# Visual Pinball vs Pianova

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Visual Pinball at none against Pianova's 4. Visual Pinball also leads on ads (none vs shown). Pianova's advantage is iOS requirement (15.6 vs 26.6). On price, update cadence and device support there is nothing between them.

Both are free to download. Pianova sells 4 one-off in-app purchases. Visual Pinball asks for nothing beyond the download.

Visual Pinball ships an update fortnightly, Pianova every 9 days. The most recent releases landed on October 30, 2026 and October 24, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | Visual Pinball | Pianova |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | **[4.3 (74 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/visual-pinball/id6547859926/reviews)** | — |
| Number of ratings | **74** | — |
| Positive reviews | 78.6% of reviews | — |
| In-app purchases | **No** | Yes |
| Ads | **No** | Yes |
| Update frequency | Fortnightly | **Every 9 days** |
| Monetization | Free | — |
| Size | 134 MB | 35 MB |
| Requires iOS | 26.6 | **15.6** |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | **iPhone, iPad, iPod** |
| Age rating | 9+ | 4+ |
| Developer | [Jason Millard](https://appshunter.io/developer/1527911552) | [Cristina Duart Alvarez de Cienfuegos](https://appshunter.io/developer/6808728369) |

## What reviewers say

### Visual Pinball

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

Experience the full virtual pinball simulator with realistic physics, lighting, and sound. This open-source app offers a redesigned interface, enhanced table management, and the complete desktop experience for mobile devices. Enjoy a vast library of tables without ads or in-app purchases.

**Highlights:** Realistic physics, lighting, and sound, Redesigned interface with Liquid Glass, Full in-game menu for graphics and controls, Support for various backglass and display types, Easy table import and management, Optimized memory usage

**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


### Pianova

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/pianova/id6811408260)

**Features:** Family Sharing

**In-app purchases (4)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 3 lives | $0.99 | one-time |
| 10 lives | $1.99 | one-time |
| 25 lives | $3.99 | one-time |
| Premium | $4.99 | one-time |


## Frequently asked questions

### Is Visual Pinball free?

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

### Is Pianova free?

Pianova is free to download, with in-app purchases available.

### Do Visual Pinball or Pianova have ads?

Pianova shows ads; Visual Pinball does not.

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

Visual Pinball ships an update fortnightly, and Pianova every 9 days. Most recently, Visual Pinball was updated on October 30, 2026 and Pianova on October 24, 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.*