BitCam vs Pixel Paint
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
BitCam
Capture photos with a unique one-bit camera, producing images with only black and white pixels. Experience a retro interface with mechanical sounds and experiment with different pixel resolutions and an 8-color mode. Save your creations as clean PNG files for printing or digital projects.
- One-bit camera (black and white pixels)
- Retro interface with mechanical sounds
- Multiple pixel resolutions
- 8-color mode option
- Clean PNG output
- Atkinson dithering method
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A blast from the past! Capture your photos with a unique 1-bit camera: only pure black and pure white pixels, no grayscale! BitCam's interface is delightfully old school, featuring chunky buttons and mechanical sounds the likes of which haven't graced your screen in over 40 years. In Camera mode, three different pixel resolutions let you experiment, and an 8-color mode brings you a little closer to the current day while preserving the distinct aesthetic. Or jump over to the editor to dither any photo from your library and experiment with resolutely modern colors & gradients. Clean, high resolution PNG output means you can print those files, use them in digital collages, or other art projects. You can also now run BitCam natively on your iPad, and your Mac! And on Mac, you can install a system extension to use BitCam in any app that uses the camera: Zoom, FaceTime, Google Meet, WebEx, Photo Booth, etc. The camera mode is entirely free and unlimited. The editor mode offers a 3 day trial, after which it requires a one-time in-app purchase for full access, on all of your account's devices.
Pixel Paint
Create 8-bit pixel art with a retro camera and powerful editing tools. Capture photos in vintage styles, customize color palettes, and import images with advanced dithering. Sync your creations across devices with iCloud.
- Retro camera modes
- Customizable color palettes
- Photo import with dithering
- Image editor
- iCloud sync
- Indexed color support
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Brought to you by the creator of C64 Paint, Pixel Paint is THE 8-bit paint program for your iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch. Shoot photos in retro game system camera modes, draw pixels with colors compatible with home computers, customize your color palette, or import photos with state-of-the-art dithering and adaptive color palettes. Supports iCloud sync across all of your devices. Features: - Camera with 4 retro modes and brightness/contrast controls. - Import Photos: select from 5 different color palettes and 4 dithering modes. - Image Editor. - iCloud sync. Image Editor features: - Create images up to 256 x 256 pixels in size. - Indexed color with up to 16 colors. - Customizable color palette. - RGBA, HSB, and Swatch color pickers. - Copy/Paste colors. - Selection tool with ability to cut, copy, paste, move, and fill. - Hand tool for pan and zoom. - Brush tool with selectable brush size. - Supports two-finger pan and zoom. - Bucket Fill. Unlock the app to: - Save more than 5 images in the Gallery. - Import photos. - Export all images as PNG files inside a Zip file. - Backup and restore all images. BRK BRK BRK
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: BitCam at 4.7 against Pixel Paint's 3.1. BitCam also leads on update cadence (every 2 weeks vs every 6 months) and review sentiment (73% vs 56%). Pixel Paint's advantage is iOS requirement (11.0 vs 15.0). On price, ratings volume, ads and in-app purchases 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
Both are free to download. BitCam sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and Pixel Paint sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
BitCam holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 3.1. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 92 and 77 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 73% of BitCam's written reviews are positive against 56% of Pixel Paint's.
BitCam ships an update every 2 weeks, Pixel Paint every 6 months. The most recent releases landed on September 22, 2026 and September 4, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | BitCam | Pixel Paint |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.7 (92 ratings) — better | 3.1 (77 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 73.2% of reviews — better | 56.5% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 92 — better | 77 |
| Update frequency | Every 2 weeks — better | Every 6 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac — better | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 | 11.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 9 MB | 9 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Héliographe, Inc | Felt Tip Inc. |
Customer experience
BitCam
Pixel Paint
User reviews
BitCam
From 92 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🚀 Average 8-bit camera
- 👍 Fun retro camera
- 👍 Simple and fun to use
- 👍 Stylish nostalgia
- 👍 Characteristic of Iconfactory apps
Room to improve
- 🐛 Color cost money
- 🐛 No zoom feature
- 🐛 Incorrect rotation attributes
- 🐛 Freezes after sharing
- 🐛 Doesn't save photos in FatBits mode
Pixel Paint
From 77 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 👍 Easy to use
- 🎨 Great for pixel art
- ✨ Simple interface
- 🚀 Works well
- 💰 Reasonable price
Room to improve
- 💸 Cost to import photos
- 🎨 Limited colors
- 🤔 Difficult settings
- 😩 Washed out colors
- 🤏 Small blocks
Bugs and requests
BitCam
Reported bugs
3 issues- Color graphics not working
- Doesn't recognize camera access
- Saves photos in incorrect orientation
Requested features
5 requests- Ability to import/edit existing photos
- Video recording function
- Option to adjust brightness/exposure
- Ability to mute sounds
- Inverted mode
Pixel Paint
Reported bugs
5 issues- Color changes on canvas
- Camera rotated on iPad
- App crashes on save
- App won't open photo/new project
- Background is black after import
Requested features
18 requests- Add extra color slots/folders
- Video to pixel format conversion
- Ability to type exact hex codes
- Flipbook animation feature
- Transparency support
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- Save custom color palettes
- Import multiple images onto one canvas
- Delete multiple items at once
- Sort images into order
- Fill tool
- Line, box, and circle tools
- Layering for tiles
- GIF animation
- Online library for sharing
- NES color palettes
- C64 multicolor resolution option
- Increase canvas size limit
- HSB color mode
In-app purchases
BitCam
- Full BitCam2 variants$9.99
Pixel Paint
- Unlock Features$2.99
