Pixel Evolution Lab vs Cell Zoo
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Pixel Evolution Lab
Read full descriptionHide full description
Watch life emerge from a few simple rules. Pixel Evolution Lab is a beautiful, fast simulator for cellular automata – the mathematical worlds made famous by Conway's Game of Life. Each cell only looks at its eight neighbors. Yet out of random noise, gliders take flight, oscillators pulse and whole cities of still lifes appear. No plan, no script – order simply emerges. Version 2.0 is a complete redesign: the simulation fills the entire screen, the controls float above it, and every change you make in the lab is visible instantly. EXPLORE • Full-screen simulation powered by Metal – smooth even with hundreds of thousands of cells • Pinch to zoom, drag to explore, double-tap to see the whole world • Play, pause, single step and speeds from 1 to 60 generations per second, plus Turbo • Afterglow: dying cells fade out slowly and reveal motion and history • Evolution tracker with population, density, births and deaths DISCOVER • Pattern library with explanations: glider, spaceships, pulsar, pentadecathlon, the Gosper glider gun and famous methuselahs like the R-pentomino, Acorn and Diehard • 18 universes with different laws of nature – from Conway's Life and HighLife to Day & Night, Maze, Coral, Amoeba and Replicator • 9 color worlds, from phosphor green to amber, ice, magma and paper CREATE (PRO) • Draw and erase cells right in the field – with your finger or Apple Pencil, with undo • Build your own rules in B/S notation • Mix your own colors • Save your creations in your own gallery RELAX • Ambient mode hides all controls, keeps the screen on and starts a new world whenever the current one settles – a digital campfire for your desk • Share beautiful pictures of your worlds • The app remembers where you left off FREE AND FAIR The free version includes the full simulation with zoom, single step and Turbo, three universes, three color worlds, afterglow and four classic patterns. Pro unlocks everything else with a single one-time purchase – no subscription. No ads. No tracking. No account. Your worlds stay on your device. Download Pixel Evolution Lab and start your first universe.
Cell Zoo
Explore mesmerizing cellular automata simulations with alien organisms that evolve in real-time. Interact with living art, place it in your environment with AR, and fine-tune dozens of parameters to create unique patterns. Experience stunning visuals and emergent ecosystems.
- Real-time organism evolution
- Interactive touch controls
- Augmented Reality (AR) mode
- Multiple living systems (Physarum, Lenia, Gray-Scott, Particle Life)
- Extensive parameter tuning
- GPU-accelerated simulations
Read full descriptionHide full description
The most beautiful cellular automata simulator on iOS. Watch alien organisms evolve in real time. Touch them, breed them, teach them to sing. Place them on your desk in AR. Cell Zoo is a pocket terrarium for mathematical life. ELEVEN LIVING WORLDS Slime molds that solve mazes. Continuous creatures that swim, split, and breathe. Chemistry that paints leopard spots and coral. Electromagnetic waves, self-assembling DNA, even your own words dissolving into life. New in 2.2: Chimera, where four rival physics share one map and fight over the borders. Every world runs real math at up to 120 frames per second, and none of them behaves the way you expect. IT GROWS INTO YOUR PHOTOS Hand the colony a picture and watch it grow into the bright shapes — your face, your handwriting, your dog. A living sketch, not a copy. IT LISTENS. IT SINGS. Turn on Hearing and the colony moves to your music: bass makes it surge, treble makes it shimmer. Turn on Voice and the simulation sings back — a generative soundtrack drawn from the colony's own rhythms, never the same twice. A NEW CREATURE EVERY DAY Hatch the Daily Specimen each morning. Creatures you keep sync across your devices with iCloud. SHARE WHAT YOU GROW Send any creature by link. It hatches on your friend's device exactly as you made it — same genes, same colors, same behavior. BREED THEM (Premium) Cross two creatures and hatch the offspring. Mutate genomes. Pit colonies against each other in the arena and carry the winner's line forward. 30+ RENDER MODES (Premium) Photoreal protoplasm, holographic diffraction, infrared, liquid metal, bioluminescent deep-sea glow, aurora, soap film. Every mode is a handcrafted Metal shader. AR MODE (Premium) Grow a colony on your table, floor, or wall. In 3D, a living structure floats in your room — walk around it. Walk through it. TUNE EVERYTHING Sensor angles, diffusion rates, decay, species counts — every slider changes behavior live, and all of them are free. Capture the results in photo mode with pro exposure and cinematic filters. Built native with Metal: 120Hz ProMotion, HDR bloom, MetalFX upscaling. No accounts, no ads, no analytics. Premium is a single one-time purchase. Terms: https://cellzoo.app/#terms
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is update cadence: Cell Zoo at every 2 weeks against Pixel Evolution Lab's every 4 months. Pixel Evolution Lab's advantage is iOS requirement (16.0 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
Both are free to download. Pixel Evolution Lab sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and Cell Zoo sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
Pixel Evolution Lab ships an update every 4 months, Cell Zoo every 2 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 28, 2026 and October 31, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Pixel Evolution Lab | Cell Zoo |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | — | 3.7 (3 ratings) — better |
| Number of ratings | — | 3 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 4 months | Every 2 weeks — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | — | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 16.0 — better | 26.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 12 MB | 8 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Stefan Hergert | Aleksander Allen |
In-app purchases
Pixel Evolution Lab
- Pixel Evolution Pro Upgrade$1.99
Cell Zoo
- Lifetime Premium$3.99
Questions
Is Pixel Evolution Lab free?
Is Cell Zoo free?
Do Pixel Evolution Lab or Cell Zoo have ads?
Which is updated more often, Pixel Evolution Lab or Cell Zoo?
Other comparisons















