Comparison

Procreate vs PixelStitch

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

Head to head
About

Procreate

This app provides a comprehensive digital art studio for iPad, offering tools for sketching, painting, illustration, and animation. It features a vast brush library, advanced layering, color management, and precision design tools for creative professionals and aspiring artists.

Highlights
  • Hundreds of handmade brushes
  • Advanced layer system
  • High resolution canvases
  • 3D Painting with Lighting Studio
  • Frame-by-frame animation
  • Precision design tools
  • Continuous auto-save
Read full description

Loved by creative professionals and aspiring artists alike, Procreate is the leading creative application made for iPad. Procreate has everything you need to create expressive sketches, rich paintings, gorgeous illustrations, and beautiful animations. Offering 100s of handmade brushes, a suite of industry-leading artistic tools, an advanced layer system, and the powerful Valkyrie graphics engine. It’s a complete art studio you can take anywhere. Highlights: - High resolution canvases — up to 16k by 8k on compatible iPad Pros - Beautifully intuitive interface made for iPad and Apple Pencil - Revolutionary QuickShape feature for perfect shapes - Smooth and responsive smudge sampling - 3D Painting with Lighting Studio, exportable as models, images, or animations - Powered by Valkyrie, the lightning-fast 64-bit painting engine - Speed up your workflow with keyboard shortcuts - Create art in stunning 64-bit color - Continuous auto-save — never lose work again Breakthrough brushes: - Packed with hundreds of beautifully crafted brushes - Organize your brushes into sets and libraries - Add Metallic and Roughness for painting in 3D - Brush Studio — with over 100 customizable settings - Import and export custom Procreate brushes - Import Adobe® Photoshop® brushes, and run them faster than Photoshop® Full-featured layering system: - Layer your art for precise control over details and composition - Create Layer Masks and Clipping Masks for non-destructive editing - Stay organized by combining layers into Groups - Select multiple layers to move or Transform objects simultaneously - Access over 25 layer blend modes for industry-grade compositing Color without compromise: - Fill your line work with ColorDrop and SwatchDrop - Disc, Classic, Harmony, Value, and Palette color panels - Import color profiles for color matching - Assign Color Dynamics to any brush Precision design tools: - Add vector text to your illustrations - Easily import all your favorite fonts - Crop and resize your canvas for perfect composition - Perspective, Isometric, 2D, and Symmetry visual guides - Drawing Assist perfects your strokes in real time - StreamLine and stabilization smooths strokes for beautiful calligraphy and expert inking - Use Scribble to name layers, change settings, and create text Accessibility features: - Advanced stroke stabilization - Dynamic Type, VoiceOver, and Feedback Sounds - Assignable single-touch gestures - Color naming Animation and Page Assist - Easy frame-by-frame animation with customizable onion skinning - Create storyboards, GIFs, animatics, and simple animations - Sketch page-by-page concepts or begin a comic with Page Assist - Import, edit, and share PDFs Dramatic finishing effects: - Brush in image adjustments and effects with Apple Pencil - Glitch, Chromatic Aberration, Bloom, Noise, and Halftone add new dimensions to your work - Gaussian, Motion, and Perspective Blur filters create depth and movement - Powerful image adjustments including Color Balance, Curves, HSB, and Gradient Map - Bring your art to life with the fun, intuitive, and creative Warp, Symmetry, and Liquify Dynamics Time-lapse replay - Relive your creative journey with Procreate’s Time-lapse Replay - Export your Time-lapse recording in 4K for high-quality video production - Share a shorter 30-second Time-lapse on your socials Import assets and share your creations: - Import or export your art as Adobe® Photoshop® PSD files - Import Adobe® ASE and ACO Color Palettes - Import image files such as JPG, PNG, and TIFF - Export your working files in layered .procreate or PSD file formats - Share your art as TIFF, transparent PNG, multi-page PDF, web-ready JPEG, OBJ, USDZ, and animated GIFs, PNGs, and MP4s

About

PixelStitch

Design, edit, and track your cross-stitch patterns with this comprehensive tool. Convert photos into editable patterns, utilize a vast color library, and export professional-quality pattern files. Enjoy seamless syncing across devices and offline access.

Highlights
  • Design and edit patterns stitch by stitch
  • Convert photos into editable cross-stitch patterns
  • Utilize DMC embroidery floss color library
  • Track stitching progress
  • Export professional pattern files (PDF, JPEG, PNG)
  • Sync patterns across iPhone, iPad, and web
  • Offline support for designing and editing
Read full description

