KaleidoPaint vs 8bit Painter
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
KaleidoPaint
Create intricate, repeating designs by mirroring your brushstrokes in real-time. Offers extensive editing tools for precise control over every element of your artwork. Export your creations as tileable images or standard graphics.
- Real-time mirrored brushstrokes
- 17 symmetry patterns
- Vector graphics editing
- Curve smoothing and area fill
- Undo/Redo functionality
- Export tileable rectangles
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As you draw, KaleidoPaint mirrors your brushstrokes to create a beautiful infinitely repeating design. Image Gallery: http://www.geometrygames.org/KaleidoPaint/Gallery Features: - vector graphics - 17 symmetry patterns - scroll, rotate, zoom - curve smoothing - area fill - Edit Mode: reshape and recolor any dot, line or area - unlimited Undo/Redo - export your favorite paintings - export tileable rectangles Screenshots by Amber van Hoek.
8bit Painter
Create pixel art and 8-bit style graphics with intuitive tools. Perfect for beginners, it allows for easy creation of social media icons, game skins, illustrations, and patterns. Import photos to convert them into pixel art, remove backgrounds, and export transparent PNGs.
- Intuitive pixel art creation tools
- Photo import and conversion to pixel art
- Background removal for imported images
- Stylus support for precise drawing on iPad
- Multiple canvas sizes
- Transparent PNG export
- Artwork data import/export
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Over 6 million downloads! An easy-to-use app for creating pixel art and 8-bit style artwork. 8bit Painter is a simple pixel art drawing app that beginners can start enjoying right away. With intuitive controls, you can easily create pixel art for social media icons, game skins, illustrations, patterns, and more. It is also great for making designs for Perler beads, cross-stitch, knitting, and other handmade projects. Key Features - Simple controls that are easy for anyone to use - Clear, focused tools for creating pixel art - Perfect for beginners - Great for making social media icons and game skins - Import photos and convert them into pixel art - Remove photo backgrounds and import just the subject - Draw with Apple Pencil or a compatible stylus using a stylus-only setting on iPad - Choose colors intuitively with a color wheel, sliders, and palettes - Export transparent images in PNG format - Export and import your artwork data Canvas Sizes 16x16 / 24x24 / 32x32 / 48x48 / 64x64 / 96x96 / 128x128 / 160x160 / 192x192 Choose the right canvas size for your project, from small social media icons to detailed pixel art and craft patterns. Image Import Import your favorite photos and automatically convert them into pixel art. Keep the background or remove it to import just the subject. You can refine the cutout by cropping to a smaller area, or undo the last cutout. Great for creating social media icons, game skins, and pixel art assets. Drawing with a Stylus on iPad Turn on “Draw with a Stylus Only” to edit the canvas using Apple Pencil or a compatible stylus that your iPad recognizes as a pen. This prevents accidental marks from your fingers while still letting you use them to zoom, pan, and tap buttons. Color Selection Choose a base color with the color wheel, then fine-tune it with sliders or HEX input. You can also pick colors quickly from preset palettes, or save frequently used colors to your custom color palette for reuse. Artwork Data Management Export artwork data saved in your Gallery from the Settings screen, and import it again when needed. This is helpful for keeping your pixel art safe, preparing for a device change, or reinstalling the app. Artwork Storage - The initial artwork storage limit is 30 artworks - Expand the limit up to 600 artworks by watching rewarded video ads or purchasing the Remove Ads add-on Image Export - Choose from 3 export sizes - Supports transparent PNG images - Useful for social media posts, game skins, and exporting assets Remove Ads Add-On - Hides all ads - Expands the artwork storage limit to 600 artworks - Can be restored after reinstalling the app - One-time purchase How to Expand Your Storage Limit - Each rewarded video ad you watch increases your artwork storage limit by 5 artworks, up to 600 - Purchasing the Remove Ads add-on expands your artwork storage limit to 600 artworks Recommended For - Anyone who wants to start creating pixel art - People who want to make their own social media icons - Anyone who wants to create game skins easily - People making designs for Perler beads or cross-stitch - People designing knitting patterns or handmade projects - Anyone who wants to turn photos into pixel art - People looking for a simple pixel art editor - Anyone who wants to manage their artwork data and keep using the app over time Enjoy creating pixel art and 8-bit style artwork with 8bit Painter!
