Comparison

Pixel Starships™ vs Cows In Space

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

Head to head
About

Pixel Starships™

Command every aspect of your starship in a persistent online universe. Build, battle, explore, and manage resources in this 8-bit spaceship management game. Form alliances and conquer with friends.

Highlights
  • Build custom starships
  • Command multiple races and factions
  • Online player battles
  • Manage resources and power
  • Explore planets and secrets
  • Form alliances
  • Program AI for automatic combat
Features
Read full description

Featured by Apple in Best New Games! From one of the most successful Mobile Game Kickstarter campaigns of the year comes Pixel Starships! Pixel Starships is the world’s first total spaceship management game in an 8bit massive online universe. In Pixel Starships, you command every aspect of your ship from construction to battles in a single persistent world. Featured Reviews - Touch Arcade - Pixel Starships tasks you with outfitting your very own ship with resource rooms, staff, and weapons. This looks Awesome! MMGN - The graphics in this 8Bit indie game is the best we've seen in a retro style game for a long time PocketTactics - I’m intrigued by the cutaway side-view of the starship with turbolifts and transporters at the ready TechTimes - The World’s First 8-Bit Total Starship Management Game Hits The Online Universe The Discovery Channel - A fully immersive starship captain experience. Key Features - ● Build Epic Starships of your own design. ● Many races, aliens, factions to command and conquer. ● Battle it out with other real players in a single massive online universe. ● Manage diplomacy, recruitment, research, exploration! ● Control ship's power and limited resources. Discover epic weapons. ● Build and deploy support ships to support your Starfleet. ● Cross section full ship control and battles. ● Explore planets, discover secrets of space. ● Form alliances and battle with your friends to achieve victory! ● Program situational AI commands to systems and crew allowing automatic combats and offline play. If you're a fan of Star Wars and Star Trek; if you enjoy games like EVE, Clash of Clans, FTL, or Homeworld, you'll love Pixel Starships! Note - Pixel Starships is totally free to play and is designed for perfect balance for all players. However, there are in-app items that can be purchased for real money to help speed up progress or offer cosmetic improvements. If you don't want this feature, please disable in-app purchases in your device's settings. Note on Auto-Renewing Subscription - Pixel Starships contains a optional Subscription Membership. Members receive extra missions, bonuses, and daily rewards. Membership content is regularly updated. The Monthly Membership Subscription cost is USD $3.99 per month or a similarly adjusted currency price in your local region. Please refer to IAP menu or in app display for localised pricing. Payment will be charged to iTunes Account at confirmation of purchase. The subscription is auto renewable and will renew monthly unless cancelled at least 24 hours prior to the end of the current period. Subscription can be cancelled via iTunes subscription manager. There is also a 7 day free trial for the membership; the free trial period is not transferrable and any remaining free time is cancelled if a paying subscription starts. Subscriptions may be managed by the user and auto-renewal may be turned off by going to the user's Account Settings after purchase. EULA: http://www.pixelstarships.com/eula Privacy Policy: http://www.pixelstarships.com/privacypolicy As per Terms of Service and Privacy Policy, you must be at least 13 years of age to play or download Pixel Starships.

About

Cows In Space

Pilot a spaceship through space to rescue cows trapped in air bubbles. Use your jelly beam to teleport them back to Earth across 70 challenging levels. Master zero gravity physics and aim for perfect scores in this unique intergalactic mission.

Highlights
  • 70 challenging levels
  • Zero gravity physics puzzles
  • Jelly beam teleportation
  • Unlockable achievements
  • Spacey soundtrack
  • Innovative gameplay
Features
Read full description

In a failed galactic operation, the cows of earth have ended up FLOATING AROUND IN SPACE -- encapsulated in air bubbles. Brave space pilot, it's time to charge your jelly beam and get ready for an intergalactic mission to TELEPORT THE COWS back to earth! * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Featured by APPLE, Sept 2009, as: - "New and Noteworthy" - "Hot New Games" GAME FEATURES: - 70 Challenges: From easy starting levels to trickier puzzles as your journey progress - A galactic mess: Tons of lost cows throughout the galaxy, waiting for you to save them! - Zero gravity environment: Use your beams to set things in motion - Improve your jelly shooting skills and aim for 3 STARS on all levels - Achievements to unlock - Spectacular, spacey soundtrack - Strange floating items: What are bouncers and toxic skulls doing in space? - Totally innovative, never-before-seen gameplay - And much more... TECH FEATURES: - Game Center support - MFi controller support - ION Arcade controller support - Universal App (iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch) * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Enjoy another Donut Games release!

