Comparison

BitCam vs PIXEL86

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

Head to head
About

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.

Highlights
  • 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
Read full description

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.

About

PIXEL86

Transform photos and videos with vintage pixel art aesthetics. Apply true black-and-white dithering, custom color palettes, and unique dithering styles to create retro media. Supports video editing and sharing your creations.

Highlights
  • True B/W dithering
  • Video editing support
  • Customizable color palettes
  • Three dithering styles (Natural, Pattern, Flat)
  • Vintage-inspired aesthetics
  • Social media sharing
Read full description

PIXEL86 — Retro Dithering for Photos & Videos Make your media look like it came from a cooler, glitchier timeline. Bring back the charm of vintage tech with PIXEL86, the ultimate tool to transform your photos and videos into pixel-perfect black-and-white or limited-palette art. Inspired by early computer graphics, old-school printers, and classic GIFs — this is retro done right. True B/W Dithering No grays. Just black or white pixels smartly arranged to simulate shadows and depth — exactly how early screens did it. Now Supports Video Editing Apply your favorite dithering style to video clips. Make every frame look like a piece of pixel-art history. Color Palettes, Reimagined Choose from curated vintage-inspired palettes Hit random for a fresh surprise every time Or build your own custom palette for a personalized look Three Dithering Styles Natural — Smooth, classic error diffusion. Clean and expressive. Pattern — Retro dot-matrix vibes. Adjustable matrix for custom textures. Flat — Not technically dithering, but perfect for dramatic, posterized effects in both stills and motion. Share Your Style Use #pixel86 on social and tag @pixel86app on Instagram — we love featuring the coolest creations from the community.

Screenshots

BitCam4 screens
PIXEL864 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is ads: BitCam at none against PIXEL86's shown. BitCam also leads on device support (4 vs 1) and iOS requirement (15.0 vs 18.0). PIXEL86's advantage is review sentiment (100% vs 73%) and update cadence (every 5 days vs every 2 weeks). On price, rating, ratings volume 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. BitCam sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and PIXEL86 sells 2 one-off in-app purchases. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.7 for BitCam against 4.7 for PIXEL86. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 92 and 40 respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 73% of BitCam's written reviews are positive against 100% of PIXEL86's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

BitCam ships an update every 2 weeks, PIXEL86 every 5 days. The most recent releases landed on September 27, 2026 and September 11, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
BitCam versus PIXEL86: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterBitCamPIXEL86
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.7 (92 ratings)4.7 (40 ratings)
Positive reviews73.2% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings92 — better40
Update frequencyEvery 2 weeksEvery 5 days — better
AdsNo — betterYes
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac — betteriPhone
Requires iOS15.0 — better18.0
Further details — not scored
Size9 MB87 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperHéliographe, IncPeter Tretyakov

Customer experience

BitCam

All ratings92 ratings
Positive91.3%
Neutral4.3%
Negative4.3%
Written reviews123 reviews
Positive73.2%
Neutral11.4%
Negative15.4%

PIXEL86

All ratings31 ratings
Positive90.3%
Neutral3.2%
Negative6.5%
Written reviews3 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

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

PIXEL86

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

1 purchases

BitCam

One-time1
  • Full BitCam2 variants$9.99
2 purchases

PIXEL86

One-time2
  • License Discount$9.99
  • Perpetual License$19.99

Questions

Is BitCam free?
BitCam is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is PIXEL86 free?
PIXEL86 is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, BitCam or PIXEL86?
BitCam and PIXEL86 are both rated 4.7 out of 5 on the App Store, from 92 and 40 ratings respectively.
Do BitCam or PIXEL86 have ads?
PIXEL86 shows ads; BitCam does not.
Which is updated more often, BitCam or PIXEL86?
BitCam ships an update every 2 weeks, and PIXEL86 every 5 days. Most recently, BitCam was updated on September 27, 2026 and PIXEL86 on September 11, 2026.

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