Comparison

Lighting Designer vs Freefly Ember

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

Head to head
About

Lighting Designer

Create professional overhead lighting plots for film, TV, theater, and events. Quickly illustrate and communicate lighting setups with a vast library of equipment and intuitive tools. Sync your work across all Apple devices.

Highlights
  • Create overhead lighting plots
  • Extensive equipment library (2000+ items)
  • Organize setups into Shows
  • Custom fixture creation with own images
  • Detailed light specifications
  • Floor plan drawing tools
  • Email editable Plots
Features
Read full description

Never draw a lighting setup on a scrap of paper again. Lighting Designer is a quick and intuitive way to create overhead lighting plots for film, theater, television, concerts, and anything else you can light. The wide selection of equipment and simple yet powerful interface makes it easier than ever to illustrate and communicate your lighting setups, from most Apple devices. Your Silicon Mac is powerful and gives you the most screen to work with; your iPad is large and versatile; your iPhone will go with you anywhere. And if you like, your work can sync among all your Apple devices using iCloud, so you can start plotting on one and finish on another. LD is perfect for tech scouts, working while traveling, or just choosing the couch over your desk chair. While expensive drafting programs can take hours to use and years to master, Lighting Designer is an accessible way to plan your next show! Features: • Organize your setups into Shows, with details like shooting dates and crew members • Choose from over 2000 built-in types of lights, grip equipment, camera gear, actors, and objects like furniture and musical instruments • With a Crescit Premium account, you can have access to an additional 25,000+ pieces of lighting equipment, gels, and gobo templates • Use your own images to create custom fixtures on your Plots (read the User Guide for image specs) • For each light, specify wattage, beam spread, light output, DMX address, color, and many other details • Certain fixtures include info for exposure approximation; all can be user-configured and have their exposure reverse-calculated from real-world readings • Use Groups to create flexible collections of lights • Notes allow you to describe every detail of your setup • Pack your Truck to share gear among multiple Plots • Draw a Floor Plan using basic shapes, and images from your device • Lights can target other objects, and objects can rig onto each other for easy adjustments • Email editable Plots to the crew, with images, equipment, and crew lists • Undo/Redo functionality • Dark Mode presents a dark workspace to reduce eyestrain and minimize your device's light in a dark environment

About

Freefly Ember

Control your Freefly Ember camera wirelessly from your iOS or iPadOS device. Adjust settings, review footage instantly, and export your best shots with ease. The app mirrors your camera's on-screen interface for a seamless workflow.

Highlights
  • Wireless camera connection
  • Live preview
  • Remote camera settings adjustment
  • Instant video playback
  • Export selected video clips
  • Synced user interface
Read full description

Introducing remote wireless control for your Freefly Ember on iOS and iPadOS. Quickly adjust your camera settings, enjoy instant playback, and easily export your favorite shots, all directly from the app. The Ember app replicates all camera controls available on the on-camera UI, providing a cohesive and intuitive experience. Any changes made on your camera are reflected in the app instantly, ensuring you're always in full control. Key Features: Wireless Connection: Connect the app to your Freely Ember camera via the camera’s WiFi network to view live preview and control your camera settings. Instant Playback: Replay your shots instantly, allowing you to check and perfect your videos on the go. Export: Specify in/out points on videos and transfer your shots directly from the camera to your device with a few simple taps. Synced UI: Changes made on your camera are instantly mirrored on the app for a seamless experience. Video playback requires a device that supports ProRes decoding: iPhone 13 and newer iPad Mini 6th generation and newer iPad Pro 12.9” 5th generation and newer iPad Pro 11” 3rd generation and newer iPad Air 5th generation and newer Ensure your device's compatibility for the best experience.

Screenshots

Lighting Designer4 screens
Freefly Ember4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Freefly Ember at 100% against Lighting Designer's 46%. Freefly Ember also leads on price (Free vs $24.99) and rating (5.0 vs 4.0). Lighting Designer's advantage is ratings volume (145 vs 6) and iOS requirement (14.0 vs 17.0). On update cadence, ads, in-app purchases 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

Freefly Ember is free to download; Lighting Designer costs $24.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Freefly Ember holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Lighting Designer has 145 ratings behind it against 6, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 46% of Lighting Designer's written reviews are positive against 100% of Freefly Ember's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Lighting Designer ships an update every 3 weeks, Freefly Ember monthly. The most recent releases landed on October 10, 2026 and September 27, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 4 level
Lighting Designer versus Freefly Ember: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterLighting DesignerFreefly Ember
Price$24.99Free — better
Rating4.0 (145 ratings)5.0 (6 ratings) — better
Positive reviews46.3% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings145 — better6
Update frequencyEvery 3 weeks — betterMonthly
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFreemiumFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, Mac
Requires iOS14.0 — better17.0
Further details — not scored
Size80 MB9 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperScenario Software LLCFREEFLY SYSTEMS INC.

Customer experience

Lighting Designer

All ratings145 ratings
Positive74.5%
Neutral6.2%
Negative19.3%
Written reviews80 reviews
Positive46.3%
Neutral18.8%
Negative35.0%

Freefly Ember

All ratings6 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews3 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

None

Lighting Designer

No in-app purchases

None

Freefly Ember

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Lighting Designer free?
Lighting Designer costs $24.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Freefly Ember free?
Freefly Ember is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Lighting Designer or Freefly Ember?
Freefly Ember is rated higher. Lighting Designer averages 4.0 out of 5 from 145 ratings, while Freefly Ember averages 5.0 from 6 ratings.
Do Lighting Designer or Freefly Ember have ads?
Neither Lighting Designer nor Freefly Ember shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Lighting Designer or Freefly Ember?
Lighting Designer ships an update every 3 weeks, and Freefly Ember monthly. Most recently, Lighting Designer was updated on October 10, 2026 and Freefly Ember on September 27, 2026.

Other comparisons