Comparison

Pixen vs Pixel Edit Lite

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

Head to head
About

Pixen

Create detailed pixel art and animations with a comprehensive suite of tools. Manage projects, import/export various file formats, and utilize Apple Pencil features for precise drawing. Supports layers, color palettes, and pattern creation for advanced designs.

Highlights
  • Pixel art and animation creation
  • Extensive toolset (Pencil, Eraser, Fill, etc.)
  • Apple Pencil support with gestures
  • Color palette management
  • Animation frame editing
  • Import/export various file formats
  • iCloud sync for macOS users
Read full description

Pixen is a native pixel art editor for iOS and macOS, designed for working with low-resolution raster art such as those 8-bit sprites found in old-school video games. Pixen packs all the tools pixel artists need in an intuitive, native interface including support for high zoom levels, animation editing, color palettes, and a lot more. PROJECTS GALLERY The Pixen experience starts in the projects gallery, which allows you to manage all of your creations in one place. You can import and export files in various file formats including PNG, JPEG, GIF, ICO, BMP, TIFF, SVG, and PSD. Files can be imported from your Photos library, the Files app, or the clipboard. Pixen for macOS users can take advantage of seamless iCloud sync. When you're ready, you can share your creations with friends. TOOLS AND APPLE PENCIL Leverage Pixen's wide array of tools when composing pixel art: Pencil, Eraser, Brightness, Text, Eyedropper, Zoom, Rectangular Selection, Magic Wand, Lasso, Move, Fill, Line, Rectangle, and Ellipse. All of Pixen's tools are fully compatible with Apple Pencil on iPad. You can take advantage of the double-tap gesture on Apple Pencil 2 to quickly switch to your last tool, switch to the eraser, or bring up the color picker. Pixen even has hover support when using Apple Pencil Pro, so you can see a preview of what you're about to draw before your Apple Pencil touches the screen. COLOR PALETTES With Pixen, you can add and organize commonly-used colors into palettes. Pixen can also import and export color palettes in the Adobe Color Table, Microsoft Palette, JASC Palette, and GIMP Palette formats. You can even perform palette operations such as sorting colors and removing duplicate colors directly in the app. ANIMATIONS Create and arrange image frames in the filmstrip view to piece together animations. Pixen can import animated PNGs, animated GIFs, and sprite sheets. It can export animations as animated GIFs, animated PNGs, movies, image sequences, and sprite sheets! GRID Take advantage of Pixen's grid and alignment tools and create pixel-perfect artwork. PATTERNS Define custom patterns to use while drawing with the Pencil, Line, or Eraser tool (instead of a single pixel). You can even import patterns from 1-bit images. PREVIEW While editing at high zoom levels, use the Preview feature to view the canvas scaled out. You can play back animations and tile small images, useful when working on repeated patterns. AND A LOT MORE... - Sync your creations with Pixen for Mac over iCloud and resume your work right where you left off, regardless of device. - Take advantage of the flexibility of layers and change opacities, blend modes, and more to compose creative effects. - Invert colors, convert to grayscale, apply sepia tone, remove alpha components, palettize, pixellate, adjust hue, exposure, brightness, contrast, and more. - Pixel Perfect mode removes extra pixels while drawing such that any drawn paths are at most 1 pixel in width. In other words, it removes the middle pixel of an L shape. - Pick a flat, striped, or checkered background to be drawn beneath the canvas, or set a reference image. - If you use your iPad with a keyboard, increase productivity with Pixen's wide array of keyboard shortcuts. - Export your artwork in PNG, JPEG, GIF, ICO, BMP, TIFF, SVG, and PSD file formats. - Share your creations quickly and easily via AirDrop, Messages, email, and more! - Adjust the size and position of Pixen's sidebars, customize the Apple Pencil 2 double-tap gesture, and more. Pixen is also available for macOS and is the only pixel art maker of its class that syncs projects with iCloud!

About

Pixel Edit Lite

Create detailed pixel art on a 16x16 canvas with a minimalist interface. This tool focuses on a clean design to help you craft beautiful retro sprites and artwork.