Screenshots

Pixel Starships™4 screens
Cows In Space3 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Pixel Starships™ at Free against Cows In Space's $1.99. Pixel Starships™ also leads on update cadence (every 9 days vs every 9 months) and ratings volume (35K vs 43). Cows In Space's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 10) and iOS requirement (8.0 vs 15.0). On rating, review sentiment, 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Pixel Starships™ is free to download; Cows In Space costs $1.99 up front. Pixel Starships™ sells 10 in-app purchases, starting at $3.99 per month. Cows In Space asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.7 for Pixel Starships™ against 4.7 for Cows In Space. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Pixel Starships™ has 35K ratings behind it against 43, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 82% of Pixel Starships™'s written reviews are positive against 88% of Cows In Space's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Pixel Starships™ ships an update every 9 days, Cows In Space every 9 months. The most recent releases landed on November 8, 2026 and November 7, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 4 level
Pixel Starships™ versus Cows In Space: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterPixel Starships™Cows In Space
PriceFree — better$1.99
Rating4.7 (35K ratings) — better4.7 (43 ratings)
Positive reviews81.9% of reviews88.1% of reviews — better
Number of ratings35K — better43
Update frequencyEvery 9 days — betterEvery 9 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases — betterPaid
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac — betteriPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS15.08.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size450 MB10 MB
Age rating9+4+
DeveloperSavy Soda Pty LtdDonut Games

Customer experience

Pixel Starships™

All ratings35,060 ratings
Positive95.1%
Neutral2.1%
Negative2.7%
Written reviews781 reviews
Positive81.9%
Neutral4.7%
Negative13.3%

Cows In Space

All ratings42 ratings
Positive92.9%
Neutral4.8%
Negative2.4%
Written reviews379 reviews
Positive88.1%
Neutral8.4%
Negative3.4%

Bugs and requests

Pixel Starships™

Reported bugs

8 issues
  • Crew abilities not working as intended
  • Losing resources and trophies due to connection issues
  • Ads not rewarding the promised amount of Starbux
  • Scrolling issues when rearranging ship layout
  • Inconsistent loading times
Show 3 more
  • Missions consuming daily allowance even on error
  • Starbux purchases not being credited
  • Resources not properly credited after selling on the market

Requested features

17 requests
  • Lower how much bux people can ask for items and resources
  • Set a limit on bux that's not too ridiculous
  • Add more galaxies to explore
  • Add larger ships
  • Add smaller support craft that can fight alongside the main ship
Show 12 more
  • Add a faction war mode with 3v3 or 5v5 battles
  • Add a way to have multiple ships in your fleet
  • Add a ranking system for top players and top ships
  • Add more ship customization options
  • Add a way to remove items from the market
  • Add a panel to view all crew stats
  • Add a button to fix all modules at once
  • Add multiple AI preset options for combat
  • Add a way to fight against your own ship to test vulnerabilities
  • Add a permanent live PvP mode
  • Add a way to change the email associated with an account
  • Add a daily login bonus that increases over consecutive days

Cows In Space

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

10 purchases

Pixel Starships™

Subscriptions1
  • One Month Membership7 Days trial$3.991 Month
One-time9
  • Special Offer$1.99
  • Clip of Starbux$4.99
  • Special Offer$4.99
Show 6 more
  • Season Pass$8.99
  • Roll of Starbux$9.99
  • Special Offer$9.99
  • Stash of Starbux$19.99
  • Special Offer$19.99
  • Case of Starbux$49.99
None

Cows In Space

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Pixel Starships™ free?
Pixel Starships™ is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Cows In Space free?
Cows In Space costs $1.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Pixel Starships™ or Cows In Space?
Pixel Starships™ is rated higher. Pixel Starships™ averages 4.7 out of 5 from 35K ratings, while Cows In Space averages 4.7 from 43 ratings.
Do Pixel Starships™ or Cows In Space have ads?
Neither Pixel Starships™ nor Cows In Space shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Pixel Starships™ or Cows In Space?
Pixel Starships™ ships an update every 9 days, and Cows In Space every 9 months. Most recently, Pixel Starships™ was updated on November 8, 2026 and Cows In Space on November 7, 2026.

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