PixelStitch is a cross-stitch pattern maker built for designing, editing and stitching your own patterns! Whether you're creating a pattern from scratch, turning a favourite pic into cross-stitch, or tracking your progress on an existing pattern, PixelStitch brings the whole process together in one place. Designed for both beginners and experienced pattern makers, PixelStitch gives you powerful tools and game-changing features, without getting in the way of creating. DESIGN YOUR OWN PATTERNS - Draw and edit patterns stitch by stitch - Choose from a MASSIVE range of drawing and editing tools - Upload reference photos to help you design - EXCLUSIVE TO iPAD - Work with different stitch and render styles - Customise your canvas, grid and pattern appearance - Undo and redo as you create with intuitive gestures - Zoom and pan for detailed editing - Full Apple Pencil support, as well as touch, mouse and trackpad THE DMC COLOUR LIBRARY - Design with the DMC embroidery floss colour library - Quickly search and select the colours you need - Build and manage your pattern palette - See the colours used throughout your pattern - Swap, delete or merge colours with ease TURN IMAGES INTO CROSS-STITCH - Import your own photos and artwork - Convert images into editable cross-stitch patterns - Adjust pattern size and colour count - Refine the result using PixelStitch's full pattern editor STITCH TRACKER - Take your pattern from screen to finished piece with our built-in Stitch Tracker! - Import patterns or track patterns you've created - Mark stitches as you complete them - Keep track of your progress without losing your place - Zoom and navigate detailed patterns with ease CREATE PROFESSIONAL PATTERN FILES - Turn your finished design into a customisable pattern that's ready to stitch, share or sell! - Export full cross-stitch pattern PDFs - Export as JPEG or PNG - Mix and match with our HUGE array of toggles and customisation options YOUR PATTERNS, EVERYWHERE PixelStitch works across iPhone, iPad and the web. Sign in to your PixelStitch account and keep your patterns with you across your devices. Native offline support also lets you keep designing, editing and stitching when you don't have an internet connection, with your work syncing again when you're back online. MADE BY A CROSS-STITCHER, FOR CROSS-STITCHERS PixelStitch was created by me, CrochetByDyll, a cross-stitch and crochet pattern designer, to make pattern design easier, more accessible and genuinely enjoyable! Start designing for free with no ads. Upgrade to Hobby or Creator for additional tools, larger limits and even more ways to create. Terms of Use: https://pixelstitching.com/terms-of-use Privacy Policy: https://pixelstitching.com/privacy

Screenshots

PixelStitch4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: PixelStitch at Free against Procreate's $12.99. PixelStitch also leads on rating (5.0 vs 4.4) and review sentiment (88% vs 70%). Procreate's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 4) and ratings volume (51K vs 2). On 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

PixelStitch is free to download; Procreate costs $12.99 up front. PixelStitch sells 4 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month. Procreate asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

PixelStitch holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.4. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Procreate has 51K ratings behind it against 2, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 70% of Procreate's written reviews are positive against 88% of PixelStitch's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Procreate ships an update every 2 weeks, PixelStitch every 5 days. The most recent releases landed on October 13, 2026 and October 1, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard9 real differences · 2 level
Procreate versus PixelStitch: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterProcreatePixelStitch
Price$12.99Free — better
Rating4.4 (51K ratings)5.0 (2 ratings) — better
Positive reviews69.7% of reviews87.5% of reviews — better
Number of ratings51K — better2
Update frequencyEvery 2 weeksEvery 5 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationPaidFree with in-app purchases — better
Best chart rank#90 — better—
DevicesiPadiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS16.315.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size1.1 GB7 MB
Age rating4++4
DeveloperSavage Interactive Pty LtdDylan De Board

Customer experience

Procreate

All ratings50,591 ratings
Positive85.3%
Neutral5.0%
Negative9.7%
Written reviews3,397 reviews
Positive69.7%
Neutral10.7%
Negative19.5%

PixelStitch

All ratings2 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews8 reviews
Positive87.5%
Neutral12.5%
Negative0.0%

Bugs and requests

Procreate

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Random freezing and crashes, especially after recent updates
  • Issues with the fill bucket tool not working as expected
  • Problems with exporting animations and preserving the animation quality

Requested features

4 requests
  • Implement a proper stroke stabilizer and shape tools
  • Add the ability to import audio and sync animations to audio
  • Improve the fill bucket tool to work across layers
  • Introduce a folder system for better organization of artworks

PixelStitch

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

None

Procreate

No in-app purchases

4 purchases

PixelStitch

Subscriptions4
  • Hobby Monthly7 Days trial$2.991 Month
  • Creator Monthly7 Days trial$5.991 Month
  • Hobby Annual7 Days trial$24.991 Year
Show 1 more
  • Creator Annual7 Days trial$59.991 Year

Questions

Is Procreate free?
Procreate costs $12.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is PixelStitch free?
PixelStitch is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Procreate or PixelStitch?
PixelStitch is rated higher. Procreate averages 4.4 out of 5 from 51K ratings, while PixelStitch averages 5.0 from 2 ratings.
Do Procreate or PixelStitch have ads?
Neither Procreate nor PixelStitch shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Procreate or PixelStitch?
Procreate ships an update every 2 weeks, and PixelStitch every 5 days. Most recently, Procreate was updated on October 13, 2026 and PixelStitch on October 1, 2026.

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