Comparison

Sprite Pencil vs Ampersand ∙ Explore Typography

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

Head to head
About

Sprite Pencil

Create pixel art for games and icons with a focused set of tools. Features automatic shading brushes, symmetry mode, and easy palette management. Save and share your creations as crisp PNG files.

Highlights
  • Pencil, eraser, and fill tools
  • Automatic highlight and shadow brushes
  • Symmetry mode for mirrored strokes
  • Dithering for classic patterns
  • Handpicked and importable color palettes
  • Save as crisp PNG files
Features
Read full description

Pixel art, made simple and made to feel great. Sprite Pencil is a focused pixel-art editor for sprites, icons, and game assets. A small set of carefully chosen tools and a drawing engine built exclusively for Apple devices make every pixel land exactly where you meant it, whether you draw with a finger or with Apple Pencil. Draw • Pencil, eraser, and fill tools • Highlight and shadow brushes that shade automatically • Symmetry mode to mirror strokes as you draw • Dithering for classic checkered patterns • Flip, rotate, and outline a whole sprite in a tap • Full undo and redo Color • Handpicked palettes, plus seasonal picks • Building Bricks colors • Import any palette from Lospec Your Files, Your Way • Sprites are plain PNG files, so any app can open them • Edit images in place wherever they live, including iCloud Drive • Share your art scaled up so it stays crisp Show It Off • Pin a favorite sprite to your Home Screen with a widget • Draw and send pixel-art stickers right in Messages

About

Ampersand ∙ Explore Typography

Features
Read full description

Discover, inspect, and collect free fonts with Ampersand. Ampersand is a beautiful typography browser, designed to make it easy (and delightful) to explore fonts. DISCOVER • Browse thousands of fonts in an infinite, omnidirectional canvas • Filter by category, popularity, italics support, variable axes, language support, and script support • Customize the sample text to see fonts in your own words • Search fonts by name or designer • Search fonts directly on your Home Screen, using Spotlight INSPECT • Try every available style, weight, and italic variant • Fine-tune each variable axis individually • See typographic metrics, glyph counts, supported languages, and scripts • Explore every glyph in the typeface • Learn about each font’s designer, category, date added, and license COLLECT • Save fonts to your collections • Create as many collections as you want • Give a color for each collection • Share fonts with friends or coworkers AMPERSAND DELUXE With Ampersand Deluxe, you get access to beautiful app icons and all future additions, with a one-time purchase. All fonts in Ampersand are open-source and come from the Google Fonts catalog. Google Fonts is a trademark of Google LLC. Ampersand is not affiliated with or endorsed by Google. Terms & Conditions: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

Screenshots

Sprite Pencil4 screens
Ampersand ∙ Explore Typography4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Sprite Pencil at none against Ampersand ∙ Explore Typography's 1. Sprite Pencil also leads on device support (4 vs 1). Ampersand ∙ Explore Typography's advantage is ads (none vs shown) and update cadence (every 3 days vs every 5 weeks). On price and iOS requirement 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. Ampersand ∙ Explore Typography sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Sprite Pencil asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Sprite Pencil ships an update every 5 weeks, Ampersand ∙ Explore Typography every 3 days. The most recent releases landed on November 2, 2026 and October 31, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
Sprite Pencil versus Ampersand ∙ Explore Typography: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterSprite PencilAmpersand ∙ Explore Typography
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.6 (61 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews69.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings61 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 5 weeksEvery 3 days — better
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, Mac, Vision Pro — betteriPhone
Requires iOS27.026.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size12 MB68 MB
Age rating4+4+
Developer256 ArtsRafael Guimarães

In-app purchases

None

Sprite Pencil

No in-app purchases

1 purchases

Ampersand ∙ Explore Typography

One-time1
  • Ampersand Deluxe$3.99

Questions

Is Sprite Pencil free?
Sprite Pencil is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Ampersand ∙ Explore Typography free?
Ampersand ∙ Explore Typography is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Sprite Pencil or Ampersand ∙ Explore Typography have ads?
Sprite Pencil shows ads; Ampersand ∙ Explore Typography does not.
Which is updated more often, Sprite Pencil or Ampersand ∙ Explore Typography?
Sprite Pencil ships an update every 5 weeks, and Ampersand ∙ Explore Typography every 3 days. Most recently, Sprite Pencil was updated on November 2, 2026 and Ampersand ∙ Explore Typography on October 31, 2026.

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