# Animation Desk® Ultimate vs Pixel Gaka

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).

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.

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.

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.

## The numbers

| Metric | Animation Desk® Ultimate | Pixel Gaka |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | $9.99 | **Free** |
| Rating | **[4.0 (300 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/animation-desk-ultimate/id1152147166/reviews)** | [3.7 (6 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/pixel-gaka/id1518469712/reviews) |
| Number of ratings | **300** | 6 |
| Positive reviews | 39.4% of reviews | **75.0% of reviews** |
| In-app purchases | Yes | **No** |
| Ads | **No** | Yes |
| Update frequency | **Monthly** | Every 2 months |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | **Ad-supported** |
| Size | 374 MB | 11 MB |
| Requires iOS | **10.0** | 13.2 |
| Devices | **iPhone, iPad, iPod** | iPad |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | [Kdan Mobile Software LTD](https://appshunter.io/developer/318936474) | [Tenna Churiki](https://appshunter.io/developer/1501272326) |

## What reviewers say

### Animation Desk® Ultimate

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/animation-desk-ultimate/id1152147166)

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:** macOS Compatibility, iMessage stickers, Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases (10)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Kdan Cloud | $2.99 | per month |
| All Access Pack－1 Month | $9.99 | per month |
| Kdan Cloud | $9.99 | per year |
| All Access Pack－3 Months | $19.99 | per 3 months |
| All Access Pack - 1 Year | $59.99 | per year |
| 10 Kdan Credits | $0.99 | one-time |
| 100 Kdan Credits | $7.99 | one-time |
| 200 Kdan Credits | $15.99 | one-time |
| 500 Kdan Credits | $37.99 | one-time |
| 1000 Kdan Credits | $59.99 | one-time |

**What reviewers like**

- 👍 Good for beginners/amateurs
- 🎨 Decent set of brushes and tools
- 💯 Excellent for frame-by-frame animation
- 🎥 Useful for creating storyboards and rough animations

**What reviewers complain about**

- 🐛 Frequent crashes and bugs
- 🔍 Laggy and unresponsive at times
- 🎨 Drawing tools lack precision and smoothness
- 🔀 Issues with layer management and frame duplication
- 💰 Expensive for the current feature set

**Reported bugs**

- 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**

- 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

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/pixel-gaka/id1518469712)

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:** macOS Compatibility

**In-app purchases:** none


## Frequently asked 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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*Compared by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/) from daily US App Store data. Review summaries are generated from verbatim App Store reviews.*