Comparison

Pixely vs PixelMaster

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

Head to head
About

Pixely

Create stunning pixel art with a user-friendly interface and powerful tools. This app offers flexible workspaces, extensive color management, and easy export options for both beginners and experienced artists.

Highlights
  • Large canvas sizes up to 4096x4096
  • Adjustable canvas dimensions
  • Extensive color palette management
  • Onion skinning for animation
  • Import/export animated GIFs
  • Apple Pencil support
  • Continuous auto-saving
Features
Read full description

Pixely is the easiest way to make amazing pixel art. "This is the best, and easiest to use pixel art app on the iPad. The UI is clean, the canvas is clear. This is the app I've been looking for." ~ John the artist, US App Store "Perfect for everything I use it for. Money very well spent." ~ Chase game, UK App Store "I'm super happy with this application so far... this one has the most features geared towards making pixel art that I need! The onion skin is terrific for making sprites for my game while I sit away from my computer. Keep up the fantastic work!" ~ WSDragon, Canada App Store A feature-rich and friendly pixel art and pixel-level image editor made for everyone from the dabbling game art fan to the experienced artist, and anyone in between! -- A Flexible Workspace -- • Edit huge canvases up to 4096x4096 pixels • Adjustable canvas sizes let you change the number of columns and rows, with or without scaling - it's your choice: unlike other apps, scaling up linearly (2x, 3x, etc.) will not distort your colors • Bookmark up to 40 colors per canvas (50 on iPad Pro 10.5, 75 on iPad Pro 12.9) and create reusable palettes of up to 272 colors • Helpful descriptions are available for every button and screen • Undo/redo for each canvas, up to 120x zooming, customizable grid sizes, flip and rotate canvases, and more! • Pixely's Art Viewer allows for quick and accurate enlarged or tiled previews, with care taken to scale art proportionally, preventing distortion and unwanted color changes • Use your canvases as layers or animation frames, each with their own opacity. Making layered art and animated GIFs has never been easier! • But wait... there's also Apple Pencil support, onion skinning, a mirrored UI mode, custom app tinting, and more... -- Highly Portable Artwork -- • Load and save art files, which include bookmarked colors, with support for folders. • Preview your art files as thumbnails before you open them • Artwork is continuously saved as you make changes, so you can focus on creating instead of saving. In fact, your entire session is restored when you re-open the app • Import images from your camera, Photos app, or the iOS clipboard • Import and export animated GIFs • Export one or many canvases all at once to your app files, Dropbox, photos, email, Facebook, and Twitter -- Create & Curate Colors -- • Pixely supports every RGB/HSB color with opacity/alpha channels • Start simple… select your colors from a rainbow of 234 evenly spread presets • Go pro… edit any color using sliders and brightness toggles • Be consistent… create palettes of up to 272 colors that you can load, save, and share • Import colors to get the exact shades that inspire you from your canvases and images • Quickly manage palette and bookmark colors • Select from recently used colors • Game Devs: Create a retro 8-bit or 16-bit effect by automatically color-reducing canvases to only use colors from your palettes! -- A Dynamic Toolset -- • Flexible drawing tools allow you to create art using variable-size pencil, freeform line, rectangle, and fill tools, all with optional symmetry • Shading (Burn/Dodge): Add or remove shading uniformly or randomly using any drawing tool • Multiple paste modes with easy drag-drop previewing, or use copied pixels like a brush, precision paste using a game-like control pad, or easily create patterns for dithering effects • Replace Color: Change all pixels of one color to another color • Eyedropper: Set the current color by selecting one from any pixel • Shift: Easily shift the pixels on an entire canvas to make room for new sections We love using Pixely and want you to enjoy it as much as we do. Please recommend any features or report bugs to hi@pixely.info or @PixelyApp on Twitter! Privacy Policy: Pixely does not collect any data at all, unless Dropbox is used. This data is collected by Dropbox and is not used by the app developer. See 'App Privacy' for more info or https://pixely.app/privacy.

About

PixelMaster

This app allows users to create custom pixel art from images using various pixel shapes, scales, and sizes. It offers high-speed rendering and cross-platform compatibility for artistic creations, personalized gifts, and digital design projects.

Highlights
  • Custom pixel shapes
  • Advanced pixelation
  • High-speed rendering
  • Cross-platform compatibility
  • Multiple use cases
Read full description