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: KaleidoPaint at none against 8bit Painter's 1. KaleidoPaint also leads on ads (none vs shown). 8bit Painter's advantage is update cadence (every 3 weeks vs every 5 months) and ratings volume (6.7K vs 77). On price, rating, review sentiment 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
Both are free to download. 8bit Painter sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. KaleidoPaint asks for nothing beyond the download.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.6 for KaleidoPaint against 4.6 for 8bit Painter. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: 8bit Painter has 6.7K ratings behind it against 77, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 81% of KaleidoPaint's written reviews are positive against 85% of 8bit Painter's.
KaleidoPaint ships an update every 5 months, 8bit Painter every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on November 1, 2026 and November 9, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | KaleidoPaint | 8bit Painter |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.6 (77 ratings) | 4.6 (6.7K ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 80.9% of reviews | 85.1% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 77 | 6.7K — better |
| Update frequency | Every 5 months | Every 3 weeks — better |
| Ads | No — better | Yes |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | Paid | Free with in-app purchases — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, Mac — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 17.1 — better | 18.6 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 4 MB | 30 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Jeff Weeks | Takayuki Miyagawa |
Customer experience
KaleidoPaint
8bit Painter
User reviews
KaleidoPaint
From 77 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- ✨ Intuitive and easy to use
- 🎨 Great for creating patterns and designs
- 💎 Free and ad-free
- 💡 Vector-based editing
- 🔄 Allows for easy line adjustment (Bezier curves)
Room to improve
- 🐛 App crashes or doesn't open
- 🐛 Opens files app instead of the app itself
- 🐛 Blank page with no controls
- 🐛 Recent changes made the app confusing and less user-friendly
- 🐛 Old drawings ruined by updates
8bit Painter
From 6.7K App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🥰 Fun and addictive
- 👍 Easy to use
- 🎨 Great for pixel art
- 💡 Helpful for crafting projects
- 🤩 Awesome app overall
Room to improve
- 🤬 Annoying ads
- 🔒 Limited canvas sizes
- 🎨 Lack of color customization
- 🐛 Occasional bugs and glitches
Bugs and requests
KaleidoPaint
Reported bugs
10 issues- App opens files app and no files are selectable
- App opens an empty page without any controls
- App immediately opens files without allowing creation
- App doesn't work, opens files app and doesn't allow creation
- Old drawings ruined by updates
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- Fill color not changing with line color
- Color and background tabs no longer work
- Sharing button not working
- Tileable rectangle export not working
- Saving as JPG only
Requested features
28 requests- Ability to break a line from a selected point
- Eraser tool
- Export as SVG option
- More features like different brushes, blending colors, more symmetrical choices, and better stroke control
- Ability to export in a square format
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- Transparent background option
- Export function for tilable squares
- Layers
- RGB color value sliders
- Opacity, blending modes
- Selection tool
- Ability to switch mirroring on and off
- Ability to export layers to Photoshop
- More control over drawing strokes
- Adjustable stroke smoothing
- More precise color selection (e.g., RGB or HLS)
- Ability to change grid line color
- Designs that save evenly in any size for multiple tiling
- Export and import patterns within the app
- Basic block repeat option
- Zoom in color selector
- More patterns to choose from and purchase
- Ability to set custom image size
- Export .png files with a transparent background
- More symmetry options
- Line and shape tools
- Apple Pencil support
- Option to minimize tool windows
8bit Painter
Reported bugs
3 issues- Freezing and crashing issues
- Distortion when importing images
- Inability to delete saved artworks
Requested features
5 requests- Custom canvas sizes
- More color options and palettes
- Ability to delete or rearrange colors
- Layers and animation support
- Copy/paste and selection tools
In-app purchases
KaleidoPaint
No in-app purchases
8bit Painter
- Remove Ads$5.99









