What Sketchbook does

Sketchbook is an independent digital drawing and sketching application company that was spun off from Autodesk in June 2021. The company builds cross-platform creative tools serving a base of more than 10 million users, primarily individual artists, illustrators, designers, and students. Its product family centers on the Sketchbook app for mobile (iOS and Android) and Sketchbook Pro for desktop, with a consumer freemium model on top of which it has layered subscription, in-app purchase, and direct enterprise licensing options.

The core technology is a raster and vector drawing engine supporting layered artwork, customizable brushes, and cross-device workflow. The company has incrementally released version updates across the v6 (mobile) and Pro v9 (desktop) lines and added features such as a time-lapse recording capability. A "Predictive Stroke" feature is described as AI-assisted. Operations are lean, with two co-leads (LeeAnn Manon and Chris Cheung) publicly identified, and the company explicitly states it does not access user artwork, which limits the development of a user-data-driven AI flywheel.

The business model combines a free mobile app with in-app purchases (Premium Bundle), desktop subscription and one-time licensing, and enterprise/education direct licensing at $24.99 per seat per year (minimum 10 seats), plus a $2.99 managed-deployment option for iOS. Distribution runs through Apple App Store, Google Play, and Microsoft Store, with deployment integrations via Apple Business Manager, Apple School Manager, and Microsoft Intune, and license management handled through LicenseSpring. No external funding rounds or revenue figures have been disclosed.

Name

Sketchbook

Legal name

Sketchbook, Inc.

Website

https://sketchbook.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2021

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Sketchbook is an independent digital drawing application, spun off from Autodesk in 2021, providing cross-platform sketching and illustration tools for individual artists, designers, and students via a freemium mobile model and enterprise/education licensing.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Digital Drawing Software

SIC

Pens, Pencils & Other Artists' Materials (3950)

akta.pro primary industry

Digital Whiteboards, Annotation & Collaborative Canvas Tools (EDAFAGAD)

akta.pro secondary industry

Graphics Tablets, Styluses & Pen Displays (HDACAFAD)

Keywords

• Digital drawing software
• Sketching application
• Digital illustration tools
• Creative drawing app
• Professional art software

Headquarters

HQ city

San Francisco

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Technology or R&D, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Operations

Revenue model

1. Sketchbook Pro (Desktop): Professional-grade drawing application sold through Mac App Store and Microsoft Store. Available as perpetual license or subscription through direct enterprise licensing.
2. Mobile App with Premium Bundle: Free mobile app with optional one-time Premium Bundle purchase unlocking advanced features. Not cross-platform transferable between iOS and Android.
3. Enterprise Direct Licensing: Annual subscription direct licensing for enterprises and educational institutions at $24.99/year per seat with minimum 10 seats. Cross-platform Windows/macOS.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels6 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Sketchbook develops and sells digital drawing and sketching applications across mobile (iOS, Android) and desktop (macOS, Windows) platforms. The products provide professional-grade tools including a customizable brush engine, layer management with blend modes, symmetry tools, rulers, predictive stroke technology, and natural stylus interaction. A free mobile app with optional one-time Premium Bundle add-on and direct enterprise licensing at $24.99/year per seat serve both consumer artists and organizational customers.

Product overview

Sketchbook offers a portfolio of digital art applications spanning mobile and desktop platforms. The core offerings are the free Sketchbook app for Android and iOS mobile devices, and Sketchbook Pro for macOS and Windows desktop computers. A Premium Bundle add-on (one-time in-app purchase) extends the mobile app with advanced features for brush creation, color management, layer grouping, masking, and canvas editing. Enterprise and educational customers can purchase Sketchbook Pro Direct Licensing for centralized management of 10+ seats at USD $24.99/year per seat, or deploy Sketchbook Premium on iOS via Apple Business Manager or Apple School Manager at USD $2.99 per device. A free Extras catalog provides downloadable brushes, color palettes, textures, icons, and stamps. The company also runs a public beta testing program for all supported platforms.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Sketchbook Pro: Professional-grade digital drawing application for macOS and Windows with full suite of drawing tools and features.
• Premium Bundle

