Comparison

Stick Nodes vs Puppet Time

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

Head to head
About

Stick Nodes

Create custom stickfigure animations with a user-friendly interface. Import images, add sound effects, and export your creations as GIFs or MP4 videos. Join a vibrant community for inspiration and shared resources.

Highlights
  • Stickfigure animation creation
  • Image import for animation
  • Automatic frame-tweening
  • Camera pan, zoom, and rotate
  • Movieclips for reusable objects
  • Sound effects and filters
  • GIF and MP4 export
Features
Read full description

Stick Nodes is a powerful stickman animator app created with mobile devices in mind! Inspired from the popular Pivot stickfigure animator, Stick Nodes allows users to create their own stickfigure-based movies and even export them as animated GIFs and MP4 videos! It is one of the most popular animation apps among young animators! ■ Features ■ ◆ Import and animate images as well! ◆ Automatic customizeable frame-tweening, make your animations smoother! ◆ A simple camera to pan/zoom/rotate around the scene, similar to the "v-cam" in Flash. ◆ Movieclips allow you to create and reuse/loop animation objects within your projects. ◆ A variety of shapes, color/scale on a per-segment basis, gradients - create any "stickfigure" you can imagine! ◆ Textfields allow for easy text and speech in your animations. ◆ Add all kinds of sounds effects to make your animations epic. ◆ Apply different filters to your stickfigures - transparency, blur, glow, and more. ◆ Join stickfigures together to easily simulate holding/wearing objects. ◆ A large community full of all kinds of interesting people and other animators. ◆ Over 30,000+ stickfigures (and counting) to download from the website. ◆ Export to GIF (or MP4 for Pro) to share your animation online. ◆ Compatibility with pre-3.0 Pivot stickfigure files. ◆ Save/open/share your projects, stickfigures, and movieclips. ◆ And all the other typical animation stuff - undo/redo, onion-skin, background images, and more! * Please note, sounds, filters, and MP4-export are Pro-only features ■ Lanuages ■ ◆ English ◆ Español ◆ Français ◆ Japanese ◆ Filipino ◆ Português ◆ Russian ◆ Türkçe Stick Nodes has a thriving community where animators have a good time, help each other out, show off their work, and even create stickfigures for others to use! There are thousands of stickfigures (and more added daily!) over at the main website https://sticknodes.com/stickfigures/ As of one of the latest updates, Stick Nodes is also a Minecraft™ animator as it allows you to easily import Minecraft™ skins and animate them instantly! Search for "stick nodes" on YouTube to see just a few of the thousands of animations users have made with this stickfigure animation app! If you're looking for an animation creator or an animation maker app, this is it! ■ Stay Updated ■ New updates have been never-ending for Stick Nodes since it's original 2014 release. Keep up-to-date with the latest news and updates about your favorite stick figure animation app and join in with the community! ◆ Website: https://sticknodes.com ◆ Facebook: http://facebook.com/sticknodes ◆ Reddit: http://reddit.com/r/sticknodes ◆ Twitter: http://twitter.com/FTLRalph ◆ Youtube: http://youtube.com/FTLRalph Stick Nodes is *the best* simple animation app available on the iOS market! It's a great tool for learning animation, even in a school setting for students or newbies. At the same time, Stick Nodes is robust enough and powerful enough for even the most skilled animator to really showcase their skills! Thank you for trying out Stick Nodes! Leave any questions/comments below or on the main Stick Nodes website! Common questions are already answered on the FAQ page here https://sticknodes.com/faqs/

About

Puppet Time

Unleash your creativity with a digital puppetry app. Design unique puppets with extensive customization options, create vibrant backgrounds, and record your own puppet shows with voiceovers and sound effects. Bring your imagination to life through fun and engaging animation.

