Comparison

Light Stack Camera vs ChopShop

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

Head to head
About

Light Stack Camera

Capture incredibly sharp long exposure photos without a tripod. Advanced AI stabilization allows for handheld shots up to 30 seconds, providing natural-looking results. Unique features like true-to-motion preview and customizable failure responses ensure control and prevent ruined shots.

Highlights
  • AI-stabilized long exposures
  • Handheld shooting up to 30 seconds
  • True-to-motion live preview
  • Customizable failure response options
  • Full-resolution image pipeline
Features
Read full description

Capture sharp long exposures — no tripod required. With advanced AI stabilization, Light Stack lets you shoot handheld for up to 30 seconds — with consistently sharp, natural-looking results. To help you stay steady and in control, Light Stack offers some unique features: • True-to-Motion Preview: The live preview moves naturally with your hands, giving you intuitive feedback that helps you stay steady. No more fighting to keep a crosshair centered. • Failure Response: If motion tracking is lost, you choose what happens: temporarily pause the exposure, end it cleanly, or keep going without stabilization. No surprises, and no ruined shots when things don’t go as planned. • Full-Resolution Pipeline: Light Stack maintains full resolution from capture to final image. No cropping, and no upscaling to cover it up. Try it free and experience the convenience of Light Stack. --- Terms of Service: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

About

ChopShop

This app offers quick and efficient audio and video editing for everyday tasks. It allows for trimming, splitting, reordering, and cropping clips without complex project setups. Enjoy fast exports with lossless quality when possible.

Highlights
  • Quick clip trimming and splitting
  • Drag-and-drop reordering
  • Lossless export when possible
  • Crop on export
  • Retime and reverse clips
  • Separate audio and video tracks
  • Frame-accurate nudging
Features
Read full description

ChopShop is the everyday audio and video editor for iPhone and iPad — for the cuts you make 20 times a week but don't want to fire up a full editing suite for. Import a clip from Files or Photos. Trim the edges. Split at the playhead. Drag to reorder. Crop on export. Save. Done. No "create new project" dialog, no media-import wizard. The timeline appears the moment the clip lands. Lossless when it can be If your edit doesn't need re-encoding, ChopShop won't. Same codec, same bitrate, no quality loss — exports finish in seconds, not minutes. The app falls back to a clean re-encode the moment you add a crop or stack mismatched formats, and the status line tells you which path's running before you export. The cuts you actually make • Trim clip edges with a live source preview at the new in/out point • Split at the playhead • Drag to reorder, drop new clips between, collapse gaps with a tap • Retime any clip — 0.5×, 2×, or a custom rate • Reverse any clip, pre-rendered in the background so playback stays fluid • Crop on export with per-edge insets and a lock for uniform crops • Frame-accurate playhead and clip nudges • Audio + video on separate rails — unlink to trim them independently, multi-select across both • Mixed-aspect timelines: each clip displays at its own native ratio • Copy the current frame to the clipboard as PNG Opens what you throw at it MP4, MOV, M4A, MP3, and WAV open instantly. Tiny project file .chop documents are readable, formatted JSON pointing at your source media — kilobytes, not gigabytes. Move them around, email them, sync them in iCloud Drive. Native, fast, no services Pure Swift on AVFoundation. No account, no cloud dependency, no telemetry. Doesn't need an internet connection to open a file. Localized into 11 languages English, Deutsch, Español, Français, Italiano, 日本語, 한국어, Português (Brasil), Українська, Русский, 简体中文. Documentation https://bendansby.com/apps/chopshop/docs.html Support ben.dansby@gmail.com — usually a reply within a day or two.

Screenshots

Light Stack Camera3 screens
ChopShop4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Light Stack Camera at Free against ChopShop's $9.99. Light Stack Camera also leads on iOS requirement (16.0 vs 26.0). ChopShop's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 3) and review sentiment (100% vs 73%). On update cadence and ads 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

Light Stack Camera is free to download; ChopShop costs $9.99 up front. Light Stack Camera sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month. ChopShop asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Light Stack Camera ships an update weekly, ChopShop every 8 days. Both last shipped on October 6, 2026.

Scorecard6 real differences · 4 level
Light Stack Camera versus ChopShop: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterLight Stack CameraChopShop
PriceFree — better$9.99
Rating4.7 (28 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews73.1% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings28 — better—
Update frequencyWeekly — betterEvery 8 days
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases — betterPaid
DevicesiPhoneiPhone, iPad, Mac — better
Requires iOS16.0 — better26.0
Further details — not scored
Size1 MB7 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperCogitap SoftwareBenjamin Dansby

Customer experience

Light Stack Camera

All ratings28 ratings
Positive92.9%
Neutral3.6%
Negative3.6%
Written reviews26 reviews
Positive73.1%
Neutral3.8%
Negative23.1%

ChopShop

Written reviews1 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

3 purchases

Light Stack Camera

Subscriptions2
  • Monthly Subscription$4.991 Month
  • Yearly Subscription7 Days trial$19.991 Year
One-time1
  • Lifetime Access$34.99
None

ChopShop

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Light Stack Camera free?
Light Stack Camera is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is ChopShop free?
ChopShop costs $9.99, with no in-app purchases.
Do Light Stack Camera or ChopShop have ads?
Neither Light Stack Camera nor ChopShop shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Light Stack Camera or ChopShop?
Light Stack Camera ships an update weekly, and ChopShop every 8 days. Most recently, Light Stack Camera was updated on October 6, 2026 and ChopShop on October 6, 2026.

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