Products and services

• Sketchbook Mobile (Free) Free digital art and sketching application for Android and iOS mobile devices, providing drawing, brush tools, layers, color fills, and symmetry tools for artists on phones and tablets.
• Sketchbook Pro (Desktop) Professional-grade digital art application for macOS and Windows desktop and laptop computers, offering a comprehensive suite of drawing tools, highly customizable brushes, rulers, symmetry tools, and full-featured layer management with blend modes.
• Premium Bundle One-time in-app purchase add-on for Sketchbook mobile (iOS and Android) unlocking advanced features including brush import/export and creation, extended color harmonies and palettes, layer grouping and clipping masks, canvas resize controls, adjustment effects (blur, sharpen, brightness/contrast, invert, grayscale), PDF export, and Lasso Fill and Draw Outline tools.
• Sketchbook Pro Direct Licensing

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration4 records

Feature6 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• LicenseSpringsupportingTechnology or IntegrationLicenseSpring provides the license management portal for Sketchbook's direct enterprise licensing program. Organizations receive login credentials and can manage seats, activations, and downloads through this platform.

Scale indicators1 record

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Procreate: Procreate is the leading iPad-first professional drawing app and the most direct competitor to Sketchbook in the digital sketching and illustration space, sharing a similar audience of artists, illustrators, and concept artists. Both target natural pen-driven drawing workflows with customizable brushes and layers.
• Adobe Fresco: Adobe Fresco is Adobe's purpose-built drawing and painting app with live brushes, vector and raster workflows, and direct stylus integration — directly competing with Sketchbook for digital artists. Bundled within Creative Cloud, it is Sketchbook's most formidable enterprise-adjacent competitor.
• Krita: Krita is a free, open-source digital painting application popular with concept artists, illustrators, and comic creators. It competes with Sketchbook on professional features (brushes, layers, symmetry) while undercutting on price, pressuring Sketchbook's premium positioning.
• Clip Studio Paint: Clip Studio Paint by Celsys is a professional drawing and illustration app favored by comic, manga, and concept artists. It overlaps with Sketchbook on customizable brushes, pen-driven workflows, and a freemium/pro tier model across desktop and mobile.
• Concepts: Concepts is a vector and raster sketching app for iOS, Android, and Windows with an infinite canvas and precision tools. It targets the same professional and hobbyist artist segments as Sketchbook with an emphasis on flexible sketching and design workflows.
• Artstudio Pro: Artstudio Pro is a professional drawing and painting app for iOS and macOS that emphasizes layers, blend modes, and natural brush behavior. It is a direct competitor to Sketchbook Pro on Apple's ecosystem for both consumer and professional artists.
• ibis Paint: ibis Paint is a popular mobile drawing app with a freemium model and rich feature set including brushes, layers, and tutorials. It competes with Sketchbook on mobile app stores for casual and enthusiast artists globally.
• MediBang Paint: MediBang Paint is a free, multi-platform drawing app targeting comic and illustration artists across desktop and mobile. Its free price point and cross-platform availability make it a direct budget competitor to Sketchbook's free mobile and paid Pro offerings.
• Tayasui Sketches: Tayasui Sketches is a sketching and drawing app for iOS with a focus on natural-feeling brushes and a simple interface. It targets the same casual and hobbyist artist segment as Sketchbook's mobile app on Apple's App Store.

Broad incumbents

• Affinity Designer: Affinity Designer is a professional vector and raster design tool published by Serif, competing with Sketchbook in the broader creative software market for designers and illustrators. While it leans more toward design than sketching, it competes for the same professional creative prosumer budget.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Instagraminstagram.com/sketchbookapp
• Xx.com/sketchbookapp

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Sketchbook