Comparison

Thisissand vs Pottery.ly 3D

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

Head to head
About

Thisissand

Create and share mesmerizing sand art with this therapeutic app. Watch vibrant sand layers form, relax to soothing sounds, and explore a variety of color tools to design unique sand pictures. Join a community of artists and showcase your creations.

Highlights
  • Sand art creation
  • Relaxing soundscapes
  • Color Palette tool
  • Color Shifter tool
  • Color Picker from camera
  • Photo Sand feature
  • Save custom colors
Features
Read full description

Thisissand is an app for making and sharing pictures out of sand. Watch and listen to the sand piling into beautiful layers of sand on the bottom of your screen and get relaxed during the slow and therapeutic process. Once finished, share your creation and become a part of the community! • Free to download and free to play • Does not display ads • Offers you to sign-up, but does not require you to • Offers you to purchase a Toolkit of special features, but does not require you to - - - - - - - - - - Thisissand was created in 2008 as a website. It was a school project of a few art students, and to a surprise for the creators it attracted lots of visitors for years to come. In 2012 Thisissand was developed into an app and is still run by an original founder. Thisissand offers different kinds of tools for choosing the sand color. Originally and still at the moment on Thisissand website, only the essential Color Palette tool is available. For the app, we have developed a few special kinds of tools which we offer in the Toolkit in-app purchase. Just like on the website, the special tools are not at all necessary to enjoy the app, but they're pretty cool and we're happy and thankful for your support if you're willing to try them out! COLOR PALETTE: Use Color Palette to choose specific colors from a vast swatch of colors. You may choose a solid color, or multiple colors to variate between. Use the intensity slider to adjust how fast the colors change. You may also use the randomize button to get surprising color combos. COLOR SHIFTER: Color Shifter continuously changes the sand color subtly or dramatically depending on the intensity slider adjustment. Color Shifter often produces rainbow like hues. To set the initial Color Shifter color, choose a color with Color Palette and then select the Color Shifter tool. COLOR PICKER: With Color Picker, you may pick the sand color from around you using your device camera. It takes a little practice to point your camera and draw at the same time, but in return you get truly unique colors. Try adjusting the color change intensity low in the beginning to keep things under control! PHOTO SAND: Want to try making a sand version of one of your photos? Photo Sand picks the sand color directly from the photo you've chosen from your camera roll. Try it out and learn the tricks to make abstract and/or photorealistic representations! MY COLORS: Save your favorite colors in My Colors and access them quickly by long pressing the color button on the sand canvas. Try saving colors from around with Color Picker! - - - - - - - - - - We highly value your feedback and questions. Ideas and feature requests for example are warmly welcome, even though with our scarce resources we're unfortunately not able to fulfil them very quickly. So please do send us email if you're having trouble with the app or if you have anything else to share with us, thank you! :) support@thisissand.com - - - - - - - - - - Follow us twitter.com/thisissandapp instagram.com/thisissandapp facebook.com/thisissand

About

Pottery.ly 3D

Create unique ceramic art in a relaxing digital environment. Shape, texture, and decorate your virtual pottery. Share your masterpieces with a vibrant community or friends.

Highlights
  • Shape ceramics with powerful yet simple tools
  • Apply various textures
  • Decorate with custom designs
  • Share creations with friends
  • Engage with an in-app community
  • Relaxing and therapeutic gameplay
Features
Read full description

Pottery.ly is a super relaxing pottery game that allows you to create your own unique ceramics. You can shape your ceramics anyway you like, and you can choose which texture you would want them to be in. But it’s not over yet, you can even draw on it to make it truly a one of a kind masterpiece. Creating an amazing looking ceramic is a very relaxing and satisfying process, and the result can be even more accomplishing. You can share your works with your friends, or you can even share it on the Pottery.ly community to inspire others! AWESOME FEATURES: - Simple but powerful tools: the tools are not only very easy to use, but also allow you to create pottery of any shape, texture, and pattern. - Awesome community: you can share your works or view others on the built in Pottery.ly community. Creativity is limitless! - Super relaxing gameplay: Pottery.ly offers a truly relaxing, therapeutic, and pleasant gameplay experience that you can share with your friends and family. Let’s play Pottery.ly now and start making your first ceramic masterpiece! SUBSCRIPTION INFO - Pottery.ly can be accessed for free. Free users have access to free content. The free version may include interstitial, banner, and native ads. - You can purchase a weekly, monthly, or yearly subscription to unlock all content and remove ads. - Payment will be charged to your Apple ID account at confirmation of purchase. - Subscriptions automatically renew unless auto-renew is turned off at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. The account will be charged for renewal within 24 hours before the end of the current period. - Subscriptions may be managed and auto-renewal may be turned off in your Apple ID subscription settings after purchase. Canceling trial or subscription You can cancel the subscription anytime in your Apple ID subscription settings. See https://support.apple.com/HT202039. When the current subscription period expires, access to Premium content will end. Contact: incolor.feedback@hotmail.com Terms of Service: http://incolor.cc/en/agreement.html Privacy Policy: http://incolor.cc/en/privacy.html

