# Grungetastic vs Essential Touch

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Grungetastic at 81% against Essential Touch's 0%. Grungetastic also leads on rating (4.8 vs 4.0) and ratings volume (188 vs 2). Essential Touch's advantage is price (Free vs $2.99) and update cadence (weekly vs every 6 months). On ads, in-app purchases, monetization model and device support there is nothing between them.

Essential Touch is free to download; Grungetastic costs $2.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

Grungetastic holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 4.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Grungetastic has 188 ratings behind it against 2, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 81% of Grungetastic's written reviews are positive against 0% of Essential Touch's.

Grungetastic ships an update every 6 months, Essential Touch weekly. The most recent releases landed on October 26, 2026 and October 15, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | Grungetastic | Essential Touch |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | $2.99 | **Free** |
| Rating | **[4.8 (188 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/grungetastic/id418140198/reviews)** | [4.0 (2 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/essential-touch-photo-editor/id1371981424/reviews) |
| Number of ratings | **188** | 2 |
| Positive reviews | **81.4% of reviews** | 0.0% of reviews |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Ads | No | No |
| Update frequency | Every 6 months | **Weekly** |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Best chart rank | **#185** | — |
| Size | 56 MB | 61 MB |
| Requires iOS | 14.0 | **9.0** |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | [JixiPix, LLC](https://appshunter.io/developer/380605671) | [Pavel Zubco](https://appshunter.io/developer/1183947462) |

## What reviewers say

### Grungetastic

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/grungetastic/id418140198)

**Currently charting:** #185 Top Paid · Photo & Video (US App Store)

Apply a variety of aggressive and "unwell" textures and tones to your photos. This app offers seven distinct grunge styles with adjustable controls for color, textures, and borders, allowing for unique artistic creations.

**Highlights:** Seven grunge styles, Adjustable color, textures, and borders, Randomize button, Texture and border library, Customizable presets, High-resolution output

**Features:** Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases:** none

**What reviewers like**

- 👍 Lots of creative options
- 🎨 Customizable effects
- 🎲 Fun randomize feature
- 💡 Unique grunge styles
- 👍 Easy to use

**What reviewers complain about**

- 🐛 Slow rendering/processing
- 💰 In-app purchases for more effects
- 🔒 Locked effects behind paywall
- 🔒 Lack of free access to all features

**Reported bugs**

- Unable to upload/load photos
- Presets not applying correctly
- Crashes or freezes on certain devices

**Requested features**

- Undo button
- More color/hue options
- Color swapping
- Higher resolution exports
- Native iPad support


### Essential Touch

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/essential-touch-photo-editor/id1371981424)

A fast and user-friendly photo editing application offering a core set of essential tools. Enhance your images with adjustments, filters, and light leak effects. Easily crop, rotate, and flip your photos before sharing them on social media.

**Highlights:** Brightness, Contrast, Saturation adjustments, Customizable tone curve filters, Light leak overlay textures, Crop, Rotate, Flip transformations, Masking tools, Social media sharing

**Features:** macOS Compatibility

**In-app purchases:** none


## Frequently asked questions

### Is Grungetastic free?

Grungetastic costs $2.99, with no in-app purchases.

### Is Essential Touch free?

Essential Touch is free to download, with no in-app purchases.

### Which has better reviews, Grungetastic or Essential Touch?

Grungetastic is rated higher. Grungetastic averages 4.8 out of 5 from 188 ratings, while Essential Touch averages 4.0 from 2 ratings.

### Do Grungetastic or Essential Touch have ads?

Neither Grungetastic nor Essential Touch shows ads.

### Which is updated more often, Grungetastic or Essential Touch?

Grungetastic ships an update every 6 months, and Essential Touch weekly. Most recently, Grungetastic was updated on October 26, 2026 and Essential Touch on October 15, 2026.

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*Compared by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/) from daily US App Store data. Review summaries are generated from verbatim App Store reviews.*