Comparison

BeadsDesign vs Dot Lab

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

Head to head
About

BeadsDesign

Create pixel art designs for iron beads and bead weaving. Import photos, scan them into a canvas, and use various tools to edit and export your creations. Supports multiple panel shapes and color manipulation.

Highlights
  • Photo import and editing
  • Photo scanning onto canvas
  • Multiple panel shapes
  • Zoom, pan, and color selection tools
  • Flood fill and undo/redo functionality
  • Color replacement and grayscale conversion
  • Export designs to photo library
Features
Read full description

BeadsDesign is an application to create pixel art for iron-on beads, beads stitching. You can load photo and scan it into the pixel art canvas which size is from 8x8 to 128x128. You can use circle, hexagon, brick shape panel for iron-on beads or beads stithing. [main facilities] - import and edit photos with 128x128 and less - scan photos on the canvas of the favorite size - stick a photo to the rough sketch view as a model. - output the photo image into the photo library. - zoom in, zoom out - move the canvas with 2 fingers swipe - long press to pick color - flood fill - undo,redo - color selection by RGB slider - selected color history - replace all pixels of specified color to other color - decrease color - convert canvas to grayscale - Display the canvas with numbers expressing colors

About

Dot Lab

Create pixel art for NFTs, avatars, or fuse bead patterns with intuitive drawing tools and customizable palettes. Generate detailed patterns for crafts like perler beads and crochet, with options for efficient creation and sharing.

Highlights
  • Efficient drawing tools
  • Multiple canvas sizes
  • Rich color options and palette management
  • Automatic pattern generation for crafts
  • Workstation for secondary creations
  • Share and save artwork
  • Data backup and canvas lock
Features
Read full description

Welcome to "Dot Lab"! "Dot Lab" is a simple and user-friendly pixel art creation app, designed for both beginners and experienced artists. With our app, you can effortlessly create stunning works of art. It's the perfect tool for creating NFTs, pixel avatars, and fuse bead patterns. Key Features: - Efficient Drawing Tools: Includes bucket fill, continuous drawing, selection, move, mirror, and reference (guidelines) tools to help you create efficiently. - Multiple Canvas Sizes: Choose from various canvas sizes to suit different creative needs. - Canvas Zoom and Drag: Pinch to zoom or drag the canvas, allowing precise edits and easy drawing on mobile devices. - Rich Color Options: Access a wide range of built-in colors or customize your palette by selecting any color or inputting a Hex code. - Palette Management: Create or import palettes and quickly switch colors within a palette. When exporting, you can generate diagrams with corresponding color codes. - Share and Save: Share your artwork with one tap or save it directly to your gallery. - Batch Operations: Easily manage your creations by copying or deleting multiple works at once. - Share Source File: You can quickly share your pixel art work source files with friends or other devices. The source files can be opened directly with the Dot Lab app. - Data Backup: You can backup your data regularly to ensure data security. - Canvas Lock: Lock your canvas once a project is complete to prevent accidental edits. Premium Features: - Pattern Generation: Automatically generate patterns with grid numbers, color codes, and more—perfect for teaching pixel art or secondary creations like fuse beads, crochet, and cross-stitch. Also provides multiple options such as material count statistics, shadow, watermark, palette name, etc., allowing users to create personalized artwork customization. - Work Station The work station is designed to assist you in efficiently completing secondary creations after drawing, such as perler beads, crochet, beading, cross-stitch, and more. ·Highlight Same Colors: Quickly highlight areas with the same color to improve crafting efficiency. ·Get Pixel Position: Tap on a pixel to view its position, helping with precise alignment. ·Segmented Work: Break down a large canvas into smaller sections for easier handling, especially useful for perler beads, crochet, and beading projects. - Custom Canvas Sizes: Choose from popular aspect ratios like 1:1, 2:3, 3:4, 3:5, 4:5, and 9:16, or set a custom ratio to create canvases freely. - Advanced Drawing Tools (Symmetry, Move, Mirror, etc.): Powerful tools to help you complete or refine your creations efficiently. - Unlimited Palettes: Free users can create or import up to 3 palettes, while premium users can create or import an unlimited number. - Additional Premium Features in Development Join the "Dot Lab" community and unleash your creativity! As an independent developer, your support means the world to us. If you have any questions or suggestions, please contact us at dotlab.app@gmail.com. Terms of Service: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

Screenshots

BeadsDesign4 screens
Dot Lab4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Dot Lab at 96% against BeadsDesign's 54%. Dot Lab also leads on ads (none vs shown). BeadsDesign's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 5) and rating (4.7 vs 4.5). On price, update cadence, device support and iOS requirement 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. Dot Lab sells 5 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per month. BeadsDesign asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

BeadsDesign holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 4.5. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: BeadsDesign has 61 ratings behind it against 10, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 54% of BeadsDesign's written reviews are positive against 96% of Dot Lab's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

BeadsDesign ships an update every 3 weeks, Dot Lab fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on September 22, 2026 and September 23, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 4 level
BeadsDesign versus Dot Lab: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterBeadsDesignDot Lab
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.7 (61 ratings) — better4.5 (10 ratings)
Positive reviews54.2% of reviews96.4% of reviews — better
Number of ratings61 — better10
Update frequencyEvery 3 weeksFortnightly — better
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationAd-supported — betterFreemium
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS13.013.0
Further details — not scored
Size13 MB80 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperHIDEHIKO NAGANO桂华 冉

Customer experience

BeadsDesign

All ratings61 ratings
Positive91.8%
Neutral4.9%
Negative3.3%
Written reviews48 reviews
Positive54.2%
Neutral20.8%
Negative25.0%

Dot Lab

All ratings10 ratings
Positive80.0%
Neutral20.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews28 reviews
Positive96.4%
Neutral0.0%
Negative3.6%

In-app purchases

None

BeadsDesign

No in-app purchases

5 purchases

Dot Lab

Subscriptions2
  • Monthly7 Days trial$1.991 Month
  • Yearly7 Days trial$9.991 Year
One-time3
  • Annual member$19.99
  • Lifetime$22.99
  • Lifetime$29.99

Questions

Is BeadsDesign free?
BeadsDesign is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Dot Lab free?
Dot Lab is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, BeadsDesign or Dot Lab?
BeadsDesign is rated higher. BeadsDesign averages 4.7 out of 5 from 61 ratings, while Dot Lab averages 4.5 from 10 ratings.
Do BeadsDesign or Dot Lab have ads?
BeadsDesign shows ads; Dot Lab does not.
Which is updated more often, BeadsDesign or Dot Lab?
BeadsDesign ships an update every 3 weeks, and Dot Lab fortnightly. Most recently, BeadsDesign was updated on September 22, 2026 and Dot Lab on September 23, 2026.

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