WhatsApp Sticker Maker vs a Sticker App on iPhone: Which Do You Need?

8 min read · By Feral Online · Updated 3 November 2026

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WhatsApp's own sticker maker on iPhone is free and is enough for still stickers: Create sticker in the sticker tray cuts a subject out of a photo and adds text, drawings or other stickers (WABetaInfo, January 2024), and since April 2025 you can build packs inside WhatsApp (9to5Mac, 17 Apr 2025). Every report we read starts from a photo. A sticker app helps for animated stickers from video, Telegram and Messages, and cut-outs on every frame.

This page is written by Feral Online, the one-person studio that makes Pixtide Sticker and Pixtide Swipe. We say plainly when WhatsApp's free tool is all you need, and we name where the other apps win.

What WhatsApp's Create sticker does for free

WhatsApp for iPhone has turned photos into stickers for free since 2023, and its tools have grown every year since. The history, as reported and checked on 23 Oct 2026:

  • 2023, WhatsApp 23.7.82 on iOS 16 or later: you can paste or drop a subject lifted in Apple's Photos app into a chat, and WhatsApp turns it into a sticker you can save (WABetaInfo).
  • January 2024, iOS 17 or later: a Create sticker button in the sticker tray. You pick a photo from your gallery, WhatsApp cuts out the subject, and you add text, drawings or other stickers. You can edit an existing sticker by touching and holding it, and a new sticker is saved to the tray once you send it (WABetaInfo, AlternativeTo). A Croma report from the same month says older iOS versions can edit stickers but not create them.
  • April 2025: custom sticker packs inside WhatsApp. A WhatsApp spokesperson told 9to5Mac you can create, organise and "share your very own sticker packs with your friends and family in-chat".

It costs nothing and there is no other app to install. WhatsApp's Help Center has an article titled "How to create and share custom stickers and sticker packs" (faq.whatsapp.com); its body renders only with JavaScript, so we could not read it, and it is the place to check what your version offers.

When the built-in tool is all you need

If your stickers start as photos and live only in WhatsApp, you probably do not need a sticker app. A face from a group photo, a pet, a meme with a caption, a pack of friends' reactions: WhatsApp's Create sticker does all of that, with the cut-out, text and drawing tools listed above, and keeps the result in your tray.

Apple adds two more free routes on top. In the Photos app you can touch and hold the subject of a photo, or of a video paused on any frame, and tap Add Sticker, as Apple's guide to lifting a subject from a photo or video explains. The result is a still sticker, and WhatsApp accepts the pasted subject as one. Apple's Live Stickers, made from a Live Photo, sit in the iPhone keyboard, so you can pick them inside any app with a text field, WhatsApp included (Make stickers from your photos).

So try the free tools first. Open WhatsApp, tap the sticker icon, tap Create, and see what it offers in your version. If that covers what you want, stop there.

What the built-in tools do not cover

The gaps are about movement and about leaving WhatsApp, not about still photos. Here is what our sources show, checked on 23 Oct 2026, with the limits of what we could verify:

  • Animated stickers from your own video or GIF. Every report of WhatsApp's Create sticker describes a photo as the input, and we found no source for a video or GIF option. AI assistants sometimes say WhatsApp can turn a short clip into a sticker; we could not confirm that, and WhatsApp tests new formats often (WABetaInfo reported sound stickers in an Android beta on 13 Oct 2026). Check your own tray before you decide.
  • Live Stickers in WhatsApp. Apple says: "To create a Live Sticker that moves, use a Live Photo." Whether it arrives animated in WhatsApp is reported both ways: MacPaw's CleanMyMac blog (23 Jun 2026) says Live Photo stickers do not work in WhatsApp, and Wassenger (January 2025) says the animation is not guaranteed. Results vary, so send one to yourself first.
  • The same stickers in Telegram and Messages. None of the reports describes exporting WhatsApp-made stickers to another app.
  • Control over the clip. Apple's Live Sticker flow mentions no trim, speed or loop control, and a Live Photo lasts about 3 seconds.

When a dedicated sticker app helps

A sticker app earns its place when you want stickers that move, made from your own clips, or one pack that works in more than one chat app. WhatsApp's own rules for packs from other apps, in its iOS sticker documentation, allow animated WebP stickers of up to 10 seconds and 500 KB at 512 x 512 pixels, in packs of 3 to 30 that are all still or all animated. A good app does that formatting for you.

The cases where an app helps:

The full set of WhatsApp file and pack limits is on our WhatsApp sticker pack rules page.

Apps worth knowing, and what they cost

Established iPhone sticker apps take video and send packs to WhatsApp, each paid for in a different way. All figures were checked on the App Store on 23 Oct 2026.

Sticker.ly by NAVER Z (App Store) rates 4.77 from 150,366 US ratings and has a large community library, a real strength. Its listing says it contains advertising, and PLUS costs $7.99 a month or $39.99 a year in the US, with no lifetime option. Recent reviewers report a watermark on free saves.

