Comparison

pixiv vs YiCircle

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

Head to head
About

pixiv

Explore a vast collection of over 160 million illustrations, manga, and novels from Japan's largest creative community. Discover new artists, browse trending content, and share your own creations. Personalize your feed with recommendations based on your preferences.

Highlights
  • Browse illustrations, manga, and novels
  • Post and share your artwork
  • Discover recommended and trending works
  • Search by keywords, tags, and creators
  • Follow favorite artists
  • View browsing history (Premium)
Read full description

Over 160 million illustrations, manga, and novels to explore right now! This is the official iOS app of pixiv, Japan's largest creative community with over 119 million registered users. With this app, you can easily discover and enjoy amazing works anytime, anywhere. pixiv is a platform designed to "accelerate creativity". From anime and manga to fine art, creators from all backgrounds share their work here. Start exploring and find your next favorites today! ■ About pixiv ▶ Illustrations ○ Browse Discover illustrations posted every day, and enjoy them in high quality! ○ Post Share your artwork with the world and collect Likes! ▶ Manga ○ Browse Enjoy original manga you can't read anywhere else! Don’t miss out on trending stories. ○ Post Post your manga and grow your audience! ▶ Novels ○ Browse From romance and fantasy to sci-fi and more, find stories that match your taste! ○ Post Share your writing on pixiv and connect with readers everywhere! ■ Key Features ○ Recommended Works ・View recommended works based on pixiv's most popular posts, ratings, and your own Likes and Bookmarks. ・The more works you like, the better pixiv learns what you love! ○ Rankings ・Browse what's trending across the community. ・Find trending works over the past day, week, or month. ・Enjoy various ranking categories such as "Popular with Males", "Popular with Females", and "Original Works". ○ New Works ・Check out new works from the users you're following. ・See new works from all pixiv users and spark your creative inspiration! ○ Search ・Search for works with your favorite keywords. ・Search illustrations by tags or titles and novels by tags or body text. You can even find stories featuring your favorite characters! ・Search for creators—your favorite artist might be on pixiv! Follow them to stay updated. ・Quickly access frequent searches from your history. ・See the latest trends on pixiv with "Featured Tags". ■ pixiv Premium ○ About pixiv Premium pixiv Premium is a subscription service that gives you access to the following features on pixiv: ・Search by Popularity: Find the most popular works from over 160 million submissions. ・Hide Ads: Enjoy a faster, cleaner viewing experience without ads. ・Browsing History: See a list of all the works you’ve viewed in the past 180 days. ・Mute: Hide works or tags you'd rather not see for a more comfortable browsing experience. To learn more, go to My Page > Join pixiv Premium or My Page > pixiv Premium Features in the pixiv app. ○ Pricing ・$4.99 per month auto-renewing subscription. ○ Subscription Period Your subscription is valid for one month from the date you sign up. Unless canceled at least 24 hours before the renewal date, your plan will automatically renew, and the subscription fee will be charged to your Apple ID. ○ How to Check or Cancel Your Subscription To check your subscription status or cancel auto-renewal: Go to the Settings app > Your profile icon > Subscriptions > pixiv Premium You can view or cancel your subscription from this screen. ○ Cancellations and Refunds Cancellations and refunds for the current month are not available. If you wish to cancel your subscription, please turn off auto-renewal before the next billing cycle. ○ Restoring Purchases or Re-subscribing to pixiv Premium pixiv Premium is linked to your Apple ID. You can only restore your subscription or re-subscribe using the pixiv account you originally registered with. To subscribe with a different pixiv account, you will need to use a separate Apple ID. ○ Terms and Conditions Please review the following before using pixiv Premium: ・Privacy Policy https://policies.pixiv.net/#privacy ・pixiv Premium Terms of Use https://policies.pixiv.net/

About

YiCircle

Discover local events and create spontaneous meetups with people who share your interests. Connect through messaging and calls, and share your experiences by checking into places you visit.

