HankyDoodle vs Draw Something

Feature comparison

Competitor details are based on publicly available information as of 2026-08-12 and may change. Sources are linked at the end of this page.

What they have in common

Both games share the same simple, satisfying loop. You get a word, you draw it, and your opponent does not just see a finished picture: they watch the strokes replay in order and try to guess before the drawing is done. Both are turn based, so you and a friend can trade rounds across the day rather than needing to be online at the same moment. If you loved Draw Something for that "watch it come together" moment, HankyDoodle will feel immediately familiar.

The biggest difference: coins and locked tools

Draw Something is free to download, but its economy runs on coins. You earn coins by playing and can buy more, and extras like additional color packs and bombs are spent from that coin balance. It is a model that has worked for years, but it means part of the toolbox sits behind currency.

HankyDoodle takes the opposite stance on purpose. There are no coins and no currency of any kind, and every drawing tool and every color is available to everyone from the start. Nothing creative is locked, and there is nothing to grind for or buy to draw. If "just let me use all the colors" is your thing, this is the core reason the app exists.

Showcase and Drawing of the Day

HankyDoodle adds a community side that Draw Something does not really have. The Showcase is a gallery of drawings from other players that you can browse, search, and like, or submit your own to. You can see it for yourself in the web gallery, where real player drawings are browsable by word. And Drawing of the Day gives you a fresh prompt every day to take on solo when you do not have a match running; today's prompt is at Word of the Day.

Platforms, ads, and status

Draw Something's real advantage is its history: it is the established household name, and plenty of people already have it installed. On reach the two now match. HankyDoodle runs on iPhone, iPad and Android, free on both stores, and a game works fine with one player on each platform.

On monetization, the two take different paths. Draw Something leans on coins: color packs and extras are bought with in-game currency. HankyDoodle never sells creative tools. Its optional supporter subscription adds superlikes, a way to give a drawing extra love; it never unlocks tools or colors, because those are already free.

What it is like day to day

Most rounds happen in the gaps. You open the app, a prompt is waiting, you draw it, and you put your phone away. Your friend picks it up later and watches your strokes go down one at a time. That back and forth is the whole game, and it works the same way in both apps.

The difference shows up in the toolbar. In Draw Something you earn coins and spend them on color packs, so part of your kit is something you build up over time. In HankyDoodle the full set is already there. You pick a color because you want that color, not because you saved up for it. For a quick doodle that is one less thing to think about.

Which should you choose?

Choose Draw Something if

you want the original household name, you have years of finished games and streaks there already, or you simply have nostalgia for the app that started it all.

Choose HankyDoodle if

you are on iPhone or iPad, you want every tool and color open with no coins or unlocks, and you like the idea of a daily prompt and a community Showcase in a modern, actively developed app.