# Visual Pinball vs Pinball Architect

The clearest difference is rating: Pinball Architect at 5.0 against Visual Pinball's 4.3. Pinball Architect also leads on update cadence (every 3 weeks vs every 12 months) and review sentiment (100% vs 79%). Visual Pinball's advantage is ratings volume (73 vs 5). On price, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model there is nothing between them.

Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

Pinball Architect holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.3. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Visual Pinball has 73 ratings behind it against 5, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 79% of Visual Pinball's written reviews are positive against 100% of Pinball Architect's.

Visual Pinball ships an update every 12 months, Pinball Architect every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 18, 2026 and October 10, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | Visual Pinball | Pinball Architect |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | [4.3 (73 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/visual-pinball/id6547859926/reviews) | **[5.0 (5 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/pinball-architect/id6760352198/reviews)** |
| Number of ratings | **73** | 5 |
| Positive reviews | 78.6% of reviews | **100.0% of reviews** |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Ads | No | No |
| Update frequency | Every 12 months | **Every 3 weeks** |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Size | 120 MB | 49 MB |
| Requires iOS | 26.6 | **18.2** |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad |
| Age rating | 9+ | 4+ |
| Developer | [Jason Millard](https://appshunter.io/developer/1527911552) | [Tarik Rahmatallah](https://appshunter.io/developer/1884048620) |

## 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


### Pinball Architect

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/pinball-architect/id6760352198)

Design and play custom pinball tables in a vibrant community. Build your dream machine with intuitive tools and realistic physics, or explore endless unique tables created by others. Enjoy offline play and a variety of themes.

**Highlights:** Play endless community-made tables, DIY editor for custom machine design, Realistic custom physics simulation, Instant access to a library of designs, Deep and easy-to-learn creation tools, Offline play and design

**Features:** macOS Compatibility, 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 Pinball Architect free?

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

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

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

### Do Visual Pinball or Pinball Architect have ads?

Neither Visual Pinball nor Pinball Architect shows ads.

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

Visual Pinball ships an update every 12 months, and Pinball Architect every 3 weeks. Most recently, Visual Pinball was updated on October 18, 2026 and Pinball Architect on October 10, 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.*