Comparison

Percolator vs MetaBrush

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

Head to head
About

Percolator

Easily turn your photos into vibrant, multicolor mosaics with unique artistic styles. Intuitive controls allow for creative editing, and you can save or share your creations across various social platforms and messaging apps.

Highlights
  • Create multicolor photo mosaics
  • Unique artistic 'Brews'
  • Intuitive dial-based controls
  • Save and share to social media
  • Integrates with other photo apps
Features
Read full description

Transform your photos into dazzling, multicolor mosaics. FEATURES: • Create delightful mosaics from your photos • Amazing Brews, each with their own unique look • Intuitive dial-based controls • Save to your phone or share via Instagram, Facebook, Bluesky, Mastodon, Message, Email, and more • Try it with other photo editing apps — mix-n-match! WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING ABOUT PERCOLATOR: • “Delightfully quirky” —NY Times • 4½ out of 5 Mice: “The animated effects throughout the app are truly impressive...” —Macworld • “The result—something like a Seurat painting rendered with Microsoft Paint’s circle tool—is unique in the app world.” —Wired App Guide • “Percolator…is a unique, well-done modernist app with a fun retro wink.” —Life In LoFi KEEP UP WITH TINROCKET: • Follow @Tinrocket on Instagram for the latest! • We’re here to help: If you have a question or need assistance, you can always email us at support@tinrocket.com • If you like Percolator, please consider leaving an App Store review or rating—we’d really appreciate it! Every review counts and helps indie developers like ourselves. :) Happy Percolating!

About

MetaBrush

Transform your photos into artistic paintings with a variety of brush presets and advanced settings. This app offers layers support and the ability to import Photoshop brushes, allowing for detailed customization of your artwork.

Highlights
  • 30 brush presets
  • Layers support
  • Import Photoshop brushes (.abr)
  • Customizable stroke settings
  • Paint with images
Features
Read full description

With Metabrush you can easily turn your photos into paintings. The result images are very artistic, as you brush with different presets and settings. Visit the gallery at http://instagram.com/metabrush for many examples. Features: • 30 brush presets for artistically clone your original image. • Layers support • 500+ brushes bitmaps • Support for importing directly Photoshop brushes (.abr) • Include many settings for the strokes as dynamical size, rotation, shadow, and opacity. • You can assign colors to the strokes, but also paint with images (as if they were colors). Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula

Screenshots

Percolator4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: MetaBrush at Free against Percolator's $3.99. Percolator's advantage is rating (4.8 vs 3.8) and in-app purchases (none vs 3). On update cadence, ads and iOS requirement 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

MetaBrush is free to download; Percolator costs $3.99 up front. MetaBrush sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $0.99 per 7 days. Percolator asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Percolator holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 3.8. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Percolator has 1.1K ratings behind it against 22, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 86% of Percolator's written reviews are positive against 65% of MetaBrush's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Percolator ships an update every 4 months, MetaBrush every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on November 1, 2026 and November 2, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard8 real differences · 3 level
Percolator versus MetaBrush: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterPercolatorMetaBrush
Price$3.99Free — better
Rating4.8 (1.1K ratings) — better3.8 (22 ratings)
Positive reviews86.4% of reviews — better65.4% of reviews
Number of ratings1.1K — better22
Update frequencyEvery 4 monthsEvery 2 months — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree — betterFree with in-app purchases
Best chart rank#94 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPad
Requires iOS15.6 — better16.6
Further details — not scored
Size37 MB253 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperTinrocket, LLCtalonsodev

Customer experience

Percolator

All ratings1,133 ratings
Positive96.8%
Neutral2.2%
Negative1.0%
Written reviews419 reviews
Positive86.4%
Neutral6.7%
Negative6.9%

MetaBrush

All ratings21 ratings
Positive71.4%
Neutral4.8%
Negative23.8%
Written reviews26 reviews
Positive65.4%
Neutral3.8%
Negative30.8%

Bugs and requests

Percolator

Reported bugs

2 issues
  • Login screen freezes
  • Incompatible with older devices

Requested features

10 requests
  • Ability to save and name custom settings
  • Show which iteration of settings was used
  • Load last used settings
  • Add more example art
  • Ability to select areas to exclude from effects
Show 5 more
  • Add vector/PDF export
  • Slider to control bubble size variation
  • Batch processing option
  • More control over colors and sizes
  • Ability to mask or erase parts of the image

MetaBrush

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

None

Percolator

No in-app purchases

3 purchases

MetaBrush

Subscriptions2
  • Metabrush PRO3 Days trial$0.997 Days
  • Metabrush PRO3 Days trial$6.991 Year
One-time1
  • Metabrush PRO$9.99

Questions

Is Percolator free?
Percolator costs $3.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is MetaBrush free?
MetaBrush is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Percolator or MetaBrush?
Percolator is rated higher. Percolator averages 4.8 out of 5 from 1.1K ratings, while MetaBrush averages 3.8 from 22 ratings.
Do Percolator or MetaBrush have ads?
Neither Percolator nor MetaBrush shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Percolator or MetaBrush?
Percolator ships an update every 4 months, and MetaBrush every 2 months. Most recently, Percolator was updated on November 1, 2026 and MetaBrush on November 2, 2026.

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