Comparison

glacial vs Scatto for Pixelfed

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

Head to head
About

glacial

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Glacial is a lightweight, cross-platform Mastodon client built with Flutter, using the OpenAPI specification to drive API integration. Provide a smooth and intuitive community browsing experience on iOS or macOS devices, allowing you to discover the latest community content at any time. ## Features - Fast discovery: Search any Mastodon server (mastodon.social by default) - Easier content discovery: Browse popular posts, tags, and user lists directly within the app - Stable and reliable architecture: Based on the official Mastodon API specification, ensuring data security and accuracy - Privacy-focused and simple: Lightweight and standalone client, no personal information is stored - Multi-platform design: Supports iOS, iPad, and macOS versions ## Source Code The latest released versions and in-progress versions of all programs can be found at https://github.com/cmj0121/glacial

About

Scatto for Pixelfed

A fast, native iOS client for a decentralized photo-sharing network. Share photos and videos, manage your feed, and interact with others while maintaining ownership of your content. Supports direct messages, stories, and home screen widgets.

Highlights
  • Fast photo uploads
  • Post video
  • Crop and filter photos
  • Home, local, and global timelines
  • Direct Messages
  • Stories (experimental)
  • Home Screen widgets
Features
Read full description

Scatto is a fast, native iOS client for Pixelfed — the photo-sharing network built on the open fediverse (ActivityPub). A decentralized alternative to the big media platforms: your photos, your feed, in your hands. Built for speed: browse your home, local, and global timelines with smooth scrolling and edge-to-edge photos. Share photos with your loved ones or with fellow photo enthusiasts — either way, you own your content. Scatto is free and open source. New to Pixelfed? Create a free account on any Pixelfed server — for example scatto.social or pixelfed.social or one of the many other instances — and sign right in. FEATURES • Fast, clean photo uploads — capture or pick from your library • Post video, converted on device so it plays everywhere • Crop and filter your photos before you post — including fun filters like Lo-Fi and 16-color • Your post appears instantly while it uploads in the background • Home, local, and global timelines • Like, comment, boost, and bookmark • Follow people and manage your profile, follow hashtags • Push notifications for likes, comments, follows, and boosts, direct messages, on servers that support them • Stories (experimental, off by default) — share a moment that lasts 24 hours • Direct Messages, reactions to messages, group messages • Collections — browse and fill your Pixelfed collections, and drop a post into one while you write it; new collections are created on your server's website • Report, block, and mute — keep your feed yours • Home Screen widgets — the latest photos from your timeline, a QR code that opens your profile • Share extension — post to Pixelfed from other apps • Multiple accounts • Tag the place — nearby cities suggested from your photo, matched on your device • Add EXIF (optional under settings) camera info to the post • Generate Alt-Texts, hashtags and add watermarks conveniently when composing new posts • Available in English, German, Spanish, French, Italian, Polish, and Basque ABOUT PUSH NOTIFICATIONS Push needs an interface that most Pixelfed servers, including pixelfed.social, don't provide yet. If your server is one of them, Scatto tells you so in Settings — you'll still see every like, comment and follow inside the app, and the icon badge keeps updating in the background, but nothing will arrive while Scatto is closed. Scatto works with any Pixelfed instance. It's open source and doesn't track you. Scatto is an independent app and is not affiliated with Pixelfed.

Screenshots

glacial3 screens
Scatto for Pixelfed4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: glacial at none against Scatto for Pixelfed's 3. glacial also leads on iOS requirement (13.0 vs 17.0). Scatto for Pixelfed's advantage is update cadence (every 4 days vs fortnightly). On price, ads and device support 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. Scatto for Pixelfed sells 3 one-off in-app purchases. glacial asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

glacial ships an update fortnightly, Scatto for Pixelfed every 4 days. The most recent releases landed on October 30, 2026 and November 6, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 6 level
glacial versus Scatto for Pixelfed: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterglacialScatto for Pixelfed
PriceFreeFree
Rating—5.0 (1 ratings) — better
Number of ratings—1 — better
Update frequencyFortnightlyEvery 4 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
Monetization—Free
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac — betteriPhone, iPad, Mac
Requires iOS13.0 — better17.0
Further details — not scored
Size48 MB41 MB
Age rating17+12+
DeveloperCHIAHAO TSAIVinzenz Greger

In-app purchases

None

glacial

No in-app purchases

3 purchases

Scatto for Pixelfed

One-time3
  • A pretzel$1.99
  • A coffee$3.99
  • A pizza$8.99

Questions

Is glacial free?
glacial is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Scatto for Pixelfed free?
Scatto for Pixelfed is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do glacial or Scatto for Pixelfed have ads?
Neither glacial nor Scatto for Pixelfed shows ads.
Which is updated more often, glacial or Scatto for Pixelfed?
glacial ships an update fortnightly, and Scatto for Pixelfed every 4 days. Most recently, glacial was updated on October 30, 2026 and Scatto for Pixelfed on November 6, 2026.

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