Pixaki 3 (Legacy) vs VectorPaint
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Pixaki 3 (Legacy)
This powerful pixel art studio for iPad allows you to create detailed 2D graphics and animations. It offers advanced features like layers, custom palettes, and precise drawing tools, all within an intuitive multi-touch interface.
- Custom canvas sizes
- Layers with opacity control
- Animation with onion skinning
- Customizable color palettes
- Reference layers for drawing over images
- Line, rectangle, and ellipse tools
- Powerful color replacement tool
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Pixaki is a powerful pixel art creation studio for iPad. It features many of the same features found in desktop apps — such as custom canvas sizes, layers, animation, precise color selection, and customizable palettes — but with a gorgeous multi-touch interface that is just right for iPad. Whether you’re creating 8-bit game characters or vast isometric cityscapes, Pixaki has the tools you’ll need in an app you’ll love. // WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING: “For our money, Pixaki is the only app worth considering for iPad-related pixel art.” — TechRadar “It’s a great way to kick back on the couch and create the 8-bit scene of your dreams.” — The Verge // FOR THE FUTURE OF PIXEL ART. Pixel art is so much more than just retro. We believe that the best pixel art ever is still being made. By you. That’s why there’s nothing retro about Pixaki. The app is built to take full advantage of the latest features of iOS, and designed for a fantastic experience on iPad and iPad Pro. // PIXEL OVER YOUR SKETCHES. Pixaki’s reference layers allow you to import any image from your photo library at full resolution, resize and reposition it on the canvas, then draw pixels over the top. You can even have multiple reference layers at once, and adjust the opacity so that you can draw underneath the image if you prefer. // ANIMATE. Pixel art was made to move, and with Pixaki it’s a joy to bring your creations to life. With advanced features such as per-frame duration and color-shifted onion skinning, nothing can stop you. // LAYERS. Supports up to 50 layers per frame. Adjust the opacity of each to easily create lighting and translucency effects. Reordering layers is as simple as drag and drop. // FULLY CUSTOMIZABLE PALETTES. Pixaki comes with some great palettes pre-installed, but also allows you to create and save your own. Once you’ve saved a palette, you can import it into any document that you’re working on. You can also import palettes you’ve created in other software or downloaded in .aco, .pal, and .gpl formats. // SHAPES AND LINES. The line tool makes it easy to create perfectly straight lines, which can optionally be locked to angles used in isometric art. The rectangle and ellipse tools help in creating basic shapes, which can be automatically filled with color, and the aspect ratio can be locked to create squares and circles. // POWERFUL COLOR REPLACEMENT. It might look like an old bucket, but this is actually a supercharged color replacement tool. You can use it like a standard bucket tool, or replace all instances of a particular color with another. This can be configured to affect just the layer you’re working on, all layers of the current frame, or all layers on all frames. Turning on erase mode to removes all pixels of a given color. It’s a great way to work with limited color palettes. // SELECTION. Cut, copy, paste, move, flip, and rotate anything that you draw with a simple, intuitive interface. Touch and hold the paste icon to quickly tile an area with an image from the clipboard. // IMPORT AND EXPORT. Pixaki makes it easy to work with other desktop and mobile apps, as well as output for game engines and social media sharing. • Photoshop files: Import and export layered PSDs. Export an animation, and the layers for each frame are put into groups. • Animated GIFs: Import and export animated GIFs. Export supports magnification, perfect for crisp images online. • Sprite sheets: Perfect for use in your game, with a configurable number of columns. Also supports magnification. • ZIP archives: Save a PNG of each frame packaged into a ZIP file. Great for game engines and video production. • PNGs: Export supports nearest-neighbor upscaling for crisp social media sharing. • Other images: Any image format supported by iOS can be imported into Pixaki — things like TIFFs and even JPEGs (yuck). • Palettes: Supports Adobe Photoshop’s .aco files, GIMP’s .gpl files, and the JASC .pal format.
VectorPaint
Create and edit vector illustrations with a powerful toolset inspired by desktop software. Features include advanced path manipulation, layer management, and grid snapping for precise designs. Export your artwork in various formats.
