Comparison

Animator Plus vs AR Video Trace

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

Head to head
About

Animator Plus

Create professional-quality animations with a powerful yet intuitive drawing and animation tool. Offers extensive features for drawing, frame management, and exporting your creations in various formats.

Highlights
  • Keyframe animation
  • Timeline editing
  • Drawing tools
  • Unlimited layers and frames
  • Export to MP4 and PNG
  • Onion skinning
  • Customizable brushes
Features
Read full description

Animator Plus is a powerful drawing and frame-by-frame animation studio built natively for iPad and iPhone. Sketch, paint, and bring stories to life on a buttery-smooth Metal-powered canvas β€” with pro brushes, a full animation timeline, layers, sound sync, and one-tap export to MP4, image sequences, PNG, or JPG. Whether you are a hobbyist doodler, a storyboard artist, a cartoonist, or an animator chasing that classic hand-drawn look, Animator Plus puts everything you need into one focused, beautifully refined workspace. PRO BRUSHES TUNED FOR APPLE PENCIL β€’ Studio Pen β€” crisp ink lines with subtle pressure response β€’ Pencil β€” true graphite feel with tilt-based shading β€’ Pressure Pen β€” thickness scales with how hard you press β€’ Marker β€” flat, opaque coverage for blocking color β€’ Fountain β€” calligraphic chisel for elegant strokes β€’ Airbrush β€” soft sprays that build up gradually β€’ Tapered Line β€” four variants for classic animation strokes β€’ Eraser, Smart Fill Bucket, Lasso Select Full Apple Pencil pressure, tilt, and azimuth support. Adjust per-brush size, opacity, hardness, flow, and smoothing. β€’ CLASSIC FRAME-BY-FRAME ANIMATION Flip on Animation Mode to unlock a full timeline. Insert, duplicate, copy, paste, and reorder frames in a tap. Set Frame Hold to pause specific frames for any number of ticks. Tune playback from 1 to 60 fps. Onion-skin previous and next frames as ghosts to align inbetweens with confidence. β€’ STROKE-BY-STROKE PLAYBACK Watch your artwork redraw itself, one stroke at a time, at 1x, 2x, or 4x speed. Perfect for time-lapse reels, tutorials, and process videos. Undone strokes are skipped automatically. β€’ POWERFUL LAYERS Stack, rename, hide, lock, blend, and clip layers independently. Every animation frame keeps its own layer stack so foreground action and static backgrounds stay perfectly organized. β€’ SHAPES, TEXT, AND TRANSFORMS Drop perfect lines, rectangles, ellipses, triangles, stars, and hexagons. Add editable text overlays. Use Lasso Select to grab strokes and move, rotate, scale, or recolor entire sections in one gesture. β€’ REFERENCE TOOLS AND ROTOSCOPING Turn on square, dot, or isometric grids for precise layouts. Import a reference image from Photos and dim its opacity to trace or sample. Import a video clip and Animator Plus extracts the frames automatically, letting you rotoscope on top. β€’ SOUND ON THE TIMELINE Import an audio clip, trim the in and out points, and adjust volume. Sound plays back in lockstep with your animation so timing and lip-sync land first try. β€’ EXPORT EVERYWHERE Save your art as transparent PNG, JPG, image sequence, or MP4 video. Push files to the Files app or straight to your camera roll. Projects sync across devices via iCloud Drive. β€’ REFINED FOR EVERY DEVICE Layouts adapt automatically between iPad and iPhone. Customize the accent color, brush smoothing, background color, and grid style from one tidy Settings panel. Whether you are sketching a storyboard, illustrating a children's book, prototyping a cartoon, or producing a finished animated short, Animator Plus gives you the tools to draw, paint, animate, and ship β€” frame by frame. Thanks for your support. Visit nitrio.com for more apps for your iOS devices.

About

AR Video Trace

Features
Read full description

Bring your videos to life on paper! AR Video Trace helps you create flipbooks and hand-drawn animations by tracing video frames directly onto your sketchbook. Whether you are an aspiring animator, an artist wanting to study motion, or just looking for a fun creative hobby, this app makes drawing frames easy and intuitive. [ Key Features ] β–  Create Flipbooks from Video Unlike standard tracing apps that only work with static images, AR Video Trace specializes in video. Pause specific moments in a video and trace them one by one to create smooth, hand-drawn animations. β–  Master the Art of Movement Understanding how things move is the hardest part of drawing. By tracing real video footage, you will naturally learn how to draw dynamic poses, capture weight, and understand the flow of motion. It’s the perfect practice tool for improving your drawing skills. β–  Smart Anchor System Our unique "Anchor" feature allows you to lock the video at specific frames (seek bar positions). Add Anchor: Lock the frame you want to draw. Overlay Mode: Use the "Anchor Multi-Selection Mode" to see previous frames ghostly overlaid on the current oneβ€”essential for keeping your animation consistent (Onion Skinning). β–  Start Creating Immediately No video? No problem. The app comes with pre-installed motion clips specifically selected for practice. You can start tracing and animating right away without needing to record your own footage first. β–  Step-by-Step Guide Beginners are welcome! A built-in tutorial guides you through the process: Prepare your paper and pen (binder clips recommended!). Learn how to place anchors. Trace, flip, and animate! [ Tools for Precision ] Zoom & Scale: Pinch to scale the video image to fit your paper size. Range Control: Focus on a specific loop of the video with the range bar. Move & Adjust: Easily reposition anchors to align your drawing perfectly. Download AR Video Trace today and start turning digital moments into hand-drawn magic!

Screenshots

AR Video Trace4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: AR Video Trace at Free against Animator Plus's $8.99. AR Video Trace also leads on update cadence (every 3 months vs every 23 months) and device support (3 vs 1). Animator Plus's advantage is ads (none vs shown). On in-app purchases there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price Β· Rating Β· Positive reviews Β· Number of ratings Β· Update frequency Β· Ads Β· In-app purchases Β· Monetization Β· Best chart rank Β· Devices Β· Requires iOS

CostPrice Β· In-app purchases Β· Ads Β· Monetization

AR Video Trace is free to download; Animator Plus costs $8.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Animator Plus ships an update every 23 months, AR Video Trace every 3 months. Both last shipped on October 6, 2026.

Scorecard5 real differences Β· 3 level
Animator Plus versus AR Video Trace: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterAnimator PlusAR Video Trace
Price$8.99Free β€” better
Positive reviews0.0% of reviewsβ€”
Update frequencyEvery 23 monthsEvery 3 months β€” better
AdsNo β€” betterYes
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationPaidβ€”
DevicesiPadiPhone, iPad, iPod β€” better
Requires iOS17.615.6 β€” better
Further details β€” not scored
Size2 MB50 MB
Age rating4+12+
DeveloperHeng Jia LiangMIDLANDSTORY inc.

In-app purchases

None

Animator Plus

No in-app purchases

None

AR Video Trace

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Animator Plus free?
Animator Plus costs $8.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is AR Video Trace free?
AR Video Trace is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do Animator Plus or AR Video Trace have ads?
AR Video Trace shows ads; Animator Plus does not.
Which is updated more often, Animator Plus or AR Video Trace?
Animator Plus ships an update every 23 months, and AR Video Trace every 3 months. Most recently, Animator Plus was updated on October 6, 2026 and AR Video Trace on October 6, 2026.

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