Comparison

PuppetPad vs ArtPort

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

Head to head
About

PuppetPad

Easily animate any image by adding pins to create movement and keyframes. Turn doodles, photos, or drawings into animated GIFs without needing professional animation skills. Ideal for creating unique memes, bringing kids' art to life, or making profile pictures move.

Highlights
  • Import any image (PNG)
  • Automatic mesh generation
  • Pin-based animation system
  • Keyframe creation
  • GIF export
  • Offline functionality
  • Apple Pencil support
Features
Read full description

Behind a toy, a powerful animation tool. You stare at one of your drawings and think "I wish this thing would actually move." PuppetPad makes that happen. Plus a few uses you haven't thought of yet. Grab an image. A doodle from Procreate, a photo of your dog, your boss mid yawn, a regrettable selfie. The app opens it, builds an invisible mesh around the figure, and hands you pins. Drag a pin and the figure moves with it. Drag again and it becomes animation. That is the entire workflow. YOU DON'T HAVE TO BE AN ANIMATOR PuppetPad was made for: . People who want memes more elaborate than Photoshop copy and paste . Parents who want their kid's drawing to actually walk . Graphic designers blocked on what to do with their right hand . Anyone who wants to animate someone's profile picture without their consent . Anyone who wants to animate someone's profile picture WITH their consent . Beginning animators who find Live2D and Spine intimidating (rightfully so) . Pro animators who just want a quick iPad rough . You, who opened the App Store out of boredom HOW IT WORKS 1. Import a PNG. The contour mesh is generated automatically. You won't see it. It just works. 2. Tap anywhere to place a pin. Pins are joints. 3. Drag pins to animate. Every move becomes a keyframe by itself. 4. Hit play. 5. Export as GIF. Send to the family group chat. THINGS PEOPLE END UP MAKING . Characters waving arms like they actually exist . Cat photos performing snake dances . Company logos pulsing like an anxious heart . Kid drawings waving goodbye to grandma over FaceTime . Caricatures of questionable taste . Story vignettes . That one meme that needed that one detail to move . Loading animations for your own app project . Character rough drafts before doing the polished work elsewhere WHAT'S INSIDE THE TOY Underneath the playful surface, PuppetPad runs a real animation engine. Alpha aware mesh generation, an ARAP solver for natural deformation, keyframed timeline, multi pin selection, bone rigs with inverse kinematics, mesh density control, undo and redo via multi finger taps. You don't need to know what any of that means to use the app. But the engineer in you might appreciate that it's there. FEATURES . Apple Pencil supported (works with fingers too, if that's how you live) . iPad landscape, full screen, zero clutter . Works offline . No login, no signup, no newsletter . No ads. Ever. . GIF export . Undo and redo (you will need them) PRICE One time purchase. Pay once, it's yours. No monthly subscription, no "pro version" upsell, no paywall popping up when you try to do something useful. Forever yours, the way software used to be. WORK IN PROGRESS PuppetPad is built by one person in the hours that life leaves over. Every bug report and every suggestion turns into a real improvement in a future version. If you want to request a feature, complain about something, send fan art of the app, or just say you liked it: leonardoamoraleite@gmail.com Human reply, in whatever language you write to me in, from the same person who wrote this text. XD Thanks for considering the app. Now go animate something absurd.

About

ArtPort

Features
Read full description

ArtPort: Your Creative Harbor for Pixel Art & Animation ArtPort is a professional-grade pixel art creation and animation studio, carefully crafted to provide a seamless and inspiring experience for digital artists. Whether you are sketching a quick 8-bit character or animating a complex scene, ArtPort delivers all the essential tools you need right to your mobile device. Powerful Animation Timeline: Intuitive frame and layer management. Group your frames into Clips/Tags for easy organization. Advanced Onion Skinning to guide your animations perfectly. Adjust playback speed and frame duration on the go. Professional Drawing Tools: Precision tools: Pen, Eraser, Line, Rectangle, and Ellipse. Smart Selections: Magic Wand, Lasso, and Box selection with live transform handles and dimension tracking. Symmetry drawing to create perfect mirrored designs. Clipping Masks and layer opacity controls for advanced shading. Optimized Workflow: Smart undo/redo history system. Cross-platform gesture support (Pinch to zoom and pan). Customizable color palettes with global color linking. Import external images directly into your canvas. Export & Share: Export your artwork as PNG, animated GIF, or ZIP archives. Generate professional Sprite-sheets with a single tap. Dock your ideas and let your imagination sail. Download ArtPort today and bring your pixel art to life!

Screenshots

ArtPort4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: ArtPort at every 5 days against PuppetPad's every 2 weeks. ArtPort also leads on device support (4 vs 1) and iOS requirement (15.0 vs 17.0). On price, ads and in-app purchases 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. PuppetPad sells 4 one-off in-app purchases and ArtPort sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

PuppetPad ships an update every 2 weeks, ArtPort every 5 days. The most recent releases landed on September 14, 2026 and September 17, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
PuppetPad versus ArtPort: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterPuppetPadArtPort
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (2 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings2 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 2 weeksEvery 5 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationPaid—
DevicesiPadiPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac — better
Requires iOS17.015.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size10 MB119 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperLeonardo AmoraAli Taleb

In-app purchases

4 purchases

PuppetPad

One-time4
  • 3 Export Tokens$0.99
  • 10 Export Tokens$1.99
  • 25 Export Tokens$2.99
Show 1 more
  • unlimited Exports$9.99
1 purchases

ArtPort

One-time1
  • Full Access$0.99

Questions

Is PuppetPad free?
PuppetPad is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is ArtPort free?
ArtPort is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do PuppetPad or ArtPort have ads?
Neither PuppetPad nor ArtPort shows ads.
Which is updated more often, PuppetPad or ArtPort?
PuppetPad ships an update every 2 weeks, and ArtPort every 5 days. Most recently, PuppetPad was updated on September 14, 2026 and ArtPort on September 17, 2026.

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