Pixel Art Maker vs Markup R
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Pixel Art Maker
Create and animate pixel art with a user-friendly drawing tool. Convert photos into pixel art, customize color palettes, and export your creations as GIFs. Offers both free and premium features for enhanced capabilities.
- Pixel art drawing up to 256x256
- Photo to pixel art conversion
- Animated pixel art creation
- Customizable color palettes
- Export as animated GIF
- Scalable artwork export
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"Pixel Art Maker" is a drawing tool for pixel art like retro games. ◇ Easy to use You can start drawing pixel art immediately after launching the app. The canvas can also be resized while drawing. ◇ Import a photo Convert photos into pixel art. ◇ Create animated pixel art Draw one pixel art image, duplicate it, and create animations. Features: - Draw pixel art on canvases from 1×1 up to 256×256 pixels. - Change the color palette (up to 256 colors). The basic palette includes 32 colors. The free version supports up to 65 colors. *Each palette color can be set to transparent or opaque. - Save your color palettes and reuse them in other artworks or when importing photos. - Watch an ad to temporarily unlock: • 256-color palette • Canvas size up to 1024×1024 - Premium Removes ads and permanently unlocks the full 256-color palette and canvas sizes up to 1024×1024. - Zoom in and out with two-finger pinch. - Save, load, and delete your drawings. - Import photos and animated GIFs. APNG animation is not supported; only the first frame is imported. - Import photos with built-in retro-style palettes and adjustable dithering. Indexed PNG files keep their original palette. - Import images from other apps via the Share sheet. - Export with transparency. - Scale your artwork on export from 1× to 64×, depending on canvas size, up to 4096×4096. - Save to Photos. - Share with other apps. - Create and export animated GIFs. *GIFs may not animate in Photos. - Finger Mode Draw directly with your finger. - Cursor Mode Move a cursor and place pixels with the "PIXEL" button. (Menu → Settings → Change Drawing Mode) * On Apple Silicon Macs (iPad version), animated image import may be limited, and photos may be imported at reduced resolution.
Markup R
This app allows users to mark up any stitch chart from any designer. It can automatically detect grids, symbols, and colors from PDFs or photos, and even stitch together multi-page charts. Users can track progress, identify stitch counts, and utilize built-in shade cards for thread colors.
- Load any chart from any designer
- Automatic grid, symbol, and color detection
- Stitch multi-page charts together
- Automatic symbol and thread color detection
- Built-in shade cards (DMC, Anchor, Madeira)
- Track progress and statistics
- Customizable markup tools
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Spend your stitching time stitching, not counting. Markup R-XP is a cross stitch pattern tracker that turns your PDF, paper, book and magazine cross stitch patterns into digital charts you can zoom, highlight and mark off as you stitch. No more taping pages together, no more highlighter on your paper patterns, and no more hunting for the square you stopped on. Join thousands of stitchers who've made their cross stitch charts easier to follow. Try it free for 14 days. STITCH THE CHARTS YOU ALREADY OWN Your cross stitch charts, from any designer, in one digital workspace. • PDF pattern import: open cross stitch PDFs from independent designers, Etsy shops and major publishers • Paper, book and magazine scanning: photograph a printed pattern and Markup R-XP lines it up into a digital grid • Full Chart mode: join multi-page charts into one continuous chart, so page joins stop being a counting puzzle • Free cross stitch charts included: start stitching straight away with ready-to-go designer charts NEVER LOSE YOUR PLACE Spend less time finding your place and more time enjoying every stitch. • Last-stitch marker: reopen your project and pick up where you stopped • Symbol highlighting: tap a symbol to light up every matching stitch across the whole chart • Detailed zoom: zoom right in on tiny symbols and busy confetti sections MADE FOR THE WAY YOU STITCH From a beginner's first kit to a full-coverage piece. • Parking method: track parked threads with your own markers, ideal for full-coverage and confetti-heavy charts • Backstitch layer: mark backstitch separately, with