Why Choose PixelMaster? • Custom pixel shapes: Choose or import a style to perfectly match the style of your project and get creative. • Advanced Pixelation: Effortlessly pixelate images with customizable pixel shapes ,Scale and sizes. Perfect for creating unique visual effects and artistic styles. • High-Speed Rendering: Utilize our efficient algorithms for lightning-fast rendering in milliseconds, ensuring quick and seamless transformations. • Cross-Platform Compatibility: Enjoy flexibility and accessibility across iOS and macOS devices. Where to Use PixelMaster? • Artistic Creations: Create captivating pixel art for digital illustrations, game design, and graphic projects. • Personalized Gifts: Design unique pixel art gifts such as posters, mugs, and digital prints for friends and family. • Educational Projects: Enhance presentations and educational materials with visually engaging pixel art visuals. • Social Media Graphics: Craft eye-catching pixel art graphics for social media profiles, posts, and stories. • Creative Projects: Explore endless possibilities in digital art and creative projects with customizable pixel styles. • Fashion Design: Design pixel art motifs for clothing and accessories, blending digital aesthetics with fashion trends. • Jigsaw Puzzle Creation: Generate custom pixel art images for jigsaw puzzles, offering a challenging and visually appealing experience. • Digital Scrapbooking: Create pixel art elements for digital scrapbooks, preserving memories in a unique and artistic way. • Gaming Graphics: Develop pixelated sprites and backgrounds for indie game development, capturing nostalgic gaming vibes. • Logo Design: Design pixel art logos for brands and startups, combining modern design with a pixelated twist. • Event Invitations: Design pixel art invitations for parties and events, adding a creative touch to event planning. • Children’s Books: Illustrate children’s books with charming pixel art characters and scenes, engaging young readers. • DIY Crafts: Use pixel art patterns for DIY crafts such as cross-stitching and bead art, offering endless creative possibilities. • Mosaic Art: Create pixelated images for mosaic art projects, transforming spaces with colorful and intricate designs. • Educational Games: Develop educational games with pixelated visuals, making learning fun and interactive for students. • Website Graphics: Design pixel art elements for websites and blogs, enhancing visual appeal and user engagement. • Avatar Creation: Create pixel art avatars for social media profiles and forums, expressing personal style and identity. • Icon Design: Design pixelated icons for apps and software interfaces, ensuring clarity and visual consistency. • Architectural Visualization: Generate pixel art representations of architectural designs, visualizing concepts with a unique aesthetic. • Comic Strips: Illustrate comic strips with pixel art characters and scenes, adding a nostalgic comic book feel • Animated GIFs: Create pixel art animations and GIFs for digital marketing campaigns and social media content • Holiday Cards: Design pixel art images for holiday greeting cards, adding a personalized and artistic touch • Interior Design: Create pixel art prints and artworks for interior decoration, transforming living spaces with unique visuals • Personalized Gifts: Customize gifts such as phone cases, keychains, and posters with pixel art designs, making them truly special and memorable • Photo Collages: Combine multiple photos into a single pixel art collage, creating a unique visual story. • Album Covers: Design pixel art album covers for music releases, giving them a distinctive and memorable look. • Business Presentations: Add pixel art graphics to business presentations to make them more engaging and visually appealing. • Yearbook Design: Create pixel art illustrations and layouts for school yearbooks, capturing memories in a creative way.

Screenshots

PixelMaster4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Pixely at 4.1 against PixelMaster's 3.0. Pixely also leads on update cadence (every 2 months vs every 8 months) and review sentiment (79% vs 60%). PixelMaster's advantage is chart position (#83 vs unranked) and price ($0.29 vs $1.99). On ads, in-app purchases and monetization model 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

Pixely costs $1.99 and PixelMaster $0.29 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Pixely holds the better App Store score, 4.1 against 3.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Pixely has 17 ratings behind it against 2, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 79% of Pixely's written reviews are positive against 60% of PixelMaster's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Pixely ships an update every 2 months, PixelMaster every 8 months. The most recent releases landed on October 23, 2026 and October 30, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard8 real differences · 3 level
Pixely versus PixelMaster: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterPixelyPixelMaster
Price$1.99$0.29 — better
Rating4.1 (17 ratings) — better3.0 (2 ratings)
Positive reviews78.9% of reviews — better60.0% of reviews
Number of ratings17 — better2
Update frequencyEvery 2 months — betterEvery 8 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationPaidPaid
Best chart rank—#83 — better
DevicesiPadiPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac, Vision Pro — better
Requires iOS9.0 — better14.0
Further details — not scored
Size31 MB14 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperMark Marchione辉章 何

Customer experience

Pixely

All ratings16 ratings
Positive68.8%
Neutral18.8%
Negative12.5%
Written reviews57 reviews
Positive78.9%
Neutral8.8%
Negative12.3%

PixelMaster

All ratings2 ratings
Positive50.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative50.0%
Written reviews5 reviews
Positive60.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative40.0%

In-app purchases

None

Pixely

No in-app purchases

None

PixelMaster

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Pixely free?
Pixely costs $1.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is PixelMaster free?
PixelMaster costs $0.29, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Pixely or PixelMaster?
Pixely is rated higher. Pixely averages 4.1 out of 5 from 17 ratings, while PixelMaster averages 3.0 from 2 ratings.
Do Pixely or PixelMaster have ads?
Neither Pixely nor PixelMaster shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Pixely or PixelMaster?
Pixely ships an update every 2 months, and PixelMaster every 8 months. Most recently, Pixely was updated on October 23, 2026 and PixelMaster on October 30, 2026.

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