Pixel Studio vs amu
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Pixel Studio
Create pixel art, animated sprites, and game assets with a comprehensive suite of drawing, animation, and color tools. Supports layers, frame-by-frame animation, and various export formats. Offers Apple Pencil support and a customizable workspace for efficient design.
- Layer-based pixel art drawing
- Frame-by-frame sprite animation
- Onion skinning for animation
- Customizable brushes and tools
- Palette creation and management
- Export as GIF, MP4, and sprite sheets
- Apple Pencil support
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Create pixel art, animated sprites and game assets on iPhone and iPad. Draw with layers, animate frame by frame, and export your work as images, GIFs or sprite sheets. Start with a small character or build a detailed scene. Pixel Studio brings drawing, animation and color tools together, with Apple Pencil support and a customizable workspace. DRAW PIXEL ART • Work with layers, built-in and custom brushes, shapes and gradients • Draw symmetrically and add shading with the Dithering Pen • Use Dot Pen for precise drawing with a cursor • Customize your grid, background and toolbar • Resize and rotate your canvas, with pixel art scaling and rotation tools ANIMATE YOUR SPRITES • Create frame-by-frame animations with Onion Skin • Export animations as GIFs or sprite sheets • Add music and export videos to MP4 WORK WITH COLOR • Create your own palettes or use built-in palettes and palettes from Lospec • Pick colors with RGBA and HSV controls • Extract palettes from images and apply palettes to your artwork SAVE AND SHARE • Use autosave and backups to help protect your projects • Work with PNG, JPG, GIF, BMP, TGA and Pixel Studio Project files • Import Aseprite files • Share your artwork with the Pixel Network community UPGRADE TO PRO PRO is a one-time purchase. It removes ads and unlocks Google Drive sync, a dark theme, 256-color palettes, seamless texture tile mode, larger projects, unlimited color adjustments and MP4 exports, additional format support and extended Pixel Network storage. Google Drive sync requires PRO. Some export options and advanced features also require PRO. Sample images by lorddkno, Redshrike, Calciumtrice, Buch and Tomoe Mami are used under CC BY 3.0. Privacy Policy: https://github.com/hippogamesunity/PixelStudioHub/wiki/Privacy-Policy Terms of Use: https://github.com/hippogamesunity/PixelStudioHub/wiki/EULA
amu
Design and share professional crochet charts with a comprehensive set of tools. Easily create, edit, and export your stitch patterns as PDFs, complete with symbol legends and images.
- Intuitive canvas with zoom and pan
- Powerful editing tools (move, rotate, resize, duplicate)
- Snap to grid and edge for precise placement
- PDF pattern creation with legends and images
- Template and symbol set organization
- Image export and inline text editing
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amu is the ultimate crochet chart maker for your smartphone. Design beautiful stitch patterns with 77 crochet symbols and bring your creative ideas to life. Whether you're a beginner or experienced crocheter, amu makes it easy to create, edit, and share professional crochet charts right from your phone. ◆ Intuitive Canvas Pinch to zoom and pan freely. Organize symbols into groups to keep complex charts neat. Use grid lines and circular guides for precise placement. ◆ Powerful Editing Tools • Move: Joystick control for fluid positioning • Rotate: -180° to 180° with customizable anchors • Resize: Change width and height independently • Duplicate: Linear, rotational, and grid duplication • Color: Apply colors to groups and symbols • Highlight: Selected object outlined in blue for clarity ◆ Snap to Grid & Edge Grid snap for even spacing, edge & vertex snap to align objects perfectly. Auto grid interval matches symbol size for precise tiling. ◆ Pattern Design (PDF Creation) Place charts, text, images, and auto-generated symbol legends on A4 or US Letter paper. Export as professional PDF with multiple pages, background patterns, and optional watermarks. ◆ Pattern Design Templates (NEW) Choose from Blank, Simple, Standard, or Multi-part templates with title, chart, and legend areas pre-arranged. Skip the layout work and start producing sale-ready PDFs right away. ◆ Image Placement (NEW) Add finished-product photos or reference images directly to your pattern design. Bundle them in your PDF so buyers see exactly what they're making. ◆ Inline Text Editing (Improved) Edit text on the pattern canvas directly — no dialogs. See positioning while you type for a friction-free workflow. ◆ Auto Symbol Legend Detects all symbols in your charts and generates a categorized legend table with one tap. Include it in your PDF so buyers can easily read your patterns. ◆ Folder Organization Sort canvases into folders by project, technique, or any category. Keep your chart library tidy and easy to navigate. ◆ Symbol Sets Save frequently used symbol combinations as reusable sets. Place them with a single tap — perfect for repeating stitch patterns. **Unlimited for all users.