8BitQR vs Bead Lab
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
8BitQR
Design and create your own custom QR codes with a pixel-art editor. Choose from different canvas types, use drawing tools and colors, and generate shareable QR codes for URLs or email addresses.
- Custom QR code design
- Pixel art editor
- Multiple canvas types (rectangle, circular)
- Drawing tools and color selection
- Undo/Redo functionality
- QR code generation and sharing
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From now on, you can draw QR Code by yourself! We use a lot of complex technology to make this impossible thing possible. How to use: 1.Create a new project. Please touch the "+" button in the upper right corner of the main screen, then a dialog box will pop up to let you choose a canvas type. There are 3 types of canvas for you, horizontal rectangle, vertical rectangle and Circular. 2.After choosing the canvas, we will enter the painting screen, we call it "Pixel Factory". First, you can enter URL or Email address which you want to include in the QR Code. 3.Start to design your QR Code. You can draw anything in the gray area of the canvas. The right of the drawing tool is the color box, there are black, white and transparent color for you. The right of the color box is the expanding tool. You can use them to extend black or white edge. The lower left of the canvas is the undo and redo buttons,You can return 10 steps. The lower right of the canvas is a zoom button. 4.Generate your QR Code。Please touch the "Generate" button which is on the right of the text input field to generate your QR Code. This step will take some time. 5.Share your QR Code。After the QR Code is generated, it will show on the bottom of the canvas. If you touch it, the sharing sheet will pop up. QR Code List: Back to the main screen you can see the QR Code just created. If you touch it, a action sheet will pop up. You can share, edit, duplicate or delete the QR Code. Attention: Max 32 characters
Bead Lab
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The output isn't a picture. It's something you build. Bead Lab reads your photo against a real manufacturer's bead palette, then gives you the three things a picture can't: the colours to buy and how many of each, the design split across pegboards the size you already own, and a build mode that remembers every bead you've placed. ONE COLOUR AT A TIME Working from a flat pattern means hunting for where the next bead goes. Build mode lights up the colour you're holding and dims everything else, so you place all 720 of the charcoal black, mark that colour done, and move to the next one. Put the phone down halfway through and it's still there tomorrow. KNOW WHAT TO BUY BEFORE YOU BUY IT Every colour comes out of a real brand's catalogue and carries its product code. The materials list gives you the code, the name and the exact count — 720 of H6, 530 of H16 — so you order once instead of running out three evenings in. BOARD BY BOARD A 96×64 design doesn't fit on one pegboard. Bead Lab splits it across as many as it takes, numbers them, and shows each board on its own with the beads that board needs. Print them or work from the screen. FIX WHAT THE CONVERSION GOT WRONG No automatic conversion gets thin shapes right — bamboo leaves, whiskers, lettering. Brush, flood fill, replace colour, eyedropper, line and rectangle let you repair them by hand, and an automatic cleanup folds away stray single beads and colours too close to tell apart. You see how many cells will change before anything changes, and every step undoes. THREE WAYS TO MAKE IT Crisp outline, detail first, or fewer beads. One photo, three trade-offs, each labelled with its colour count, bead count and board count. Choose by the numbers instead of guessing at sliders. NOTHING LEAVES YOUR PHONE No account, no server. Photos, patterns and progress stay on this iPhone. No third-party analytics, no ads. FREE • Unlimited patterns • Grids up to 48×48 • The complete MARD palette and Kawada's 78 colours • The editor and its automatic cleanup • Build mode, in full • PNG export and the materials list • Board-by-board view on screen • Export and import your own projects BEAD LAB PRO — a one-time purchase, not a subscription • Bigger grids: 64×64 and 96×96 • Perler palettes alongside MARD • Board-by-board printing with safe margins • Multi-page PDF at true physical size • Mirrored sheets Made for iPhone. iOS 17 or later.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is update cadence: Bead Lab at every 4 days against 8BitQR's every 10 days. 8BitQR's advantage is iOS requirement (13.0 vs 17.0). On price, ads, in-app purchases and device support 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. 8BitQR sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and Bead Lab sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
8BitQR ships an update every 10 days, Bead Lab every 4 days. Both last shipped on October 24, 2026.
| Parameter | 8BitQR | Bead Lab |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 3.0 (2 ratings) — better | — |
| Positive reviews | 20.0% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 2 — better | — |
| Update frequency | Every 10 days | Every 4 days — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 13.0 — better | 17.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 9 MB | 5 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | kitamura hira | Lintao Li |
In-app purchases
8BitQR
- Full Version$0.99
Bead Lab
- 拼豆专业版$5.99