Highlights
  • Customizable puppet creator
  • Detailed puppet editing (limbs, body parts)
  • Paint puppets and use photos as stickers
  • Customizable backgrounds
  • Record videos with puppets
  • Record voice and sounds
  • Create digital puppet shows
Features
Read full description

Welcome to Puppet Time, the ultimate puppet game that brings your imagination to life! With Puppet Time, you can unleash your creativity and dive into the fascinating world of puppetry and animation. Whether you're a seasoned puppet master or a newcomer to the puppet scene, this app is designed to make puppetry accessible, fun, and incredibly engaging. Puppet Time allows you to craft unique videos using fully customizable digital puppets and dynamic backgrounds. The intuitive puppet creator lets you edit every aspect of your puppet – from its legs and arms to its gut and butt – giving you complete control over the puppet's appearance and movements. Building a puppet has never been this easy and enjoyable. Embrace the joy of puppet play as you bring your creations to life in a vibrant and interactive puppet world. Features: Create Videos with Customizable Puppets: Craft your digital puppet masterpiece by adjusting limbs, expressions, and more. The puppet creator empowers you to build a puppet that perfectly fits your vision. Bring your puppet to life in exciting puppet shows that showcase your unique storytelling skills. Edit Your Puppets - Legs, Arms, Gut, Butt, and More: Dive deep into puppet customization. Tweak and tailor your puppet's features, whether it's the legs, arms, or even the gut and butt. Your puppet, your rules – let your imagination run wild! Paint Your Puppet and Use Your Photos as Stickers: Personalize your puppets with a splash of color! The app lets you paint your puppet to match your creative vision. Plus, you can use your photos as stickers, adding a touch of personal flair to your digital puppets. Customize Puppet Backgrounds: Set the stage for your puppet play by customizing backgrounds. Choose from a variety of scenes or upload your own backdrop to create a unique atmosphere for your puppet shows. Hit Record and Play with Your Puppet: It's showtime! Hit the record button and let the puppetry magic begin. Play, interact, and improvise with your puppets, capturing every delightful moment on video. Puppet Time makes recording and sharing your creations a breeze. Create cool and fun puppet animation videos easily Enable Microphone to Record Your Voice and Sounds: Add a human touch to your puppetry by enabling the microphone. Record your voice, add quirky sounds, or include background music to enhance the storytelling experience. Your puppets will come to life with voices and sounds that reflect your creativity. Create Your Own Digital Puppet Show: Become the puppet master of your own digital puppet show. Puppet Time provides a platform for you to unleash your storytelling prowess, creating entertaining and memorable shows that captivate audiences of all ages. In Puppet Time, the puppet boss is you, and every puppet battle is a whimsical journey into the realm of imagination. Experience the joy of building, playing, and sharing in the delightful sandbox of digital puppetry. Let Puppet Time be your go-to puppet app, where ragdoll playgrounds and 3D puppet models await your artistic touch!

Screenshots

Stick Nodes4 screens
Puppet Time4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Stick Nodes at none against Puppet Time's 15. Stick Nodes also leads on ads (none vs shown) and ratings volume (15K vs 115). On price, rating, review sentiment 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Puppet Time sells 15 one-off in-app purchases. Stick Nodes asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Stick Nodes holds the better App Store score, 4.6 against 4.4. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Stick Nodes has 15K ratings behind it against 115, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 84% of Stick Nodes's written reviews are positive against 86% of Puppet Time's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Stick Nodes ships an update every 2 weeks, Puppet Time every 3 months. The most recent releases landed on September 23, 2026 and September 14, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
Stick Nodes versus Puppet Time: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterStick NodesPuppet Time
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.6 (15K ratings) — better4.4 (115 ratings)
Positive reviews84.3% of reviews85.7% of reviews — better
Number of ratings15K — better115
Update frequencyEvery 2 weeks — betterEvery 3 months
AdsNo — betterYes
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS14.0 — better15.0
Further details — not scored
Size123 MB273 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperForTheLoss Games, IncJimmy Nguyen

Customer experience

Stick Nodes

All ratings14,519 ratings
Positive90.1%
Neutral3.0%
Negative7.0%
Written reviews1,353 reviews
Positive84.3%
Neutral5.2%
Negative10.5%

