Comparison

Cob Paint vs Pixel Beader

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

Head to head
About

Cob Paint

A minimalist pixel art sketchbook designed for quick, expressive creation. It offers a responsive painting experience with unique brushes and a focused color palette, encouraging users to experiment freely. The app aims to be a cozy creative space for personal artwork.

Highlights
  • Fast, expressive pixel art creation
  • Responsive painting engine
  • Unique brushes and focused color palette
  • Personal and cozy creative space
  • Experiment with new creative spaces
Features
Read full description

Cob Paint is a sketchbook made for fast, expressive pixel art. Your sketchbook should be a playground for quickly experimenting with ideas. Stop overthinking and just draw something now. Powered by a custom engine, painting feels instant and responsive, designed for perfectly imperfect artwork. Sketches in Cob Paint feel soft, warm, and personal. Expressive brushes and a focused color palette let you create freely without worrying about your tools. Cob Paint is your cozy home island that you’ll come back to anytime. Over time, new creative spaces may appear, each with their own tools, materials, and rules to explore. Each tool comes with it’s own story, from the familiar mechanical pencil to a chunky Japanese eraser you once fell in love with. You’ll fall in love with your tools. Now go make something and share it.

About

Pixel Beader

Features
Read full description

Pixel Beader is a fuse bead design and pattern-making app built for iPhone and iPad. It gives you a complete workflow for creating, choosing colors, previewing, and sharing fuse bead art. 【From ideas to bead patterns】 Start with a blank pegboard and place beads one by one, or import a photo and quickly turn it into a clean pixel bead pattern. Fine-tune the rows, columns, sampling method, transparent background, and color count. Pixel Beader automatically matches colors to your palette and shows the code and quantity for every bead color. 【Precise editing, flexible colors】 On an iPad that supports Apple Pencil, you can place, replace, and erase beads as naturally as drawing. You can also switch to touch editing. Convert between pegboards and patterns to move smoothly from digital design to hands-on crafting. Choose from multiple built-in bead palettes, or add and edit your own colors. 【Organize, preview, and share】 Organize patterns in folders, favorite the designs you use most, and recover accidentally deleted items from Recently Deleted. When your design is ready, simulate the fusing process and preview Film, Parchment, and Teflon surface finishes. Inspect the finished piece from different angles in 3D or AR. Export pattern images and 3D snapshots, or share editable project files that can be imported again. 【Key features】 • Edit individual beads with Apple Pencil or touch • Pen, single-bead editing, eyedropper, eraser, lasso, and undo tools • Turn photos into pixel bead patterns • Automatically generate color legends and bead counts • Multiple built-in bead palettes • Organize patterns in folders • Favorites and Recently Deleted • Simulate fusing with three surface finishes • Inspect finished designs in 3D and AR • Export and share pattern images 【Privacy】 All photo processing and project data remain on your device and are never uploaded to a server. 【Membership】 The free plan supports pegboards and patterns up to 104 × 104. An optional monthly or lifetime membership unlocks projects up to 208 × 208 and interactive pattern previews. From inspiration to pattern to finished piece, Pixel Beader keeps every step of your creative process clear and organized. 【Requirements】 Apple Pencil features require a compatible iPad and Apple Pencil. AR features require an ARKit-compatible device. Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

Screenshots

Cob Paint4 screens
Pixel Beader4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Cob Paint at none against Pixel Beader's 2. Cob Paint also leads on update cadence (every 5 days vs every 2 months). On price, ads, device support and iOS requirement 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. Pixel Beader sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $0.99 per month. Cob Paint asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Cob Paint ships an update every 5 days, Pixel Beader every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on September 18, 2026 and September 3, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences · 8 level
Cob Paint versus Pixel Beader: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterCob PaintPixel Beader
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (3 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings3 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 5 days — betterEvery 2 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree—
DevicesiPhoneiPhone, iPad — better
Requires iOS18.618.1 — better
Further details — not scored
Size5 MB13 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperFreddie IboyYu Yan

In-app purchases

None

Cob Paint

No in-app purchases

2 purchases

Pixel Beader

Subscriptions1
  • Pixel Beader Pro Monthly$0.991 Month
One-time1
  • Pixel Beader Pro Lifetime$9.99

Questions

Is Cob Paint free?
Cob Paint is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Pixel Beader free?
Pixel Beader is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Cob Paint or Pixel Beader have ads?
Neither Cob Paint nor Pixel Beader shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Cob Paint or Pixel Beader?
Cob Paint ships an update every 5 days, and Pixel Beader every 2 months. Most recently, Cob Paint was updated on September 18, 2026 and Pixel Beader on September 3, 2026.

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