PhotoLayers vs Exacto
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
PhotoLayers
Easily create stunning photo collages and composite images by layering up to 11 photos. Remove unwanted backgrounds to make subjects transparent and adjust color tones for more attractive visuals.
- Photo layering
- Background eraser
- Create collages
- Composite photos
- Color control
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◇ PhotoLayers makes photo editing and layering simple and fun. ◇ PhotoLayers is a photo montage app that helps you create beautiful photo collages, composite photos, and photomontages easily. ◇ Background Eraser Make unwanted areas transparent to cut out subjects and create a clean transparent background. ◇ Layer compositing Combine up to 11 photos at the same time to build your own montage. ◇ Color control Adjust color tone to make your images look more attractive.
Exacto
Easily create precise photo cutouts and remove backgrounds with a powerful pen selection tool. This app brings advanced desktop editing capabilities to your mobile device, allowing for pixel-perfect selections and unlimited layers for complex edits.
- Pen Selection Tool for precise cutouts
- Unlimited layers for multiple selections
- Delete and insert points in selections
- Reset control points
- Unlimited undo/redo
- Autosave projects
- Instant preview
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Quickly remove unwanted backgrounds or create razor-sharp photo cutouts with the Pen Selection Tool. Previously found only in advanced desktop programs, now available for the very first time on iPhone and iPad with a streamlined and much simplified implementation optimized for touch. This incredibly versatile tool offers unique capabilities unmatched by anything else on the App Store. It’s an integral part of the professional toolbox and artists and photographers have relied on it for decades. Now you can too! You no longer have to waste hours working on a single photo only to achieve less than satisfactory results. With Exacto you can make pixel-perfect selections that precisely trace the contours of any subject, no matter how intricate or complex. But that’s not all! Exacto even goes beyond the standard functionality of the Pen Selection Tool by introducing features that provide greater flexibility and control such as the ability to delete and insert points anywhere in the selection, the ability to reset control points, and most importantly, unlimited layers for making multiple selections. In addition, Exacto offers other advanced features that greatly enhance the user experience including unlimited undo / redo, projects autosave, instant preview, and much more! Here’s how it works: 1 - Place points around an area of interest then drag them into position to make a selection. 2 - Add layers to make selections of multiple subjects and areas in your photo. 3 - Keep track of your progress with the full-size instant preview option. 4 - Made a mistake? With unlimited undo / redo your entire editing history is preserved, from start to finish. So you can go backward or forward as many steps as you need. 5 - Must leave in a hurry? With autosave your work is never lost and you can pick up right where you left off at any time. 6 - All done? Save your photo cutout to the Camera Roll or open it in other apps. There’s no limit to the fun and exciting ways you could use your photo cutouts. For example, you could: 1 - Superimpose them on different backgrounds. 2 - Insert them in work or school presentations. 3 - Use them as stickers in chats. 4 - Use them in creating decorative art. 5 - Print them out and make actual cardboard cutouts for special occasions. and on and on! Experiencing issues? Have comments or suggestions for future updates? Please contact us at support@exactoapp.com.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: PhotoLayers at Free against Exacto's $2.99. PhotoLayers also leads on review sentiment (81% vs 55%) and rating (4.8 vs 4.5). Exacto's advantage is ads (none vs shown) and chart position (#97 vs unranked). On update cadence and in-app purchases 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
PhotoLayers is free to download; Exacto costs $2.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
PhotoLayers holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 4.5. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: PhotoLayers has 20K ratings behind it against 615, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 81% of PhotoLayers's written reviews are positive against 55% of Exacto's.
PhotoLayers ships an update every 3 months, Exacto every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on October 19, 2026 and October 18, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | PhotoLayers | Exacto |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free — better | $2.99 |
| Rating | 4.8 (20K ratings) — better | 4.5 (615 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 80.6% of reviews — better | 55.4% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 20K — better | 615 |
| Update frequency | Every 3 months | Every 2 months — better |
| Ads | Yes | No — better |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Ad-supported — better | Paid |
| Best chart rank | — | #97 — better |
| Devices | iPhone | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 17.0 | 12.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 9 MB | 30 MB |
| Age rating | 12+ | 4+ |
| Developer | handyCloset Inc. | Tinkerworks Apps |
Customer experience
PhotoLayers
Exacto
User reviews
PhotoLayers
From 20K App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🚀 Powerful editing tools
- 👍 User-friendly interface
- 💡 Versatile layering options
- 🎨 Excellent for photo manipulation
- 🆓 Fully functional free version
Room to improve
- 🐛 Quality loss when saving images
- 📢 Intrusive ads
- 🔒 Concerns about data privacy
- 📐 Lack of zoom/pan for precise positioning
Exacto
From 615 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 👍 Excellent manual image cut-out app
- 🚀 Fast and easy to use
- 💡 Intuitive method for generating cut-outs
- 👍 Precise and detailed cut-outs
- 👍 Feathering feature for high-quality results
Room to improve
- 🐛 Crashes when handling complicated motifs
- 🐛 Inability to save edited images
- 🐛 White background when saving cut-outs
- 👎 Lack of automation and inconvenient cut-out points
- 👎 Complicated and not user-friendly
Bugs and requests
PhotoLayers
Reported bugs
3 issues- Eraser tool issues after recent update
- Crashes and freezes on some devices
- Inability to access photo library in certain cases
Requested features
4 requests- Undo/redo functionality
- Horizontal/landscape mode support
- Increased layer limit
- Ability to save edited images in higher quality
Exacto
Reported bugs
2 issues- Crashes on newer iOS versions
- Saving issues, unable to save with transparent background
Requested features
5 requests- Add a refine selection brush
- Ability to add a background layer
- Magnetic lasso tool
- Change the color of the selection outline
- Combine with creative composition tools
In-app purchases
PhotoLayers
No in-app purchases
Exacto
No in-app purchases








