Genie Strings vs Pixel
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Genie Strings
Effortlessly transform any photo into a beautiful string art masterpiece with AI-powered guidance. Choose from multiple portrait modes and board shapes, with precise nail-by-nail instructions and printable guides for your craft projects.
- AI-powered string art generation
- Multiple portrait modes (Monochrome, Greyscale, Color)
- Smart image editing tools (brightness, contrast, background removal)
- Support for Circle, Square, and Rectangle board shapes
- Printable, to-scale nail layout PDFs
- Step-by-step thread instructions
- Local and iCloud template saving
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Transform any photo into stunning string art with AI enabled app Genie Strings — the most complete string portrait generator available. Whether you are creating a gift, a wall piece, or a craft project, Genie Strings calculates every thread path for you and delivers a precise nail-by-nail guide ready to follow. Three Portrait Modes Choose from Monochrome (single black thread), Greyscale (black and white for richer tones), or Color (up to 8 thread colours from the CMYK and RGB palette). Every mode produces a professional result from any photo. Smart Image Editor Prepare your photo before rendering with built-in brightness, contrast, sharpness, and saturation controls. Remove the background in one tap using on-device machine learning, then set a custom background colour with the HSV colour wheel. Pinch and drag to position your image precisely within the board frame before generating. Three Board Shapes Circle, Square, and Rectangle boards are all supported. Enter your board dimensions and nail spacing in centimetres and the app calculates the exact nail count automatically. Portrait and landscape orientations are both available for rectangle boards. Advanced Monochrome Controls Four precision controls give you complete creative command: Darkness sets overall portrait depth, Person Focus concentrates thread on dark areas, Shadow Richness layers depth into hair and shadows, and Fine Detail captures subtle mid-tones. The app analyses your photo and suggests starting values automatically. Nail Layout PDF Every purchase includes a to-scale nail layout PDF showing your board shape with every nail numbered and positioned exactly. Print at Actual Size and use it directly as your drilling or pinning guide — no measuring required. Step-by-Step Thread Instructions Your nail sequence is exported as a text file with clear colour-change instructions. Use it alongside the Genie Reader companion app to have your instructions read aloud while you string, keeping your hands free throughout the process. My Templates Every exported template and nail layout PDF is saved locally and in iCloud, accessible from My Templates at any time for resharing or reprinting.
Pixel
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Your photo, turned into a pattern you can actually make. Pixela turns any picture into a crisp pixel grid with a tidy color palette and a printable chart — so you can recreate it however you like: • Perler / Hama beads — get the bead-by-bead layout for your next fuse-bead art. • Cross-stitch & embroidery — symbols per color and a printable chart to stitch from. • Knitting & crochet — color-work charts (intarsia, tapestry, C2C, jacquard): one square per stitch/block. • Quilting & patchwork — each pixel becomes a fabric square. • Pixel art, sprites & icons — turn a photo or your own drawing/sketch into true pixels with a controlled palette; export a clean PNG. • Event & stadium mosaics — plan "pixel performances" and card stunts, seat by seat, sized in meters. • Wall decor & murals — set the centimeters per tile and get the real wall size to paint or tile. • LEGO & brick mosaics — each pixel is one brick on the baseplate. • LED matrices & low-res screens — a pixel map to wire or program each LED. • Gifts & keepsakes — turn a pet, a portrait, or a logo into a handmade piece. • Drawings, coloring pages & templates — a ready-made grid to trace, color, or hand off. WHY YOU'LL LOVE IT • Pick a photo — Pixela builds the pattern in seconds. • Control the look — set the number of columns and palette colors with live sliders. • Color symbols — every color gets a letter so it's easy to follow (great for color-vision needs). • Printable PDF — a clean legend plus the full symbol chart, ready to print or share. • Export a clean PNG — the pure pixel art with no grid or symbols, ready to use as a sprite, sticker, or poster. • Real thread colors — see the nearest DMC floss for every color, and swap any color for the one you prefer. • Real finished size at any scale — stitches (Aida), beads, or big tiles; shown in cm or meters, so you can size a wall mural or a whole stadium mosaic. • Track your progress — mark finished cells and watch your % climb. • Pinch to zoom, tap "1:1" to see the whole thing — built for big, detailed pieces. • Works offline — everything is processed on your device. Your photos never leave it. FAIR PRICING Unlock everything with a single one-time purchase — no subscription, ever. Private by design: your photos are processed on-device and are never uploaded.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is update cadence: Pixel at every 4 days against Genie Strings's every 2 months. Pixel also leads on iOS requirement (16.4 vs 26.0). On price, ads, in-app purchases 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
Both are free to download. Genie Strings sells 3 one-off in-app purchases and Pixel sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
Genie Strings ships an update every 2 months, Pixel every 4 days. The most recent releases landed on October 30, 2026 and October 28, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Genie Strings | Pixel |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 1.0 (1 ratings) — better | — |
| Positive reviews | 33.3% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 1 — better | — |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months | Every 4 days — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 26.0 | 16.4 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 19 MB | 67 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Arunesh Dwivedi | Abraham Munguia |
In-app purchases
Genie Strings
- Monochrome String Portrait Template$9.99
- Greyscale String Portrait Template$24.99
- Color String Portrait Template$49.99
Pixel
- Pixel-A Pro$4.99









