Comparison

Pinball HD vs Visual Pinball

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

Head to head
About

Pinball HD

Experience realistic pinball with stunning 3D graphics and authentic physics. Enjoy multiple themed tables, each with unique missions and characters, plus integrated retro mini-games. Compete for high scores locally and globally.

Highlights
  • Realistic 3D pinball simulation
  • Multiple themed tables (Wild West, Deep, Jungle)
  • Integrated retro mini-games
  • Landscape and portrait camera modes
  • Realistic physics engine
  • Local and global high score leaderboards
  • Stereoscopic 3D option
Features
Read full description

This unique table features pinball bumpers and targets, plus a color monitor where you can take on a variety of old-school digital minigame challenges - an endless space scroller, plus car racing, missile defense, a block breaker, and more at incrementing skill levels. Apple Design Awards 2010 winner Listed by Apple in "Best 10 iPad Apps in 2010" 1st place in US top paid apps during the first sales day "Pinball HD is simply a game that was just made for the iPad: it has intuitive controls, takes full advantage of the device’s hardware and delivers a truly immersive experience that will take you right back to the golden age of the arcade." -- Marco Tabini, Macworld.com "With three tables, reliable physics and controls, and gorgeous graphics, it is a pleasure to recommend." -- Levi Buchanan, IGN.com ABOUT THE GAME Pinball HD - This game will change your idea of Pinball on the iPad. Each table - Wild West, The Deep, and Jungle style - are masterpieces. You'll be stunned with the level of realism. This is a REAL Pinball simulator with stunning 3D graphics both with or without 3D glasses. IMPORTANT • Landscape mode - "full table" view • Portrait mode - "flying-table" view • In portrait mode slide up or down your both thumbs to toggle camera view from "flying-table" to "full table". FEATURES • 3 pinball tables with unique graphics, instructions, missions system, locations and characters • Landscape mode shows a full table view. The games can be played in either landscape orientation with the button to the left or right of the screen. • Portrait mode gives you a flying-table view with the camera panning and zooming over the action. This can only be played when holding the iPad with the button on the bottom. If you activate the screen orientation switch, the game only plays in portrait mode. • A wonderful 3D engine that does true justice to the graphic capabilities of the iPad. • Realistic physics. • Built in help for each table. Tap the circled "I" at the bottom right of each table to get a display detailing instructions and descriptions of the features of each table. Make sure to swipe left and right when viewing since the instructions don't fit on one screen. • Local and global high scores. Swiping right brings up a table of local high scores and further tapping brings up high scores from copies sold throughout the world. At the end of each game you are prompted to enter your name and have your score included. • Unique soundtrack with atmospheric music, sound effects and voices. • Camera tilt brings dimensionality to the games offering a simulated 3D effect where the image changes depending upon how you tilt the iPad. Camera tilt only works in landscape mode. • Stereoscopic imaging option (requires anaglyph eyeglasses). You can choose between red-cyan, green-magenta or yellow-blue lenses. HOW TO PLAY When running the app, you are presented with a 3D simulated camera zoom, pan and fly-over of one of the games. Tapping on a game's fly-over screen shows/hides main menu. Tap on Play button to start game on current table. Controls in game: • Tap ANYWHERE on the left side of screen to control the left flipper and ANYWHERE on the right side to control the right flipper. • Shake your iPad to realistically nudge the pinball table, but not too much or you'll tilt. • Tap on the "electronic caption" at the top of the screen to pause or resume your game. Follow us on: • Twitter - http://twitter.com/Gameprom • Facebook - http://www.facebook.com/Gameprom • YouTube channel - http://www.youtube.com/GamepromCompany • Company site - http://gameprom.com

About

Visual Pinball

Experience the full virtual pinball simulator with realistic physics, lighting, and sound. This open-source app offers a redesigned interface, enhanced table management, and the complete desktop experience for mobile devices. Enjoy a vast library of tables without ads or in-app purchases.

Highlights
  • Realistic physics, lighting, and sound
  • Redesigned interface with Liquid Glass
  • Full in-game menu for graphics and controls
  • Support for various backglass and display types
  • Easy table import and management
  • Optimized memory usage
Features
Read full description

The official Visual Pinball app. Built by volunteers since 2000 and open source since 2010, Visual Pinball is the simulator the virtual pinball community has been playing for over two decades. More than 70 people have contributed to it, and this app runs the same engine as the desktop version, so every table plays with the physics, lighting and sound its creator intended. No ads. No in-app purchases. No tracking. Made by volunteers. Two years of work from the Visual Pinball volunteers, in one update. Thank you for your patience, and for playing! A FRESH NEW LOOK • Redesigned for iOS 26 with Liquid Glass • Favorites and recently played tables at the top of your list • Search, sorting and three tile sizes • Light, Dark or System appearance • New loading screen that shows progress THE FULL DESKTOP EXPERIENCE • The complete Visual Pinball in-game menu for graphics, sound, controls and table options • Remap every button on keyboards and game controllers • Save settings for every table, or just the one you're playing MORE TABLES, LOOKING BETTER • Show the backglass and score display (DMD, alphanumeric or reels) on screen, right where you want them • Support for PUP packs, FlexDMD, B2S backglasses, video playback and VNI colorizations • All the latest physics and rendering improvements from the desktop version • Much lower memory use: textures are compressed on first load, then cached EASIER TABLE MANAGEMENT • Import .zip files, along with .vpx and .vpxz • Share any table as a single .vpxz file • The web file manager can now upload whole folders, extract archives, edit scripts and settings, and show the log live AND MORE • Many stability and memory fixes This version requires iOS 26.6 or later.

