Comparison

Citus Camera vs lilocam

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

Head to head
About

Citus Camera

Features
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Built by a photographer who wanted a camera, not an editor. SHOOT THROUGH THE LOOK - Ten original Citus looks, graded by hand - The look renders live in the viewfinder, at full frame rate - Hold a look to dial its strength, double-tap to favorite it - Start free with three of them: FROST, AMBER, and LINEN THE FILM LAB - Grain with size control - mono, like the real thing - Black & white with a channel mixer and film presets - Manual white balance with a live Kelvin readout - Highlights, shadows, clarity, structure A REAL CAMERA - EV control, focus lock, face autofocus - 48 MP and ProRAW (DNG) capture - Volume-button shutter, self-timer, burst - 9:16, 4:5, 1:1, and 3:4 framing RECIPES - Save a whole camera setup - look, strength, lab settings - and come back to it with one tap LOOK PACKS - FILM STOCK - six looks made from real film rolls, scanned and adjusted by hand - CINEMA - six color grades built for the big screen - MONO - six classic black & white looks - Every look previews live in the viewfinder before you buy YOURS, NOT RENTED - One purchase unlocks Citus Pro - every look, the full film lab, 48 MP + ProRAW, unlimited recipes - No subscription. Ever. - The free tier is a real camera, not a demo PRIVATE BY DESIGN - No accounts, no sign-ups - Your photos never leave your iPhone - Anonymous usage stats only - and you can turn even that off Made by one photographer. Share your shots with #shotoncitus.

About

lilocam

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THE FUTURE OF iPhone PHOTOGRAPHY. A revolution in your pocket. No more photos that look like they were shot on a phone. No more camera apps that slap on a filter, a preset, a LUT or a cube, and sell it to you as film simulations and custom recipes. And with PRO, you'll never pay for a "look" pack again: every new collection and feature are included, for life. Every button, strategically placed to minimize accidental touches. Press the shutter and lilocam does what a darkroom does: it keeps the RAW negative and develops it, right on your phone, into a finished picture with your custom film recipe. Or use one of ours. NO LUTS. NO CUBES. NO PRESETS. NO FILTERS. Not one. A filter paints a look over a photo that's already finished. lilocam develops the look from the RAW negative itself, through Nebula, its own film-lab engine: exposure, tone, color, grain and dynamic range, worked out for every picture, never pasted on top. It's the difference between a photograph that's been decorated and one that's been developed. And because every RAW photograph stays a negative, nothing is ever final. Fall for a different look next week? Develop it again. No loss, no compromise. THE LOOKS Two collections of film looks, plus your own: โ€ข The NIPPON COLLECTION: the color of classic Japanese film, from punchy slide film to deep black and white โ€ข The EUROPEAN COLLECTION (PRO): the color of precision German photography, rich, restrained and timeless โ€ข Bloom and Halation (PRO): the glow of light blooming through film, on any look โ€ข Your own recipes: build one, name it, pin it to the film strip and shoot with it. Spotted a recipe online? Point the camera at it, scan its QR code, or paste it in. A REAL CAMERA P, A, S and M. An EV dial under your thumb. Every lens one tap away. Level, histogram and focus peaking. Five aspect ratios, from 1:1 to a sweeping 65:24 panorama. RAW, JPEG or HEIF. And a movie mode that grades your footage live, with your recipe. YOUR DARKROOM, ALWAYS OPEN Every negative lives in your library, ready to develop again. Try any recipe on any RAW photograph or any movie, go back to how it was shot, build albums, and save, share or print the pictures you love. WITH YOUR X-TRANS V CAMERA Pair a compatible camera and lilocam becomes its companion: โ€ข Pairs over Bluetooth on its own, no other app needed โ€ข Reads, writes, edits and deletes your camera's custom recipes wirelessly, no USB cable needed โ€ข Browse and download photographs and movies over the camera's Wi-Fi โ€ข Shoot remotely with the camera's own live view and controls YOURS ALONE No account. No analytics. No servers. Every photograph stays on your phone. WHICH iPhone Best on iPhone 14 Pro or later. RAW negatives need an iPhone with ProRAW (iPhone 12 Pro or later); other iPhones shoot JPEG or HEIF. Only a photograph shot as a RAW negative can be developed again with a different recipe. TRY EVERYTHING, FREE Your first 72 shots are on us: two full rolls of film, with every feature unlocked, PRO included. Every new picture, re-develop, recipe added or camera change uses one. When you're ready, pick your edition: โ€ข lilocam Standard: the full camera and darkroom. Monthly, yearly, or once for life. โ€ข lilocam PRO: everything in Standard, plus the EUROPEAN COLLECTION, Lens filters (Mist, Bloom, Halation) and every new feature and collection to come. Once, for life. Subscriptions renew automatically unless canceled at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. Manage or cancel them anytime in your Apple Account settings. Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy Policy: https://daisycloud.us/lilocam/privacy lilocam is an independent app and is not affiliated with, endorsed by or sponsored by any camera manufacturer. Every film look is an approximation dialed in by hand with Daisycloud's Nebula darkroom engine. Connecting a camera is at your own risk; every other part of lilocam works without one.

Screenshots

Citus Camera4 screens
lilocam4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: lilocam at daily against Citus Camera's weekly. Citus Camera's advantage is iOS requirement (16.6 vs 26.0). On price, ads, in-app purchases and device support there is nothing between them.

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. Citus Camera sells 4 one-off in-app purchases and lilocam sells 5 in-app purchases, starting at $9.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Citus Camera ships an update weekly, lilocam daily. The most recent releases landed on November 5, 2026 and November 6, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences ยท 4 level
Citus Camera versus lilocam: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterCitus Cameralilocam
PriceFreeFree
Update frequencyWeeklyDaily โ€” better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
DevicesiPhoneiPhone
Requires iOS16.6 โ€” better26.0
Further details โ€” not scored
Size34 MB35 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperLeonid YakobovLomation

In-app purchases

4 purchases

Citus Camera

One-time4
  • Film Stock$4.99
  • Mono$4.99
  • Cinema$4.99
Show 1 more
  • Citus Pro$14.99
5 purchases

lilocam

Subscriptions2
  • lilocam Standard, Monthly$9.991 Month
  • lilocam Standard, Yearly$89.991 Year
One-time3
  • Upgrade to PRO Lifetime$64.99
  • lilocam Standard Lifetime$99.99
  • lilocam PRO Lifetime$164.99

Questions

Is Citus Camera free?
Citus Camera is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is lilocam free?
lilocam is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Citus Camera or lilocam have ads?
Neither Citus Camera nor lilocam shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Citus Camera or lilocam?
Citus Camera ships an update weekly, and lilocam daily. Most recently, Citus Camera was updated on November 5, 2026 and lilocam on November 6, 2026.

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