Screenshots

Thisissand4 screens
Pottery.ly 3D4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is ads: Thisissand at none against Pottery.ly 3D's shown. Thisissand also leads on review sentiment (83% vs 69%) and iOS requirement (8.0 vs 15). Pottery.ly 3D's advantage is update cadence (monthly vs every 2 months). On price, rating, ratings volume 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Thisissand sells 7 one-off in-app purchases and Pottery.ly 3D sells 7 in-app purchases, starting at $4.49 per 7 days. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Thisissand holds the better App Store score, 4.5 against 4.3. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 1.5K and 2.9K respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 83% of Thisissand's written reviews are positive against 69% of Pottery.ly 3D's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Thisissand ships an update every 2 months, Pottery.ly 3D monthly. The most recent releases landed on October 16, 2026 and October 20, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
Thisissand versus Pottery.ly 3D: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterThisissandPottery.ly 3D
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.5 (1.5K ratings) — better4.3 (2.9K ratings)
Positive reviews83.3% of reviews — better69.4% of reviews
Number of ratings1.5K2.9K — better
Update frequencyEvery 2 monthsMonthly — better
AdsNo — betterYes
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS8.0 — better15
Further details — not scored
Size47 MB196 MB
Age rating9+4+
DeveloperBeige ElephantEYEWIND LIMITED

Customer experience

Thisissand

All ratings1,523 ratings
Positive89.4%
Neutral3.9%
Negative6.7%
Written reviews413 reviews
Positive83.3%
Neutral7.3%
Negative9.4%

Pottery.ly 3D

All ratings2,878 ratings
Positive82.3%
Neutral6.0%
Negative11.7%
Written reviews173 reviews
Positive69.4%
Neutral9.2%
Negative21.4%

User reviews

Thisissand

From 1.5K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 💎 Relaxing and calming experience
  • 🎨 Allows for creative expression
  • 🔒 No ads or distractions
  • 🤩 Satisfying sand effects
  • 🤗 Supportive and friendly community

Room to improve

  • 💰 Many features locked behind paywall
  • 🐛 Occasional glitches and bugs
  • 🔍 Difficult to find/access previous creations
  • 🖌️ Limited color customization options

Pottery.ly 3D

From 2.9K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 💡 Endless creative possibilities
  • 👍 Relaxing and calming experience
  • 🚀 Smooth and responsive app
  • 👍 Satisfying pottery-making process
  • 👍 Ability to share creations with others

Room to improve

  • 🔒 Subscription required for full access
  • 🐛 Glitchy and buggy app experience
  • 📺 Excessive and intrusive advertisements
  • 👎 Limited free content and features
  • 👎 Difficult to control and shape pottery

Bugs and requests

Thisissand

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Screen going black after selecting photo sand
  • Inability to post/share creations at times
  • Inconsistent performance and loading issues
  • Camera/microphone activation without user consent

Requested features

5 requests
  • Undo/erase functionality
  • Ability to follow and comment on other users' creations
  • More free color and sand options
  • Improved search and organization of user content
  • Save/resume unfinished creations

Pottery.ly 3D

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Inability to like or comment on others' work
  • Inconsistent behavior when using drawing tools
  • Pottery shapes not matching user's input
  • Ads not working or causing crashes

Requested features

5 requests
  • More customization options for pottery
  • Ability to import own images and designs
  • Offline mode for creating pottery
  • Improved social features and community
  • Better performance and stability

In-app purchases

7 purchases

Thisissand

One-time7
  • Color Palette$0.99
  • HD Sand$0.99
  • My Colors Expansion$0.99
Show 4 more
  • Color Picker$0.99
  • Color Shifter$0.99
  • Toolkit (reduced price)$0.99
  • Toolkit$1.99
7 purchases

Pottery.ly 3D

Subscriptions3
  • weekly subscription7 Days trial$4.497 Days
  • monthly subscription$8.991 Month
  • yearly subscription$34.991 Year
One-time4
  • level1$5.99
  • level2$10.99
  • level3$21.99
Show 1 more
  • level4$34.99

Questions

Is Thisissand free?
Thisissand is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Pottery.ly 3D free?
Pottery.ly 3D is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Thisissand or Pottery.ly 3D?
Thisissand is rated higher. Thisissand averages 4.5 out of 5 from 1.5K ratings, while Pottery.ly 3D averages 4.3 from 2.9K ratings.
Do Thisissand or Pottery.ly 3D have ads?
Pottery.ly 3D shows ads; Thisissand does not.
Which is updated more often, Thisissand or Pottery.ly 3D?
Thisissand ships an update every 2 months, and Pottery.ly 3D monthly. Most recently, Thisissand was updated on October 16, 2026 and Pottery.ly 3D on October 20, 2026.

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