Comparison

Animation Desk® Ultimate vs Pixel Gaka

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

Head to head
About

Animation Desk® Ultimate

Create frame-by-frame animations from scratch or over existing media. This app offers a robust set of drawing tools, layer support, and various export options for your animated projects. It's designed for both beginners and experienced animators.

Highlights
  • Frame-by-frame animation creation
  • Import Photoshop layers (PSD)
  • Animate over videos and images
  • Advanced drawing tools and brushes
  • Onion skinning with color-coding
  • Multiple export formats (video, GIF, PDF, PSD)
  • Add music to animations
Features
Read full description

Dream big with Animation Desk. Draw frame-to-frame animation from scratch, or create animations upon videos, images, Photoshop layers. Animation Desk supports multiple export formats. Create animation on your iPad and iPhone with Animation Desk. AWARDS - Featured in Top100 iPad Entertainment apps in 86 App Stores - Featured by Apple on iTunes Home Page - Featured by Yahoo Tech - Featured by TechCrunch - Recommended by EdTech Impact, Edshelf, EducationalAppStore.com, All about apps in YOUR classroom, iPad Educators CREATE ANIMATION • Import Photoshop layers (PSD) • Make animation over videos and pictures • Create animations with a different aspect ratio, FPS, and duration DRAWING TOOLS • Brushes and Erasers • Custom Brush • Onion skin • Color-coded onion skinning • Selection tools • Layers • Color palettes for developing and managing color schemes • Caption* • Perfect with Apple Pencil 1,2, Wacom and Adonit styli HELPFUL TOOLS • Frame tags • Ruler tools • Frame viewer and timeline • Zoom-in and zoom-out • Canvas rotation EXPORT • Export individual frame into image • Export videos • Export PSD layers, PDF, and GIF (up to 640x480 px), PDF* • Export video with different aspect of ratio • Add music to the animations • Combine multiple animation sequences into an animatic storyboard CAN WE GIVE A HAND? Got a question? Contact us at helpdesk@kdanmobile.com or check out http://support.kdanmobile.com Term of Use: https://www.kdanmobile.com/en/terms_of_service Privacy Policies: https://www.kdanmobile.com/en/privacy_policy

About

Pixel Gaka

Create pixel art with a variety of tools, including pen, fill, and dropper. Import photos to convert them into pixel art, record your drawing process as a movie, and export your creations. Offers features like symmetrical drawing and layer manipulation.

Highlights
  • Pixel art creation
  • Photo to pixel conversion
  • Drawing time-lapse recording
  • Layer management
  • Symmetrical drawing
  • Grid customization
Features
Read full description

Create your own Pixel Art with this app. Best for creating small sized pixel picture. Easy to use, yet have many great functions you ever wanted. ◆ Features □ Basic Painting Feature - Pen, erase, fill and dropper □ Import and convert photo to pixel □ Import from other canvas □ Record while you are drawing, then save as a movie □ Change Grid width and color □ Change Pen Size - from 1 to 5 □ Draw Symmetrical □ Inverse Layer (Vertically and Horizontally) □ Export to Photo Library, AirDrop etc... □ TimeLapse Recording (Full Screen or In Canvas) □ Auto Save every 5 minutes ( You can switch off in setting of canvas ) □ Zoom in/out with Pinch gesture □ Move Canvas with one Finger (Hand Mode on the left bottom)  □ Delete, Duplicate and Merge Layer by tapping the layer button twice. □ Canvas Width and Height from 2 to 42 □ Maximum number of layers is from 3 to 10, depending of Canvas Size

Screenshots

Animation Desk® Ultimate4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Pixel Gaka at Free against Animation Desk® Ultimate's $9.99. Pixel Gaka also leads on review sentiment (75% vs 39%) and in-app purchases (none vs 10). Animation Desk® Ultimate's advantage is ads (none vs shown) and rating (4.0 vs 3.7).

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

Pixel Gaka is free to download; Animation Desk® Ultimate costs $9.99 up front. Animation Desk® Ultimate sells 10 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month. Pixel Gaka asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Animation Desk® Ultimate holds the better App Store score, 4.0 against 3.7. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Animation Desk® Ultimate has 300 ratings behind it against 6, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 39% of Animation Desk® Ultimate's written reviews are positive against 75% of Pixel Gaka's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Animation Desk® Ultimate ships an update monthly, Pixel Gaka every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on October 29, 2026 and October 16, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard10 real differences · 0 level
Animation Desk® Ultimate versus Pixel Gaka: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterAnimation Desk® UltimatePixel Gaka
Price$9.99Free — better
Rating4.0 (300 ratings) — better3.7 (6 ratings)
Positive reviews39.4% of reviews75.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings300 — better6
Update frequencyMonthly — betterEvery 2 months
AdsNo — betterYes
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesAd-supported — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPad
Requires iOS10.0 — better13.2
Further details — not scored
Size374 MB11 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperKdan Mobile Software LTDTenna Churiki

Customer experience

Animation Desk® Ultimate

All ratings299 ratings
Positive74.2%
Neutral9.0%
Negative16.7%
Written reviews160 reviews
Positive39.4%
Neutral16.9%
Negative43.8%

Pixel Gaka

All ratings6 ratings
Positive66.7%
Neutral0.0%
Negative33.3%
Written reviews4 reviews
Positive75.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative25.0%

Bugs and requests

Animation Desk® Ultimate

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Frames randomly disappearing or getting corrupted
  • Layers merging unexpectedly or not behaving as expected
  • Crashes when trying to import certain media files
  • Onion skin and playback issues causing problems

Requested features

5 requests
  • Add more brush customization options
  • Improve the timeline and layer management tools
  • Implement a better undo/redo system
  • Allow importing and syncing of audio for lip-syncing
  • Provide more export options beyond just video

Pixel Gaka

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

10 purchases

Animation Desk® Ultimate

Subscriptions5
  • Kdan Cloud$2.991 Month
  • All Access Pack-1 Month3 Days trial$9.991 Month
  • Kdan Cloud$9.991 Year
Show 2 more
  • All Access Pack-3 Months3 Days trial$19.993 Months
  • All Access Pack - 1 Year7 Days trial$59.991 Year
One-time5
  • 10 Kdan Credits$0.99
  • 100 Kdan Credits$7.99
  • 200 Kdan Credits$15.99
Show 2 more
  • 500 Kdan Credits$37.99
  • 1000 Kdan Credits$59.99
None

Pixel Gaka

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Animation Desk® Ultimate free?
Animation Desk® Ultimate costs $9.99, and also offers in-app purchases.
Is Pixel Gaka free?
Pixel Gaka is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Animation Desk® Ultimate or Pixel Gaka?
Animation Desk® Ultimate is rated higher. Animation Desk® Ultimate averages 4.0 out of 5 from 300 ratings, while Pixel Gaka averages 3.7 from 6 ratings.
Do Animation Desk® Ultimate or Pixel Gaka have ads?
Pixel Gaka shows ads; Animation Desk® Ultimate does not.
Which is updated more often, Animation Desk® Ultimate or Pixel Gaka?
Animation Desk® Ultimate ships an update monthly, and Pixel Gaka every 2 months. Most recently, Animation Desk® Ultimate was updated on October 29, 2026 and Pixel Gaka on October 16, 2026.

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