Comparison

Retro Pixel Camera vs xelka

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

Head to head
About

Retro Pixel Camera

This camera app applies real-time dither shaders and retro color palettes to your photos as you shoot. Adjust pixel scale, contrast, and other settings live on the viewfinder. Import existing photos to apply the same artistic filters.

Highlights
  • Real-time dither shader effects
  • Twelve live effect options
  • Thirty-eight color palettes
  • Adjustable pixel scale and contrast
  • Import and edit existing photos
  • iPad Split View and Slide Over support
Features
Read full description

PIXELADO Dither the world, live in the viewfinder. Pixelado is a camera that renders every frame through a real-time dither shader. Pick an effect, pick a palette, and the viewfinder is already the photo. Nothing to apply afterwards. TWELVE LIVE EFFECTS Floyd-Steinberg and Atkinson error diffusion, Bayer 4x4 and 2x2 ordered dither, blue-noise stipple, per-channel RGB dither, ordered halftone, posterize, CRT scanlines, and a Sobel ink edge pass. Plus two retro hardware palettes, CGA and C64, that clamp every frame to a classic 4-color or 16-color set. THIRTY-EIGHT COLOR PALETTES Hand-graded palettes, from clean monochrome and graphite to neon, sunset, and deep contrast. Every one of them is free. DIAL IT IN Pixel scale, contrast, shadows, highlights, and sharpness, all live on the preview. Five effects take a tint color, so you can push a dither into any two-tone you want. Your settings are stored per effect, so switching back never loses your numbers. A CAMERA THAT STAYS OUT OF THE WAY Volume button shutter, rule-of-thirds grid, tap to focus, flash, zoom, front camera, and your last shot one tap from the editor. BRING YOUR OWN PHOTOS Import anything from your library and run it through the same shader, with the same sliders. BUILT FOR IPAD Split View and Slide Over are supported, and the camera preview keeps the right aspect ratio at every window size. COMPLETELY FREE Every effect, every palette, every slider. No subscription, no unlocks, no ads. PROCESSED ON YOUR DEVICE Your photos are processed on your device with Metal and never uploaded. Shoot in pixels. PRIVACY POLICY AND TERMS OF USE: Apple App Store User Agreement - Terms of Use (EULA) https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy Policy https://tahatuna.com/pixeladoprivacy For more information, please visit https://tahatuna.com For support, send an email to: ios@tahatuna.com

About

xelka

Read full description

Turn any photo into gorgeous, hand-crafted pixel art. xelka is a pixel-art camera built on a real quantization + dithering engine — not a cheap overlay filter. Point it at the world for a live pixel viewfinder, or import any photo and watch it snap into a limited retro palette. • 11 iconic styles — retro handheld greens, vibrant fantasy-console palettes, home-computer 16-color, CRT phosphor, 1-bit ink, Sweetie 16, Modern Clean and more • Real-time pixel-art camera preview (front & back) • Record pixel-art video and export animated GIFs • Fine-tune contrast, saturation, brightness and pixel size • Ordered & Floyd–Steinberg dithering for authentic texture • One-tap share to any app; save to your library • Fully on-device — no account, no ads, no tracking Unlock xelka Pro once to remove the watermark and open every style plus video & GIF export. One-time purchase, no subscription.

Screenshots

Retro Pixel Camera4 screens
xelka4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: Retro Pixel Camera at every 11 days against xelka's every 2 months. xelka's advantage is iOS requirement (18.0 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Retro Pixel Camera sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per 7 days and xelka sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Retro Pixel Camera ships an update every 11 days, xelka every 2 months. Both last shipped on November 5, 2026.

Scorecard2 real differences · 7 level
Retro Pixel Camera versus xelka: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterRetro Pixel Cameraxelka
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.0 (1 ratings) — better—
Number of ratings1 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 11 days — betterEvery 2 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases—
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS26.018.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size29 MB3 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperAli Taha TunaJaemin Kim

In-app purchases

2 purchases

Retro Pixel Camera

Subscriptions1
  • Pixelado Pro Weekly3 Days trial$2.997 Days
One-time1
  • Pixelado Pro Lifetime$4.99
1 purchases

xelka

One-time1
  • xelka Pro$0.99

Questions

Is Retro Pixel Camera free?
Retro Pixel Camera is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is xelka free?
xelka is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Retro Pixel Camera or xelka have ads?
Neither Retro Pixel Camera nor xelka shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Retro Pixel Camera or xelka?
Retro Pixel Camera ships an update every 11 days, and xelka every 2 months. Most recently, Retro Pixel Camera was updated on November 5, 2026 and xelka on November 5, 2026.

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