Photo Collage Studio vs Charcoal Studio
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Photo Collage Studio
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Create polished photo collages from templates, grids, 9-grid slices, long images, and color-inspired layouts in a few taps. Photo Collage Maker is a lightweight collage studio for turning everyday photos into clean social posts, travel journals, moodboards, product boards, and share-ready layouts. Start from a template or choose your own mode: Grid Collage, Freeform Collage, Long Image, 9-Grid Slice, Color Walk, Subject Sticker, Photo Calendar, Travel Ticket, Travel Stamp, Color Beads, or Palette Overlay. New in this update: more scene templates, smoother selection and editing interactions, and a rebuilt creation page that makes the next step clearer. What you can make: - Photo collages for daily posts, albums, products, and memories - Grid layouts with custom ratios, spacing, borders, and backgrounds - 9-grid cuts for profile feeds and social reveals - Long images for stories, tutorials, recaps, and visual notes - Freeform collages with layers, rotation, flipping, and flexible placement - Color Walk and palette templates that turn photo colors into designed layouts - Travel, calendar, ticket, stamp, sticker, and portfolio-style templates Why it feels fast: - Start from recommended templates instead of a blank canvas - Fine-tune layout details without heavy editing menus - Save high-quality exports directly to Photos - Keep photo processing local on your device Make a clean collage, a 9-grid post, a long image, or a template-based visual story whenever your photos need a better layout. Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/
Charcoal Studio
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Charcoal Studio brings the feel of a real charcoal sketchbook to iPhone and iPad. Pick up a stick, lay down rich, grainy tone, then blend it into smooth gradients or lift it back out, the way you would on paper. A FULL CHARCOAL KIT • Charcoal Pencil: fine lines and crisp detail • Vine Charcoal: soft, light marks for loose sketching • Compressed Charcoal: dense, velvety blacks • Charcoal Block: broad strokes for shading large areas • White Charcoal: highlights on toned and dark paper • Charcoal Powder: soft washes of tone • Lasso: select, move and resize your strokes BLEND AND LIFT LIKE THE REAL THING • Blending Stump: push charcoal into the paper’s grain, soften hard edges and build smooth tonal transitions. It moves only charcoal, never the paper, so your darks stay rich. • Kneaded Eraser: dab or drag to lift charcoal gently and add highlights. It follows the tooth of the paper, so lightened areas keep their natural texture. • Eraser: clean removal whenever you need it. MADE FOR APPLE PENCIL • Pressure and tilt shape every mark • Strokes are smoothed so blending and erasing follow your hand without jagged corners • Double-tap or squeeze Apple Pencil to switch tools or show tool settings • Draw with your finger too, or turn finger drawing off for Pencil-only work PAPER WITH TOOTH • Five papers: white, cream, toned gray, slate and black • A real paper grain shows through every stroke • Choose your canvas: portrait, landscape, square, or any custom size from 256 to 4096 pixels AN EXPERIENCE THAT FEELS ANALOG • Hear the scratch of charcoal when you hatch, while ordinary lines stay quiet • Pinch to zoom and pan around your page • Ruler for straight edges • Charcoal-tone palette, plus your own saved colours • Size, opacity and strength controls for every tool YOUR SKETCHBOOK • Every sketch saves automatically • Unlimited sketches in your gallery • Undo and redo as many steps as you need • Export at full resolution and share anywhere Everything stays on your device: no account and no sign-up. Focus on your drawing. Leave the dust on the paper. Privacy policy: https://digitalhole.github.io/LilArtist.html Standard Apple Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is update cadence: Charcoal Studio at every 3 days against Photo Collage Studio's every 5 weeks. 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. Photo Collage Studio sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and Charcoal Studio sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
Photo Collage Studio ships an update every 5 weeks, Charcoal Studio every 3 days. Both last shipped on October 26, 2026.
| Parameter | Photo Collage Studio | Charcoal Studio |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Update frequency | Every 5 weeks | Every 3 days — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 17.0 — better | 18.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 22 MB | 14 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | YunLong Zhang | Digital Hole Pvt. Ltd. |
In-app purchases
Photo Collage Studio
- PhotoCollagePro$3.99
Charcoal Studio
- Unlock All Features$4.99





