Frames vs CDNC
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Frames
Organize your entire photo library with intelligent tagging and powerful editing tools. All processing happens directly on your device, ensuring your privacy. Discover, edit, and perfect your images without leaving the app.
- AI-powered photo tagging
- On-device face recognition
- Smart, synonym-aware search
- Advanced photo editing tools
- RAW image development
- Film looks and framing
- Privacy-focused design
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Frames turns your camera roll into a library you can actually search, and an editor you can actually work in. Everything happens on your device. Your photos never leave your phone. ORGANIZED THE MOMENT YOU OPEN IT Frames reads your library and tags what's in your photos, so you can finally find things: • Search by place, color, subject, and the people in the shot • Faces are recognized on device and gathered into albums you name • Smart, synonym-aware search: look for "dog" and find the labradoodle • Filter by date, location, camera, and more A REAL EDITOR, RIGHT ON TOP OF YOUR LIBRARY No importing, no round-trips. Open any photo and go: • Exposure, color, curves, and HSL with granular control • AI masks: select the subject, the sky, or any color or luminance range • RAW develop with highlight recovery and extended dynamic range • Film look, grain, color grade, and clean white-border framing • Save in-place in your library, or export as a new copy PRIVATE BY DESIGN All tagging, face grouping, and editing runs on your device. There's no cloud, no account, and no tracking. Your library stays yours. TRY EVERYTHING FREE Start with a 14-day free trial of the full editor — no card, no subscription required to try it. After that, Frames Pro unlocks the complete toolset: • Monthly subscription, or • A lifetime license - yours forever with no strings attached Frames is built for people who care how their photos look and where they live. Shoot it, find it, finish it. All in one place. — Frames Pro is a monthly auto-renewing subscription or a one-time lifetime purchase. The monthly subscription renews automatically unless cancelled at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. Manage or cancel anytime in your Apple Account settings. Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy Policy: https://tyhaven.github.io/frames-privacy/
CDNC
This app offers professional video capture with manual controls for exposure, focus, and white balance. It includes built-in film looks and advanced color grading tools to refine your footage. You can record in high-quality formats and apply cinematic effects for polished video production.
- Manual capture controls
- Built-in Film Looks
- Precise color grading tools
- ProRes 422 HQ recording
- Shutter drag for motion blur
- Video stabilization (Beta)
- Export with HEVC
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Professional capture. Cinematic color. CDNC is an iPhone video camera with manual capture controls, built-in Film Looks, and precise color grading tools. Set exposure, shutter, focus, and white balance before you roll, then shape the finished image in the same app. START WITH GOLD 200 Gold 200 is included free: monitor with it while filming, refine your clips, save finished edited versions, and export. Core recording, supported capture formats, manual controls, import, playback, basic editing, original-file export, framing guides, and the histogram are also included. CHOOSE A FILM LOOK Try other built-in Film Looks live in Camera or in the Editor before upgrading. Camera labels a Pro preview and asks you to unlock or switch to free Gold 200 before recording. CDNC Pro unlocks recording while monitoring these Looks, saving finished edited versions, and export, plus reusable creative presets and advanced monitoring tools. REFINE THE COLOR Shape your image with exposure, contrast, highlights, shadows, temperature, tint, saturation, skin tone, primary color wheels, curves, and seven-band HSL controls. Make color adjustments before the Film Look, then refine texture with diffusion, grain, lens blur, and sharpening. Dedicated Frames, Resize, and Trim tools help finish the composition. Preview Effects while editing. CDNC Pro is required to save or export with active Effects. To finish for free, choose Gold 200 without Effects and keep your color and composition adjustments. RECORD IN PRORES 422 HQ Capture ProRes 422 HQ original recordings in supported Apple Log and Apple Log 2 modes on compatible iPhones. HQ preserves a 10-bit 4:2:2 original for further grading. It requires substantially more storage than HEVC. Finished graded video exports use HEVC. SHUTTER DRAG. MADE IN CAMERA. Create native 1/5-second motion blur on supported camera configurations. Record and play back normally, then refine your Film Look and color in the Editor. The exposure blur is part of the recording; your grade stays editable. STEADIER SHOTS. SIMPLER FINISHING. Use CDNC Steady (Beta) to analyze a clip, choose Smooth Motion or Fixed Tripod, and adjust the amount. An optional camera Level helps line up your shot. Select your whole Media library and copy or move originals with saved CDNC edits to a Files location or external drive. ONE PRO TIER. YOUR CHOICE. Choose a monthly subscription, annual subscription, or one-time lifetime unlock. Each provides the same Pro access. Lifetime includes future core app improvements and additions to the standard CDNC Film Look collection; separate future products, services, or licensed collaboration packs are outside that promise. Monthly and annual subscriptions renew automatically unless canceled. See the in-app purchase screen for current local prices and terms. Manage subscriptions through your Apple Account. A lifetime purchase does not automatically cancel an existing subscription. Capture formats and monitoring options depend on your iPhone and system support. CDNC focuses on capture and look/color refinement, not a multitrack editing timeline. Questions? hello@cdnc.app Privacy Policy: https://www.cdnc.app/privacy Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: Frames at 5.0 against CDNC's 4.2. Frames also leads on ads (none vs shown) and review sentiment (100% vs 80%). CDNC's advantage is ratings volume (5 vs 1) and iOS requirement (17.0 vs 26.0). On price, update cadence, in-app purchases and monetization model 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. Frames sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $3.99 per month and CDNC sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
Frames holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.2. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: CDNC has 5 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 100% of Frames's written reviews are positive against 80% of CDNC's.
Frames ships an update weekly, CDNC every 4 days. Both last shipped on November 6, 2026.
| Parameter | Frames | CDNC |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 5.0 (1 ratings) — better | 4.2 (5 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 100.0% of reviews — better | 80.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 1 | 5 — better |
| Update frequency | Weekly | Every 4 days — better |
| Ads | No — better | Yes |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free with in-app purchases |
| Best chart rank | #145 — better | — |
| Devices | iPhone | iPhone |
| Requires iOS | 26.0 | 17.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 226 MB | 703 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | TYLER ANDREW HAVEN | CDNC Studio LLC |
Customer experience
Frames
CDNC
In-app purchases
Frames
- 1 month subscription$3.991 Month
- Lifetime license$19.99
CDNC
- CDNC Pro Monthly7 Days trial$4.991 Month
- CDNC Pro Annual7 Days trial$29.991 Year
- CDNC Pro Lifetime$59.99









