Comparison

Pixel vs Patternly by Luca

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

Head to head
About

Pixel

Features
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Your photo, turned into a pattern you can actually make. Pixela turns any picture into a crisp pixel grid with a tidy color palette and a printable chart โ€” so you can recreate it however you like: โ€ข Perler / Hama beads โ€” get the bead-by-bead layout for your next fuse-bead art. โ€ข Cross-stitch & embroidery โ€” symbols per color and a printable chart to stitch from. โ€ข Knitting & crochet โ€” color-work charts (intarsia, tapestry, C2C, jacquard): one square per stitch/block. โ€ข Quilting & patchwork โ€” each pixel becomes a fabric square. โ€ข Pixel art, sprites & icons โ€” turn a photo or your own drawing/sketch into true pixels with a controlled palette; export a clean PNG. โ€ข Event & stadium mosaics โ€” plan "pixel performances" and card stunts, seat by seat, sized in meters. โ€ข Wall decor & murals โ€” set the centimeters per tile and get the real wall size to paint or tile. โ€ข LEGO & brick mosaics โ€” each pixel is one brick on the baseplate. โ€ข LED matrices & low-res screens โ€” a pixel map to wire or program each LED. โ€ข Gifts & keepsakes โ€” turn a pet, a portrait, or a logo into a handmade piece. โ€ข Drawings, coloring pages & templates โ€” a ready-made grid to trace, color, or hand off. WHY YOU'LL LOVE IT โ€ข Pick a photo โ€” Pixela builds the pattern in seconds. โ€ข Control the look โ€” set the number of columns and palette colors with live sliders. โ€ข Color symbols โ€” every color gets a letter so it's easy to follow (great for color-vision needs). โ€ข Printable PDF โ€” a clean legend plus the full symbol chart, ready to print or share. โ€ข Export a clean PNG โ€” the pure pixel art with no grid or symbols, ready to use as a sprite, sticker, or poster. โ€ข Real thread colors โ€” see the nearest DMC floss for every color, and swap any color for the one you prefer. โ€ข Real finished size at any scale โ€” stitches (Aida), beads, or big tiles; shown in cm or meters, so you can size a wall mural or a whole stadium mosaic. โ€ข Track your progress โ€” mark finished cells and watch your % climb. โ€ข Pinch to zoom, tap "1:1" to see the whole thing โ€” built for big, detailed pieces. โ€ข Works offline โ€” everything is processed on your device. Your photos never leave it. FAIR PRICING Unlock everything with a single one-time purchase โ€” no subscription, ever. Private by design: your photos are processed on-device and are never uploaded.

About

Patternly by Luca

Features
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Patternly by Luca-S is a complete cross stitch studio in your pocket โ€” design patterns from scratch, convert photos into stitchable charts, and track your stitching progress on real kit charts. DESIGN A full pattern editor with layers, selections, shapes, text-to-stitch, backstitch, French knots and more. Unlimited undo. Match colours across Luca-S, DMC, Anchor, Cosmo and Madeira threads. CONVERT Turn any photo into a ready-to-stitch chart. Every pixel is matched to a real thread colour, with fine-tuning, masking and confetti cleanup for a chart that's a joy to stitch. TRACK Load your Luca-S kit chart and stitch off your screen. Tap each stitch as you go, work one colour at a time, pinch to zoom, and never lose your place. Your progress syncs to your account across devices. Bought a kit? Scan the QR code on the insert card and your pattern opens instantly. THREAD TOOLS Match any colour to real threads, pull a palette from a photo, and browse full brand conversion charts. Plus fabric, thread and time calculators for planning any project. PATTERNLY PLUS The editor, converter, thread tools and calculators are free. The Stitch Tracker is part of Patternly Plus, an auto-renewable subscription (monthly or yearly) with a 14-day free trial. Payment is charged to your Apple ID account at confirmation of purchase. The subscription automatically renews unless cancelled at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. Manage or cancel your subscription in your App Store account settings. Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy Policy: https://luca-s.com/pages/patternly-privacy

Screenshots

Pixel4 screens
Patternly by Luca4 screens

Verdict

The call

Pixel and Patternly by Luca are too close to call on the numbers: across 5 compared parameters โ€” price, ads, in-app purchases and device support among them โ€” neither pulls far enough ahead to decide it. What separates them is feature set and interface, not measurable difference.

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. Pixel sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and Patternly by Luca sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $3.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ScorecardNo meaningful differences
Pixel versus Patternly by Luca: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterPixelPatternly by Luca
PriceFreeFree
Update frequencyEvery 4 daysโ€”
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, iPod โ€” better
Requires iOS16.415.0 โ€” better
Further details โ€” not scored
Size65 MB11 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperAbraham MunguiaUK Luca-S LTD

In-app purchases

1 purchases

Pixel

One-time1
  • Pixel-A Pro$4.99
2 purchases

Patternly by Luca

Subscriptions2
  • Patternly Plus14 Days trial$3.991 Month
  • Patternly Plus14 Days trial$31.951 Year

Questions

Is Pixel free?
Pixel is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Patternly by Luca free?
Patternly by Luca is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Pixel or Patternly by Luca have ads?
Neither Pixel nor Patternly by Luca shows ads.

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