Comparison

Shade vs Mesh Gradients Ultimate

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

Head to head
About

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.

Highlights
  • 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
Features
Read full description

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

About

Mesh Gradients Ultimate

Create unique and beautiful gradients for wallpapers, social media, and professional design projects. Features AI image transformation, texture settings, shape support, and multiple export options. Seamlessly integrates with popular design tools.

Highlights
  • AI image to gradient transformation
  • Texture settings per anchor point
  • Shape support (hearts, drops)
  • Automatic blob shape generation
  • Multi-anchor point color adjustment
  • iCloud storage
  • Export to WebP, PNG, HEIC, SVG
Features
Read full description

Elevate Your Design Game with Mesh Gradients Ultimate Unleash your creativity and step into a world where design meets simplicity with Mesh Gradients Ultimate. Whether you're sprucing up your iPhone or iPad's wallpaper, adding flair to your social media, or embarking on a professional design project, our app puts unparalleled gradient creation at your fingertips. [ Features at a Glance ] + AI that transforms image into a gradient to use as a starting point in your creative journey + Texture settings for each anchor point. Unleash your creativity by adding textures to your gradients for truly unique effects. + Display of mesh lines for complex effects. + Shape support, including hearts and drops. From heart to drop shapes, our app allows you to go beyond traditional gradients for standout designs. + Fast, preference-based gradient generation. Choose from an infinite array of automatically generated gradients as a starting point, then tweak to perfection. + Multi-anchor point selection for simultaneous color adjustments. + iCloud storage for easy access across devices. + Automatic blob shape generation. Instantly create dynamic, organic shapes with our blob generator, adding a modern twist to your work. + Export options for macOS (WebP, PNG, HEIC, SVG) and images on iOS. [ Wallpapers and backgrounds ] + Easily craft aurora wallpapers, Instagram backgrounds, and more. With Mesh Gradients Ultimate, your digital spaces will reflect your personal style like never before. [ For Professional Designers ] + Export your gradients in various file formats, including WebP, PNG, HEIC, and SVG on macOS, and as high-quality images on iOS. Our app seamlessly integrates with design tools like Canva, Sketch, and Figma, making it a valuable addition to your design toolkit. [ Intuitive Design Experience ] + User-Friendly Interface: Get started quickly with an interface that’s easy to navigate. + Dark Mode Support: Design comfortably in any lighting condition. + Dynamic Font Support: Ensure accessibility and ease of use with adjustable text sizes. + Effortless Sharing: Share your creations directly to social media platforms or export them for use in external design tools. Elevate your design game with Mesh Gradients Ultimate. Download today and start creating gradients that make your projects stand out from the crowd. Terms of Use: http://diniska.app/mesh-gradients/terms-and-conditions/ Privacy policy: http://diniska.app/mesh-gradients/privacy-policy/

Screenshots

Shade4 screens
Mesh Gradients Ultimate4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Mesh Gradients Ultimate at Free against Shade's $19.99. Mesh Gradients Ultimate also leads on review sentiment (100% vs 64%) and rating (4.7 vs 4.3). Shade's advantage is chart position (#174 vs unranked) and ratings volume (126 vs 19). On ads, 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Mesh Gradients Ultimate is free to download; Shade costs $19.99 up front. Shade sells 4 one-off in-app purchases and Mesh Gradients Ultimate sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Mesh Gradients Ultimate holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 4.3. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Shade has 126 ratings behind it against 19, 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 100% of Mesh Gradients Ultimate's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Shade ships an update every 6 weeks, Mesh Gradients Ultimate fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on October 26, 2026 and October 24, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 5 level
Shade versus Mesh Gradients Ultimate: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterShadeMesh Gradients Ultimate
Price$19.99Free — better
Rating4.3 (126 ratings)4.7 (19 ratings) — better
Positive reviews63.8% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings126 — better19
Update frequencyEvery 6 weeksFortnightly — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
Best chart rank#174 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, Mac
Requires iOS15.6 — better16.0
Further details — not scored
Size185 MB15 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperTwo Lives LeftDenis Chashchin

Customer experience

Shade

All ratings126 ratings
Positive78.6%
Neutral9.5%
Negative11.9%
Written reviews69 reviews
Positive63.8%
Neutral18.8%
Negative17.4%

Mesh Gradients Ultimate

All ratings19 ratings
Positive94.7%
Neutral0.0%
Negative5.3%
Written reviews1 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

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
Show 7 more
  • 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)
Show 15 more
  • 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

Mesh Gradients Ultimate

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

4 purchases

Shade

One-time4
  • 14-day TrialFree
  • Shade ProFree
  • Shade Pro UpgradeFree
Show 1 more
  • Shade Standard$15.99
2 purchases

Mesh Gradients Ultimate

Subscriptions1
  • Gradients Pro Monthly$1.991 Month
One-time1
  • Pro. One time purchase2 variants$11.99

Questions

Is Shade free?
Shade costs $19.99, and also offers in-app purchases.
Is Mesh Gradients Ultimate free?
Mesh Gradients Ultimate is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Shade or Mesh Gradients Ultimate?
Mesh Gradients Ultimate is rated higher. Shade averages 4.3 out of 5 from 126 ratings, while Mesh Gradients Ultimate averages 4.7 from 19 ratings.
Do Shade or Mesh Gradients Ultimate have ads?
Neither Shade nor Mesh Gradients Ultimate shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Shade or Mesh Gradients Ultimate?
Shade ships an update every 6 weeks, and Mesh Gradients Ultimate fortnightly. Most recently, Shade was updated on October 26, 2026 and Mesh Gradients Ultimate on October 24, 2026.

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