PixelPad vs Dottie
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
PixelPad
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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 • Work on crisp 8×8 to 128×128 canvases • Use Pencil, Eraser, Fill, Eyedropper, and Selection tools • Pan and zoom without losing the pixel grid • Undo and redo complete strokes ANIMATE FRAME BY FRAME • Add, duplicate, delete, and reorder frames • Set a project frame rate or tune timing per frame • Compare neighboring frames with color-coded onion skins • Preview animation with the same timing used for GIF export BUILD YOUR PALETTE • Add, remove, and reorder colors • Start with built-in palettes • Save reusable custom palette presets EXPORT GAME-READY ASSETS • Export transparent or solid-background PNGs • Create animated GIFs • Arrange sprite sheets by rows and columns • Control frame spacing and 1×, 2×, or 4× 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.
Dottie
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Dottie is a pixel art editor for game sprites, small illustrations and short animations. Start from a template, change the colors and make it your own. START WITH A TEMPLATE Choose from 6 original pixel art templates. A short creation guide takes you through choosing a color, drawing and exporting a PNG. Templates and the guide work within the free limits. DRAW AND REFINE Use pencils, fill, shapes and dithering. Keep colors consistent with palettes, then move, copy, flip or rotate a selection. Symmetry and zoom help with the finishing touches. ADD LAYERS AND MOTION Edit backgrounds and characters on separate layers. Duplicate frames, make small changes and play your animation. Onion skin shows the previous frame as a guide. WORK FROM A REFERENCE Import an image and adjust its position, size and rotation. Assign reference images to individual frames to guide poses and compositions. BACK UP AND RESTORE YOUR PROJECTS Back up all projects or just selected ones to a file, then restore them on another device. Review the contents before restoring; existing artwork is kept. Basic backup and restore are free. This is manual file transfer, not automatic cloud sync. Premium purchases are restored separately through the store where you purchased them. EXPORT YOUR ART Export PNG images and editable project files. Premium also includes animated GIF, PNG sequence, sprite sheet and tile image exports. WHAT CAN I MAKE FOR FREE? Create up to 5 projects, with canvases up to 64 × 64 pixels, 3 layers per frame and 3 frames. The free version displays ads. WHEN YOU NEED MORE ROOM Premium is a one-time purchase that removes ads and expands project, canvas, layer and frame limits, plus export options. You can also complete a rewarded ad to try Premium for 24 hours. Purchases and rewarded ads require an internet connection. Device memory and other limits still apply to project size. No account registration is required. Artwork is saved on your device. Keep a backup file of important projects outside the app. Advertising and purchases use external services. Available in English, Japanese, Korean, Simplified Chinese and Spanish.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: PixelPad at none against Dottie's 1. PixelPad also leads on update cadence (every 2 days vs weekly). Dottie's advantage is iOS requirement (15.0 vs 17.0). On price, ads 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. Dottie sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. PixelPad asks for nothing beyond the download.
PixelPad ships an update every 2 days, Dottie weekly. The most recent releases landed on October 9, 2026 and October 13, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | PixelPad | Dottie |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Update frequency | Every 2 days — better | Weekly |
| Ads | Yes | Yes |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 17.0 | 15.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 14 MB | 31 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | DAEHONG MIN | Hiroyuki Yamamoto |
In-app purchases
PixelPad
No in-app purchases
Dottie
- Dottie Premium$3.99








