Paint With Light vs Light Paint
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Paint With Light
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Do you have a camera? Do you want to do something different? Do you want to do something fun? Then light painting is the thing for you! Light painting is a photographic technique of moving a light source (your phone) while taking a long-exposure photograph (with a separate camera). You can either illuminate a subject or space, or point the light in the app at the camera in order to "draw". And you can do all of this with your phone and your camera! Use your iPhone to paint beautiful images with light! Expand your creative vision! PLEASE NOTE - In order to be able to light paint you will need... - your iPhone - a SEPARATE camera with the possibility of long exposure time - a dark room - a tripod or a stable surface to put your camera onto Have fun! PURCHASING TERMS Lifelong: $4.99 Paint With Light is available as a one-time purchase. Prices are for US customers and are subject to change without notice. Pricing in other countries may vary and actual charges may be converted to your local currency depending on the country of residence.
Light Paint
Create stunning light art and timelapses with professional camera controls and real-time previews. Capture city lights, fire spinning, star trails, and more with intuitive tools and creative effects.
- Manual camera controls (ISO, shutter, focus)
- Live light trail preview
- Advanced frame blending
- Timelapse and video creation
- Multiple light painting profiles
- Real-time color grading
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Paint with light as it happens. LightPaint turns your iPhone or iPad into a real-time light-painting camera. Its all-new Metal GPU engine builds luminous trails live in the viewfinder, so you can compose, adjust, and create while the camera is still running—not after the moment is gone. LIGHT PAINTING, LIVE • Watch trails build on screen in real time • Choose Lighten, Screen, Additive, and other blend styles • Shape trail length, falloff, glow, comet effects, masks, and color • Erase from the live trail or set a restore point without starting over • Start quickly with tuned profiles for light painting, words, lasers, vehicles, star trails, and more A CAMERA BUILT FOR CONTROL • Manual ISO, shutter, focus, white balance, exposure, and lens selection • Crosshairs, focus ring, framing guides, zoom readout, and rotation lock • Live ambient-light guidance and image enhancement controls • Save custom profiles and reuse a complete camera setup AI SCENE ANALYZER LightPaint Pro members can capture a test shot or choose an image from the LightPaint library. The AI Scene Analyzer studies the scene and recommends camera, exposure, focus, white balance, trail, blend, and color settings. Review the result, apply it to the live camera, or save it as a reusable profile. Analyzer use requires sign-in and available credits. TIMELAPSE, VIDEO, AND EDITING • Capture interval timelapses and light-painted video • Review a complete session as soon as you stop recording • Use the built-in video editor to trim, split, join, add effects, and work with audio • Export to Photos, Files, iCloud, or the iOS share sheet ALL-NEW LIGHTPAINT 2.0 EXPERIENCE The interface has been rebuilt around a clearer home screen, simpler navigation, faster access to camera tools, responsive iPhone and iPad layouts, customizable themes, and an Apple Watch companion for remote camera control and previews. WORLDWIDE FROM DAY ONE Use LightPaint in English, German, Spanish, French, Hindi, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, Russian, Turkish, or Simplified Chinese. FREE TO CREATE The full real-time GPU camera and every built-in profile are free. LightPaint Pro unlocks advanced trail-engine tuning, custom setup tools, and clean full-resolution export. Subscription and lifetime options include a monthly Scene Analyzer allowance; additional Analyzer credits are available separately. Whether you're painting with a flashlight, spinning steel wool, tracing LED poi, following city traffic, photographing fireworks, or building star trails, LightPaint lets you see the art take shape while you create it. Paint the dark. See the light. EULA: https://shutterspeedapps.com/lightpainted/tos/ Privacy: https://shutterspeedapps.com/lightpainted/privacy/
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Light Paint at none against Paint With Light's 1. On price, update cadence, 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
Both are free to download. Paint With Light sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Light Paint asks for nothing beyond the download.
Paint With Light ships an update fortnightly, Light Paint every 10 days. The most recent releases landed on September 22, 2026 and September 9, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Paint With Light | Light Paint |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | — | 5.0 (5 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | — | 100.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | — | 5 — better |
| Update frequency | Fortnightly | Every 10 days — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | — | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch — better |
| Requires iOS | 18.6 | 18.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 182 MB | 82 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Peter Grutter | Shutter Speed Apps, LLC |
In-app purchases
Paint With Light
- Full Unlock$4.99
Light Paint
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Paint With Light free?
Is Light Paint free?
Do Paint With Light or Light Paint have ads?
Which is updated more often, Paint With Light or Light Paint?
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