Puppet Time

All ratings115 ratings
Positive85.2%
Neutral4.3%
Negative10.4%
Written reviews84 reviews
Positive85.7%
Neutral6.0%
Negative8.3%

User reviews

Stick Nodes

From 15K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Easy to use
  • 👍 User-friendly interface
  • 🎨 Great for beginners
  • 💡 Customizable stick figures
  • 🎥 Smooth animations

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Occasional crashes
  • 🐛 Lag issues
  • 🐛 Bugs with importing/downloading
  • 🐛 Glitches with certain features
  • 💰 Pro version paywall

Puppet Time

From 115 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Fun and enjoyable app
  • 💡 Creative tool for videos
  • 👍 Easy to use
  • 👍 Good customization options
  • 👍 Can create own puppets

Room to improve

  • 💰 Paying for puppets/maps
  • ⏳ Limited recording time
  • 😠 Ads for time
  • 🎤 Microphone issues
  • 🎨 Drawing precision issues

Bugs and requests

Stick Nodes

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Crashes when downloading stickfigure packs
  • Saving/loading issues with animations
  • Nodes/limbs getting stuck or glitching
  • Unexpected behavior with certain actions

Requested features

7 requests
  • Add tutorial/instructions
  • Improve save/export options
  • Implement account system
  • Expand free version features
  • Add drawing/shading tools
Show 2 more
  • Improve performance on older devices
  • Implement background music support

Puppet Time

Reported bugs

9 issues
  • Cannot use microphone after uninstall/reinstall
  • Microphone option missing in settings
  • App crashes when buying from store
  • Store requires internet connection when already connected
  • App glitches and won't open (microphone permission issue)
Show 4 more
  • Accidentally drawing on puppet when changing proportions
  • Recording time limit requires watching ads
  • Puppet randomly collapses/dies
  • Counter for making more puppets not going down

Requested features

20 requests
  • Add more puppet slots (2, 6, 8, 10)
  • Multiplayer mode
  • Custom map editor with interactive things
  • Ability to draw/create own items
  • Add hair to puppets
Show 15 more
  • Add hats to puppets
  • Add more packs/backgrounds (ocean, virus, store, jail, school, bush map)
  • Make more items free (lounge kitchen background)
  • Add more time for creation
  • Add a walking button/feature
  • Add AR mode functionality explanation
  • Add hair attachment option (short, long, very long)
  • Add Gorilla Tag characters and maps
  • Add more rooms for puppet creation
  • Add a paint bucket tool
  • Add tools for straight lines or shapes
  • Add a ball-shaped nose that stretches and rotates
  • Add editable ears (removable)
  • Add an editable quadruped model for animals
  • One-time purchase for future upgrades

In-app purchases

None

Stick Nodes

No in-app purchases

15 purchases

Puppet Time

One-time15
  • Remove watermark from video$0.99
  • Wacky Arm Man$0.99
  • Block Puppets$0.99
Show 12 more
  • Theater Stage$0.99
  • Bushes$0.99
  • Fruit Pack$0.99
  • Blobs Pack$0.99
  • Robot Pack$0.99
  • Pets Pack$0.99
  • Lounge Room and Kitchen$1.49
  • Silly Animals$1.49
  • Halloween Pack$1.49
  • Remove Ads and Record Limit$1.99
  • School Pack$1.99
  • Christmas Pack$1.99

Questions

Is Stick Nodes free?
Stick Nodes is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Puppet Time free?
Puppet Time is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Stick Nodes or Puppet Time?
Stick Nodes is rated higher. Stick Nodes averages 4.6 out of 5 from 15K ratings, while Puppet Time averages 4.4 from 115 ratings.
Do Stick Nodes or Puppet Time have ads?
Puppet Time shows ads; Stick Nodes does not.
Which is updated more often, Stick Nodes or Puppet Time?
Stick Nodes ships an update every 2 weeks, and Puppet Time every 3 months. Most recently, Stick Nodes was updated on September 23, 2026 and Puppet Time on September 14, 2026.

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