# Animation Desk® Ultimate vs YearTree

The clearest difference is review sentiment: YearTree at 100% against Animation Desk® Ultimate's 39%. YearTree also leads on price (Free vs $9.99) and rating (5.0 vs 4.0). Animation Desk® Ultimate's advantage is ratings volume (300 vs 4) and iOS requirement (10.0 vs 15.0). On update cadence, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model there is nothing between them.

YearTree 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 and YearTree sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

YearTree holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Animation Desk® Ultimate has 300 ratings behind it against 4, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 39% of Animation Desk® Ultimate's written reviews are positive against 100% of YearTree's.

Animation Desk® Ultimate ships an update monthly, YearTree every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on November 11, 2026 and October 31, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | Animation Desk® Ultimate | YearTree |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | $9.99 | **Free** |
| Rating | [4.0 (300 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/animation-desk-ultimate/id1152147166/reviews) | **[5.0 (4 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/yeartree/id6762160371/reviews)** |
| Number of ratings | **300** | 4 |
| Positive reviews | 39.4% of reviews | **100.0% of reviews** |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Ads | No | No |
| Update frequency | Monthly | **Every 3 weeks** |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free with in-app purchases |
| Size | 374 MB | 17 MB |
| Requires iOS | **10.0** | 15.0 |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Age rating | 4+ | 9+ |
| Developer | [Kdan Mobile Software LTD](https://appshunter.io/developer/318936474) | [Justin Neuman](https://appshunter.io/developer/1859103444) |

## 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


### YearTree

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/yeartree/id6762160371)

Cultivate a unique digital bonsai tree where each day represents a year of growth. Make mindful choices about pruning and light to shape its development. Experience contemplative play focused on patience and restraint, not competition.

**Highlights:** Daily year progression for tree growth, Interactive pruning and light adjustment, Unique tree development based on choices, Contemplative gameplay, no scores or timers, Collect and share finished bonsai trees, Offline play

**Features:** macOS Compatibility

**In-app purchases (1)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| YearTree Pro | $4.99 | one-time |


## Frequently asked questions

### Is Animation Desk® Ultimate free?

Animation Desk® Ultimate costs $9.99, and also offers in-app purchases.

### Is YearTree free?

YearTree is free to download, with in-app purchases available.

### Which has better reviews, Animation Desk® Ultimate or YearTree?

YearTree is rated higher. Animation Desk® Ultimate averages 4.0 out of 5 from 300 ratings, while YearTree averages 5.0 from 4 ratings.

### Do Animation Desk® Ultimate or YearTree have ads?

Neither Animation Desk® Ultimate nor YearTree shows ads.

### Which is updated more often, Animation Desk® Ultimate or YearTree?

Animation Desk® Ultimate ships an update monthly, and YearTree every 3 weeks. Most recently, Animation Desk® Ultimate was updated on November 11, 2026 and YearTree on October 31, 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.*