Exacto vs Zone Meter
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Exacto
Easily create precise photo cutouts and remove backgrounds with a powerful pen selection tool. This app brings advanced desktop editing capabilities to your mobile device, allowing for pixel-perfect selections and unlimited layers for complex edits.
- Pen Selection Tool for precise cutouts
- Unlimited layers for multiple selections
- Delete and insert points in selections
- Reset control points
- Unlimited undo/redo
- Autosave projects
- Instant preview
Read full descriptionHide full description
Quickly remove unwanted backgrounds or create razor-sharp photo cutouts with the Pen Selection Tool. Previously found only in advanced desktop programs, now available for the very first time on iPhone and iPad with a streamlined and much simplified implementation optimized for touch. This incredibly versatile tool offers unique capabilities unmatched by anything else on the App Store. It’s an integral part of the professional toolbox and artists and photographers have relied on it for decades. Now you can too! You no longer have to waste hours working on a single photo only to achieve less than satisfactory results. With Exacto you can make pixel-perfect selections that precisely trace the contours of any subject, no matter how intricate or complex. But that’s not all! Exacto even goes beyond the standard functionality of the Pen Selection Tool by introducing features that provide greater flexibility and control such as the ability to delete and insert points anywhere in the selection, the ability to reset control points, and most importantly, unlimited layers for making multiple selections. In addition, Exacto offers other advanced features that greatly enhance the user experience including unlimited undo / redo, projects autosave, instant preview, and much more! Here’s how it works: 1 - Place points around an area of interest then drag them into position to make a selection. 2 - Add layers to make selections of multiple subjects and areas in your photo. 3 - Keep track of your progress with the full-size instant preview option. 4 - Made a mistake? With unlimited undo / redo your entire editing history is preserved, from start to finish. So you can go backward or forward as many steps as you need. 5 - Must leave in a hurry? With autosave your work is never lost and you can pick up right where you left off at any time. 6 - All done? Save your photo cutout to the Camera Roll or open it in other apps. There’s no limit to the fun and exciting ways you could use your photo cutouts. For example, you could: 1 - Superimpose them on different backgrounds. 2 - Insert them in work or school presentations. 3 - Use them as stickers in chats. 4 - Use them in creating decorative art. 5 - Print them out and make actual cardboard cutouts for special occasions. and on and on! Experiencing issues? Have comments or suggestions for future updates? Please contact us at support@exactoapp.com.
Zone Meter
Read full descriptionHide full description
Zone Meter is a professional light meter for photographers who shoot manual - on film, with legacy lenses, or in the studio. Point your iPhone at a scene and Zone Meter instantly reads the light from the camera sensor, calculating exposure values in real time. Scroll the drum wheels to set your aperture, shutter speed, or ISO, and Zone Meter works out the third value for you. LIGHT METER - Live EV reading from the iPhone camera sensor - Four metering modes: Aperture Priority (Av), Shutter Priority (Tv), ISO Priority, and Manual (M) - Classic drum-roller wheel pickers for aperture, shutter speed, and ISO - Tap anywhere on the live preview to spot-meter a specific area of the scene - Switch between lenses (0.5x, 1x, 2x, 5x) to meter a distant subject with the telephoto - Live colour temperature reading with descriptive label (Tungsten, Daylight, Cloudy, Shade) - EV condition display from Very Dark to Very Bright HISTOGRAM - Live luminance histogram overlaid on the camera preview - tap the chart icon to show or hide - Shadows on the left, highlights on the right - just like every other histogram you know - Colour-coded bars: blue for shadows, white for midtones, amber for highlights - Clip indicators warn when shadows or highlights are being lost - In Manual mode, the histogram shifts left or right to predict how your chosen settings will affect the tonal distribution MANUAL MODE - Set aperture, shutter speed, and ISO independently - nothing is computed or locked - Exposure delta bar shows how far your settings deviate from the metered value - Bar shifts left for underexposure, right for overexposure - consistent with the histogram - Contextual label: Correct exposure, Overexposed by 1.3 stops, Underexposed by 2 stops - Use with the histogram to dial in exposure before you shoot ND FILTER CALCULATOR - Calculates long-exposure shutter speed for any ND filter - Presets for all standard filters: ND2 through ND32000, Little Stopper, Big Stopper, Super Stopper - Custom stop input - Uses the live meter reading or a manually chosen base shutter speed - Warns when exposure exceeds 30 seconds (Bulb mode required) DEPTH OF FIELD CALCULATOR - Hyperfocal distance calculator for any lens and sensor format - 8 sensor formats: Full Frame, APS-C (Canon and Nikon/Sony), Micro 4/3, 1-inch, Medium Format, 4x5, 8x10 - 18 focal length presets from 14mm to 600mm - Shows near focus limit, far focus limit, and total depth of field - Visual range bar showing subject position relative to hyperfocal distance - Contextual advice: tells you exactly how far to refocus to bring infinity sharp STROBE CALCULATOR - Guide number calculator for flash and studio strobes - Presets for speedlights and studio heads from 100Ws to 1200Ws - 8 power settings from Full to 1/128 - Solve for aperture (given distance) or distance (given aperture) - ISO-aware: guide numbers automatically adjust for any ISO - Fill light ratio calculator: instantly shows the aperture difference for 1:1 through 16:1 ratios READING HISTORY - Save and name any meter or strobe reading - Add notes to any saved reading - Share individual readings or export the full history - Organised by name, date, light condition, and exposure values DESIGNED FOR PHOTOGRAPHERS - Clean dark interface designed for use in any light - Metric or imperial measurements (set in Help) - Available in English, Japanese, German, French, Spanish, Italian, and Korean - Full help documentation built in: explains EV, hyperfocal distance, guide numbers, and more - No ads. No subscription. No account required. Zone Meter is the meter you always have with you.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: Zone Meter at Free against Exacto's $2.99. Exacto's advantage is device support (3 vs 1) and iOS requirement (12.0 vs 16.0). On update cadence, 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
Zone Meter is free to download; Exacto costs $2.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on September 24, 2026 and September 5, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Exacto | Zone Meter |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $2.99 | Free — better |
| Rating | 4.5 (615 ratings) — better | — |
| Positive reviews | 55.4% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 615 — better | — |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months | Every 2 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Paid | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone |
| Requires iOS | 12.0 — better | 16.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 30 MB | 2 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Tinkerworks Apps | Greg Anderson |
Bugs and requests
Exacto
Reported bugs
2 issues- Crashes on newer iOS versions
- Saving issues, unable to save with transparent background
Requested features
5 requests- Add a refine selection brush
- Ability to add a background layer
- Magnetic lasso tool
- Change the color of the selection outline
- Combine with creative composition tools
Zone Meter
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Exacto
No in-app purchases
Zone Meter
No in-app purchases









