Comparison

Pixel Playground Lite vs Pixel Master

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

Head to head
About

Pixel Playground Lite

Create retro-style graphics with a powerful yet simple pixel art editor. Offers a clean interface, intuitive tools, and smart color management for precise drawing. Export your creations as PNGs.

Highlights
  • Intuitive interface
  • Robust toolset
  • Smart color palettes
  • Precise drawing controls
  • Unlimited undo steps
  • PNG export
Features
Read full description

*** Please note: This FREE version puts an overlay on exported PNGs. Saved documents can later be opened in full version if iCloud is enabled! *** - "Wow — just wow, I've played with nearly ALL of the pixel editors out there (I use them daily) and none come close to this in terms of slickness.", UK - "I'm a HUGE fan of Pixel Playground! It's the only iOS pixel art app that's as well designed as iOS itself. Almost every design decision is perfect.", US - "This is Absolutely what you should expect from a great pixel art tool. Some of the tools here work like magic. Nice touches everywhere in the app.", UK - "Extremely feature rich but not bloated. Love the factual names of the colours too.", UK - "This really is a great pixel editor. The interface is refreshing and there’s a surprisingly robust toolset augmented with useful gesture controls. Pixel drawing is precise.", US - "The tutorials are fun and very effective at teaching the app’s features.", US - "Inuitive, fast. Really surprised to see several really cool tools. Lock color. Draw to select. Long press to sample. Nice.", Denmark ---- Do pixel editors have to be as retro as pixel art itself? No! Professionals, hobbyists and newcomers – rejoice! Pixel Playground is here, and it's powerful, beautiful and simple. INTERFACE - Simple & clean with no clutter between you and your art - Intuitive document organizer - Document bounds grow as needed - Super responsive drawing - Fast and smooth pan and zoom - Unlimited undo steps - Portrait or landscape anytime - Instant launch TOOLS - Freehand, lines, boxes, ellipses, flood-fill - Cool auto contour tool - Intuitive tool size: matches finger-tip size at any zoom level - Flood-fill and contour tools supports 4 or 8 pixel neighborhoods - Powerful selection: paint a mask using regular tools - Easy to move stuff around - Cut, copy, paste COLORS - Smart palette with existing document colors - Extensive palette with all recent colors - Paint opacity setting - Automatic color naming for easy reference - Long press to sample existing colors - Lock all pixels of one color - Lock all pixels except one color - Adjust individual colors in your art - Auto erase when drawing on same color SAVING - Syncs using iCloud - Auto saves your work - Export as regular PNGs - Save to photos, air drop, facebook, twitter, etc. BONUS - No in-app purchases - Magic undo/redo transitions - Minimal file size (1,5 MB!) Turn on iCloud sync, and you can access your documents if you upgrade to the full version!

About

Pixel Master

Create custom pixel art and animations with a variety of tools, effects, and export options. Import photos, animate GIFs, and share your creations for personal or professional use.

Highlights
  • Custom pixel drawing and animation
  • Photo import and pixelation
  • Animated GIF creation
  • Advanced pixel tools
  • Multiple export formats
  • Onion skinning for animation
  • Custom project sizes
Features
Read full description

Pixel Master is an App for making custom pixel drawings and animations. Plenty of tools, effects, and export options give you the freedom to create and share your art for fun or professional use. *smooth-as-silk pixel drawing, not your typical dot clicker- this feels amazing! *import and pixelate your photos and artwork *create animate gifs for social media and messaging apps *great pixel tools including zoom, rotate, flip, and color effects *share your final work through social media, email, or save to your photo library *create and sample custom colors or use the easy pick palette *onion skin feature for easier animation *separate background layer in animation mode *handy-dandy undo feature *save and store up to 49 projects on your device *built in 8-bit font for placing text in your picture *stamp tool with dozens of built-in pictures *custom project sizes: 8x8 to 512x512 pixels! *export sprite sheets, animated gifs, or single .png frames *basic or advanced mode for simple drawings or complex animations *easily copy, move, and paste frames or selections across your project *up to 299 frames of animation per project *two switchable modes: single frame art, or multi-frame animation *import and export your projects via copy and paste text

Screenshots

Pixel Playground Lite4 screens
Pixel Master4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is ads: Pixel Playground Lite at none against Pixel Master's shown. Pixel Playground Lite also leads on review sentiment (75% vs 44%) and monetization model (free vs ad-supported). Pixel Master's advantage is rating (3.7 vs 3.3) and update cadence (weekly vs every 2 months). On price, in-app purchases 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Pixel Master holds the better App Store score, 3.7 against 3.3. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Pixel Master has 26 ratings behind it against 4, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 75% of Pixel Playground Lite's written reviews are positive against 44% of Pixel Master's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Pixel Playground Lite ships an update every 2 months, Pixel Master weekly. The most recent releases landed on November 1, 2026 and November 2, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard7 real differences · 3 level
Pixel Playground Lite versus Pixel Master: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterPixel Playground LitePixel Master
PriceFreeFree
Rating3.3 (4 ratings)3.7 (26 ratings) — better
Positive reviews75.0% of reviews — better43.8% of reviews
Number of ratings426 — better
Update frequencyEvery 2 monthsWeekly — better
AdsNo — betterYes
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFree — betterAd-supported
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS17.011.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size3 MB16 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperStudio Meeandrew bell

Customer experience

Pixel Playground Lite

All ratings4 ratings
Positive50.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative50.0%
Written reviews4 reviews
Positive75.0%
Neutral25.0%
Negative0.0%

Pixel Master

All ratings26 ratings
Positive61.5%
Neutral19.2%
Negative19.2%
Written reviews16 reviews
Positive43.8%
Neutral37.5%
Negative18.8%

In-app purchases

None

Pixel Playground Lite

No in-app purchases

None

Pixel Master

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Pixel Playground Lite free?
Pixel Playground Lite is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Pixel Master free?
Pixel Master is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Pixel Playground Lite or Pixel Master?
Pixel Master is rated higher. Pixel Playground Lite averages 3.3 out of 5 from 4 ratings, while Pixel Master averages 3.7 from 26 ratings.
Do Pixel Playground Lite or Pixel Master have ads?
Pixel Master shows ads; Pixel Playground Lite does not.
Which is updated more often, Pixel Playground Lite or Pixel Master?
Pixel Playground Lite ships an update every 2 months, and Pixel Master weekly. Most recently, Pixel Playground Lite was updated on November 1, 2026 and Pixel Master on November 2, 2026.

Other comparisons