Shade vs Mega Voxels
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Shade
Design complex visual effects with a node-based shader editor. Create and render real-time shader graphs with intuitive controls and extensive node options. Export your creations for use in game development and other applications.
- Node-based shader graph creation
- Real-time rendering preview
- Connection stacking and automatic swizzling
- Over 100 shader nodes
- Drag-and-drop image import
- AR previews including Face AR
- Export to Unity 3D and Codea
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Shade transforms your device into a professional node-based shader editor. Build stunning, connected shader graphs that render in real time You'll find full support for keyboard shortcuts, drag-and-drop, and documentation built right in Once you're done, export your shader out to Unity 3D or load it straight into Codea. Use them in your games, apps, or anything you make Put your finger on the glass and start creating FEATURES • Connection stacking: no need for explicit arithmetic nodes. Just plug multiple outputs into a single input. Tap to change how they're blended • Automatic swizzling: connect anything to anything. Shade will figure it out and swizzle your connection. Tap the little circle to re-wire the logic • Over 100 nodes for building your shaders, tap any node for help • Live physically-based render preview • Drag-and-drop images right into your graph • Full keyboard support • AR previews, including Face AR for building shaders right on your... face • Video tutorials
Mega Voxels
Create 3D pixel art and voxel art with a comprehensive editor. Design intricate scenes, build with blocks, and animate your creations. Share your 3D models and artwork through photos, videos, and augmented reality.
- Full-featured voxel editor
- Pixel art editor
- Dozens of tools and brushes
- Hundreds of 3D voxel models
- Create video animations
- Augmented Reality (AR) viewing
- Import/Export common 3D formats
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Mega Voxels is an easy-to-use 3D pixel art maker, voxel editor & pixel art editor that lets you create 3D pixel art, voxel art & pixel art. You can then share your creations through photos and videos. Connect with friends and share what you make with 3D pixels, voxels and pixels. Features: - Full-Featured Voxel Editor for creating voxel art and 3D pixel art - Complete Pixel Art Editor for drawing pixel art - Dozens of tools and brushes for block building including Pencil, Bucket Fill and Magic Wand - Hundreds of 3D voxel models to explore in Library: castles, cars, animals, spaceships, houses, food and more - Play fun games like a jumping game using your own voxel models - New mini-games added regularly to the app - Simple to build with blocks using one hand for on the go - Easy to color blocks with simple touch controls. Choose your color palette and tap to paint. - Draw complex 3D scenes using voxels (volumetric pixels) - Voxel builder supports Unlimited World Size - Import & Export models to common formats including MagicaVoxel VOX, Wavefront OBJ and PNG - Build massive 3d block sets with multiple grid support - Craft and Build your own City out of voxel blocks - Make and Save video animations to MP4 - Powerful 3D Pixel Art Editor with 3d model maker abilities - Preview and Render 3D Voxel Models in Real-time - With Screen Lock the app becomes a useful pixel editor - View and display your 3d design in Augmented Reality (AR) - Use portrait mode and Landscape mode for Phones & Tablets - Save files for 3d artwork locally and on the cloud - 3D modeling support for mouse and keyboard - Enhanced Pen Support to build with blocks - Completely Functional Mobile Voxel Editor App that supports both touch and pen - Voxel Brush supports adding a single 3d pixel as well as multiple 3d pixels - Simplified controls allow for block building using one hand - Play Fun Block Games with any of your voxel models or 3D art - Easy Block Builder with Cutting-Edge Building Tools - Build Your Own 3D Model on your Phone or Tablet - Supports Importing pixel art sprites into the 3d pixel art editor - Exported 3D Models and 3D art can be imported into popular 3D modeling software such as 3ds Max + Maya + Blender + Tinkercad + MagicaVoxel + VoxEdit + Fancade + Blockbench
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: Mega Voxels at Free against Shade's $19.99. Mega Voxels also leads on rating (4.8 vs 4.3) and update cadence (every 2 weeks vs every 6 weeks). Shade's advantage is ads (none vs shown). On review sentiment, in-app purchases, monetization model 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
Mega Voxels is free to download; Shade costs $19.99 up front. Shade sells 4 one-off in-app purchases and Mega Voxels sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per 7 days. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
Mega Voxels holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 4.3. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Mega Voxels has 1.8K ratings behind it against 126, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 64% of Shade's written reviews are positive against 71% of Mega Voxels's.
Shade ships an update every 6 weeks, Mega Voxels every 2 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 19, 2026 and October 13, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Shade | Mega Voxels |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $19.99 | Free — better |
| Rating | 4.3 (126 ratings) | 4.8 (1.8K ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 63.8% of reviews | 71.4% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 126 | 1.8K — better |
| Update frequency | Every 6 weeks | Every 2 weeks — better |
| Ads | No — better | Yes |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 15.6 | 13.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 185 MB | 165 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Two Lives Left | Go Real Games, LLC |
Customer experience
Shade
Mega Voxels
User reviews
Shade
From 126 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- ✨ Amazing app for shaders
- 💡 Commendable bringing shaders to iPad
- 👍 Intuitive and useful
- 🚀 Great for sketching shaders on the go
- 🌟 High quality visuals on iPad
Room to improve
- 🔋 High battery consumption
- 🔥 Generates significant heat
- 💸 Requires payment to create/export
- ❓ Unclear pricing and trial information
- 📉 Export options limited
Mega Voxels
From 1.8K App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 👍 Easy to use
- 🎨 Lots of color options
- 🎨 Fun and creative
- 🎓 Helpful tutorials
- 🔧 Intuitive interface
Room to improve
- 💰 Subscription model
- 🐛 Crashes and data loss
- 🙄 Constant premium upsells
- 🤔 Limited functionality in free version
- 🤔 Confusing controls
Bugs and requests
Shade
Reported bugs
12 issues- Curvature node crashes the program
- Closing function node crashes and saves incorrectly
- Failed to create new shaders
- iOS 17 crashes the app
- App crashes when opening most shaders
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- Unable to report crashes with debug info
- No auto-saves leading to lost progress
- Internal error preventing shader opening after purchase
- Corrupted or version mismatch error when creating/opening shaders
- Cannot reactivate from Beta version after official release
- Exported shaders don't match in Unity
- App requires payment to create shaders
Requested features
20 requests- Edit shader code manually
- Add Mac support
- Port Blender to iOS
- Add UE4 support
- Add light node (direction, position)
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- Export to Metal/Blender
- Add experimental ray tracing option
- Add support for exporting ShaderGraph or ASE formats
- Add feature to change texture of the object
- Add support for Unreal Engine 4
- Add support for Godot
- Add support for camera/touch inputs
- Add more export options
- Add translation to Chinese
- Support manual shader compilation besides nodes
- Add basic PBR materials folder export
- Add unlit shader for output
- Add gyro, ALS, accelerometer, heart-rate inputs
- Add multi-select
- Adjust long hold-tap gesture time
Mega Voxels
Reported bugs
3 issues- Files randomly disappearing
- App crashing and losing progress
- Issues with importing/exporting models
Requested features
5 requests- Add undo/redo functionality
- Improve file export options
- Expand free content and features
- Add more tutorials and learning resources
- Improve stability and reduce crashes
In-app purchases
Shade
- 14-day TrialFree
- Shade ProFree
- Shade Pro UpgradeFree
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- Shade Standard$15.99
Mega Voxels
- Weekly Premium$1.997 Days
- Monthly Premium7 Days trial$4.991 Month
- Yearly Premium7 Days trial$49.991 Year









