Comparison

Simple Pixel Art Maker vs Dottie

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

Head to head
About

Simple Pixel Art Maker

Features
Read full description

Pixel art, made simple. Simple Pixel Art Maker is a clean, fast drawing studio for iPhone and iPad โ€” designed for the way pixel art actually works: a precise grid, a tight set of tools, and colors that snap to curated palettes. Tap a square. Pick a color. Build a tiny world, one pixel at a time. EVERYTHING YOU NEED, NOTHING YOU DON'T โ€ข Pencil, Eraser and Fill โ€” the three tools you actually use โ€ข Adjustable brush size from 1 to 8 pixels โ€ข Eyedropper to sample any pixel on the canvas โ€ข Pixel-perfect Line, Rectangle and Circle tools โ€ข Move tool to nudge layer pixels around โ€ข Unlimited Undo and Redo CANVAS SIZES FROM 8ร—8 TO 128ร—128 Pick a preset โ€” 8, 16, 32, 64, 128 โ€” or set a custom width and height up to 256 px. Lock the 1:1 aspect or go rectangular. Pixel grid lines and a checkerboard background are toggles, not requirements. LAYERS Build sky, mountains and the cactus on separate layers. Hide them, lock them, and reorder them as you sketch. The free version supports a comfortable starting stack; Pixel Pro unlocks unlimited layers for more ambitious scenes. CURATED COLOR PALETTES Swipe through Basics, Beach, Forest, Sunset, Retro and more โ€” each carefully picked so your art looks intentional from the first pixel. Or use the eyedropper to grab any color already on the canvas. MIRROR MODE Horizontal, vertical, or both. Perfect for sprites, faces and symmetrical icons โ€” every stroke mirrors instantly. EXPORT TO PHOTOS Save your art to the Photo Library as a PNG at 1ร—, 2ร—, 4ร— or 8ร— scale, with an optional transparent background. Your pixel art stays crisp at every size. PIXEL PRO โ€” $2.99, ONCE Simple Pixel Arts Maker is free to download with non-personalized ads. A single in-app purchase unlocks Pixel Pro for $2.99: โ€ข Unlimited Layers โ€” build complex scenes with as many layers as you need โ€ข Unlimited Projects โ€” the free version keeps 4 recent projects; Pixel Pro removes that ceiling โ€ข No Ads โ€” no banners, no interstitials, ever โ€ข One-time purchase. No subscriptions. Yours forever. QUIETLY PRIVATE No account. No sign-up. No analytics. Your pixel-art projects are stored locally on your device and are never uploaded anywhere. The free version uses Google AdMob to serve ads; if you choose "Ask App Not to Track," only non-personalized ads are served. PERFECT FOR โ€ข Game designers prototyping sprites and tile art โ€ข Kids and beginners discovering pixel art for the first time โ€ข Logo, icon, and emoji designers who want pixel-perfect output โ€ข Anyone who finds drawing on a grid relaxing

About

Dottie

Features
Read full description

Dottie is a pixel art editor for game sprites, small illustrations and short animations. Start from a template, change the colors and make it your own. START WITH A TEMPLATE Choose from 6 original pixel art templates. A short creation guide takes you through choosing a color, drawing and exporting a PNG. Templates and the guide work within the free limits. DRAW AND REFINE Use pencils, fill, shapes and dithering. Keep colors consistent with palettes, then move, copy, flip or rotate a selection. Symmetry and zoom help with the finishing touches. ADD LAYERS AND MOTION Edit backgrounds and characters on separate layers. Duplicate frames, make small changes and play your animation. Onion skin shows the previous frame as a guide. WORK FROM A REFERENCE Import an image and adjust its position, size and rotation. Assign reference images to individual frames to guide poses and compositions. BACK UP AND RESTORE YOUR PROJECTS Back up all projects or just selected ones to a file, then restore them on another device. Review the contents before restoring; existing artwork is kept. Basic backup and restore are free. This is manual file transfer, not automatic cloud sync. Premium purchases are restored separately through the store where you purchased them. EXPORT YOUR ART Export PNG images and editable project files. Premium also includes animated GIF, PNG sequence, sprite sheet and tile image exports. WHAT CAN I MAKE FOR FREE? Create up to 5 projects, with canvases up to 64 ร— 64 pixels, 3 layers per frame and 3 frames. The free version displays ads. WHEN YOU NEED MORE ROOM Premium is a one-time purchase that removes ads and expands project, canvas, layer and frame limits, plus export options. You can also complete a rewarded ad to try Premium for 24 hours. Purchases and rewarded ads require an internet connection. Device memory and other limits still apply to project size. No account registration is required. Artwork is saved on your device. Keep a backup file of important projects outside the app. Advertising and purchases use external services. Available in English, Japanese, Korean, Simplified Chinese and Spanish.

Screenshots

Simple Pixel Art Maker4 screens
Dottie4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is iOS requirement: Dottie at 15.0 against Simple Pixel Art Maker's 17.0. On price, ads, in-app purchases and device support there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price ยท Rating ยท Positive reviews ยท Number of ratings ยท Update frequency ยท Ads ยท In-app purchases ยท Monetization ยท Best chart rank ยท Devices ยท Requires iOS

CostPrice ยท In-app purchases ยท Ads ยท Monetization

Both are free to download. Simple Pixel Art Maker sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and Dottie sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

Scorecard1 real difference ยท 5 level
Simple Pixel Art Maker versus Dottie: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterSimple Pixel Art MakerDottie
PriceFreeFree
Update frequencyโ€”Weekly
AdsYesYes
In-app purchasesYesYes
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, iPod โ€” better
Requires iOS17.015.0 โ€” better
Further details โ€” not scored
Size6 MB31 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperChaleepa MallawaHiroyuki Yamamoto

In-app purchases

1 purchases

Simple Pixel Art Maker

One-time1
  • Pixel Pro$2.99
1 purchases

Dottie

One-time1
  • Dottie Premium$3.99

Questions

Is Simple Pixel Art Maker free?
Simple Pixel Art Maker is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Dottie free?
Dottie is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Simple Pixel Art Maker or Dottie have ads?
Both Simple Pixel Art Maker and Dottie show ads.

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