Comparison

Bricolage vs Pixel Shape

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

Head to head
About

Bricolage

Create professional visual effects for photos and videos using a node-based compositing system. Chain over 150 effects to achieve unique looks, from subtle color correction to complex distortions and animations. Supports HD video processing and real-time playback.

Highlights
  • Node-based compositing
  • Over 150 effects
  • Video and photo processing
  • Real-time playback
  • Customizable templates
  • Face recognition integration
  • Bezier curve shape cutting
Features
Read full description

Bricolage is a powerful special-effects toolbox for tricking out your photos and movies like the Hollywood pros do. Pipe your video through a chain of basic effects, each processing the picture in a different way. With over 150 to choose from it is easy to create completely unique looks and effects. And now its mature 3DTV tools shine with the perfect stereo of the Vision Pro. Mix multiple images and animate special effects to give your videos the finishing touches they need, from subtle regional color correction or exposure adjustment, to wild cartoon colors or funhouse-mirror distortions. Just bring in a video (or photo!) and drop effects between the input and the output. Bricolage takes advantage of the powerful graphics hardware in your iPad or iPhone to deliver smooth playback and responsive controls. You can even zoom into your video while it's playing. And when you've built a great effect, you can save it for reuse with other projects. Bricolage uses the industry-standard technique known as 'node-based compositing' to build complex effects from a chain of simple building blocks. You'll combine different layers using photoshop-style blending modes or black & white masks. Make different versions of an image and combine them back together to blur or darken the edges of an image, or selectively recolor the sky or ground. Use animated transitions to switch video streams or overlay text and graphics. Cut out shapes from pictures using Bezier curves. Apply image distortions and move them around the video, or use Apple's Face Recognition technology to mark or cover faces detected in your video. Place, scale and animate video overlays or shapes and gradients. Process your shots to look like a desert, or add film grain and a vintage photo process. You can even add titles or overlay time code on your movies. Bricolage uses custom Metal programs to process HD video in real time directly on the graphics processor. If you have an older device, don't worry, Bricolage offers half- and quarter-resolution 'proxy' modes, so you can get a preview of most effects with responsive controls even at HD, while still producing a full-resolution movie. Despite its great power, Bricolage is quite simple to use. Just build a chain of effects for your images to flow through from the inputs to the output. Drag effect nodes to 'kiss' the output of one to the input of another to form a connection. Or press and hold a link to insert a new node in the middle. With a zooming, scrolling canvas, you can organize your flows the way you like. Immediate feedback in the nodes makes it easy to experiment, while the full-screen node editor lets you perfect a single effect with enhanced tools. Features: Process still images or videos, pick stills from video Combined preview and node editing lets you create with live feedback Pre-built templates to make advanced effects easy to give you a head start on your own awesome creations. Save your node flows as templates and import them into other projects Built-in help with inline descriptions of nodes and their parameters Infinite undos, and for the indecisive, re-dos. Playback proxies at reduced resolution for more responsive editing on older devices Zoom and pan photos and videos, even while playing Multiple output resolutions Over 127 standard Core Image Effects Many more custom effects including: Map Generator Path Move Recolor Tilt Shift Edge Outlines Lens Distortion 360° Spherical VR Unwrap Stipple Semantic Segmentation Node Saliency Detector Bricks pattern Radial Grid Four-Up node ASCII Art Green Screen Remover* Fractal Noise* Film Grain* Text* Face Mask Relative Crop Fade Over Switcher Multi-mixer Color Bands Depth Key, Fog, Mix, Blur HSL/YUV/HWB Convert Time Code Overlay Red-Blue and Split-Screen Stereoscopic composite Primary, Secondary, 3D LUT Color Correction Flipbook/Sprite Atlas player *Fully functional effect, in-app purchase removes watermark

About

Pixel Shape

Features
Read full description

Use words or shapes to remake a picture. Bored of zero-dimensional pixels, replace them with words or shapes that you choose or create your own shapes to remake your pictures with them. Non-Latin characters allowed

Screenshots

Bricolage4 screens
Pixel Shape4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Pixel Shape at Free against Bricolage's $6.99. Pixel Shape also leads on update cadence (every 2 weeks vs every 4 months) and iOS requirement (12.0 vs 17.2). Bricolage's advantage is ads (none vs shown). On 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

Pixel Shape is free to download; Bricolage costs $6.99 up front. Bricolage sells 5 one-off in-app purchases and Pixel Shape sells 2 one-off in-app purchases. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Bricolage ships an update every 4 months, Pixel Shape every 2 weeks. The most recent releases landed on November 3, 2026 and October 29, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
Bricolage versus Pixel Shape: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterBricolagePixel Shape
Price$6.99Free — better
Rating3.6 (16 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews48.1% of reviews—
Number of ratings16 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 4 monthsEvery 2 weeks — better
AdsNo — betterYes
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases—
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS17.212.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size81 MB118 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperPixelSplincherFluocode

In-app purchases

5 purchases

Bricolage

One-time5
  • Noise Pack$0.99
  • Greenscreen Remover$1.99
  • Shapes$1.99
Show 2 more
  • Cutouts$1.99
  • Title Pack$1.99
2 purchases

Pixel Shape

One-time2
  • Long text and Fonts$4.99
  • Shape Editor$4.99

Questions

Is Bricolage free?
Bricolage costs $6.99, and also offers in-app purchases.
Is Pixel Shape free?
Pixel Shape is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Bricolage or Pixel Shape have ads?
Pixel Shape shows ads; Bricolage does not.
Which is updated more often, Bricolage or Pixel Shape?
Bricolage ships an update every 4 months, and Pixel Shape every 2 weeks. Most recently, Bricolage was updated on November 3, 2026 and Pixel Shape on October 29, 2026.

Other comparisons