Comparison

Effectum vs CDNC

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Effectum

This photo editing app offers a wide range of effects, light textures, and adjustment options to enhance your images. Easily create double exposures and add text or artwork to personalize your photos.

Highlights
  • 156 effects across 8 groups
  • 128 light textures with blend modes
  • 22 advanced adjustment options
  • Double exposure tools
  • Add text and artwork
Features
Read full description

Simplest photo editor application. - 156 effects of 8 group (Original, digital film, seasons, dawned, retro, black&white, magic color, distors. - 128 light texture of 7 groups (Original, lens flare, light leak, dot, grunge, snow, rain). 16 blend modes to fine tune. - 22 advance adjust options. - Double exposure tools with brush. - Deco your photo by text and artwork.

About

CDNC

This app offers professional video capture with manual controls and advanced color grading tools. It allows users to apply cinematic looks, refine footage with detailed color adjustments, and export in high-quality formats. Features include ProRes recording, shutter drag for motion blur, and stabilization.

Highlights
  • Manual capture controls (exposure, shutter, focus, white balance)
  • Built-in Film Looks with live preview
  • Advanced color grading tools (wheels, curves, HSL)
  • ProRes 422 HQ recording
  • Shutter drag for motion blur
  • CDNC Steady stabilization
  • Framing guides and histogram
Read full description

Professional capture. Cinematic color. CDNC is an iPhone video camera with manual capture controls, built-in Film Looks, and precise color grading tools. Set exposure, shutter, focus, and white balance before you roll, then shape the finished image in the same app. START WITH GOLD 200 Gold 200 is included free: monitor with it while filming, refine your clips, save finished edited versions, and export. Core recording, supported capture formats, manual controls, import, playback, basic editing, original-file export, framing guides, and the histogram are also included. CHOOSE A FILM LOOK Try other built-in Film Looks live in Camera or in the Editor before upgrading. Camera labels a Pro preview and asks you to unlock or switch to free Gold 200 before recording. CDNC Pro unlocks recording while monitoring these Looks, saving finished edited versions, and export, plus reusable creative presets and advanced monitoring tools. REFINE THE COLOR Shape your image with exposure, contrast, highlights, shadows, temperature, tint, saturation, skin tone, primary color wheels, curves, and seven-band HSL controls. Make color adjustments before the Film Look, then refine texture with diffusion, grain, lens blur, and sharpening. Dedicated Frames, Resize, and Trim tools help finish the composition. Preview Effects while editing. CDNC Pro is required to save or export with active Effects. To finish for free, choose Gold 200 without Effects and keep your color and composition adjustments. RECORD IN PRORES 422 HQ Capture ProRes 422 HQ original recordings in supported Apple Log and Apple Log 2 modes on compatible iPhones. HQ preserves a 10-bit 4:2:2 original for further grading. It requires substantially more storage than HEVC. Finished graded video exports use HEVC. SHUTTER DRAG. MADE IN CAMERA. Create native 1/5-second motion blur on supported camera configurations. Record and play back normally, then refine your Film Look and color in the Editor. The exposure blur is part of the recording; your grade stays editable. STEADIER SHOTS. SIMPLER FINISHING. Use CDNC Steady (Beta) to analyze a clip, choose Smooth Motion or Fixed Tripod, and adjust the amount. An optional camera Level helps line up your shot. Select your whole Media library and copy or move originals with saved CDNC edits to a Files location or external drive. ONE PRO TIER. YOUR CHOICE. Choose a monthly subscription, annual subscription, or one-time lifetime unlock. Each provides the same Pro access. Lifetime includes future core app improvements and additions to the standard CDNC Film Look collection; separate future products, services, or licensed collaboration packs are outside that promise. Monthly and annual subscriptions renew automatically unless canceled. See the in-app purchase screen for current local prices and terms. Manage subscriptions through your Apple Account. A lifetime purchase does not automatically cancel an existing subscription. Capture formats and monitoring options depend on your iPhone and system support. CDNC focuses on capture and look/color refinement, not a multitrack editing timeline. Questions? hello@cdnc.app Privacy Policy: https://www.cdnc.app/privacy Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

Screenshots

Effectum4 screens
CDNC3 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Effectum at 5.0 against CDNC's 3.7. Effectum also leads on ads (none vs shown) and device support (3 vs 1). CDNC's advantage is update cadence (fortnightly vs every 5 months). On price, ratings volume, in-app purchases and monetization model there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Effectum sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $0.99 per month and CDNC sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Effectum holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 3.7. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 2 and 3 respectively.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Effectum ships an update every 5 months, CDNC fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on October 12, 2026 and October 10, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
Effectum versus CDNC: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterEffectumCDNC
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (2 ratings) — better3.7 (3 ratings)
Positive reviews—75.0% of reviews
Number of ratings23 — better
Update frequencyEvery 5 monthsFortnightly — better
AdsNo — betterYes
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFreemium
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone
Requires iOS11.4 — better17.0
Further details — not scored
Size129 MB691 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperHuy PhanCDNC Studio LLC

Customer experience

Effectum

All ratings2 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

CDNC

All ratings3 ratings
Positive66.7%
Neutral0.0%
Negative33.3%
Written reviews4 reviews
Positive75.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative25.0%

In-app purchases

3 purchases

Effectum

Subscriptions2
  • Monthly Premium Subscription$0.991 Month
  • Yearly Premium Subscription$7.991 Year
One-time1
  • Buy Full Version$1.99
3 purchases

CDNC

Subscriptions2
  • CDNC Pro Monthly$4.991 Month
  • CDNC Pro Annual$29.991 Year
One-time1
  • CDNC Pro Lifetime$59.99

Questions

Is Effectum free?
Effectum is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is CDNC free?
CDNC is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Effectum or CDNC?
Effectum is rated higher. Effectum averages 5.0 out of 5 from 2 ratings, while CDNC averages 3.7 from 3 ratings.
Do Effectum or CDNC have ads?
CDNC shows ads; Effectum does not.
Which is updated more often, Effectum or CDNC?
Effectum ships an update every 5 months, and CDNC fortnightly. Most recently, Effectum was updated on October 12, 2026 and CDNC on October 10, 2026.

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