Screenshots

Pinball HD4 screens
Visual Pinball3 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Visual Pinball at Free against Pinball HD's $1.99. Visual Pinball also leads on in-app purchases (none vs 10) and ads (none vs shown). Pinball HD's advantage is ratings volume (705 vs 75) and iOS requirement (13.0 vs 26.6). On rating, review sentiment 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

Visual Pinball is free to download; Pinball HD costs $1.99 up front. Pinball HD sells 10 one-off in-app purchases. Visual Pinball asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Pinball HD holds the better App Store score, 4.5 against 4.3. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Pinball HD has 705 ratings behind it against 75, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 80% of Pinball HD's written reviews are positive against 78% of Visual Pinball's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Pinball HD ships an update every 2 months, Visual Pinball fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on November 10, 2026 and November 5, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard7 real differences · 3 level
Pinball HD versus Visual Pinball: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterPinball HDVisual Pinball
Price$1.99Free — better
Rating4.5 (705 ratings) — better4.3 (75 ratings)
Positive reviews80.5% of reviews — better78.0% of reviews
Number of ratings705 — better75
Update frequencyEvery 2 monthsFortnightly — better
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS13.0 — better26.6
Further details — not scored
Size675 MB134 MB
Age rating+49+
DeveloperBrainVault Games, LLCJason Millard

Customer experience

Pinball HD

All ratings705 ratings
Positive90.5%
Neutral5.7%
Negative3.8%
Written reviews446 reviews
Positive80.5%
Neutral8.1%
Negative11.4%

Visual Pinball

All ratings74 ratings
Positive81.1%
Neutral6.8%
Negative12.2%
Written reviews59 reviews
Positive78.0%
Neutral11.9%
Negative10.2%

User reviews

Pinball HD

From 705 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🎮 Realistic pinball experience
  • 🎨 Excellent graphics and visuals
  • 🕹️ Addictive and fun gameplay
  • 💰 Good value for money
  • 🕰️ Nostalgic and brings back memories

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Bugs and stability issues
  • 🔍 Lack of developer support and updates
  • 💰 Expensive for additional tables
  • 🤖 Unresponsive controls and physics issues
  • 🔍 Abandoned app with no new content

Visual Pinball

From 75 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Awesome way to play virtual pinball on the go
  • 👍 Super easy to set up with minimal file prep time
  • 👍 Insane that I can play favorite pins on just my phone
  • 👍 Fantastic portable implementation of VPX
  • 👍 Fun and exciting to archive the history of pinball

Room to improve

  • 🔧 More ability to adjust table settings needed
  • 🔧 Struggling to manage camera angle
  • 🔧 No fullscreen on iPad, plunger and outlanes cropped
  • 🔧 Some tables don't work or have issues

Bugs and requests

Pinball HD

Reported bugs

5 issues
  • Ball gets stuck or freezes during gameplay
  • Tables randomly stop working or display black screens
  • Purchased tables fail to download or restore
  • Incompatibility issues with newer iOS devices
  • Inconsistent or unreliable ball physics

Requested features

5 requests
  • More free or affordable table options
  • Improved table variety and complexity
  • Better optimization for newer devices
  • Responsive customer support and bug fixes
  • Continued development and new content

Visual Pinball

Reported bugs

2 issues
  • Tables don't load for some users
  • Certain complex/intensive tables error out or run at low FPS

Requested features

6 requests
  • List of most played tables
  • Ability to reposition DMD
  • Option to skip startup checks for some tables
  • Ability to edit table scripts on the app
  • Direct link to table depository
Show 1 more
  • iPad version with more screen space

In-app purchases

10 purchases

Pinball HD

One-time10
  • Multiball x15$0.99
  • Zombie Attack Pinball$1.99
  • Da Vinci Pinball$1.99
Show 7 more
  • Snow Pinball$1.99
  • Arcade Pinball$1.99
  • Halloween Pinball$1.99
  • Pirates Pinball$1.99
  • Red Planet Pinball$1.99
  • Dream Land Pinball$1.99
  • Slayer Pinball$2.99
None

Visual Pinball

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Pinball HD free?
Pinball HD costs $1.99, and also offers in-app purchases.
Is Visual Pinball free?
Visual Pinball is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Pinball HD or Visual Pinball?
Pinball HD is rated higher. Pinball HD averages 4.5 out of 5 from 705 ratings, while Visual Pinball averages 4.3 from 75 ratings.
Do Pinball HD or Visual Pinball have ads?
Pinball HD shows ads; Visual Pinball does not.
Which is updated more often, Pinball HD or Visual Pinball?
Pinball HD ships an update every 2 months, and Visual Pinball fortnightly. Most recently, Pinball HD was updated on November 10, 2026 and Visual Pinball on November 5, 2026.

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