Video Pencil vs AlphaND
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Video Pencil
Annotate directly onto any video source, including your iPad's camera or external feeds. Customize your drawing tools and record your annotations as a video or transparent layer. Ideal for presentations, coaching, and live streaming.
- Draw on any video source
- Smart shuttle control for precise scrubbing
- Customizable toolbar with colors and pen styles
- Record with or without annotations
- Pause and rewind live video (extra)
- Seamless Mac connection via CueCam Presenter
- Transparent NDI feed for professional workflows
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Make it obvious. Draw it. Draw over any video or your camera, pause where it matters and record what you mean, right on your iPad. MAKING VIDEOS Tutorials, reviews and walkthroughs, with your drawings and your voice together. No editing. COACHING Break down match footage and share it with the team. Put it on the TV at training, at half-time or in the team meeting, and show the whole squad what happened, and what should have. TEACHING Walk through a diagram, a worked example or an experiment, step by step. NEW: THE SOCCER TOOLKIT Made with coaches, from professional clubs to youth and grassroots teams. • Tap a player to number them. Press play and the number follows them. • Drag out the space a player is running into. • Link two defenders with a line that tracks them as the play continues. • Arrows for passes, runs and the path of the ball. An in-app subscription. TAKE PEOPLE THROUGH A VIDEO Load any video from your library, play or pause, and scrub to the perfect moment. Then just start drawing. Or switch to your iPad's camera, or a USB camera, and draw over it live. Record your drawings and your voice as a finished video, or as a transparent drawing layer to put over your own footage. DRAWING TOOLS CURATED FOR VIDEO Every tool is chosen to stand out clearly on top of moving pictures. Set up your favourite pens and colours so they're always one tap away. Every line responds to Apple Pencil's tilt and pressure. ACTION REPLAY Pause and rewind any live camera: your iPad's own camera, a USB camera or an NDI feed. Jog the Shuttle Wheel back to the moment and draw on it frame by frame, while the live feed keeps playing picture-in-picture. Save the best moments as clips. LIVE TITLES Draw a line, say what you want it to say, and your text appears, sized to fit your line. ON THE BIG SCREEN Put your iPad on a TV or projector with Apple TV, AirPlay or an HDMI adapter. The big screen shows only the footage and your drawings; the toolbar stays on your iPad. YOUR OWN BRANDING Make it look like your club, school or business on every screen. DRAW LIVE IN YOUR CALLS AND STREAMS Video Pencil connects to your Mac or PC for Zoom, Teams, Google Meet, OBS, Ecamm Live and mimoLive. With CueCam Presenter on your Mac, you draw on your iPad and everyone sees it over you, live. Video Pencil also connects over HDMI, AirPlay and USB, and sends and receives NDI, including a transparent NDI feed for Ecamm Live, OBS, mimoLive or your switcher. PART OF THE CUECAM SUITE Video Pencil works on its own, and pairs with CueCam Presenter for Mac and Shoot for iOS. A CueCam subscription includes Video Pencil's core features. FREE TO DOWNLOAD One-off upgrades are yours for life: remove the watermark, add Action Replay, or get Lifetime Updates for every current and future feature that isn't a subscription. “Best app out there for film day for coaching that isn't $600. Love it!” Coachfro25 “I cannot emphasise how amazing this app is. It's one that I use every day on my tutorials, client calls, and live streams.” Neil Farrimond, Creator Café “This has been my favorite tool (besides ecamm of course) of 2026! Proudly endorsed by the ecamm team!” Jill, Ecamm Facebook Community “I use Video Pencil connected via HDMI to a TV in the classroom for live game film review and I use the recording feature to create clips for the team or specific players. I could not do what I do without Video Pencil.” Echevarria Family Made by a single developer, working in public. Tell me what to build next at videopencil.com. NDI® is a registered trademark of Vizrt NDI AB. https://ndi.video
AlphaND
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AlphaND is a fast, practical ND filter calculator built for photographers who need reliable long-exposure results in the field. The app helps you convert a metered/base shutter speed into a final exposure time after adding neutral density filters. It supports both direct shutter input and an aperture/ISO-adjusted workflow, so you can calculate accurately whether you are keeping settings fixed or changing them for creative intent. Core calculation is based on exposure stops (each stop doubles time), with output rounded to standard camera shutter values for real-world usability. Alongside rounded output, you can also view exact calculated values to understand the precise timing behind each result. Key features include: - Standard ND presets with optical density labels, including common values like ND2, ND4, ND8, ND64, ND1000, and ND32000. - Quick presets for the most-used strengths (3-stop, 6-stop, 10-stop). - Manual stop adjustment for fine control. - Exposure stacking support so you can combine two ND filters and calculate total stop effect automatically. - Visual exposure scale from short to long, making it easy to see how extreme your exposure becomes at a glance. - Long-exposure helper: when results exceed 30 seconds, AlphaND recommends Bulb mode and provides an integrated countdown timer. For long exposures, AlphaND adds practical feedback cues: - Bulb warning behavior with clear visual emphasis. - Haptic/audio alerts around timer usage (depending on context/configuration). - Auto-scroll behaviour to ensure critical long-exposure controls are visible when needed. The app is designed with a clean, high-contrast interface for outdoor shooting conditions and quick one-handed use. Controls are arranged for speed and clarity, reducing friction when shooting at sunrise, sunset, bright midday scenes, seascapes, or urban motion blur. Additional utility features: - Save favorite setups for fast recall of your most-used combinations. - In-app feature guide accessible from the info icon. - Settings screen with company/contact details and App Store rating shortcut. - Support for iPhone and iPad layouts. - Built-in paywall flow with trial and full unlock path (as configured by the developer). Typical use cases: - Smoothing water while preserving scene detail. - Creating cloud streaks and motion-rich landscapes. - Extending exposure times in bright conditions. - Quickly testing different ND combinations on location without manual stop math. AlphaND is built to be a dependable “photography tool” rather than a bloated app: fast calculations, minimal clutter, and outputs you can trust when timing matters.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is iOS requirement: Video Pencil at 17.6 against AlphaND's 26.4. 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. Video Pencil sells 8 in-app purchases, starting at $7.99 per month and AlphaND sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
| Parameter | Video Pencil | AlphaND |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.2 (106 ratings) — better | — |
| Positive reviews | 57.1% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 106 — better | — |
| Update frequency | Every 3 weeks | — |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | — |
| Devices | iPad | iPhone, iPad — better |
| Requires iOS | 17.6 — better | 26.4 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 59 MB | 4 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Good To Hear | Obipixel Ltd |
In-app purchases
Video Pencil
- Video Pencil for Zoom$7.991 Month
- Soccer Toolkit7 Days trial$19.991 Month
- Soccer Toolkit7 Days trial$149.001 Year
- Laser Pointer$3.99
- Magic Wand$3.99
- Action Replay$19.99
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- Video Pencil Pro Essentials$39.99
- Lifetime Updates$99.99
AlphaND
- AlphaND$3.99