Highlights
  • 16x16 canvas
  • Minimalist interface
  • Retro sprite creation
  • Pixel art design
  • Clean editor
Features
Read full description

The pocket sprite editor for PICO-8. Copy a sprite on your Mac, edit it on your iPhone, paste it straight back. Pixel Edit Lite is a small, touch-first pixel art and sprite editor for iPhone. Draw with your finger, work offline, and create retro sprites whenever inspiration strikes. Work on a single sprite or build out a full sprite sheet — navigate between sprites, duplicate them, and copy and paste between sprites. Choose 8×8, 16×16, 32×32, or 64×64 canvases for sprites, game art, icons, and other pixel art projects. Built with PICO-8 and TIC-80 style sprite workflows in mind, with real PICO-8 clipboard format support: copy a sprite in PICO-8 on your Mac, paste it here, edit, and paste it back. Features • Clean, minimal interface • Always-on sprite sheet with navigation, duplication, and copy/paste • 8×8, 16×16, 32×32, and 64×64 canvases • Precision pixel drawing with pencil, eraser, and fill • Shape tools: line, rectangle, and circle, outlined or filled • Undo and redo • PICO-8 and TIC-80 color palettes • Grid-based editing • Rotate, flip, and shift tools • Fast, responsive touch controls • Automatic local saving • Recent Projects — reopen past sheets in one tap • Import and export through Files, including iCloud Drive • Share via the native Share Sheet — AirDrop, Messages, save to Photos, and more • Real PICO-8 sprite clipboard format support • Works offline Pixel Edit Lite is intentionally simple. No complicated desktop-style workflow — just a small pixel editor you can keep with you when you're away from your computer.

Screenshots

Pixen4 screens
Pixel Edit Lite4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Pixen at Free against Pixel Edit Lite's $2.99. Pixen also leads on ratings volume (180 vs 6). Pixel Edit Lite's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 1) and review sentiment (100% vs 67%). On ads, device support and iOS requirement 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Pixen is free to download; Pixel Edit Lite costs $2.99 up front. Pixen sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Pixel Edit Lite asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Pixel Edit Lite holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.7. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Pixen has 180 ratings behind it against 6, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 67% of Pixen's written reviews are positive against 100% of Pixel Edit Lite's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Pixen ships an update monthly, Pixel Edit Lite every 5 days. The most recent releases landed on November 9, 2026 and November 7, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard7 real differences · 3 level
Pixen versus Pixel Edit Lite: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterPixenPixel Edit Lite
PriceFree — better$2.99
Rating4.7 (180 ratings)5.0 (6 ratings) — better
Positive reviews66.7% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings180 — better6
Update frequencyMonthlyEvery 5 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree — betterPaid
DevicesiPhone, iPad — betteriPhone
Requires iOS18.018.0
Further details — not scored
Size13 MB1 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperFurnace Creek Software LLCApurva Mehta

Customer experience

Pixen

All ratings180 ratings
Positive96.7%
Neutral1.7%
Negative1.7%
Written reviews51 reviews
Positive66.7%
Neutral3.9%
Negative29.4%

Pixel Edit Lite

All ratings6 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews7 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Bugs and requests

Pixen

Reported bugs

14 issues
  • App crashes
  • Cannot make anything else after one image
  • Cannot export
  • App crashes when exporting
  • Export as JPG without transparent background
Show 9 more
  • Artwork doesn't save latest edit
  • Crashes when undoing
  • Crashes when exiting artwork
  • Doesn't save
  • App won't open
  • Crashes on boot
  • Export in gif to photos bug
  • Cannot save images to camera roll (app crashes)
  • Crash on startup

Requested features

8 requests
  • Undo gestures
  • Gallery for artworks
  • Redo button
  • Keep animation preview screen up while working
  • Option to choose background color
Show 3 more
  • Spill bucket eraser
  • Larger button size option
  • Undo button on left side for left-handed users

Pixel Edit Lite

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

1 purchases

Pixen

One-time1
  • Pro: One Time Purchase$9.99
None

Pixel Edit Lite

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Pixen free?
Pixen is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Pixel Edit Lite free?
Pixel Edit Lite costs $2.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Pixen or Pixel Edit Lite?
Pixel Edit Lite is rated higher. Pixen averages 4.7 out of 5 from 180 ratings, while Pixel Edit Lite averages 5.0 from 6 ratings.
Do Pixen or Pixel Edit Lite have ads?
Neither Pixen nor Pixel Edit Lite shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Pixen or Pixel Edit Lite?
Pixen ships an update monthly, and Pixel Edit Lite every 5 days. Most recently, Pixen was updated on November 9, 2026 and Pixel Edit Lite on November 7, 2026.

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