Pixquare vs Goblin Node
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Pixquare
This pixel art editor offers a comprehensive suite of tools for creating game assets, animations, and doodles. It features a customizable interface, advanced brush options, layer management, and supports Apple Pencil for a seamless creative experience on iPads and iPhones.
- Customizable UI with left-hand mode
- Advanced brush and eraser tools
- Layer and timeline panel for animation
- Apple Pencil support
- Aseprite file compatibility
- Timelapse recording
- Symmetry tool
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Pixquare is the #1 pixel art editor, recommended by top pixel artists, game developers, and creators worldwide! Whether you're a beginner or a pro, its simple interface and rich toolset make pixel art creation easy and fun! Download now to create game assets, animate, or simply doodle pixel art! With feedback from thousands of artists, Pixquare is designed for your best pixel art experience ever! • HIGHLIGHTS: - Support both iPads & iPhones - Highly customizable and intuitive UI with left-hand mode available - RGB and Indexed mode - Tileset/Tilemap system - Timelapse recording - Apple Pencil support: gestures, sensitivity, touch rejection - Manual & auto-save modes - Shortcut options: keyboard, gesture pad, joystick - Custom themes • VERSATILE TOOLS: - Brush: spray, pixel perfect, pressure sensitivity, contour, dithering, custom brush, jumble, blur - Eraser: pixel perfect, pressure sensitivity, dithering - Move: transformation and snapping supported - Line: straight & curve mode, perfect angle - Shape: ellipse & rectangle mode, filled, perfect ratio - Selection: 5 types & 5 modes - Color: solid/gradient fill, contiguous/non-contiguous, and more - Color picker: 4 modes (HSV, HSL, Wheel, RGB), history, drag-to-fill - All tools offer shading - Additional tools: + Color replace + Color adjustment + Outline + Text with font import capability + Custom object • LAYER/TIMELINE PANEL: - Optimized for animation & organized layers - Multi-selection, layer grouping, frame tagging, and bulk operations - Visibility and editing-lock toggle - Supports reference layers - Frame duration and cel opacity - Linked cells, onion skin, and clipping mask • ADDITIONAL FEATURES: - Symmetry tool with unlimited axes - Reference images - Color palette: save/load from Lospec, import/export, color gradient generator - Blending modes, alpha lock - Preview with a separate animation loop - Canvas rotation, Finder-like file system - Guideline • FILE IMPORT/EXPORT: - Aseprite file compatibility (importing & exporting) - GIF importing with all frames - PNG, GIF, MOV, Sprite sheet export options (layers, frames, size, and animation) - Import Photos and files as reference layers and images ------------------------------- WHY ARTISTS LOVE PIXQUARE? "Genuinely the best pixel art app for the iPad that I would recommend anyone to get!" - Jon Davies, Pixel Artist on Super House of Dead Ninjas, Binding of Isaac. "Pixquare has more than meets the eye. A seemingly simple interface that has the intuitive control you look for. The gesture pad is comparable to a desktop keypad." - Michael, Pixel Artist, Author of Pixel Logic book "I've been sharing it with basically everyone I know with an iPad because I think it's one of the best software out there for creating pixels on the iPad." - CupOhJoe, Game Developer "This is one fine app to pixel on the iPad! You can tell there's a lot of love for the craft poured in here" - Ota Jaider, Pixel Artist ------------------------------- • SCREENSHOT ARTWORK AUTHORS: - FICO (@FicoPx) - Tofu (@tofupixel.bsky.social) - Mossy (@MossyPixe) - chili (@ryviolie) - Lesma (@pixe_lesma) - ue_voxel (@UeVoxel) - TransientCode (@TransientCode) - 08games (@the08games) - Rinspirit_art(@rinspiritart.bsky.social) - natalie (@cafeaunat) ------------------------------- SUPPORT: User guide: https://docs.pixquare.art Email: info@pixquare.art Twitter: https://twitter.com/pixquare_app Website: https://www.pixquare.art/ NO SUBSCRIPTION. BUY ONCE AND ENJOY FREE UPDATES FOREVER!
Goblin Node
Create professional PBR textures and materials on your iPad with a touch-first, non-destructive procedural workflow. Generate reusable patterns, tileable surfaces, and complete material suites anywhere inspiration strikes, without needing a desktop rig.
- Touch-native procedural texturing
- Non-destructive workflow
- Modular material generation
- PBR material suite creation
- 100+ nodes including generators
- 3D preview engine
- One-time purchase for pro features
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An idea for a texture shouldn’t have to wait until you’re back at your desk. Goblin Node is a procedural texture editor for iPad—a convenient place to experiment with patterns, build reusable graphs and create PBR material maps for your game and 3D projects. Explore weathered stone, geometric tiles, layered surfaces or something that doesn’t have a name yet. Connect nodes, adjust their controls and take the result in another direction. BUILD A MATERIAL, KEEP THE POSSIBILITIES • Create seamless textures and maps including base colour, normal, height, roughness and ambient occlusion. • Preview your maps together on 3D meshes and explore their response to lighting. • Reuse your work through graphs, custom nodes and templates. • Experiment with animated material maps and frame playback. • Combine noise, shapes, images, text and paint with 100+ nodes across Free and Pro. The graph remains editable. Change a source pattern, revisit a colour choice or reshape a branch without rebuilding every step. NEW TO NODES? START BY MAKING SOMETHING. Guided projects introduce the essentials, then lead into decorative patterns and a layered stone material. Learn inside the editor, pause when you need to, and return to your project later. START FREE. UNLOCK MORE WITH PRO. Pro is a one-time purchase with no subscription. Get advanced nodes, exports up to 4K, higher bit depths, batch output export, graph-package sharing and unlimited graphs. Bring an idea. Build a graph. Explore the variations.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is ratings volume: Pixquare at 3.3K against Goblin Node's 3. Goblin Node's advantage is iOS requirement (14.0 vs 16.0). On price, rating, update cadence and ads 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. Pixquare sells 6 one-off in-app purchases and Goblin Node sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.8 for Pixquare against 4.7 for Goblin Node. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Pixquare has 3.3K ratings behind it against 3, so its average is the more settled of the two.
Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly weekly. Both last shipped on November 13, 2026.
| Parameter | Pixquare | Goblin Node |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.8 (3.3K ratings) — better | 4.7 (3 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 88.9% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 3.3K — better | 3 |
| Update frequency | Weekly | Weekly |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 16.0 | 14.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 68 MB | 73 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Son Nguyen | Rainer Weston |
Customer experience
Pixquare
Goblin Node
Bugs and requests
Pixquare
Reported bugs
3 issues- Duplicate layers that cannot be removed
- Drawn content disappearing from layers
- Lack of save functionality
Requested features
8 requests- Ability to merge layers
- Option to customize imported palette colors
- Radial symmetry tool
- Polyline tool
- Separate layer and timeline sections
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- Brush stabilizer
- Ability to rotate symmetry lines
- Higher canvas resolution
Goblin Node
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Pixquare
- Buy me a coffee$1.99
- Full access for iPhones$7.99
- Life-time full access$9.99
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- Life-time full access$12.99
- Life-time full access2 variants$19.99
- Life-time full access$24.99
Goblin Node
- Pro Unlock$9.99









