Comparison

Pixel Studio vs PxPad

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

Head to head
About

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.

Highlights
  • 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
Features
Read full description

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

About

PxPad

Create pixel art and game sprites with a powerful native editor for iOS. Offers a full suite of tools, layers, and export options for retro art enthusiasts and game developers.

Highlights
  • Brush, eraser, fill, select, move, eyedropper tools
  • Layers and undo/redo functionality
  • Zoom, pan, and rotate gestures
  • Image import and export (PNG, JPG, GIF, WebP, ICO, PX)
  • iCloud integration and Files app previews
  • Dark mode and left-handed mode
Read full description

Create stunning pixel art with PxPad, a powerful native sprite editor for iPhone, iPad and Mac. Perfect for game developers, artists, and retro art enthusiasts. Features • Brush, eraser, fill, select, move, and eyedropper tools • Undo / redo feature • Zoom / pan / rotate gestures • Layers • Multiple artboards in one document • Image imports • iCloud integration • Files app icon previews • Dark mode • Export PNG / JPG / GIF / WebP / ICO / PX • Export multiple artboards at once • Canvas resizing • Full color picker • Haptics • Apple Pencil support on compatible iPads • Left-handed mode • Sample files • 41 Languages Create retro art, game graphics and sprite sheets across iPhone, iPad and Mac, with iCloud integration, native sharing and file previews. Touch shortcuts and gestures • Double-tap with the brush to fill an area (enable in Settings). • Press and hold on the canvas while using the brush, eraser or fill tool to pick a color. • 2 finger tap: Undo • 3 finger tap: Redo • 2 finger pan: Pan view • 2 finger pinch: Zoom view • 2 finger rotate: Rotate canvas • Swipe gesture on folder previews, in the grid view, to cycle through previews. • Drag eyedropper onto canvas to activate with one gesture. Notes • When editing, an orange circle by the file name indicates the file is unsaved. Green briefly confirms a successful save. Red indicates a save error. • Import .px files by moving them into the PxPad folder (see Settings). If you like PxPad, please let me know in a review! Thank you, Andy (The Developer) License Agreement: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

Screenshots

Pixel Studio4 screens
PxPad4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: PxPad at none against Pixel Studio's 10. PxPad also leads on ads (none vs shown) and rating (5.0 vs 4.7). Pixel Studio's advantage is ratings volume (6.1K vs 1) and iOS requirement (15.0 vs 18.5). On price, review sentiment 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

Both are free to download. Pixel Studio sells 10 in-app purchases, starting at $3.99 per month. PxPad asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

PxPad 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 point the same way: 94% of Pixel Studio's written reviews are positive against 100% of PxPad's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Pixel Studio ships an update monthly, PxPad fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on November 11, 2026 and October 30, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard7 real differences · 3 level
Pixel Studio versus PxPad: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterPixel StudioPxPad
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.7 (6.1K ratings)5.0 (1 ratings) — better
Positive reviews93.7% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings6.1K — better1
Update frequencyMonthlyFortnightly — better
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, Mac
Requires iOS15.0 — better18.5
Further details — not scored
Size144 MB6 MB
Age rating12+4+
DeveloperFarida YarullinaAndrew Moloney

Customer experience

Pixel Studio

All ratings6,087 ratings
Positive93.9%
Neutral2.1%
Negative4.0%
Written reviews2,349 reviews
Positive93.7%
Neutral2.5%
Negative3.8%

PxPad

All ratings1 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews2 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

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 more
  • Enhance the animation workflow
  • Provide a more intuitive file management system

PxPad

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

10 purchases

Pixel Studio

Subscriptions1
  • PREMIUM subscription$3.991 Month
One-time9
  • Sprite collection$0.99
  • PROMOTION IN PIXEL NETWORK$0.99
  • Disable Ads$1.99
Show 6 more
  • 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
None

PxPad

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Pixel Studio free?
Pixel Studio is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is PxPad free?
PxPad is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Pixel Studio or PxPad?
PxPad is rated higher. Pixel Studio averages 4.7 out of 5 from 6.1K ratings, while PxPad averages 5.0 from 1 ratings.
Do Pixel Studio or PxPad have ads?
Pixel Studio shows ads; PxPad does not.
Which is updated more often, Pixel Studio or PxPad?
Pixel Studio ships an update monthly, and PxPad fortnightly. Most recently, Pixel Studio was updated on November 11, 2026 and PxPad on October 30, 2026.

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