Pixen vs Pixelss
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Pixen
Create and animate pixel art with a comprehensive set of tools. Manage projects, import/export various file formats, and utilize advanced features like layers and custom patterns. Optimized for Apple Pencil on iOS and macOS.
- Pixel art and animation editing
- High zoom levels
- Color palettes
- Animation frame editing
- Import/export various file formats
- Apple Pencil support
- Layers and blend modes
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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!
Pixelss
Create pixel art animations with this intuitive application. Design your characters and scenes frame by frame, bringing your creations to life with simple tools. Perfect for aspiring animators and pixel art enthusiasts.
- Pixel art animation creation
- Frame-by-frame design
- Intuitive animation tools
- Character and scene design
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A pixel animation app
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: Pixelss at 100% against Pixen's 67%. Pixelss also leads on update cadence (daily vs monthly) and rating (5.0 vs 4.7). Pixen's advantage is ratings volume (172 vs 1). On price, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model 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
Both are free to download. Pixen sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and Pixelss sells 4 one-off in-app purchases. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
Pixelss holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.7. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Pixen has 172 ratings behind it against 1, 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 Pixelss's.
Pixen ships an update monthly, Pixelss daily. The most recent releases landed on October 9, 2026 and September 15, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Pixen | Pixelss |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.7 (172 ratings) | 5.0 (1 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 66.7% of reviews | 100.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 172 — better | 1 |
| Update frequency | Monthly | Daily — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 18.0 | 13.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 9 MB | 55 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Furnace Creek Software LLC | Sounds Creative LLC |
Customer experience
Pixen
Pixelss
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
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- 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
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- Spill bucket eraser
- Larger button size option
- Undo button on left side for left-handed users
Pixelss
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Pixen
- Pro: One Time Purchase$9.99
Pixelss
- Unlock Five Save Slots$1.99
- Unlock Higher Resolution$4.99
- Unlock 64 Frames$4.99
Show 1 moreShow fewer
- Unlock All Save Slots$9.99









