Comparison

Icon Builder vs Accoste

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

Head to head
About

Icon Builder

Features
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This app is designed to teach students the traditional art of drawing and painting Byzantine icons through a structured series of high-quality video tutorials. Learners can access step-by-step guidance, printable worksheets, and carefully crafted model references to support their artistic development. Key Features: Video Lessons: Comprehensive tutorials covering both drawing and painting techniques. Worksheets & Models: Downloadable resources to help practice and refine skills. 3D Icon Models: View and interact with icons in 3D for better understanding of form and detail. Community Chat: Connect with fellow students to share your progress, receive feedback, and exchange ideas. The app includes auto-renewable subscription options for continued access to premium content and features. Terms of Use: This app uses Apple’s Standard License Agreement. You can view it here: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

About

Accoste

Features
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A berthing simulator, and the course that goes with it. Accoste reproduces what makes coming into a harbour hard: the momentum of five tonnes, the prop walk that throws the stern sideways in astern gear, the rudder that goes dead the moment you back up, the wind that puts the bow off the moment you lose steerage. You manoeuvre from above, at full scale, on a chart. SEVENTEEN MANOEUVRES Alongside a quay β€” getting the feel of her, berthing in calm weather, in an onshore wind, against a current, and springing off between two neighbours. Finger berths β€” a Breton marina at real dimensions: main pontoon, 8.4 m fingers, berths at 5.2 m centres, a 23 m fairway. Bow in, stern to, cross wind, and leaving with the wind pinning you on. Hard situations β€” force 5 downwind, a cross set, a neighbour backing out at the wrong moment, a jammed gearbox with no astern power, force 6 gusts, arriving at night, and rafting up on the visitors' pontoon. WHAT THE MODEL REPRODUCES Prop walk, to be checked before anything else. Prop wash over the rudder, which gives you steerage at zero speed going ahead and nothing at all going astern. The pivot point, calculated in real time β€” not drawn a third of the way back: it moves with the way she carries, and you watch the stern swing. Mooring lines under real tension, each pulling on its cleat with its own lever arm: forward spring, engine ahead, helm to seaward genuinely holds the boat still, and springing off genuinely works. OBJECTIVES THAT ARE MEASURED Every exercise marks itself. Contact speed is measured in metres per second. Impacts are counted. And making the bow line fast instead of the spring does not tick the box β€” because it does not work on the water either. THE COURSE Ten chapters: how to use the course, the vocabulary aboard, the names of the lines and what each one forbids, the five effects that account for failed manoeuvres, the five-minute check before going in, the manoeuvres one by one, locking in, lying against a tidal wall, the classic mistakes, the exercises to do offshore before your first entry, and a crib sheet to laminate. Plus a ten-question quiz, with the reasoning after every answer. HONESTLY The hydrodynamic constants are eyeball-calibrated for an 11.4 m yacht. The orders of magnitude are right; the feel is no substitute for twenty minutes of real practice in clear water, nor for checking the prop walk on your own boat. ASKING FOR NOTHING No account. No network. No data collected, no trackers, no advertising. Everything runs on your iPhone, including at sea, out of signal. Four manoeuvres and two chapters are open. The rest opens with a single purchase, no subscription: the content is finite, and it stays yours.

Screenshots

Icon Builder4 screens
Accoste4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Accoste at none against Icon Builder's 2. Accoste also leads on update cadence (weekly vs every 3 weeks). Icon Builder's advantage is device support (3 vs 1) and iOS requirement (15.6 vs 17.0). On price and ads there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price Β· Rating Β· Positive reviews Β· Number of ratings Β· Update frequency Β· Ads Β· In-app purchases Β· Monetization Β· Best chart rank Β· Devices Β· Requires iOS

CostPrice Β· In-app purchases Β· Ads Β· Monetization

Both are free to download. Icon Builder sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $14.99 per month. Accoste asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Icon Builder ships an update every 3 weeks, Accoste weekly. The most recent releases landed on October 7, 2026 and September 29, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences Β· 2 level
Icon Builder versus Accoste: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterIcon BuilderAccoste
PriceFreeFree
Update frequencyEvery 3 weeksWeekly β€” better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo β€” better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod β€” betteriPhone
Requires iOS15.6 β€” better17.0
Further details β€” not scored
Size54 MB1 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperIcon BuilderFOSS4EU

In-app purchases

2 purchases

Icon Builder

Subscriptions2
  • Monthly Subscription$14.991 Month
  • Semi Yearly Plan$75.006 Months
None

Accoste

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Icon Builder free?
Icon Builder is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Accoste free?
Accoste is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do Icon Builder or Accoste have ads?
Neither Icon Builder nor Accoste shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Icon Builder or Accoste?
Icon Builder ships an update every 3 weeks, and Accoste weekly. Most recently, Icon Builder was updated on October 7, 2026 and Accoste on September 29, 2026.

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