Highlights
  • Discover nearby events
  • Create custom hangouts
  • Find people with shared interests
  • Real-time messaging and calls
  • Share visited locations
  • Multi-language support
Features
Read full description

Find people nearby who are into what you're into — and actually make plans. YiCircle is where a shared interest turns into a real afternoon out. Browse what's happening around you, start something of your own, and go with people who wanted to go anyway. DISCOVER WHAT'S ON Concerts, comedy, sports and theater near you, updated continuously. Filter by city, date and category, and save the ones you're considering. START A PLAN Create a hangout in under a minute — a hike, a food crawl, a gallery night. Set a time and a meeting point, cap the group size, and let people request to join. Co-hosts, waitlists and check-in are built in. FIND A BUDDY Post the thing you want to do and let people nearby put their hand up, or answer someone else's. One plan, one afternoon — no obligation beyond that. MESSAGE AND CALL Real-time chat with photos, voice messages, and voice or video calls. Group chats for the people you're going with. SHARE THE DAY Post where you went and who you went with. Check in at the places you visit and watch your map fill in. FIVE LANGUAGES English, 简体中文, 日本語, 한국어 and Español. YiCircle is for people 18 and over.

Screenshots

pixiv4 screens
YiCircle4 screens

Verdict

The call

pixiv and YiCircle both sit at 4.5 stars, but that hides the real split: 100% of YiCircle's written reviews are positive against 43% of pixiv's. YiCircle also leads on in-app purchases (none vs 5) and ads (none vs shown). pixiv's advantage is ratings volume (6.7K vs 6) and chart position (#187 vs unranked). On price, rating, update cadence 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

Both are free to download. pixiv sells 5 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month. YiCircle asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

pixiv holds the better App Store score, 4.5 against 4.3. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: pixiv has 6.7K ratings behind it against 6, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 43% of pixiv's written reviews are positive against 100% of YiCircle's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

pixiv ships an update weekly, YiCircle every 5 days. The most recent releases landed on November 1, 2026 and November 5, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard7 real differences · 4 level
pixiv versus YiCircle: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterpixivYiCircle
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.5 (6.7K ratings) — better4.3 (6 ratings)
Positive reviews43.2% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings6.7K — better6
Update frequencyWeeklyEvery 5 days — better
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFreemiumFree — better
Best chart rank#187 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPad — betteriPhone
Requires iOS16.0 — better18.0
Further details — not scored
Size103 MB362 MB
Age rating17+17+
Developerpixiv Inc.YICIRCLE LLC

Customer experience

pixiv

All ratings6,682 ratings
Positive87.9%
Neutral2.4%
Negative9.7%
Written reviews609 reviews
Positive43.2%
Neutral9.9%
Negative47.0%

YiCircle

All ratings6 ratings
Positive66.7%
Neutral33.3%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews2 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Bugs and requests

pixiv

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Blurry thumbnails on iPad
  • Inability to copy text
  • Pixiv links not opening in-app
  • Inconsistent behavior when liking/following

Requested features

4 requests
  • Improved search and filtering options
  • Ability to save animated images
  • Sync bookmarks and settings across devices
  • Better support for non-Japanese users

YiCircle

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

5 purchases

pixiv

Subscriptions5
  • pixiv Premium (no new users)$4.991 Month
  • pixiv Premium$4.991 Month
  • pixiv Premium$13.493 Months
Show 2 more
  • pixiv Premium$24.996 Months
  • pixiv Premium$45.991 Year
None

YiCircle

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is pixiv free?
pixiv is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is YiCircle free?
YiCircle is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, pixiv or YiCircle?
pixiv is rated higher. pixiv averages 4.5 out of 5 from 6.7K ratings, while YiCircle averages 4.3 from 6 ratings.
Do pixiv or YiCircle have ads?
pixiv shows ads; YiCircle does not.
Which is updated more often, pixiv or YiCircle?
pixiv ships an update weekly, and YiCircle every 5 days. Most recently, pixiv was updated on November 1, 2026 and YiCircle on November 5, 2026.

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