Comparison

Pixelize Me vs Chaos Camera Lab

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

Head to head
About

Pixelize Me

Features
Read full description

Pixelize turns any photo into real pixel art: authentic retro palettes, true dithering and a live preview that updates as you tweak. Pick a photo, then pick a look. Game Boy Camera, PICO-8, NES sprite, 1-bit Mac, CRT arcade: every style renders on your own photo before you tap it. Fine-tune pixel size, palette, dithering and tone, then export a crisp PNG or an animated GIF. REAL PIXELS, NOT A BLUR FILTER Pixelize snaps your photo to an actual pixel grid and maps every pixel to a real palette. Export at 1× for game sprites and pixel-art references, or up to 4K for prints and wallpapers. 50 RETRO PALETTES • Consoles: NES, Sega Master System, PICO-8, Sweetie 16 • Handhelds: Game Boy and its variants, Virtual Boy • Computers: Commodore 64, CGA, Apple II, ZX Spectrum, MSX, Amstrad CPC • Moods: Vaporwave, Cyberpunk, Synthwave, Thermal, Risograph and more • Palette Studio: build and save your own SMART PALETTE Let Pixelize pick the 4 to 32 colors that best represent your photo, for pixel art that still looks like the original. 6 DITHERING STYLES Floyd-Steinberg, Atkinson, two Bayer matrices, blue noise and halftone, with adjustable strength: the patterns that gave 8-bit and 16-bit art its texture. 18 ONE-TAP STYLES Game Boy Camera, PICO-8, NES Sprite, 1-bit Mac, C64 Demo, CRT Arcade, Vaporwave, Newspaper, Sticker, Thermal, Poster and more. ANIMATED GIFS Export a "pixel reveal" GIF that resolves from chunky blocks into your finished art. Made for chats and socials. STICKERS AND EFFECTS Remove the background for a transparent sticker, add a die-cut border, cel-shaded outlines and CRT scanlines. PRIVATE BY DESIGN Everything runs on your device. Photos are never uploaded, there is no account, and the editor works offline. FREE, WITH OPTIONAL PRO The editor, 25 classic palettes and 10 styles are free, with ads. Pixelize Pro adds Smart Palette, 25 more palettes, 8 Pro styles, 4K export, GIFs without the watermark and unlimited custom palettes, and removes all ads. Pixelize Pro is a one-time purchase, not a subscription: pay once and keep it. To get it back on a new device or after reinstalling, tap Restore purchases in Settings. Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy Policy: https://pixel.chinesepowered.com/privacy.html

About

Chaos Camera Lab

Transform ordinary photos into unique, collectible color worlds with unpredictable effects. Remap colors, add digital grain, and explore 16 distinct styles. Save and reuse your custom looks for future edits.

Highlights
  • 16 distinct Chaos styles
  • Color remapping and textured grain
  • Reusable recipes with shareable codes
  • Recipe Lab for custom looks
  • 4:5 camera with zoom
  • Photo Library import
Features
Read full description

Chaos Camera Lab turns ordinary scenes into unpredictable, collectible color worlds. This is not a traditional filter camera. Chaos remaps the colors inside each photo, adds tactile digital grain, and gives every image its own strange visual character. Shoot with the built-in 4:5 camera or import a photo, then explore looks ranging from soft and dreamlike to stark, graphic, spectral, and broken. Explore 16 distinct Chaos styles: Chaos, Soft, Poster, Acid, Dream, Noir, Thermal, Prism, Solar, Xerox, Signal, Infra, Ghost, Bleach, Mosaic, and Emulsion. When you discover a look worth keeping, save its recipe. Each recipe preserves the preset, palette, tuning, name, and code behind the image, so you can apply the same visual logic to a completely different scene later. Features: • A focused 4:5 camera with tap to focus and multiple zoom choices • 16 visually distinct Chaos presets • Expressive color remapping and textured grain • Photo Library import for remixing existing images • Hold the result to compare it with the original • Reusable recipes with names, palettes, and shareable codes • Recipe Lab for building custom color looks • Chaos Roll sessions and stylized contact sheets • A local gallery and Recipe Passport • High-quality image export to Photos Chaos Camera Lab is made for fast experimentation, happy accidents, and photographers who want an image to become something unexpected. Your photos and recipes stay on your device. Chaos Camera Lab does not collect personal data.

Screenshots

Pixelize Me4 screens
Chaos Camera Lab4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Chaos Camera Lab at none against Pixelize Me's 1. Chaos Camera Lab also leads on ads (none vs shown) and update cadence (every 2 days vs every 4 months). On price, 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. Pixelize Me sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Chaos Camera Lab asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Pixelize Me ships an update every 4 months, Chaos Camera Lab every 2 days. The most recent releases landed on November 9, 2026 and October 31, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 6 level
Pixelize Me versus Chaos Camera Lab: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterPixelize MeChaos Camera Lab
PriceFreeFree
Rating—5.0 (1 ratings) — better
Number of ratings—1 — better
Update frequencyEvery 4 monthsEvery 2 days — better
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
Monetization—Free
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS16.4 — better17.6
Further details — not scored
Size48 MB30 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperNelson LaiRyan Walker

In-app purchases

1 purchases

Pixelize Me

One-time1
  • Pixelize Pro$9.99
None

Chaos Camera Lab

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Pixelize Me free?
Pixelize Me is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Chaos Camera Lab free?
Chaos Camera Lab is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do Pixelize Me or Chaos Camera Lab have ads?
Pixelize Me shows ads; Chaos Camera Lab does not.
Which is updated more often, Pixelize Me or Chaos Camera Lab?
Pixelize Me ships an update every 4 months, and Chaos Camera Lab every 2 days. Most recently, Pixelize Me was updated on November 9, 2026 and Chaos Camera Lab on October 31, 2026.

Other comparisons