PhotoLayers vs Leonardo
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.
Leonardo
This powerful photo editor offers desktop-level functionality with true layer support, advanced selection tools, and masking capabilities. Edit images with real-time adjustments, apply a wide range of filters and effects, and export your work in various formats, including PSD with layers. Save projects to continue editing later.
- True layer support
- Advanced selection tools
- Mask editing
- Real-time adjustments
- PSD export with layers
- Preset photo effects
- Project saving
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Universal Photo Editor with support for Layers, Selection, Masks and of course filters, effects and other tools. An editor so powerful that you could do almost anything that you thought was possible only on a desktop. √ True layer support, just like photo editing on desktop. √ Selection. You can select an area and work with filters and effects only on that area. √ Layers can be masked. And not just with brush, you get a whole set of mask editing tool. √ Layers support all that a true layer app should. Blending, Opacity, Transform, Duplicate, Merge and flatten. √ The app is so fast that most of the operations are real time. You don't have to wait while adjusting the sliders. √ Handles Exif, IPTC, Geotag etc. You can even edit Geotag and IPTC. √ Exports PSD with layers. And of course exports JPEG and PNG too. √ Copy/Paste with selections and masks. √ Undo/Redo. √ Powerful filters you will hardly find on many other apps. √ 25 preset photo effects. √ Tools like Crop, Straighten, Clone stamp, color gradient, paint brush, red eye brush and add text etc. √ You can save your projects with all layers and selections preserved and work on them back and forth. √ 18 video tutorials. √ Resolution up to 4096x4096 on iPad3 and above and on iPhone max resolution is equal to the resolution of the built-in camera. And yes, it runs on both iPhone and iPad. Note that reduce noise filter is available only on iPhone 5 and iPad3 and above. To get maximum resolution you will need to... 1. Go to home screen. 2. Press on the "?" button. 3. Under resolution, select the max.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: PhotoLayers at Free against Leonardo's $4.99. PhotoLayers also leads on rating (4.8 vs 4.0) and ratings volume (20K vs 129). Leonardo's advantage is ads (none vs shown) and device support (3 vs 1). On review sentiment, 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; Leonardo costs $4.99 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 4.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: PhotoLayers has 20K ratings behind it against 129, 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 77% of Leonardo's.
PhotoLayers ships an update every 3 months, Leonardo every 6 weeks. The most recent releases landed on November 12, 2026 and November 1, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | PhotoLayers | Leonardo |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free — better | $4.99 |
| Rating | 4.8 (20K ratings) — better | 4.0 (129 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 80.6% of reviews — better | 77.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 20K — better | 129 |
| Update frequency | Every 3 months | Every 6 weeks — better |
| Ads | Yes | No — better |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Ad-supported — better | Paid |
| Devices | iPhone | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 17.0 | 11.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 9 MB | 63 MB |
| Age rating | 12+ | 4+ |
| Developer | handyCloset Inc. | Pankaj Goswami |
Customer experience
PhotoLayers
Leonardo
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
Leonardo
From 129 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🚀 Powerful photo editing capabilities
- 👍 Intuitive and user-friendly interface
- 🎨 Extensive set of tools and features
- 💡 Closest thing to Photoshop on mobile
- 🎨 Great for layering, masking, and advanced editing
Room to improve
- 🐛 Occasional crashes and bugs
- 🔍 Difficulty with precise selection and masking
- 🔍 Lack of zoom functionality for detailed editing
- 🔋 Quality degradation when exporting images
- 🕰 Steep learning curve for some features
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
Leonardo
Reported bugs
4 issues- Merge down function deletes bottom layer
- Photos import with low quality and blurriness
- Certain tools (e.g. gradient) not working as expected
- Crashes when trying to open old projects
Requested features
5 requests- Add eyedropper tool
- Improve layer merging functionality
- Implement batch processing and export options
- Provide higher resolution output
- Add more customization options (fonts, brushes, etc.)
In-app purchases
PhotoLayers
No in-app purchases
Leonardo
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is PhotoLayers free?
Is Leonardo free?
Which has better reviews, PhotoLayers or Leonardo?
Do PhotoLayers or Leonardo have ads?
Which is updated more often, PhotoLayers or Leonardo?
Other comparisons