snap-to-grid, solid or dashed lines • Fractional stitches: track them alongside your full stitches • Thread palettes: DMC, Anchor, Madeira and other floss ranges built in • Stitch-alongs (SAL): add new chart parts as they release without losing your progress WATCH YOUR PROGRESS GROW Make every stitching session count. • Track stitches completed, stitches remaining and percentage done • Set daily goals and keep your stitching streak going • See every WIP move closer to a finished piece YOUR STITCHING WORKSPACE ON IPHONE AND IPAD • Works on iPhone and iPad • Back up and transfer projects between supported devices MADE FOR CROSS STITCHERS Markup R-XP is built by a dedicated small team. Join our global stitching community to share tips, find help and get more from your cross stitch and embroidery projects. Questions or feedback? Contact us at info@markuprxp.co.uk or visit markuprxp.co.uk
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is ads: Markup R at none against Pixel Art Maker's shown. Pixel Art Maker's advantage is review sentiment (91% vs 66%) and update cadence (every 9 days vs monthly). On price, rating, 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. Pixel Art Maker sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and Markup R sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $19.99 per year. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.8 for Pixel Art Maker against 4.7 for Markup R. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 11K and 3.1K respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 91% of Pixel Art Maker's written reviews are positive against 66% of Markup R's.
Pixel Art Maker ships an update every 9 days, Markup R monthly. The most recent releases landed on October 17, 2026 and October 18, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Pixel Art Maker | Markup R |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.8 (11K ratings) — better | 4.7 (3.1K ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 91.0% of reviews — better | 66.4% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 11K — better | 3.1K |
| Update frequency | Every 9 days — better | Monthly |
| Ads | Yes | No — better |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 15.5 — better | 16.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 15 MB | 318 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Nekomimimi | Kewin Lawson Smith Limited |
Customer experience
Pixel Art Maker
Markup R
User reviews
Pixel Art Maker
From 11K App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 👍 Easy to use
- 🚀 Helpful for making mods
- 🚀 Great for pixel art and animations
- 🚀 Intuitive and practical
- 🚀 Lots of customization options
Room to improve
- 🐛 Occasional crashes or save issues
- 🐛 Difficulty moving or selecting specific pixels
- 🐛 Limited color palette options
Markup R
From 3.1K App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 👍 Easy to use and intuitive
- 🚀 Speeds up stitching process
- 💡 Helpful features like highlighting symbols and tracking progress
- 🤝 Excellent customer support and responsiveness
- 🎨 Customizable to user preferences
Room to improve
- 🐛 Issues with grid alignment and symbol recognition
- 💰 Yearly subscription cost may be high for some users
- 🔍 Steep learning curve for some features
- 🔌 Battery drain concerns with extended use
Bugs and requests
Pixel Art Maker
Reported bugs
2 issues- Exported images not retaining transparency
- Color picker not working as expected
Requested features
5 requests- Add a redo button
- Implement layers and better color management
- Increase maximum canvas size
- Add a paint bucket tool
- Allow importing/exporting of animations
Markup R
Reported bugs
3 issues- Crashes and freezes when marking up certain patterns
- Inconsistent symbol highlighting and placement
- Difficulty loading and aligning some scanned patterns
Requested features
5 requests- Ability to track floss stash and needed supplies
- Syncing across multiple devices
- Improved support for password-protected PDFs
- Font size controls for rulers and labels
- Rotation/flipping options for patterns
In-app purchases
Pixel Art Maker
- Remove Ads$1.99
Markup R
- Yearly Access$19.991 Year
- Markup R-XP Full$9.99
Questions
Is Pixel Art Maker free?
Is Markup R free?
Which has better reviews, Pixel Art Maker or Markup R?
Do Pixel Art Maker or Markup R have ads?
Which is updated more often, Pixel Art Maker or Markup R?
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