Comparison

GradientMaker vs Red

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

Head to head
About

GradientMaker

Create stunning color gradients and blur effects for photos and wallpapers. Customize colors with an advanced picker and import images to apply unique effects. Save creations in wallpaper or full image sizes.

Highlights
  • Customizable color gradients
  • Adjustable blur effects
  • Import photos for customization
  • Wallpaper creation mode
  • Random gradient generation
  • Dual sizing modes
Features
Read full description

GradientMaker - Gradient Blur FX Pro Image Effects and Wallpaper Background Maker Create spectacular color gradients! • Fully customizable color gradient and blur effects • Custom color picker allows endless color combinations • Import photos to customize with color gradients and blur effects • "Dock Mode" creates a gradient background for a great dock color effect when used for device wallpaper • Shuffle mode to load randomized custom gradients • Add gentle blur to soften a photo, or add maximum blur for a unique and colorful iPhone/iPad wallpaper background • Two sizing modes - Wallpaper: Save image/gradient as the size of your iPhone or iPad Image: Save image/gradient as the full size of your imported image.

About

Red

Create atmospheric night and abstract designs with dark, neon-inspired filters and effects. Add stylish text, geometric shapes, and draw or erase elements to transform your photos into unique posters or magazine covers.

Highlights
  • Vintage duotone filters
  • Neon and abstract effects
  • Customizable text and fonts
  • Vector shape editor
  • Drawing and erasing tools
  • Geometric shape masks
Features
Read full description

Welcome to the red room. Inspired by film retro photographs and neon discos of the 80s, this application will give you maximum functionality for working with dark filters. Create atmospheric night and abstract designs with the effect of colored glass. At your disposal are many powerful tools for creating creative work. Not only red The application has more than 10 vintage filters created by gradient map that simulate night lighting: red lights; Miami Filter; pink; UV; dusk; blue hour; aqua filter; green light; sunset and golden hour. These are unique duotone filters, saturated colors are tested on a large number of photos and are set to get perfect results. Amazing effects If you have already tried simple filters, then in the application you can select many cool effects, such as: digital noise or interference; 3D effect or image shift; Gradient or light flare, allows you to create the effect of an illuminated film; and especially cool: the zoom effect is paired with dark filters, which is great for extreme shots; TV effect - a unique holographic effect created from several neon filters. Most of these magical effects, like geometric shapes, are highly customizable, use gestures to resize the gradient and select a rotation angle. Create a poster Title your photo, make a stylish poster or magazine cover using transparent text. In the application you can choose one of more than 45 specially selected fonts. Thin fonts, bold, strict fonts, digital, handwritten fonts, rounded, square, artistic fonts, graffiti and others. Add your signature to the photo, the application supports multi-line text and emoji shapes. Use text effects such as mirrored text or highlighted text in frames. Change the font outline to make your caption look more creative. Any letter or your text can be used as a mask on a white or black background. Try this for a photo of your profile. Red geometry The application has a powerful vector editor that allows you to fine-tune any shape. Select one of over 20 predefined geometric shapes and customize it as you need. For example, create your own frame - make a turn, round the corners, resize. The application includes advanced vector filters, such as lines, mesh; particles, matrix rain, equalizer and others. Use overlay shapes or create a mask, to do this, change the background color to white or black, with one click. Choose one of the ready-made presets: round photo, square, frame, heart and others ... Or create your own frame using the built-in vector editor. Draw and erase Show your fantasy, colorize the objects in the photo using a soft brush, for example, change the color of your hair. Take a hard brush and paint what you want. The application allows you to easily draw smooth lines, thanks to the smoothing algorithm. The eraser will help you create stylish designs. Erase parts of text, shapes and make professional effects. You can use the eraser on any layer of your project. https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

Screenshots

GradientMaker4 screens
Red4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Red at 4.7 against GradientMaker's 3.7. Red also leads on ads (none vs shown) and update cadence (every 6 weeks vs every 32 months). GradientMaker's advantage is review sentiment (100% vs 90%) and iOS requirement (8.1 vs 15.0). On price, in-app purchases, monetization model 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. GradientMaker sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and Red sells 6 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Red holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 3.7. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Red has 191 ratings behind it against 9, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 100% of GradientMaker's written reviews are positive against 90% of Red's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

GradientMaker ships an update every 32 months, Red every 6 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 1, 2026 and October 6, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 4 level
GradientMaker versus Red: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterGradientMakerRed
PriceFreeFree
Rating3.7 (9 ratings)4.7 (191 ratings) — better
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews — better90.2% of reviews
Number of ratings9191 — better
Update frequencyEvery 32 monthsEvery 6 weeks — better
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS8.1 — better15.0
Further details — not scored
Size27 MB21 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperorbosphereAnatoly Lapshin

Customer experience

GradientMaker

All ratings9 ratings
Positive66.7%
Neutral0.0%
Negative33.3%
Written reviews7 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Red

All ratings191 ratings
Positive93.2%
Neutral3.7%
Negative3.1%
Written reviews61 reviews
Positive90.2%
Neutral1.6%
Negative8.2%

Bugs and requests

GradientMaker

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

Red

Reported bugs

5 issues
  • App only works on pre-existing photos
  • Cannot see zoom when viewing photos with filters
  • Constant ads interrupting usage
  • Picture quality degrades after applying filters
  • Cannot download videos for editing

Requested features

4 requests
  • Ability to select multiple photos
  • Better control over filter brightness
  • Video editing support
  • Zoom visibility when viewing photos with filters

In-app purchases

1 purchases

GradientMaker

One-time1
  • Remove Ads$0.99
6 purchases

Red

Subscriptions3
  • 1-month Premium Access$4.991 Month
  • 1-year Premium Access$19.991 Year
  • Premium Access3 Days trial$24.991 Year
One-time3
  • Red PRO$9.99
  • Custom Pack$9.99
  • Aurora Pack$9.99

Questions

Is GradientMaker free?
GradientMaker is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Red free?
Red is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, GradientMaker or Red?
Red is rated higher. GradientMaker averages 3.7 out of 5 from 9 ratings, while Red averages 4.7 from 191 ratings.
Do GradientMaker or Red have ads?
GradientMaker shows ads; Red does not.
Which is updated more often, GradientMaker or Red?
GradientMaker ships an update every 32 months, and Red every 6 weeks. Most recently, GradientMaker was updated on October 1, 2026 and Red on October 6, 2026.

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