Comparison

Retouch vs MainframePunch

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

MainframePunch

Transform your text into animated, retro punch-card videos with authentic hole patterns and sounds. Add custom captions, preview your creations, and share them instantly. All processing is done on your device for maximum privacy.

Highlights
  • Authentic 80-column punch card creation
  • Live preview and video recording
  • Customizable bottom caption
  • Synchronized punch audio
  • Automatic text flow across multiple cards
  • Adjustable animation speed and card scale
  • On-device processing for privacy
Features
Read full description

MID-CENTURY MODERN MESSAGING Before emojis, before texting, before the screen — there was the punch card. MainframePunch turns whatever you type into an authentic keypunch card, punched column by column, with the clack of a real Hollerith machine. Send one to a friend and they hear the punches too. PUNCH CARDS RIGHT INSIDE MESSAGES — FREE Tap the MainframePunch icon in any conversation and punch a card without leaving the chat: Realistic Custom Card — classic manila stock, your words in real Hollerith code Mid-Century Color Card — the same encoding in period-correct pastels Ready-made cards — SEND COFFEE / ON MY WAY / SYNTAX ERROR / ABEND / CALL ME and more Every iMessage single card animates as it punches and carries genuine keypunch audio, so your recipient watches and hears the machine work. All of it is free. No account, no limits, no catch. THE OPERATOR'S CONSOLE Open the app for the full machine: Type or paste your message and watch the beam sweep across the card Stack up to seven cards into a single deck Export a Full Reel — a shareable video with synced punch audio Send along a Hollerith decoder card so anyone can read the holes (for education or to drive your friends crazy!) Adjust punch speed from deliberate to production line CORRECT DOWN TO THE HOLE Every character is encoded per ANSI X3.26 Hollerith — the same zone and digit punches an IBM 029 would have made in 1964. The sound is sampled from an actual keypunch machine, not a synthesized click. OPERATOR ACCESS Everything is unlimited for your first fourteen days. After that, punching cards in iMessage stay free, and an Operator subscription keeps the reel exporter running: Monthly — $2.99, with a 3-day free trial Annual — $19.99, with a 7-day free trial Already bought MainframePunch? Thank you. Your purchase carries over — you keep everything, permanently, at no charge. Payment is charged to your Apple ID at confirmation of purchase. Subscriptions renew automatically unless auto-renew is turned off at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. Manage or cancel anytime in your App Store account settings. Privacy Policy: https://mainframepunch.com/privacypolicy Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

Screenshots

Retouch4 screens
MainframePunch4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: MainframePunch at none against Retouch's 6. MainframePunch also leads on ads (none vs shown). Retouch's advantage is update cadence (every 3 weeks vs every 12 months). On price, device support 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. Retouch sells 6 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per 7 days. MainframePunch asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Retouch ships an update every 3 weeks, MainframePunch every 12 months. The most recent releases landed on October 19, 2026 and October 7, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
Retouch versus MainframePunch: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterRetouchMainframePunch
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.6 (4.4K ratings) — better—
Positive reviews28.3% of reviews—
Number of ratings4.4K — better—
Update frequencyEvery 3 weeks — betterEvery 12 months
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases — betterPaid
DevicesiPhone, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS15.0 — better15.1
Further details — not scored
Size231 MB58 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperAnthony DurbinThomas Gillan

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

MainframePunch

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
None

MainframePunch

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Retouch free?
Retouch is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is MainframePunch free?
MainframePunch is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do Retouch or MainframePunch have ads?
Retouch shows ads; MainframePunch does not.
Which is updated more often, Retouch or MainframePunch?
Retouch ships an update every 3 weeks, and MainframePunch every 12 months. Most recently, Retouch was updated on October 19, 2026 and MainframePunch on October 7, 2026.

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