Comparison

Retouch vs PaintUp

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

Head to head
About

Retouch

Easily remove unwanted objects, people, or text from your photos with AI. Enhance portraits, change outfits, and replace backgrounds with professional results. Create stunning visual effects and edit images with advanced tools.

Highlights
  • AI object and person removal
  • Background replacement and transparency
  • AI-powered portrait retouching
  • AI outfit changer
  • Clone stamp tool
  • Background blur effects
  • Sky replacement
Features
Read full description

Remove objects & people from photos easily with this ai retouch app. Erase backgrounds of a photo and save as transparent with just one tap. Fix your blemishes also with advanced one-tap-retouch feature. Features Remove Object: Tap or brush away tourists, wires, or stains. Quick Mode erases with AI; Brush & Lasso gives precise control. Clone Stamp: Sample any clean patch and paint over distractions. Edge-aware blending matches texture, light, and perspective. AI Retouch: One swipe zaps blemishes, smooths skin, sharpens eyes, adds a natural glow, and whitens teeth while preserving pores. Replace Background: Auto-cut subjects and drop them onto built-in scenes, your own images, or transparent PNGs for pro-grade product shots. Background Blur: Pop subjects with DSLR-style depth—Gaussian, Motion, Bokeh, Hexagon, Disc, and more—and adjust focus and strength in real time. Photo Overlay & Double Exposure: Layer textures, designer frames, or a second image, then fine-tune opacity and blend modes for instant magazine vibes. Stylish Portrait: Soft-focus backgrounds, polish facial details, and apply studio color toning for a cover-ready finish. Sky Changer: Auto-detect the horizon and swap gray skies for golden sunsets, auroras, or storm clouds with natural color matching and crisp edges. Photo Blending: AI isolates your subject and fuses it with artistic overlays; refine with manual brush and eraser for cinematic double exposures. Dripping Portrait: Melt edges into flowing paint drips; pick preset shapes or draw your own, then adjust length, direction, and gradients. Spiral Effects: Wrap subjects in neon coils, glitter ribbons, or dotted trails. Tweak thickness, color, and rotation for instant 3-D pop. This app includes advertisement. To enjoy ad free experience and using all premium contents, we are offering a Premium subscription package. Retouch Premium Subscription information • Subscription Length: Weekly, Monthly. • Your payment will be charged to your Apple account as soon as you confirm your purchase. • You can manage your subscriptions and turn off auto-renewal from your Account Settings after the purchase. • Your subscription will renew automatically unless you turn off auto-renew at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. • The cost of renewal will be charged to your account 24 hours before the end of the current period. • When canceling a subscription, your subscription will stay active until the end of the period. Auto-renewal will be disabled, but the current subscription will not be refunded. • Any unused portion of a free trial period, if offered, will be forfeited when purchasing a subscription. Privacy policy: https://sites.google.com/view/anthonydurbins/privacy Terms of service: https://sites.google.com/view/anthonydurbins/terms Contact for support, reporting bug or improvement suggestions email: app.care.anthony@gmail.com You may also contact our support team through the app’s settings screen.

About

PaintUp

Effortlessly remove unwanted objects, blemishes, and distractions from your photos to achieve stunning, picture-perfect results. This user-friendly tool offers professional-quality editing for everyone, from photographers to casual users. Enhance your memories and share flawless images with ease.

Highlights
  • Object removal
  • Blemish correction
  • User-friendly interface
  • High-quality results
  • Save and share functionality
  • Regular updates
Features
Read full description

Transform your photos with the power of PaintUp - the ultimate photo editing app that effortlessly removes unwanted objects, blemishes, and distractions from your pictures, leaving you with stunning, picture-perfect results. Whether you're a professional photographer, a social media enthusiast, or just someone who wants to enhance their favorite memories, PaintUp is your go-to tool for flawless photo editing. Key Features: Object Removal: Easily remove unwanted objects, people, or any imperfections from your photos with just a few taps. PaintUp's advanced AI algorithms seamlessly blend the background, making it look like they were never there. Blemish Correction: Say goodbye to skin imperfections and blemishes. PaintUp's precise retouching tools help you achieve flawless, magazine-worthy portraits effortlessly. Quick and Easy: PaintUp's user-friendly interface ensures that you can achieve professional-quality results with minimal effort. No extensive editing skills required. High-Quality Results: PaintUp preserves the quality and resolution of your photos, so you can print or share your edited images without compromising on clarity. Save and Share: Save your edited photos to your device or directly share them on your favorite social media platforms, impressing your friends and followers with your newfound editing skills. Regular Updates: Expect continuous improvements, new features, and optimizations to keep PaintUp at the forefront of photo editing technology. Unleash your creativity and enhance your photography with PaintUp. Whether you want to remove that photobombing stranger from your travel pictures or erase an unwanted background element, PaintUp makes it easy. Download PaintUp now and start creating picture-perfect memories today!

Screenshots

Retouch4 screens
PaintUp3 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: PaintUp at 100% against Retouch's 29%. PaintUp also leads on ads (none vs shown) and rating (5.0 vs 4.6). Retouch's advantage is ratings volume (4.4K vs 1) and update cadence (every 3 weeks vs every 2 months). 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Retouch sells 6 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per 7 days and PaintUp sells 2 one-off in-app purchases. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

PaintUp holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.6. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Retouch has 4.4K ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 29% of Retouch's written reviews are positive against 100% of PaintUp's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Retouch ships an update every 3 weeks, PaintUp every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on October 2, 2026 and September 23, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 4 level
Retouch versus PaintUp: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterRetouchPaintUp
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.6 (4.4K ratings)5.0 (1 ratings) — better
Positive reviews29.1% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings4.4K — better1
Update frequencyEvery 3 weeks — betterEvery 2 months
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPodiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS15.0 — better17.0
Further details — not scored
Size231 MB72 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperAnthony DurbinKarolis Raiselis

Customer experience

Retouch

All ratings4,357 ratings
Positive90.3%
Neutral3.8%
Negative6.0%
Written reviews117 reviews
Positive29.1%
Neutral5.1%
Negative65.8%

PaintUp

All ratings1 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews1 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Bugs and requests

Retouch

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Eraser tool leaves blurry/pixelated areas
  • Removal feature doesn't work as expected
  • Glitches and crashes

Requested features

3 requests
  • More free daily edits
  • Improved object removal quality
  • Better free version features

PaintUp

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

6 purchases

Retouch

Subscriptions5
  • Remove Background3 Days trial$4.997 Days
  • Retouch Photo Premium7 Days trial$4.997 Days
  • Remove objects7 Days trial$9.991 Month
Show 2 more
  • Remove Objects Premium7 Days trial$59.991 Year
  • Remove Objects Premium3 Days trial$59.991 Year
One-time1
  • Remove People from Photo$99.99
2 purchases

PaintUp

One-time2
  • PaintUp Premium$0.99
  • PaintUp Premium$1.99

Questions

Is Retouch free?
Retouch is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is PaintUp free?
PaintUp is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Retouch or PaintUp?
PaintUp is rated higher. Retouch averages 4.6 out of 5 from 4.4K ratings, while PaintUp averages 5.0 from 1 ratings.
Do Retouch or PaintUp have ads?
Retouch shows ads; PaintUp does not.
Which is updated more often, Retouch or PaintUp?
Retouch ships an update every 3 weeks, and PaintUp every 2 months. Most recently, Retouch was updated on October 2, 2026 and PaintUp on September 23, 2026.

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