Comparison

StencilStack vs PixelForge

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

Head to head
About

StencilStack

Transform photos into multi-layer stencil artwork for printing, cutting, and spray painting. Generate scalable designs for murals, posters, and large creative projects, with options for combined or separate layer exports and tiling for large-scale production.

Highlights
  • Generate scalable layered stencil artwork from photos
  • Create organised stencil layers for multi-colour projects
  • Separate or combined stencil exports
  • Hatch Mode for planning and cutting guides
  • Automatic tiled PDF export for large-scale printing
  • Registration targets for accurate alignment
Read full description

Turn any photo into a stencil built to make an impact. StencilStack is made for graffiti writers, street artists, mural makers and anyone who wants to move from phone to paint without spending hours in design software. Take a photo or choose one from your library. For the strongest results, use a clear, well-lit image with one distinct subject, strong contrast and good separation from the background. Choose Standard for more detail or Bold for a harder graphic hit. Cut a quick one-layer stencil or build a full three-layer piece with separate light, shadow and black plates. Preview the finished artwork and inspect every layer before exporting. StencilStack keeps printing practical. Cut areas use thin diagonal hatch lines instead of ink-heavy blocks of solid black, so you can see exactly what needs cutting without draining your printer cartridge. Choose a finished width from 10 to 100 cm in precise 5 cm steps, select A4 or Letter paper and let StencilStack build the print-ready PDF. Make something small on one sheet or scale it across multiple pages for a larger wall piece. Larger stencils come ready to assemble: • 10 mm overlap for a strong join • Clear CUT and GLUE guides • Matching alignment marks on every seam • Page names showing where each sheet belongs • Registration marks that keep all three layers locked together • A clear border that keeps registration marks away from the artwork Print at 100% or Actual Size - never Fit to Page or Scale to Fit. Automatic scaling changes the finished dimensions and can throw out page and layer alignment. Trim the sheets, match the marks, tape everything down and get the cans out. Want the artwork without the cutting? Save the combined image or black Layer 1 directly to Photos. No subscription. No account. No ads or tracking. From a fast single-layer hit to a full multi-page stencil, StencilStack handles the fiddly setup so you can spend more time designing, cutting and spraying.

About

PixelForge

Create AI art privately on your device. Generate images, portraits, and characters from text prompts without cloud uploads. Offers local models, style presets, and a gallery for your creations.

Highlights
  • Private on-device AI image generation
  • Local models for various art styles
  • Prompt and negative prompt controls
  • Style presets with visual previews
  • Batch generation
  • Built-in gallery with saved history
  • Image variations and inpainting
Read full description

PixelForge is a private AI image studio for iPhone and iPad. Create artwork, portraits, anime-style characters, wallpapers, concept art, and creative variations from simple text prompts. Generation runs on your device. No cloud rendering. No prompt uploads. Your prompts, images, seeds, and gallery history stay stored locally on your device. PixelForge includes: Private on-device AI image generation Local models for realism, anime, and creative art styles Prompt and negative prompt controls Style presets with visual previews Batch generation for multiple results at once A built-in gallery with favorites, delete, and saved history Saved image details including prompt, seed, model, style, and settings Image variations from previous results Canvas inpainting for masked photo edits Plain-English setting tips for better results PixelForge is built for creators who want AI art without sending every idea to a server. Make profile art, character concepts, wallpapers, reference images, photo-style scenes, and creative experiments directly on your device. You can create 10 images free after install. After that, unlimited creation and advanced features require a one-time in-app purchase. Device Requirements Requires iOS 26 or iPadOS 26 or later. Recommended for best performance: iPhone 15 Pro or newer iPhone 16 series iPhone 17 series iPad with Apple silicon Older compatible devices may run slower, especially when loading a model for the first time.

Screenshots

StencilStack4 screens
PixelForge4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: PixelForge at Free against StencilStack's $3.99. StencilStack's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 1) and chart position (#23 vs unranked). On update cadence, 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

PixelForge is free to download; StencilStack costs $3.99 up front. PixelForge sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. StencilStack asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

StencilStack ships an update every 4 days, PixelForge every 5 days. The most recent releases landed on November 10, 2026 and October 31, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 6 level
StencilStack versus PixelForge: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterStencilStackPixelForge
Price$3.99Free — better
Rating—5.0 (2 ratings) — better
Positive reviews—100.0% of reviews
Number of ratings—2 — better
Update frequencyEvery 4 days — betterEvery 5 days
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationPaidFree with in-app purchases — better
Best chart rank#23 — better—
DevicesiPhoneiPhone, iPad — better
Requires iOS17.6 — better26.0
Further details — not scored
Size2 MB3.1 GB
Age rating4+12+
DeveloperSteve MitchellJeff Burns

In-app purchases

None

StencilStack

No in-app purchases

1 purchases

PixelForge

One-time1
  • PixelForge Pro Unlock$4.99

Questions

Is StencilStack free?
StencilStack costs $3.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is PixelForge free?
PixelForge is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do StencilStack or PixelForge have ads?
Neither StencilStack nor PixelForge shows ads.
Which is updated more often, StencilStack or PixelForge?
StencilStack ships an update every 4 days, and PixelForge every 5 days. Most recently, StencilStack was updated on November 10, 2026 and PixelForge on October 31, 2026.

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