Mono Lab vs Marea Type
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Mono Lab
Explore creative image manipulation with a focus on black and white effects. This app offers a wide range of tools for distortion, texture, and structural changes, allowing for unique artistic experimentation.
- 129 black and white filters
- Sensor-based filters controlled by device movement
- 12 dimensional surfaces and 13 lenses for 3D distortion
- Interactive filters responding to touch
- Raster and vector output options
- Save directly to Files
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Mono Lab is designed for exploring the unexpected. Experiment with images in black and white. From subtle relief to structural collapse, topology drift, mesh warps, fracture effects, misregistration, and controlled instability, every tool is built for focused experimentation. Responsive. Direct. Tactile. // Interactive Filters (X) Distortion that responds to you. Shift the image through movement and contact. Tilt to bend structure. Rotate to redirect tension. Touch to anchor, drag to stretch, hold to resist. Each gesture leaves a trace. Each motion reshapes the result. // 3D Surface Mode A dimensional approach to distortion. Map images across 12 surfaces and interpret them through 13 lenses. Adjust depth. Refine spatial tension. Each surface behaves differently. Each lens reshapes the outcome. Monochromatic. Structure, tone, dimension, possibility. What You Can Do • 158 filters for black and white distortion • Touch and motion control transformations • 12 surfaces. 13 lenses • Press, drag, and hold to reshape the image like a surface • Refine light, contrast, and structure • Warp topology and form • Collapse, fracture, and distort • Create raster and vector outputs • Build layered misregistrations • Adjust pressure, grain, and tone • Stack transformations • Save your favorite filters to the Index • Save directly to Files Mono Lab is for designers, artists, photographers, illustrators, and visual experimenters working in black and white.
Marea Type
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Marea Type is a space for typography. Create posters, quotes, covers, and expressive type compositions with precise tools built specifically around text — without the clutter of a general-purpose graphics editor. Work across multiple artboards in one workspace, build visual series, and compare different composition ideas. Fine-tune font size, tracking, leading, alignment, and other type settings, explore variable fonts, and shape each text layer with precision. Marea Type is built around type itself: its form, rhythm, scale, and space. Features: multiple artboards in a single project; precise font size, tracking, and leading controls; variable fonts and supported axis controls; alignment and rich text formatting; text layer rotation, horizontal scaling, and opacity; a curated bundled font library; PNG export for selected or all artboards; light and dark appearance. Typography Lab Typography Lab is an integrated space for learning and exploring typography. Learn foundational ideas, experiment with real type controls, explore variable font behavior, and work through practical typography challenges. Selected exercises can be carried directly into the editor and continued as normal compositions. Learn → Try → Explore → Apply
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: Marea Type at Free against Mono Lab's $4.99. Marea Type also leads on in-app purchases (none vs 4). Mono Lab's advantage is chart position (#5 vs unranked) and iOS requirement (15.1 vs 18.2). On ads 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
Marea Type is free to download; Mono Lab costs $4.99 up front. Mono Lab sells 4 one-off in-app purchases. Marea Type asks for nothing beyond the download.
| Parameter | Mono Lab | Marea Type |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $4.99 | Free — better |
| Rating | 5.0 (22 ratings) — better | — |
| Positive reviews | 94.4% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 22 — better | — |
| Update frequency | Every 5 days | — |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Paid | — |
| Best chart rank | #5 — better | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 15.1 — better | 18.2 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 57 MB | 70 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Inner Circle | Nikita Titov |
In-app purchases
Mono Lab
- Pheno Set$1.99
- Print Set$1.99
- ASCII Set$1.99
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- Dither Set$1.99
Marea Type
No in-app purchases









