Comparison

ThreadABead vs BeadShare

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

Head to head
About

ThreadABead

Explore a vast collection of over 4,000 exclusive bead patterns for various jewelry and decorative items. Save your favorite designs to a personal wish list and discover new and popular patterns with an easy-to-use search function.

Highlights
  • Exclusive bead pattern collection
  • Save to wish list
  • Browse new and popular patterns
  • Search extensive catalog
  • Designs for jewelry and ornaments
Features
Read full description

Since 2007, ThreadABead has rapidly amassed a large collection of 4,000+ exclusive Bead Patterns making it the largest UK Bead Pattern site. It has become a favourite site for many beaders due to its diverse range of patterns specialising in bead designs for Size 11 Miyuki Delica beads. With ThreadABead you can find a treasure trove of patterns for ornaments, bracelets, earrings, necklaces and trinkets on many different topics such as seasonal, sports, hobbies and pets to name a few. If you are looking for an unusual design we most likely have just the thing! Now for the first time ThreadABead is making its on-site Wish List feature available in an app to all customers of ThreadABead and newcomers to browse our patterns and save them to their Wish List easily. Additionally new patterns to the site, and our most popular patterns can be also viewed, along with a search facility to trawl through our extensive catalogue.

About

BeadShare

Features
Read full description

BeadShare — Bead Pattern Creator & Building Guide Make bead patterns, follow a color-by-color building guide, preview the ironed result, and share what you make. 10+ Powerful Editing Tools - Auto remove backgrounds, auto crop, auto strip outlines, flip canvas, swap colors, auto remove colors, match reference images' colors. Undo goes back 50 steps. Building Guide - Pick a pattern, and the app walks you through it one color at a time. It tracks what you've placed, shows how many beads of each color you need, and tells you which board you're on. Closest thing to a recipe for bead art. Ironing Preview - Before you iron, check what the finished piece will look like. Switch between three styles: smooth side, towel side, and baking mat. Bead Brand Color Matching - Colors aren't generic hex codes. They map to real bead brand numbers, so you can buy exactly what you need. Display Board & Charm Jar Two ways to show your work on your profile: - Display Board: pin patterns onto a felt board layout, drag them where you want - Charm Jar: your patterns float around in a glass jar that reacts to tilting your phone. It's a toy and a portfolio at the same time. Community - Browse other people's patterns, sort by new or popular, save to collections, follow creators. Share any pattern with a short code. Ways to Create - Blank canvas for drawing - Import a photo and convert it - Trace over a reference image - Type a description and generate one Offline Patterns, drafts, and building progress stay on your device. No connection needed. Free - All editing tools - Pattern creation and reference import - Building guide - Ironing preview - Community and sharing - Display board and charm jar Premium - Photo and text-to-pattern generation - Unlimited building sessions - All generation models and styles - 100 generations/month Payment is charged to your Apple ID at confirmation of purchase. Subscriptions automatically renew unless cancelled at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. Manage or cancel anytime in your Apple ID account settings. Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy Policy: https://zidaneymar.github.io/BeadShare/privacy.html

Screenshots

ThreadABead3 screens
BeadShare4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: ThreadABead at none against BeadShare's 3. ThreadABead also leads on iOS requirement (13.0 vs 15.1). BeadShare's advantage is update cadence (every 5 days vs every 5 months). On price, ads 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. BeadShare sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month. ThreadABead asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

ThreadABead ships an update every 5 months, BeadShare every 5 days. The most recent releases landed on June 1, 2026 and September 8, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
ThreadABead versus BeadShare: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterThreadABeadBeadShare
PriceFreeFree
Rating3.0 (2 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews50.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings2 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 5 monthsEvery 5 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS13.0 — better15.1
Further details — not scored
Size2 MB59 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperDavid Greenfield旗 康

In-app purchases

None

ThreadABead

No in-app purchases

3 purchases

BeadShare

Subscriptions2
  • BeadShare Premium Monthly$4.991 Month
  • Annual Subscription$34.991 Year
One-time1
  • 3 AI Generations$1.99

Questions

Is ThreadABead free?
ThreadABead is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is BeadShare free?
BeadShare is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do ThreadABead or BeadShare have ads?
Neither ThreadABead nor BeadShare shows ads.
Which is updated more often, ThreadABead or BeadShare?
ThreadABead ships an update every 5 months, and BeadShare every 5 days. Most recently, ThreadABead was updated on June 1, 2026 and BeadShare on September 8, 2026.

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