Sticker Maker Studio (App Store) rates 4.72 from 80,171 US ratings, takes photos, GIFs and videos, and has no in-app purchases: ads pay for it. Reviewers report ads at export that are hard to close, and some have asked for Telegram export since 2022.

Sticker Maker: Photo Stickers by Mobivalley (App Store) says everything is made on your device with no account, sends to WhatsApp, Telegram and iMessage, and is cheaper than both: Pro is $9.99 a year and Remove Ads $3.99. It contains ads and needs iOS 26.

Pixtide Sticker: our own app, coming soon

Pixtide Sticker is an iPhone app (iOS 18 or later) that turns your own videos, GIFs, Live Photos and photos into animated or still stickers for WhatsApp, Telegram and Messages, and it is coming soon to the App Store (not released yet). You share a clip from Photos (Share, then Pix: Sticker) and it opens in the editor: trim, speed from 0.25x to 4x, a normal, reverse or there-and-back loop, and the first frame WhatsApp shows when the sticker stops. The cut-out removes the background on every frame with Apple's on-device Vision, refined with a brush if you like. Stickers are made on your iPhone and never uploaded to us (privacy details). Telegram video stickers play 3 seconds, Telegram's rule, and you pick which 3.

The free version keeps two packs for good, one still and one animated, up to 30 stickers each, with every way in and out and 3 animated cut-outs to start plus one a week. No ads, no watermark, no account. Pro is $19.99 a year (£19.99 in the UK), half of Sticker.ly's US yearly price, or $39.99 once (£39.99 in the UK) once, with no weekly plan. Mobivalley's Pro is cheaper. Honest limits: it is not released and has no ratings yet, it is iPhone only, and it has five ready-made packs at launch, two of them free, rather than a huge community library. More on the Pixtide Sticker page and the Pixtide family of apps.

How to decide in one minute

Ask two questions. Do your stickers start as photos? Do they only need to live in WhatsApp? If both answers are yes, use WhatsApp's Create sticker: it is free, built in, and good at it.

If either answer is no, a sticker app is worth a look:

  • A video, GIF or Live Photo that should move: an app that makes animated WebP packs.
  • Stickers for Telegram as well: an app that writes Telegram's video sticker format.
  • A pack for Messages too: an app with a Messages sticker browser.
  • No ads or no watermark matters to you: check each listing, because many sticker apps are paid for by ads.

Whatever you pick, test one sticker in a chat with yourself before you build a whole pack.

Pixtide is independent and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by WhatsApp, Sticker.ly, Sticker Maker Studio or Mobivalley's Sticker Maker. All product names and trademarks are the property of their respective owners. This comparison reflects publicly available information as of October 2026; pricing and features change, so please check each app's store listing for the latest details.

Frequently asked questions

Does WhatsApp have its own sticker maker on iPhone?

Yes. WhatsApp for iPhone added Create sticker to the sticker tray in January 2024, according to WABetaInfo and AlternativeTo. You pick a photo, WhatsApp cuts out the subject, and you can add text, drawings or other stickers. In April 2025 WhatsApp added packs you build inside the app, as 9to5Mac reported. It is free and needs no other app.

Can WhatsApp's built-in sticker maker make animated stickers from a video?

We could not confirm it. Every report we read of WhatsApp's Create sticker on iPhone, from WABetaInfo in 2023 to 9to5Mac in 2025, describes a photo as the input, and we found no source for a video or GIF option as of 23 Oct 2026. WhatsApp changes its sticker tools often, so open the sticker tray in your own WhatsApp and see what it offers.

Do I need a sticker app for WhatsApp stickers on iPhone?

Not for still stickers from photos. WhatsApp's own Create sticker cuts out a subject, adds text and saves packs for free. A sticker app helps when you want animated stickers from your own videos, GIFs or Live Photos, the same pack in Telegram or Messages, or a background removed on every frame of a clip. Check your WhatsApp version first.

Can I use stickers made in WhatsApp in Telegram or iMessage?

None of the reports we read of WhatsApp's Create sticker on iPhone, checked on 23 Oct 2026, describes sending those stickers to Telegram or Messages. Apple's own Live Stickers work in Messages and in the iPhone keyboard. To have one pack in WhatsApp, Telegram and Messages, you need a sticker app that exports to each, such as Pixtide Sticker, coming soon to the App Store.

Do iPhone Live Stickers stay animated in WhatsApp?

Results vary. Apple says a Live Photo makes a Live Sticker that moves, and Live Stickers can be picked from the iPhone keyboard inside WhatsApp. MacPaw's CleanMyMac blog wrote on 23 Jun 2026 that Live Photo stickers do not work in WhatsApp, and Wassenger wrote in January 2025 that the animation is not guaranteed. Send one to yourself before you rely on it.