Comparison

Dot Lab vs Paper Bloom

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

Head to head
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/

About

Paper Bloom

Experience the art of papercutting digitally. Create intricate designs with intuitive tools, then unfold them to reveal magical patterns. Bring your creations to life in your own space using augmented reality.

Highlights
  • Realistic papercutting simulation
  • Finger and Apple Pencil support
  • Magical unfolding animations
  • Augmented reality placement
  • Create and share designs
Features
Read full description

Paper Bloom brings the traditional Chinese art of papercutting to your fingertips. -Realistic Papercutting Experience: Craft beautiful designs effortlessly with your finger or Apple Pencil, recreating the authentic feel of traditional papercutting. -Magical Unfolding Moment: Unfold your paper cuts to reveal stunning patterns—enjoy a moment of surprise and delight. -AR Placement: Bring your creations into the real world using AR. Simply scan your environment, detect walls or windows, and place your papercuts seamlessly into your surroundings. Enjoy creating and sharing the beauty of traditional art with Paper Bloom.

Screenshots

Dot Lab4 screens
Paper Bloom4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Paper Bloom at none against Dot Lab's 5. Paper Bloom also leads on rating (4.8 vs 4.5) and ratings volume (30 vs 10). Dot Lab's advantage is iOS requirement (13.0 vs 17.0). On price, review sentiment, 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

Both are free to download. Dot Lab sells 5 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per month. Paper Bloom asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Paper Bloom holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 4.5. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 10 and 30 respectively. Written reviews split almost evenly too, at 96% and 96% positive.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Dot Lab ships an update fortnightly, Paper Bloom every 2 weeks. Both last shipped on September 28, 2026.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
Dot Lab versus Paper Bloom: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterDot LabPaper Bloom
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.5 (10 ratings)4.8 (30 ratings) — better
Positive reviews96.4% of reviews — better96.0% of reviews
Number of ratings1030 — better
Update frequencyFortnightlyEvery 2 weeks — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFreemiumFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS13.0 — better17.0
Further details — not scored
Size80 MB14 MB
Age rating4+4+
Developer桂华 冉Mingkun Hong

Customer experience

Dot Lab

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

Paper Bloom

All ratings30 ratings
Positive96.7%
Neutral0.0%
Negative3.3%
Written reviews25 reviews
Positive96.0%
Neutral4.0%
Negative0.0%

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
None

Paper Bloom

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Dot Lab free?
Dot Lab is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Paper Bloom free?
Paper Bloom is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Dot Lab or Paper Bloom?
Paper Bloom is rated higher. Dot Lab averages 4.5 out of 5 from 10 ratings, while Paper Bloom averages 4.8 from 30 ratings.
Do Dot Lab or Paper Bloom have ads?
Neither Dot Lab nor Paper Bloom shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Dot Lab or Paper Bloom?
Dot Lab ships an update fortnightly, and Paper Bloom every 2 weeks. Most recently, Dot Lab was updated on September 28, 2026 and Paper Bloom on September 28, 2026.

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