# Visual Pinball vs BigPEmu

The clearest difference is price: Visual Pinball at Free against BigPEmu's $9.99. BigPEmu's advantage is rating (5.0 vs 4.3) and review sentiment (94% vs 79%). On ratings volume, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model there is nothing between them.

Visual Pinball is free to download; BigPEmu costs $9.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

BigPEmu holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.3. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 73 and 26 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 79% of Visual Pinball's written reviews are positive against 94% of BigPEmu's.

Visual Pinball ships an update every 12 months, BigPEmu every 4 months. The most recent releases landed on October 18, 2026 and October 14, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | Visual Pinball | BigPEmu |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | **Free** | $9.99 |
| Rating | [4.3 (73 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/visual-pinball/id6547859926/reviews) | **[5.0 (26 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/bigpemu/id6737359949/reviews)** |
| Number of ratings | **73** | 26 |
| Positive reviews | 78.6% of reviews | **94.1% of reviews** |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Ads | No | No |
| Update frequency | Every 12 months | **Every 4 months** |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Size | 120 MB | 16 MB |
| Requires iOS | 26.6 | **15** |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | **iPhone, iPad, iPod** |
| Age rating | 9+ | +9 |
| Developer | [Jason Millard](https://appshunter.io/developer/1527911552) | [Swinecrafters LLC](https://appshunter.io/developer/387779001) |

## What reviewers say

### Visual Pinball

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/visual-pinball/id6547859926)

Enjoy a realistic pinball simulation with hundreds of community-created tables. Experience immersive haptic feedback and customize your gameplay with intuitive settings and controller support. Advanced options are available for power users.

**Highlights:** Hundreds of community-developed tables, Haptic feedback for immersive gameplay, Customizable settings and POV adjustments, Game controller support, External DMD and AltColor/AltSound support, Touch overlay and instructions

**Features:** macOS Compatibility, Game Controller support, Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases:** none

**What reviewers like**

- 🚀 Awesome way to play virtual pinball on the go
- 👍 Super easy to set up with minimal file prep time
- 👍 Insane that I can play favorite pins on just my phone
- 👍 Fantastic portable implementation of VPX
- 👍 Fun and exciting to archive the history of pinball

**What reviewers complain about**

- 🔧 More ability to adjust table settings needed
- 🔧 Struggling to manage camera angle
- 🔧 No fullscreen on iPad, plunger and outlanes cropped
- 🔧 Some tables don't work or have issues

**Reported bugs**

- Tables don't load for some users
- Certain complex/intensive tables error out or run at low FPS

**Requested features**

- List of most played tables
- Ability to reposition DMD
- Option to skip startup checks for some tables
- Ability to edit table scripts on the app
- Direct link to table depository


### BigPEmu

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/bigpemu/id6737359949)

This application emulates the Atari Jaguar console, offering high accuracy and performance for its entire retail game library. It provides advanced features like saved states, movie recording, and customizable controller support, enhancing the classic gaming experience.

**Highlights:** Full retail library compatibility, High performance emulation, Accurate emulation, Saved states and movie recording, Jaguar CD support, Customizable controller overlays, Fast forward and rewind

**Features:** macOS Compatibility, Game Controller support, Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases:** none


## Frequently asked questions

### Is Visual Pinball free?

Visual Pinball is free to download, with no in-app purchases.

### Is BigPEmu free?

BigPEmu costs $9.99, with no in-app purchases.

### Which has better reviews, Visual Pinball or BigPEmu?

BigPEmu is rated higher. Visual Pinball averages 4.3 out of 5 from 73 ratings, while BigPEmu averages 5.0 from 26 ratings.

### Do Visual Pinball or BigPEmu have ads?

Neither Visual Pinball nor BigPEmu shows ads.

### Which is updated more often, Visual Pinball or BigPEmu?

Visual Pinball ships an update every 12 months, and BigPEmu every 4 months. Most recently, Visual Pinball was updated on October 18, 2026 and BigPEmu on October 14, 2026.

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*Compared by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/) from daily US App Store data. Review summaries are generated from verbatim App Store reviews.*