Doodle Buddy

At a glance

• Editor score
  4.8 / 10
• Pricing
  Free plan
• Best for
  Casual iPhone doodling and photo decoration
• Free plan
  Yes
• Facts checked
  13 Oct 2026

• Where it wins

  • More than 1,400 stamps plus paint, chalk, glitter and smudge brushes
  • Draw on photos or included backgrounds with crop, rotate and resize tools
  • Share drawings through Messages, Mail, AirDrop and Instagram

• Where it doesn't

  • No advanced layer tools or stylus-focused features
  • Portrait mode is currently unsupported
  • Focused on casual doodling rather than advanced illustration workflows

Our verdict on Doodle Buddy

Doodle Buddy is an iPhone drawing app for casual artists and beginners. It supports drawing on photos or included backgrounds, with paint, chalk, glitter and smudge brushes for different effects. Users can add more than 1,400 stamps, geometric and snowflake stencils, text, and other objects. Two-finger controls move, rotate and resize text, stamps and stencils, while undo and redo controls help with quick corrections. The app is distributed free with optional in-app purchases and fits solo users who want lightweight mobile drawing.

Its strongest area is playful creation combined with straightforward sharing. Photos can be cropped, rotated and resized for use as backgrounds, then decorated with brushes, stamps, stencils and text. Finished drawings can be shared through Messages, Mail, AirDrop and Instagram. The freemium model includes optional purchases named Small Stack of Doodle Bucks, Medium Stack of Doodle Bucks!, Hide ads in Doodle Buddy, and Big Stack of Doodle Bucks. This gives casual users a broad set of creative materials without requiring a paid download.

Doodle Buddy is less suited to illustrators who need advanced layer management, specialized stylus support or a more mature drawing workflow. Its tools center on quick decoration, geometric stencils and stamp-based play rather than detailed composition. Portrait mode is currently unsupported, which may affect how some iPhone users work. Choose it for accessible doodling, photo decoration and fast sharing; consider another drawing app if layer depth, stylus features or advanced illustration controls are central requirements.

Your product? Our editors can test Doodle Buddy in depth and publish a review, labelled as paid · from $99/mo →

Doodle Buddy pricing

All 4 Doodle Buddy plans and prices →

Doodle Buddy fact sheet

Alternatives to Doodle Buddy

• Clip Studio PaintDeep illustration, comic, and animation tooling with a low-cost mobile entry point.9.4
• Adobe FrescoA capable free canvas for iPhone artists who move between raster, live, and vector work.9.2
• ibisPaintA feature-rich drawing app with advanced brushes, color controls, and cross-device sync.9.0

See all Doodle Buddy alternatives →

Featured on iTechGuides

Doodle Buddy is listed in our Drawing Apps for iPhone directory. Add the badge to your site — it links back to this page.

<a href="https://www.itechguides.com/products/doodle-buddy/"><img src="https://www.itechguides.com/best/badge/doodle-buddy.svg" alt="Featured on iTechGuides" width="230" height="46"></a>

Reviewed by iTechGuides Editors · Editorial team · Updated Oct 2026

Advertiser disclosure: iTechGuides is reader-supported. Vendors can pay for top positions in our rankings and for a place on other products' pages, and we may earn a commission when you click some links. How we rank.

Last updated 21 Oct 2026 · How we research and update