- Vector illustration creation and editing
- Metal-powered rendering for speed
- Advanced path manipulation tools
- Layer isolation and outline modes
- Grid and ruler snapping
- Export artwork
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VectorPaint is a vector drawing and SVG editing app for iPhone and iPad. Create illustrations, design logos, draw icons and compose posters with editable paths, shapes and text. Draw freely, refine precisely Use the pen, freehand and shape tools to build your artwork. Edit Bézier nodes, curves and outlines, then arrange objects with alignment, distribution, grids and guides. Zoom into your canvas to refine the details. Bring layers, color and type together Organize artwork with layers and groups. Adjust opacity, fills, strokes and gradients, use masks to control what appears, and place text along a path. Combine lettering and graphics for logos, illustrations and layouts. Trace images into editable paths Import an image as a reference or generate a vector tracing preview before applying it. Tracing works best with logos, line art and flat-color images. Photos are quantized to your chosen number of colors, so results depend on the source image. Export for your next step Import SVG, VectorPaint, Inkpad and common image files. Export SVG, PDF and PNG, or keep an editable VectorPaint document. PNG supports transparent backgrounds. SVG and PDF may include bitmap elements from your artwork; export does not automatically turn every object into vectors. A local workspace for your artwork Drawing and artwork management use local files and work offline. Keep projects organized with groups, tags and favorites. Use undo, redo, versions, recently deleted artwork and backups to manage your creative process. For anyone looking for vector illustration, SVG editing, logo creation and graphic artwork on iPhone or iPad, VectorPaint brings paths, layers, color and typography into one workspace.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: VectorPaint at $0.99 against Pixaki 3 (Legacy)'s $24.99. VectorPaint also leads on chart position (#150 vs unranked). Pixaki 3 (Legacy)'s advantage is update cadence (every 5 weeks vs every 9 months) and ratings volume (90 vs 1). On rating, ads, 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
Pixaki 3 (Legacy) costs $24.99 and VectorPaint $0.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.0 for Pixaki 3 (Legacy) against 4.0 for VectorPaint. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Pixaki 3 (Legacy) has 90 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 66% of Pixaki 3 (Legacy)'s written reviews are positive against 50% of VectorPaint's.
Pixaki 3 (Legacy) ships an update every 5 weeks, VectorPaint every 9 months. The most recent releases landed on October 22, 2026 and October 30, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Pixaki 3 (Legacy) | VectorPaint |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $24.99 | $0.99 — better |
| Rating | 4.0 (90 ratings) | 4.0 (1 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 66.2% of reviews — better | 50.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 90 — better | 1 |
| Update frequency | Every 5 weeks — better | Every 9 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Paid | Paid |
| Best chart rank | — | #150 — better |
| Devices | iPad | iPhone, iPad — better |
| Requires iOS | 9.0 — better | 17.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 48 MB | 25 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Rizer Creative Ltd | Anyi County Bingzhiyi Trading Co., Ltd. |
Customer experience
Pixaki 3 (Legacy)
VectorPaint
Bugs and requests
Pixaki 3 (Legacy)
Reported bugs
17 issues- App crashes frequently, sometimes losing recent work
- Eraser tool acts as pencil, drawing instead of erasing
- Color picker stops working
- Screen freezes when changing image size
- Tool automatically switches to dropper or eraser unexpectedly
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- Layers become non-transparent after certain actions
- Crashes when animation has more than 10 frames
- Copy/paste duplication issues
- GIF export produces incorrect colors and artifacts
- Grid settings reset when clicking outside window
- Pen tool occasionally fails to paint
- Double-tap Apple Pencil gesture cannot be disabled
- Long press with Apple Pencil triggers unwanted actions
- File naming issues with periods (.)
- Undo functionality fails after crashes
- Reference layer color picker not working
- Eyedropper delay too long and cannot be adjusted
Requested features
28 requests- Lasso tool for free-form selection
- Free rotation (not just 90-degree increments)
- Magic wand/color-based selection tool
- Layer grouping and layer naming
- Clipping masks and layer blending modes
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- Gradient and dithering tools
- Tile map and tileset editor
- Symmetry and mirror tools
- Canvas rotation during drawing
- Alpha lock functionality
- Text/type tool
- Resize and scale selections
- Batch export functionality
- Brush opacity control
- Pattern and textured brushes
- Improved palette management system
- Animation timeline improvements
- Copy/paste between projects
- Keyboard shortcuts support
- Palm rejection technology
- Dedicated preview window
- Layer visibility toggle improvements
- Pixel-perfect line drawing
- Gradient mapping
- More built-in color palettes
- Isometric grid options
- Better Apple Pencil integration
- Drag and drop file management
VectorPaint
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Pixaki 3 (Legacy)
No in-app purchases
VectorPaint
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Pixaki 3 (Legacy) free?
Is VectorPaint free?
Which has better reviews, Pixaki 3 (Legacy) or VectorPaint?
Do Pixaki 3 (Legacy) or VectorPaint have ads?
Which is updated more often, Pixaki 3 (Legacy) or VectorPaint?
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