Comparison

Pixel Painter vs Pixelator

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

Head to head
About

Pixel Painter

Create pixel art with a simple and intuitive interface. Supports GIF animation and PNG export with transparent backgrounds. Ideal for beginners and retro game enthusiasts.

Highlights
  • Simple pixel art drawing
  • GIF animation support
  • Import pictures for tracing
  • Multiple canvas sizes
  • Export to PNG with transparency
  • Automatic data saving
Features
Read full description

Pixel Painter is a super simple pixel art drawing application. Pixel Painter is a pixel art editor, easy to use. Pixel Painter support GIF. [Recommended to the following people] * Retro game lovers * Pixel art beginners * Create icons for SNS * Make patterns for bead art * Make cross stitch patterns * Make the player skin suitable for the game * Create and draw game graphics [Canvas size] * 16 x 16 * 24 x 24 * 32 x 32 * 48 x 48 * 64 x 64 * 96 x 96 * 128 x 128 * 160 x 160 [Import pictures] By importing your favorite pictures into the canvas, you can easily create pixel art. [save data] There is no limit to the total amount of data. The data will be saved automatically. [Export and share pictures] Support PNG format picture export and sharing, free to choose whether the background is transparent. For Terms of Use, please visit https://bluescanner.wordpress.com/terms-of-service/ For Privacy Policy, please visit https://bluescanner.wordpress.com/privacy-policy/

About

Pixelator

Features
Read full description

Pixelator is a fun pixel art studio for iPhone, built for sharp grids, clean tools, and art you can share. DRAW! • Brush, eraser, pen, fill, and scatter • Shapes: line, rectangle, circle, triangle, star, and arrow • Select and move pixels with precision • Adjustable brush size and shape LAYERED WORKFLOW! • Stack, hide, lock, and reorder layers • Opacity control and merge down • Undo through your edit history CANVAS TOOLS! • Symmetry: vertical, horizontal, or 4-way • Grid, wrap mode, and paint-inside options • Canvas sizes from tiny sprites to larger grids (8×8 to 128×128 and custom) PALETTES! • Curated palettes: Pico-8, Game Boy, NES, Sweetie 16, DB16, DB32, and more • Create and manage your own palettes • Full-spectrum color picker with recent colors EXPORT & SHARE • PNG at any scale for crisp upscales • SVG for clean vector-ready pixel art • Import images and pixelate them onto your canvas APPLE INTELLIGENCE* • Invent drawing names from what’s on the canvas • Generate fresh color palettes — all on device Also draw on Apple Watch with a lightweight companion editor. Whether you’re making game sprites, icons, stickers, or weekend doodles, open Pixelator, paint a few pixels, and make something that looks like it came from a cartridge. *Apple Intelligence features require a compatible device and availability.

Screenshots

Pixel Painter4 screens
Pixelator4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Pixelator at none against Pixel Painter's 2. Pixelator also leads on update cadence (daily vs every 9 days). Pixel Painter's advantage is iOS requirement (15.0 vs 26.0). On price, ads 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 Painter sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $0.99 per month. Pixelator asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Pixel Painter ships an update every 9 days, Pixelator daily. The most recent releases landed on October 15, 2026 and October 7, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
Pixel Painter versus Pixelator: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterPixel PainterPixelator
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.0 (3 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews66.7% of reviews—
Number of ratings3 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 9 daysDaily — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFreemium—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, Apple Watch
Requires iOS15.0 — better26.0
Further details — not scored
Size6 MB4 MB
Age rating4+4+
Developer青兆 李PETER JOHN WRIGHT

In-app purchases

2 purchases

Pixel Painter

Subscriptions1
  • Monthly membership$0.991 Month
One-time1
  • Life Member$3.99
None

Pixelator

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Pixel Painter free?
Pixel Painter is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Pixelator free?
Pixelator is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do Pixel Painter or Pixelator have ads?
Neither Pixel Painter nor Pixelator shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Pixel Painter or Pixelator?
Pixel Painter ships an update every 9 days, and Pixelator daily. Most recently, Pixel Painter was updated on October 15, 2026 and Pixelator on October 7, 2026.

Other comparisons