Comparison

TeraFractal vs Pixel Art Maker

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

Head to head
About

TeraFractal

Explore a universe of soothing, ever-changing fractal art. Interact with beautiful shapes by dragging, pinching, and rotating to morph the visuals. No prior knowledge of math or fractals is required to enjoy this relaxing experience.

Highlights
  • Interactive fractal art generation
  • Drag, pinch, and rotate to morph images
  • Unique fractal patterns (not Mandelbrot/Julia sets)
  • Immersive and entertaining visual experience
  • No math knowledge required
Features
Read full description

Let your mind rest while you explore an alternate universe of soothing patterns and beautiful shapes. Press the play button to watch an ever-changing stream of art that has never been seen before and may never be seen again. Or drag, pinch and rotate to gently morph the image yourself. – – – TeraFractal is an immersive and entertaining way to explore fractal geometry. Amazingly, every image can be described by just 24 numbers; when you move your fingers on the screen, you are adjusting these parameters. If you are a fractal aficionado, note that this app is different from most fractal apps in that it does NOT display the Mandelbrot set or Julia sets. It generates a different and equally fascinating class of fractals that are based on linear iterated function systems. For more details, tap the in-app info button. Rest assured, you don't need to know anything about math or fractals to use this app!

About

Pixel Art Maker

Create and animate pixel art with a user-friendly drawing tool. Convert photos into pixel art, customize color palettes, and export your creations as GIFs. Offers both free and premium features for enhanced capabilities.

Highlights
  • Pixel art drawing up to 256x256
  • Photo to pixel art conversion
  • Animated pixel art creation
  • Customizable color palettes
  • Export as animated GIF
  • Scalable artwork export
Features
Read full description

"Pixel Art Maker" is a drawing tool for pixel art like retro games. ◇ Easy to use You can start drawing pixel art immediately after launching the app. The canvas can also be resized while drawing. ◇ Import a photo Convert photos into pixel art. ◇ Create animated pixel art Draw one pixel art image, duplicate it, and create animations. Features: - Draw pixel art on canvases from 1×1 up to 256×256 pixels. - Change the color palette (up to 256 colors). The basic palette includes 32 colors. The free version supports up to 65 colors. *Each palette color can be set to transparent or opaque. - Save your color palettes and reuse them in other artworks or when importing photos. - Watch an ad to temporarily unlock: • 256-color palette • Canvas size up to 1024×1024 - Premium Removes ads and permanently unlocks the full 256-color palette and canvas sizes up to 1024×1024. - Zoom in and out with two-finger pinch. - Save, load, and delete your drawings. - Import photos and animated GIFs. APNG animation is not supported; only the first frame is imported. - Import photos with built-in retro-style palettes and adjustable dithering. Indexed PNG files keep their original palette. - Import images from other apps via the Share sheet. - Export with transparency. - Scale your artwork on export from 1× to 64×, depending on canvas size, up to 4096×4096. - Save to Photos. - Share with other apps. - Create and export animated GIFs. *GIFs may not animate in Photos. - Finger Mode Draw directly with your finger. - Cursor Mode Move a cursor and place pixels with the "PIXEL" button. (Menu → Settings → Change Drawing Mode) * On Apple Silicon Macs (iPad version), animated image import may be limited, and photos may be imported at reduced resolution.

Screenshots

TeraFractal4 screens
Pixel Art Maker4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: TeraFractal at none against Pixel Art Maker's 1. TeraFractal also leads on ads (none vs shown) and iOS requirement (12.0 vs 15.5). Pixel Art Maker's advantage is update cadence (every 9 days vs every 8 months) and ratings volume (11K vs 104). On price, rating 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. Pixel Art Maker sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. TeraFractal asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.7 for TeraFractal against 4.8 for Pixel Art Maker. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Pixel Art Maker has 11K ratings behind it against 104, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 79% of TeraFractal's written reviews are positive against 91% of Pixel Art Maker's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

TeraFractal ships an update every 8 months, Pixel Art Maker every 9 days. Both last shipped on October 17, 2026.

Scorecard7 real differences · 3 level
TeraFractal versus Pixel Art Maker: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterTeraFractalPixel Art Maker
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.7 (104 ratings)4.8 (11K ratings) — better
Positive reviews78.9% of reviews91.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings10411K — better
Update frequencyEvery 8 monthsEvery 9 days — better
AdsNo — betterYes
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree — betterFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS12.0 — better15.5
Further details — not scored
Size1 MB15 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperMath Easel, LLCNekomimimi

Customer experience

TeraFractal

All ratings104 ratings
Positive89.4%
Neutral6.7%
Negative3.8%
Written reviews19 reviews
Positive78.9%
Neutral10.5%
Negative10.5%

Pixel Art Maker

All ratings10,559 ratings
Positive95.4%
Neutral2.3%
Negative2.3%
Written reviews379 reviews
Positive91.0%
Neutral4.2%
Negative4.7%

Bugs and requests

TeraFractal

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

Pixel Art Maker

Reported bugs

2 issues
  • Exported images not retaining transparency
  • Color picker not working as expected

Requested features

5 requests
  • Add a redo button
  • Implement layers and better color management
  • Increase maximum canvas size
  • Add a paint bucket tool
  • Allow importing/exporting of animations

In-app purchases

None

TeraFractal

No in-app purchases

1 purchases

Pixel Art Maker

One-time1
  • Remove Ads$1.99

Questions

Is TeraFractal free?
TeraFractal is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Pixel Art Maker free?
Pixel Art Maker is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, TeraFractal or Pixel Art Maker?
Pixel Art Maker is rated higher. TeraFractal averages 4.7 out of 5 from 104 ratings, while Pixel Art Maker averages 4.8 from 11K ratings.
Do TeraFractal or Pixel Art Maker have ads?
Pixel Art Maker shows ads; TeraFractal does not.
Which is updated more often, TeraFractal or Pixel Art Maker?
TeraFractal ships an update every 8 months, and Pixel Art Maker every 9 days. Most recently, TeraFractal was updated on October 17, 2026 and Pixel Art Maker on October 17, 2026.

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