Comparison

Retro Pixel Camera vs Paignion

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 and videos. Customize effects, pixel scale, and contrast live in the viewfinder. Import existing photos to apply the same artistic filters.

Highlights
  • Real-time dither shader effects
  • Fourteen live effects including error diffusion and ordered dither
  • Thirty-eight hand-graded color palettes
  • Live adjustment of pixel scale, contrast, shadows, and highlights
  • 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. FOURTEEN 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 four retro hardware palettes that clamp every frame to a classic 4-color or 8-bit 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. STAYS ON YOUR DEVICE Every frame is processed on your device with Metal. Nothing is 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

Paignion

Read full description

Retro palettes and pixel patterns, rendered live. No editing after the shot — what you see in the viewfinder is what gets saved. LIVE PIXEL RENDERING Paignion runs a real Metal pixel-effect pipeline on every frame of the live camera feed — palette quantization, pattern, and dithering all happen before you tap the shutter, not as a filter applied afterward. 6 ICONIC PALETTES * Game Boy — the classic 4-shade green handheld display * NES — the 64-color palette from the original console's PPU * PICO-8 — the 16-color fantasy-console system palette * C64 — the Commodore 64's Pepto palette * CGA — the 16-color RGBI palette from early PC graphics * Master System — Sega's full 64-color, 6-bit RGB palette Palettes work on their own, or paired with any pattern. 4 PATTERNS + REAL BAYER DITHERING * Mosaic — chunky, blocky pixelation * Dot Screen — a single-channel dot grid * Halftone — a true CMY halftone rosette (three independently rotated ink-channel dot grids), full color or on a palette * Blocks — every pixel cell becomes a beveled, raised block for a chunky 2.5D, voxel-style look * Authentic ordered (Bayer) dithering, not a random-noise approximation — works with any palette, and it's never gated SCREEN FX Two screen finishes that turn the viewfinder into a tiny console display: CRT-style scanlines, and an LCD pixel-grid bezel overlay. FREE TO START Shoot with the Original (no filter), Game Boy Cam, and Mosaic Only presets at no cost — Bayer dithering is included free with every palette, always. Full Unlock adds the NES, PICO-8, C64, CGA, and Master System palettes, the Dot Screen, Halftone, and Blocks patterns, and both Screen FX finishes — a single one-time purchase, not a subscription. EVERYTHING ELSE YOU'D EXPECT * Pinch to zoom, tap to focus * HEIF capture, saved straight to a dedicated "Paignion" album in your Photos library — no separate account, no cloud * In-app gallery to browse, share, and delete your shots * The preset you shot with is written into every photo's own EXIF No ads. No tracking.

Screenshots

Retro Pixel Camera4 screens
Paignion4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is iOS requirement: Paignion at 18.6 against Retro Pixel Camera's 26.0. On price, update cadence, ads and in-app purchases 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 Paignion 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 9 days, Paignion fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on October 2, 2026 and October 29, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard1 real difference · 8 level
Retro Pixel Camera versus Paignion: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterRetro Pixel CameraPaignion
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.0 (1 ratings) — better—
Number of ratings1 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 9 days — betterFortnightly
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases—
DevicesiPhone, iPad — betteriPhone
Requires iOS26.018.6 — better
Further details — not scored
Size27 MB4 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperAli Taha TunaJaehoon Lee

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

Paignion

One-time1
  • Full Unlock$3.99

Questions

Is Retro Pixel Camera free?
Retro Pixel Camera is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Paignion free?
Paignion is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Retro Pixel Camera or Paignion have ads?
Neither Retro Pixel Camera nor Paignion shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Retro Pixel Camera or Paignion?
Retro Pixel Camera ships an update every 9 days, and Paignion fortnightly. Most recently, Retro Pixel Camera was updated on October 2, 2026 and Paignion on October 29, 2026.

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