ShaderMania vs CGProto
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
ShaderMania
Create, edit, and share Metal shaders with a live coding environment and real-time preview. Explore a database of public and tutorial shaders, connect nodes to build complex effects, and export your creations. A physical keyboard is recommended for optimal use.
- Live coding of Metal fragment shaders
- Real-time preview and playback
- Node-based shader creation
- Public shader database
- Tutorial shaders with video links
- Export shader output to PNG
- Syntax checking and error display
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Create, edit, render, share, and learn Metal shaders with ShaderMania for iPad. ShaderMania is a visual Metal shader editor for iPadOS. Write fragment shaders with realtime preview and playback, organize shaders and images as nodes, connect shader inputs, expose parameters as sliders, and export rendered images. ShaderMania also includes a public shader library with examples and tutorial shaders, including links to explanation videos where available. ShaderMania is free to use. Optional tips are available if you want to support development. A physical keyboard is recommended for coding shaders on iPad. Features • Live Metal fragment shader editing with realtime preview and playback. • Visual node graph for shader and image nodes. • Connect shader nodes to build reusable shader chains. • Named shader input slots declared directly in shader source code. • Parameter annotations for sliders and live UI controls. • Realtime syntax checking, compiler errors, and warnings. • Render to custom resolutions and export PNG images. • Undo and redo for common node graph edits. Shader Library • Browse public shader examples and tutorial shaders. • Add shaders from the library to your own projects. • Upload useful, inspectable shader work to the public library.
CGProto
This app offers a node-based scripting editor for rapid prototyping and learning computer graphics. It provides a sandbox to easily write shaders and JavaScript for creating impressive CG effects.
- Node-based scripting editor
- Rapid prototyping
- Learn computer graphics
- Shader writing (GLSL, HLSL, Metal, Unity ShaderLab)
- JavaScript scripting
- Create CG effects
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CGProto is a node-based scripting editor aims to help developers rapidly prototype or learn computer graphics. It provides a sandbox that you could easily write shader(GLSL, HLSL, Metal or even Unity ShaderLab) and javascript to make impressive CG effects. Terms of Use https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is update cadence: CGProto at weekly against ShaderMania's every 16 months. CGProto also leads on iOS requirement (15.0 vs 17.6). ShaderMania's advantage is monetization model (free vs freemium). On price, ads, in-app purchases 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. ShaderMania sells 3 one-off in-app purchases and CGProto sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $1.49 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
ShaderMania ships an update every 16 months, CGProto weekly. The most recent releases landed on June 5, 2026 and September 21, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | ShaderMania | CGProto |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | — | 5.0 (2 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 100.0% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | — | 2 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 16 months | Weekly — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free — better | Freemium |
| Devices | iPad, Mac | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 17.6 | 15.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 24 MB | 31 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Markus Moenig | 雄龙 许 |
Customer experience
ShaderMania
CGProto
In-app purchases
ShaderMania
- Small Tip$1.99
- Medium Tip$4.99
- Large Tip$9.99
CGProto
- Pro Monthly$1.491 Month
- Pro Yearly14 Days trial$9.991 Year









