book, Tayasui Calligraphy, and AR Drawing (AR-based tracing tool). For educational institutions, Tayasui offers Tayasui Sketches School — a school-licensed version bundled with tutorials and lessons. Blocks is a separate kids' construction app. All products share a design philosophy of realistic digital drawing experiences with Apple Pencil integration, with Tayasui's brand meaning 'easy and simple' in Japanese.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- Tayasui Sketches: Flagship digital drawing app with realistic tools including watercolor, pencil, ink, and acrylic brushes. Available on iOS, Android, and Mac.
- Tayasui Sketches School
- Tayasui Watercolor
- Memopad
- Doodle Book
- Blocks
- Calligraphy
- Tayasui Coloring Book
- AR Drawing: Tracing by Tayasui
Products and services
- Tayasui Sketches Flagship freemium digital drawing application offering a comprehensive set of realistic drawing tools (pencils, watercolors, acrylics, ink, felt pens, pastels), unlimited layers, brush customization, rulers and symmetry guides, iCloud sync, and a Pro tier unlocking advanced features. Targeted at hobbyists, professional artists, and creative consumers across iOS, Android, and Mac.
- Tayasui Sketches Pro Premium upgrade for Tayasui Sketches distributed as an in-app purchase (or as a standalone black-icon app) unlocking unlimited layers, extended brush editor, multiple tool variations per brush, gradients, patterns, color palettes, color mixing, extra rulers (arc, circle, spline, grid), and PSD export. Targeted at consumers wanting advanced professional-grade drawing features.
- Tayasui Watercolor Standalone companion app focused on watercolor painting, offering a vast collection of professional realistic watercolor brushes and tools for immersive watercolor art creation. Targeted at artists and hobbyists wanting a dedicated watercolor drawing experience on iOS.
- Memopad Intuitive drawing and note-taking app optimized for Apple Pencil with a clean toolset, unlimited layers, creative patterns, and cross-device continuity between iPhone and iPad. Targeted at individual consumers wanting a simple drawing/note-taking tool and at kids for creative expression.
- Doodle Book Guided drawing app providing background templates and patterns to help users overcome the fear of blank pages, encouraging freeform doodling and creative relaxation, with a Pro version unlocking additional pages, watercolor brushes, marker tool, and color/brush editor. Targeted at casual users wanting an easy entry into drawing on iOS.
- Tayasui Coloring Book Coloring app offering detailed illustrations for users to fill with color, designed for relaxation for both children and adults. Targeted at casual users seeking guided coloring experiences on iOS.
- Tayasui Calligraphy Dedicated calligraphy drawing app featuring brushes that emulate traditional calligraphy art for expressive lettering. Targeted at iOS consumers interested in calligraphy and lettering.
- AR Drawing: Tracing by Tayasui Augmented reality drawing app that overlays traceable artworks on the user's canvas, helping develop drawing capabilities and pencil gesture confidence by tracing high-quality reference artworks. Targeted at learners wanting to practice drawing by tracing on iOS.
- Tayasui Sketches School Education-oriented version of Tayasui Sketches bundled with in-app tutorials and guided lessons, sold to schools and educational institutions through a dedicated purchase request form for bulk licensing. Targeted at K-12 schools, teachers, and students for art education and classroom drawing activities.
- Blocks LEGO-like construction kit app for kids where users can build, share, modify, and explode creations, combining creative construction with playful destruction. Targeted at children for creative play on iOS.
Companies that use Tayasui
Customer profileNamed customers2 records
Segments5 records
Ideal customer profiles2 records
Tayasui technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Feature9 records
Tayasui partnerships and signals
Strategic signalScale indicators2 records
Recent moves5 records
Expansion highlights5 records
Tayasui competitors and assessment
Company assessmentEmerging players
- Krita: Open-source digital painting application with growing iPad and Android tablet presence. Competes with Tayasui on price-sensitive creators who want professional-grade painting without a subscription.
- Zen Brush: Mobile ink and watercolor brush app on iOS and Android focused on Japanese-style calligraphy and sumi-e. Partial overlap with Tayasui Calligraphy and Watercolor for the calligraphy/painting niche.
Direct peers
- Concepts: Vector-based sketching app for iOS and Android with Apple Pencil optimization. Competes with Tayasui Sketches for the conceptual drawing and ideation segment of digital artists.
- Procreate: Flagship iPad illustration app with massive pro-creator installed base. Directly competes with Tayasui Sketches on the same Apple Pencil–optimized drawing use case, with a stronger pro community and brush marketplace.
- Autodesk Sketchbook: Cross-platform (iOS, Android, Mac, Windows) sketching and painting app with a similar target user of illustrators and concept artists. Directly comparable product category and free-to-paid funnel.
- Paper (by WeTransfer): Minimalist sketching app originally by FiftyThree, now under WeTransfer. Targets the same "natural drawing experience" use case as Tayasui Sketches with Apple Pencil optimization and a strong brand in casual creators.
- ArtRage: Realistic natural-media painting app available on iOS, Android, Mac, and Windows. Directly competes on the "realistic brush simulation" differentiator that Tayasui emphasizes (watercolor, oil, pastel).
- ibis Paint: Popular freemium drawing app on iOS and Android with extensive brush customization and a large community. Closest direct competitor to Tayasui on the freemium IAP model and cross-platform mobile reach.
Broad incumbents
- Clip Studio Paint: Manga/comic-focused drawing and painting suite with iPad and desktop versions. Competes for the more serious illustration segment with a broader toolset (vector + raster, animation).
- Adobe Fresco: Adobe's drawing and painting app with live brushes and Creative Cloud subscription bundle. Competes head-on with Tayasui on iPad and iPhone for both hobbyists and pros, with the advantage of bundle lock-in.
Market position
Strengths4 records
Weaknesses4 records
Competitive moat4 records
Key risks5 records
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
Tayasui social profiles
Digital presenceTayasui financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Tayasui leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Tayasui funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Tayasui M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Tayasui
What does Tayasui do?
Tayasui develops and sells a portfolio of freemium creative/drawing mobile and desktop applications led by its flagship Tayasui Sketches app, available on iOS, Android, and Mac. Products use proprietary brush simulation optimized for Apple Pencil and stylus input to deliver realistic watercolor, pencil, ink, and acrylic drawing experiences, monetized through one-time Pro in-app purchases and complemented by an institutional Tayasui Sketches School offering licensed in bulk to educational institutions.
Is Tayasui a public or private company?
Tayasui is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.
When was Tayasui founded?
Tayasui was founded in 2008. It employs 1 to 10 people.
Where is Tayasui based?
Tayasui is headquartered in Paris, France, in the Europe region.
How does Tayasui make money?
Three revenue lines are on record. Freemium App Distribution with In-App Purchases are the primary driver. The others are institutional/School Licensing and separate Platform Purchases.
Who are Tayasui's main competitors?
Emerging players on record are Krita and Zen Brush. Direct peers are Concepts, Procreate, Autodesk Sketchbook, Paper (by WeTransfer), ArtRage and ibis Paint. Broad incumbents are Clip Studio Paint and Adobe Fresco.
Does Tayasui have an API?
No public API is recorded for Tayasui.
What industry is Tayasui in?
Tayasui's product category is Digital Drawing / Creative Apps. Its primary akta.pro industry code is EDACANAE, Creativity, Art & Music Learning Apps. Its SIC code is 3950.