LearnApps and devices
Best cross-stitch apps for iPhone and iPad (2026)
There is no single best cross-stitch app: it depends on what you stitch from. For designer PDFs, Crosstela, Stitchwork, Evenweave and Markup R-XP all track your progress; Markup R-XP, Stitchwork and Evenweave also take photos of paper charts, Cross Stitch Saga reads design-program files instead of PDFs, and Stitchly and StitchHub are for making patterns.
On this page
We checked the apps below on 30 October 2026, from their own App Store listings and websites. Prices are as the US App Store showed them that day; your country’s store may differ, and apps change, so look again before you buy. We make Crosstela, one of the apps in this list, so we have kept to what each app says about itself.
Choose by what you stitch from
| You stitch from… | Look at |
|---|---|
| PDF patterns bought from designers | Crosstela, Stitchwork, Evenweave, Markup R-XP, StitchHub |
| Paper charts, books and magazines | Markup R-XP, Stitchwork, Evenweave (they take a photo or scan of the page) |
Files from design programs (.xsd, .pat, .oxs, .saga) | Crosstela, Cross Stitch Saga, StitchHub |
| Your own photo or drawing | Stitchly, StitchHub, Crosstela (from a photo) |
| An Android phone as well | Markup R-XP (iPhone, iPad and Android) |
The apps at a glance
| App | Devices | How you pay | PDF patterns |
|---|---|---|---|
| Crosstela | iPhone and iPad with iOS or iPadOS 18 or later, Mac with Apple silicon | Free, no purchases | Yes |
| Markup R-XP | iPhone, iPad, Mac, Android | Free download, 14-day trial, then in-app purchase | Yes, and paper charts |
| Stitchwork | iPhone, iPad, Mac | 3 patterns free, then one purchase ($12.99) | Yes, and paper charts |
| Evenweave | iPhone, iPad, Mac | 2 projects free, then one purchase ($12.99) | Yes, and paper charts |
| Cross Stitch Saga | iPhone, iPad | $15.00 up front | No: pattern files |
| StitchHub | iPhone, iPad | Free with ads, plus subscriptions | Yes |
| Stitchly | iPhone, iPad, Mac | Free, full version by purchase | For making patterns |
| MobiStitch | iPad, Mac | $12.99 up front | No: Ursa charts |
“Mac” here means the listing offers the app on Macs with Apple silicon. Each name links to the app’s App Store page; Markup R-XP is also on Google Play. Links checked 30 October 2026.
Pattern trackers for PDFs
Crosstela
Our app. It opens a designer’s PDF and reads its grid and symbol key into a chart you can zoom, mark and follow one colour at a time. It also opens files from design programs: .xsd, .pat, .oxs, .chart, .saga, .dize, .xsp and .fcjson (the full list). You mark with a finger or Apple Pencil, park threads, frame a work area, and your patterns and marks follow you through your own iCloud to iPhone, iPad and Mac. It can turn a photo into a new pattern. Its interface is in English, Ukrainian and Russian. It is free, with no purchases, ads or account.
What it does not do: it does not read a scan or a photo of a paper chart, and there is no Android version. The tour is in Track your cross-stitch PDF pattern.
Markup R-XP
A mark-up app for PDF, paper, book and magazine patterns, on iPhone, iPad and Android. Its listing names the parking method, a backstitch layer, fractional stitches, a last-stitch marker and symbol highlighting. It is free to download with a 14-day trial; the US listing shows two in-app purchases, Yearly Access ($19.99) and Markup R-XP Full ($9.99), and its website describes a yearly subscription. If you also stitch from an Android phone, it is the one on both.
Markup R-XP and Crosstela side by side: Markup R-XP or Crosstela?
Stitchwork
An iPhone and iPad tracker for PDFs (its site says vector PDFs work best) and for scans or photos of paper charts; it also opens .oxs. Its listing describes per-stitch sync through your private iCloud, Handoff between iPhone and iPad, and a home-screen widget. The first three patterns are free; Unlimited Patterns is a single purchase of $12.99.
Evenweave
A newer tracker for iPhone and iPad that imports PDFs, with a page picker and cropping, and photos of charts. It describes an iPad layout made for Apple Pencil and a park mode. Two projects are free; Evenweave Unlimited is $12.99. Its site says it has no accounts and no cloud, so your work stays on one device.
Apps for pattern files
Cross Stitch Saga
A chart reader built around files from design programs: its listing names Pattern Maker .xsd and .xsp, PC Stitch .pat, .oxs, .dize and its own .saga format, which some designers and kit makers sell. PDF is not in its list. It saves progress to the cloud or Files and works in Split View. It costs $15.00 up front, with no in-app purchases listed.
Crosstela opens .saga files too, and brings their progress along when Saga saved it in the file; see Bring your files from other apps.
Saga and Crosstela side by side: Cross Stitch Saga or Crosstela?
StitchHub
Tracks and designs, on iPhone and iPad. It imports .hub, .oxs, .xsd, .pat and PDF. The listing says it contains advertising; the subscriptions run from Stitcher at $3.99 a month or $39.99 a year up to Studio.
Apps for making patterns
Stitchly
A pattern maker for iPhone, iPad and Mac: a photo-to-pattern wizard, drawing over a traced picture, and a progress tracker for your own designs. It has no subscriptions; the full version is an in-app purchase ($75.00, with a $39.99 offer shown in the listing).
MobiStitch
From Ursa Software, the makers of WinStitch and MacStitch. An iPad app ($12.99) that opens and saves their charts for designing and marking up, with a finger or Apple Pencil. Its listing says it cannot import PDFs bought online.
For a quick pattern from a photo in Crosstela, see Turn a photo into a cross-stitch pattern.
Not on iPhone or iPad
- Pattern Keeper is Android only. Its site says an iOS version is in early development, with no date; see Pattern Keeper on iPhone or iPad?.
- Stitch Fiddle, FlossCross and Stitchmate are pattern makers that run in a web browser, on an iPad too, rather than apps from the App Store. FlossCross saves
.oxsand Crosstela opens its.fcjsonfiles.
Stitchmate and Crosstela side by side: Stitchmate or Crosstela?
What to check before you choose
- Open your own pattern. A PDF that one app reads well may not open in another. Every app here has a free way in except Cross Stitch Saga and MobiStitch.
- Look at how you pay. Free, one purchase, or a subscription each suit different people.
- Count your devices. Sync between iPhone, iPad and Mac, and an Android phone, narrow the list quickly.
- Mark a few rows. Tapping, Apple Pencil and undo are what you will use every evening.
Questions people ask
What is the best free cross-stitch app for iPad?
For PDF patterns, Crosstela is free with no purchases. Stitchwork and Evenweave are free for your first few patterns and then ask for one purchase; Markup R-XP has a 14-day trial.
Which cross-stitch app reads paper charts?
Markup R-XP, Stitchwork and Evenweave take a photo or a scan of a paper chart. Crosstela reads PDFs saved by a program and design-program files, not scans.
Is there a cross-stitch app for both iPhone and Android?
Markup R-XP is on iPhone, iPad and Android. Pattern Keeper is on Android only.
Can I use a cross-stitch app on a Mac?
Yes. Crosstela, Markup R-XP, Stitchwork, Evenweave, Stitchly and MobiStitch list Macs with Apple silicon, where the iPad app runs.