** ◆ Layer Management View all groups and symbols in the layer panel. Reorder with drag & drop, rename, duplicate, or merge groups. ◆ Templates Save canvases as reusable templates. **Unlimited for all users** — keep your favorite patterns ready to deploy. ◆ Image Export Export your chart as a PNG to your device. Share on social media or print. Watermark-free export available with Premium. ◆ More Features • Undo/Redo: Up to 30 history steps • Color Palettes: Save up to 30 favorite colors for quick access (all users) • Multi-language: English, Japanese, Korean, Traditional Chinese • Video Tutorials: In-app tutorial videos • Step-by-step Guide: Interactive tutorial that teaches as you go • Lock Mode: Protect unselected objects from accidental edits • Haptic Feedback: Toggle on/off to your preference • Cloud Backup: Keep data safe across devices (Premium) ◆ Premium Features (amu Premium) • Unlimited Canvases (free: up to 10) • Unlimited Pattern Design Saves (free: up to 5) • Export without Watermark (Image & PDF) • Cloud Backup amu Premium is a monthly auto-renewable subscription. Try all features free for 14 days. After the trial, your subscription renews at the regular price. Cancel anytime from Apple ID settings. Terms of Use: https://teruapp.jp/amu/terms-of-service/ Privacy Policy: https://teruapp.jp/amu/privacy-policy/ ◆ Perfect For • Crocheters designing original stitch patterns • Crafters digitizing handwritten charts • Knitting and crochet communities sharing patterns • Teachers and students in crochet workshops • Handmade sellers creating pattern diagrams • Anyone who loves creating with yarn and hook Start designing your crochet charts today with amu.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: Pixel Studio at 94% against amu's 40%. Pixel Studio also leads on ratings volume (6.1K vs 1). amu's advantage is ads (none vs shown) and rating (5.0 vs 4.7). On price, 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
Both are free to download. Pixel Studio sells 10 in-app purchases, starting at $3.99 per month and amu sells 1 in-app purchase, starting at $2.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
amu holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.7. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Pixel Studio has 6.1K ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 94% of Pixel Studio's written reviews are positive against 40% of amu's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.
Pixel Studio ships an update monthly, amu every 2 weeks. The most recent releases landed on November 9, 2026 and November 8, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Pixel Studio | amu |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.7 (6.1K ratings) | 5.0 (1 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 93.7% of reviews — better | 40.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 6.1K — better | 1 |
| Update frequency | Monthly | Every 2 weeks — better |
| Ads | Yes | No — better |
| 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 | 15.0 — better | 15.6 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 144 MB | 64 MB |
| Age rating | 12+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Farida Yarullina | yoshiteru oyanagi |
Customer experience
Pixel Studio
amu
Bugs and requests
Pixel Studio
Reported bugs
4 issues- Exporting animations not working as expected
- Unexpected behavior when merging layers
- Inconsistent performance on larger canvases
- Glitches with the reference image feature
Requested features
7 requests- Add custom brush options
- Improve layer management
- Implement a color wheel
- Add canvas resizing capabilities
- Introduce mirroring/symmetry tools
Show 2 moreShow fewer
- Enhance the animation workflow
- Provide a more intuitive file management system
amu
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Pixel Studio
- PREMIUM subscription$3.991 Month
- Sprite collection$0.99
- PROMOTION IN PIXEL NETWORK$0.99
- Disable Ads$1.99
Show 6 moreShow fewer
- PRO -50%!$5.99
- PRO PROMO -50%$5.99
- PRO CROSS -50%!$8.99
- PRO CROSS GIFT -50%!$8.99
- PRO$12.99
- PRO CROSS$17.99
amu
- プレミアムプラン - 月額14 Days trial$2.991 Month









