Halide Mark III vs Plastipic
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Halide Mark III
This professional camera app offers advanced manual controls and powerful tools for deliberate photography. Capture stunning RAW images, utilize Neural Macro for close-ups on any iPhone, and access features like focus peaking and histograms. Learn photography with included lessons and customize your shooting experience.
- Manual exposure and focus controls
- Neural Macro for close-up shots
- 14-bit RAW and ProRAW capture
- Exposure tools: histograms, waveform, zebras
- Focus peaking and loupe
- Gesture-based interface
- Included photography lessons
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Halide unleashes your iPhone’s camera. Disable iPhone processing for natural photos, apply powerful film situations, access manual controls, and more. Halide has over 24,000 5-star ratings and is an App Store Editors’ Choice and Apple Design Award winner. Halide’s Looks are built into the camera itself, changing how your photo is captured and processed - not just a color filter applied after the fact. These are the best photos you can get out of an iPhone. Start with Process Zero for natural, film-like results, without any AI or computational photography. Explore our rich set of creative Looks developed with Hollywood colorist Cullen Kelly, and powered by sophisticated film simulation. For nine years, Halide has set the standard for professional iPhone camera control. Nail your manual focus with Focus Peaking and the Focus Loupe. Compose your shots with intention using sophisticated framing guides, from a basic grid and rule of thirds, to the golden ratio and rabatment of the rectangle. Get perfect macro shots with Halide's dedicated Macro Mode. Hate editing? Halide gives you amazing results straight out of the camera. But when you need to fine-tune, Photo Lab makes it fast and intuitive. Try dramatically different Looks, adjust framing and exposure, experiment with film simulation, or rescue details in highlights and shadows with Tone Fusion. You can even import and load RAWs from other apps, such as Apple’s own camera app, or standalone cameras by Canon, Nikon, Sony, Leica, Fujifilm, and Hasselblad. Specific formats are listed below. *Halide is a paid app. Try it free for 7 days with an annual membership, or buy it outright with a one-time purchase — no subscription required.* Features: - Shoot without Apple’s computational photography for stronger contrast and more natural results. - Photographic Looks developed in collaboration with esteemed Hollywood colorist Cullen Kelly. - Rescue details in shadows and highlights with a Tone Fusion slider inspired by darkroom dodging and burning. - Try any Look on existing ProRAW files - including photos shot in Apple’s camera app. - Become a better photographer by signing up for our 10-day tutorial directly from the app. - Full manual exposure controls including shutter speed, ISO and white balance. - Technical Readout to view all details of your iPhone camera hardware. - Also runs on iPad, for an amazing Photo Lab experience. RAW File Support: - DNG (iPhone, Leica) - CR2 (Canon) - CR3 (Canon) - NEF (Nikon) - RAF (Fujifilm) - ARW (Sony) - FFF (Hasselblad) Terms of Use can be found here: https://halide.cam/terms Privacy: https://www.lux.camera/privacy/
Plastipic
Capture unique artistic photos with randomized focus and vignetting. Add special effects, stack unlimited exposures, and apply stunning color or monochrome filters. Some advanced filters require a subscription for full access.
- Randomized soft corner focus
- Vignetting effects
- Spice special effects
- Unlimited exposure stacking
- Color and monochrome filters
- Subscription for premium filters
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A fun camera app that empowers you to take stunning artistic photos! With beautiful randomized soft corner focus and vignetting, each photo you take is totally unique. Turn up the heat by adding special effects using the Spice feature, or get creative by stacking unlimited exposures. Take delightful photos using a variety of stunning color and monochrome filters. Some filters require a subscription to Plastipic Pro unless using the "RAND" random filter option. Bold. Beautiful. Unapologetically unpredictable. Plastic fantastic! Official Website: https://pixpeep.com/ Privacy Policy: https://pixpeep.com/plastipic/privacy/ Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: Plastipic at 5.0 against Halide Mark III's 4.4. Halide Mark III's advantage is ratings volume (13K vs 2) and update cadence (every 11 days vs every 2 months). On price, ads, 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. Halide Mark III sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $9.99 per month and Plastipic sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
Plastipic holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.4. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Halide Mark III has 13K ratings behind it against 2, so its average is the more settled of the two.
Halide Mark III ships an update every 11 days, Plastipic every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on September 27, 2026 and September 8, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Halide Mark III | Plastipic |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.4 (13K ratings) | 5.0 (2 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 41.1% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 13K — better | 2 |
| Update frequency | Every 11 days — better | Every 2 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Freemium |
| Best chart rank | #135 — better | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad — better | iPhone |
| Requires iOS | 18.0 | 17.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 84 MB | 26 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Lux Optics Incorporated | James Rhoades |
Customer experience
Halide Mark III
Plastipic
Bugs and requests
Halide Mark III
Reported bugs
3 issues- Photos not saving properly
- Zoom functionality issues
- Landscape mode UI problems
Requested features
5 requests- Shutter speed adjustment
- Live depth/bokeh preview
- Custom white balance
- Time-lapse and video recording
- Ability to save settings/presets
Plastipic
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Halide Mark III
- Pro Camera, Editor, and Lessons$9.991 Month
- Pro Camera, Editor, and Lessons7 Days trial$19.991 Year
- One Time Purchase$69.99
Plastipic
- Plastipic Pro: Monthly$2.991 Month
- Plastipic Pro: Annual$19.991 Year
Questions
Is Halide Mark III free?
Is Plastipic free?
Which has better reviews, Halide Mark III or Plastipic?
Do Halide Mark III or Plastipic have ads?
Which is updated more often, Halide Mark III or Plastipic?
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