Characterize vs PRD Characters
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Characterize
Generate unique characters with names, traits, and stats instantly. Explore diverse categories and save your favorites for any creative project. Unlock additional themed packs for even more variety.
- Unlimited name generation
- Rich character details (age, traits, etc.)
- Themed character packs
- Save and share creations
- Diverse character categories
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Characterize: Your Unlimited Character Creation Companion Characterize is the ideal tool for writers, role-players, storytellers, and anyone who needs fresh, original characters at a moment’s notice. With a tap, Characterize draws from a massive, ever-expanding database of names, traits, and stats to bring you a nearly infinite variety of unique personalities—enough for even the most epic of projects. Whether you’re crafting a daring pirate, a cunning assassin, a modern hero, or something more fantastical, Characterize helps you find the perfect fit every time. Save your favorites, tweak their details, and return for more whenever inspiration strikes! Key Features: Boundless Name Generation: - Instantly generate characters from countless categories, including humans, orcs, pirates, assassins, and more. The possibilities stretch into the quadrillions—no two characters need ever be the same! Rich Character Details: - Don’t stop at names. Dive into ages, birthdays, hair and eye color, height, intelligence, personality, and relationships—all created with a single tap. Your characters will spring to life with depth and flair! Unlock Even More Worlds: - Beyond the vast default selection, themed packs give you even more variety. From superheroes to aliens, historical figures to anime icons, you’ll find the perfect flavor for any setting. Save & Share with Ease: - Keep track of your favorite creations and share them with friends. Revisit your saved characters whenever you like—no scrolling through endless notes or documents. Whether you’re naming a long-awaited protagonist, populating a tabletop campaign, or challenging yourself to write a story without knowing your cast in advance, Characterize puts limitless inspiration at your fingertips. Stop juggling multiple tools—download Characterize today and generate your next hero with a single tap! http://www.apple.com/legal/itunes/appstore/dev/stdeula
PRD Characters
Create, level up, and track characters for the Pathfinder gaming system. Get guidance on ability scores, classes, races, and spells. Includes a die roller and iCloud backup.
- Character creation and leveling
- Ability score guidance
- Class and race selection
- Spell slot tracking and preparation
- In-app die roller
- iCloud backup and sync
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PRD Characters allows you to create, level-up, and track characters for the PRD(Pathfinder Reference Document) gaming system. The App will give you choices and guidance for such aspects as ability scores, class selection, race selection, feature choices, spells, and more. Pop-up menus will display exactly how scores are calculated, allowing you to add your own adjustments if there is something else you want taken into account. Spell tracking tells you how many spell slots you have, lets you prepare spells in those slots, and keep track of which ones have been cast. You can back up and sync your characters between devices using Apple's iCloud. In addition, the App provides a die-roller for performing standard die rolls, as well as custom die rolls for any need. The free version allows you to create and level up characters up to level 4 using all the Core Rulebook races and 4 basic classes, Fighter, Rogue, Cleric, and Wizard. Buying a subscription gives you access to all the Core Rulebook and Advanced Player's Guide classes (except for Loremaster and Pathfinder Chronicler) and allows character levels all the way up to 20. PRD Characters now supports races from the Advanced Race guide. See demonstration here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kFX52Z751pA There are two Full Functionality Subscriptions, one for 3 months and the other for 1 year. Payment will be charged to your iTunes Account after you confirm purchase. These are auto-renewable subscriptions, which means they automatically renew unless auto-renew is turned off at least 24-hours before the end of the current period. Accounts will be charged for renewal within 24-hours prior to the end of the current period at the same charge as the initial purchase. Subscriptions may be managed by the user and auto-renewal may be turned off by going to the user's Account Settings after purchase. Any unused portion of a free trial period, if offered, will be forfeited when the user purchases a subscription to that publication, where applicable. The Privacy and Terms of Use can be found at: http://shinybuttonsoftware.com/prd-characters/prd-characters-privacy-policy/
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is update cadence: Characterize at every 3 weeks against PRD Characters's every 4 months. Characterize also leads on rating (4.3 vs 4.1) and review sentiment (68% vs 56%). PRD Characters's advantage is iOS requirement (10.3 vs 15.0). On price, ratings volume, ads and in-app purchases 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. Characterize sells 16 one-off in-app purchases and PRD Characters sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $2.49 per 3 months. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
Characterize holds the better App Store score, 4.3 against 4.1. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 344 and 146 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 68% of Characterize's written reviews are positive against 56% of PRD Characters's.
Characterize ships an update every 3 weeks, PRD Characters every 4 months. The most recent releases landed on September 1, 2026 and July 17, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Characterize | PRD Characters |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.3 (344 ratings) — better | 4.1 (146 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 68.3% of reviews — better | 56.3% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 344 — better | 146 |
| Update frequency | Every 3 weeks — better | Every 4 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Freemium |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 | 10.3 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 295 MB | 30 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 12+ |
| Developer | Alexander Winn | Shiny Button Software, LLC |
Customer experience
Characterize
PRD Characters
Bugs and requests
Characterize
Reported bugs
3 issues- Crashes on startup
- Issues with custom generators and editing characters
- Purchased content not unlocking properly
Requested features
3 requests- More free generators
- Ability to edit and customize generated characters
- Sorting and organization options for saved characters
PRD Characters
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Characterize
- Heroes & Villains Generator$0.99
- Wizards & Witches Generator$0.99
- Gods & Goddesses Generator$0.99
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- Anime & Manga Generator$0.99
- Demons Generator$0.99
- Anthros Generator$0.99
- Aliens Generator$0.99
- Kings, Queens, & Nobles Generator$0.99
- Apocalypse Survivors Generator$0.99
- Assassins Generator$0.99
- Angels Generator$0.99
- Demigods Generator$0.99
- Dragons Generator$0.99
- Fantasy Races Bundle$4.99
- Mythology Bundle$5.99
- All Generators$19.99
PRD Characters
- 3 Month Subscription$2.493 Months
- 1 Year Subscription$5.491 Year
Questions
Is Characterize free?
Is PRD Characters free?
Which has better reviews, Characterize or PRD Characters?
Do Characterize or PRD Characters have ads?
Which is updated more often, Characterize or PRD Characters?
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