Comparison

Pixmint vs PixelPad

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

Head to head
About

Pixmint

Features
Read full description

Pixmint is a professional pixel art studio and frame-by-frame animation editor for iPhone and iPad. Built for indie game devs, digital artists, and retro fansβ€”create pixel-perfect sprites, seamless tilesets, and animations anywhere. Desktop precision with touch-first speed: multi-layer editing, colored onion skinning, Lospec palettes, and native Aseprite file interchange. Download free and start your canvas in seconds! PRECISION PIXEL TOOLS β€’ Pixel-Perfect smoothing: removes double edges and L-corners β€’ Pencil, Eraser, Line, Rectangle & Ellipse shapes β€’ Flood Fill & Color Replace across the active layer β€’ ColorDrop: drag color swatches to instantly fill areas β€’ Real-time Loupe: floating magnifier shifts to keep touch visible β€’ Dithering brush: classic retro shading and textures β€’ Alpha Lock: paint strictly within existing pixels β€’ Symmetry: Horizontal, Vertical, and Dual-Axis β€’ Adjustable brush sizes (1px–16px) and opacity ANIMATION & ONION SKIN β€’ Frame-by-frame timeline: add, duplicate, reorder, and remove frames β€’ Canvas playback with adjustable frame rate (1–60 FPS) β€’ Advanced Onion Skin: colored previous and next frames β€’ Build walk cycles, attack combos, and smooth loops LAYERS & IPAD WORKSPACE β€’ Multi-layer editing per frame with opacity sliders and layer lock β€’ Duplicate, Merge Down, Clear, and drag reorder β€’ Multi-Project Tabs: keep multiple canvases open on iPad β€’ Apple Pencil ready: palm rejection & Pencil-only mode β€’ 2-finger zoom, pan, rotate, and Virtual Joystick panning LOSPEC PALETTES & TILESET WRAP β€’ Direct Lospec integration: import iconic retro palettes β€’ Color picker with Hex, RGB, and HSV inputs β€’ 3x3 Tileset Wrap: design seamless repeating game tiles in real time SELECTION & TRANSFORM β€’ Freehand Lasso, Rectangular Selection, and Select All β€’ 1-pixel precision Nudge arrows for micro-adjustments β€’ Flip Horizontal/Vertical, Fill, Outline Stroke, and Clear EXPORT & IMPORT β€’ Export images: PNG (transparent), JPG, WebP, HEIC β€’ Export animations: Animated GIF and MP4 video β€’ Game Atlases: Sprite Sheets with JSON metadata β€’ Pro formats: Native .ase / .aseprite and MP4 timelapse recording β€’ Upscaling: crisp nearest-neighbor from 1x to 32x (2048px+) β€’ Import: Aseprite (.ase), Piskel (.piskel), Pixilart, GIFs, and photos OPTIONAL SMART ASSIST β€’ Text to Pixel: generate sprite ideas in 8-bit, 16-bit, or Isometric β€’ Photo to Pixel: convert photos with before/after split slider β€’ Sprite Sheet Generator: generate multi-frame motion sequences β€’ Magic Cut: separate artwork into transparent PNG layers PRICING & ORGANIZATION β€’ Custom folders with batch move, delete, and sample templates β€’ Free tier: 2 artworks, 1 layer/frame, standard exports β€’ Pixmint Pro: Unlimited artworks & layers, all pro exports (GIF, MP4, Sheet, Aseprite, Timelapse), and 32x upscale (Monthly, Yearly, or Lifetime) Pixmint is made for creators. Pick up your pencil and start crafting today!

About

PixelPad

Features
Read full description

PixelPad is a focused pixel art and sprite animation studio for iPad and iPhone. Draw precise pixels with Apple Pencil or touch, build frame-by-frame animations, and export assets without leaving your device. DRAW WITH PRECISION β€’ Work on crisp 8Γ—8 to 128Γ—128 canvases β€’ Use Pencil, Eraser, Fill, Eyedropper, and Selection tools β€’ Pan and zoom without losing the pixel grid β€’ Undo and redo complete strokes ANIMATE FRAME BY FRAME β€’ Add, duplicate, delete, and reorder frames β€’ Set a project frame rate or tune timing per frame β€’ Compare neighboring frames with color-coded onion skins β€’ Preview animation with the same timing used for GIF export BUILD YOUR PALETTE β€’ Add, remove, and reorder colors β€’ Start with built-in palettes β€’ Save reusable custom palette presets EXPORT GAME-READY ASSETS β€’ Export transparent or solid-background PNGs β€’ Create animated GIFs β€’ Arrange sprite sheets by rows and columns β€’ Control frame spacing and 1Γ—, 2Γ—, or 4Γ— scale PRIVATE BY DEFAULT PixelPad currently works offline, requires no account, and stores projects on your device. Export through the standard share sheet whenever you are ready. The app starts in English. Korean is available at any time in Settings.

Screenshots

Pixmint4 screens
PixelPad4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: PixelPad at none against Pixmint's 8. Pixmint's advantage is ads (none vs shown). On price, update cadence, device support and iOS requirement there is nothing between them.

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

CostPrice Β· In-app purchases Β· Ads Β· Monetization

Both are free to download. Pixmint sells 8 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month. PixelPad asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Pixmint ships an update weekly, PixelPad every 9 days. The most recent releases landed on October 25, 2026 and October 24, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences Β· 4 level
Pixmint versus PixelPad: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterPixmintPixelPad
PriceFreeFree
Update frequencyWeekly β€” betterEvery 9 days
AdsNo β€” betterYes
In-app purchasesYesNo β€” better
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS17.017.0
Further details β€” not scored
Size30 MB14 MB
Age rating12+4+
DeveloperLoi NguyenDAEHONG MIN

In-app purchases

8 purchases

Pixmint

Subscriptions2
  • MONTHLY$4.991 Month
  • Yearly Plan$19.991 Year
One-time6
  • Basic Credits$1.99
  • Starter Credits$4.99
  • Pro Credits$9.99
Show 3 more
  • Mega Credits$19.99
  • LIFETIME ACCESS$29.99
  • Ultra Credits$49.99
None

PixelPad

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Pixmint free?
Pixmint is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is PixelPad free?
PixelPad is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do Pixmint or PixelPad have ads?
PixelPad shows ads; Pixmint does not.
Which is updated more often, Pixmint or PixelPad?
Pixmint ships an update weekly, and PixelPad every 9 days. Most recently, Pixmint was updated on October 25, 2026 and PixelPad on October 24, 2026.

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