Comparison

Brady Express Labels vs Brace

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

Head to head
About

Brady Express Labels

Design, view, and print labels directly from your smartphone. Offers extensive design options, including multiple guides, barcode types, fonts, languages, and symbols. Streamline labeling with data import, sequence creation, barcode scanning, and text recognition features.

Highlights
  • Label design and printing from phone
  • 11 label design guides
  • 34 barcode symbologies
  • 85 fonts and 34 languages
  • Over 1,500 symbols
  • Import data from spreadsheets
  • Voice-to-text and photo-to-text
Read full description

Simple. Easy. Intuitive. Design, view, and print labels right from your phone. Overflowing with label design options, including 11 unique label design guides, 35 barcode symbologies, 85 fonts, 34 languages, and over 1,600 symbols. Improve labeling efficiency by importing data from spreadsheets, creating sequences, scanning data from barcodes, and with voice-to-text and photo-to-text features. Express Labels works with the Brady M211, BMP51, M511, BMP61, M610, M611, M710, i3311, i4311, i5300, i5311, i7500, and S3700 label printers.

About

Brace

Features
Read full description

Brace is a construction calculator that works the way the trade works: in feet, inches and fractions, with the work shown. There is no subscription, no account and no sign-in. Brace has no networking code at all, so it works in a basement, a crawlspace, or anywhere else with no signal. EVERYTHING IN FRACTIONS In the solvers, type a measurement the way you write it, like 6' 3 5/16" or 6-3-5/16, and lengths come back in feet, inches and fractions. Calculator arithmetic is exact fraction math, not decimals rounded at the last second. When an answer does not land exactly on your chosen precision, the calculator marks it with ≈ instead of quietly handing you a number that is slightly off. Set your precision anywhere from 1/2 to 1/64. EVERY ANSWER SHOWS ITS WORK Tap Show Work on any result to see the formula, your numbers substituted in, and each step, with any rounded step labeled. You should never have to take a calculator's word for it, and on a jobsite you should be able to check it in ten seconds. Tap the ruler beside an answer to see it marked on a tape measure. FOR ELECTRICIANS Offsets, 90 degree stub-ups, and three-point and four-point saddles. For offsets, pick field multipliers, the rounded numbers you already use in your head, or exact trigonometry, and the result is labeled with the one used. Offset angles: 10, 22.5, 30, 45 and 60 degrees. Stub-up marks use the take-ups Klein, Ideal and Greenlee publish for their hand benders: EMT from 1/2 inch to 1-1/4 inch, rigid from 1/2 inch to 1 inch, and IMC from 1/2 inch to 1 inch (Klein IMC to 3/4 inch). You can change any take-up or add your own custom bender and sizes; your values are saved on your device and labeled as yours in Show Work. If no take-up is on file for a bender and size, Brace asks you for one instead of guessing a mark. FOR PIPEFITTERS Rolling offsets: true offset, travel and run for 11.25, 22.5, 30, 45 and 60 degree fittings. FOR CARPENTERS AND GENERAL CONSTRUCTION Stairs solved both ways: from total rise and your tread depth, or from a total run you have to hit, with IRC riser and tread checks. Common and hip or valley rafters with half the ridge thickness actually subtracted, plus the plumb cut angle. Squaring, diagonals, and how far out of square you are. On-center stud and joist layout with the count, the remainder and a preview of the marks. Grade, fall per foot and slope length, with ADA ramp and drain-line checks. Sheet goods and roofing squares with a waste factor. Crown molding miter and bevel settings. Arcs: radius, arc length and more from chord and rise. MATERIALS Concrete in cubic yards, board feet, and area with coverage and waste. WHAT IT WILL NOT DO It does not size beams or headers. That is structural engineering, and a calculator should not pretend otherwise. PRICE Brace is free to download, and the calculator and conduit bending are free to use. Brace Pro unlocks the layout, construction and materials solvers. It is a single one-time purchase: nothing renews and there is no subscription. No tracking, no telemetry, no ads, and your calculations never leave your device.

Screenshots

Brady Express Labels3 screens
Brace4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Brady Express Labels at none against Brace's 1. Brady Express Labels also leads on device support (3 vs 1) and iOS requirement (15.0 vs 17.0). Brace's advantage is update cadence (weekly vs every 2 months). On price and ads 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. Brace sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Brady Express Labels asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Brady Express Labels ships an update every 2 months, Brace weekly. The most recent releases landed on October 29, 2026 and October 25, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
Brady Express Labels versus Brace: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterBrady Express LabelsBrace
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.3 (425 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews62.9% of reviews—
Number of ratings425 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 2 monthsWeekly — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone
Requires iOS15.0 — better17.0
Further details — not scored
Size313 MB3 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperBrady CorporationCody Churchwell

Bugs and requests

Brady Express Labels

Reported bugs

5 issues
  • App crashes immediately on launch
  • Saved labels not working after update
  • Orientation reverts unexpectedly when printing
  • Cartridges marked as empty when not
  • Text formatting issues (all uppercase)

Requested features

6 requests
  • Allow selective text editing
  • Add default file location for cloud storage
  • Provide backup/restore feature for saved labels
  • Add copies field in wire wrap screen
  • Improve text centering for multiple lines
Show 1 more
  • Expand font options

Brace

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

None

Brady Express Labels

No in-app purchases

1 purchases

Brace

One-time1
  • Brace Pro$14.99

Questions

Is Brady Express Labels free?
Brady Express Labels is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Brace free?
Brace is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Brady Express Labels or Brace have ads?
Neither Brady Express Labels nor Brace shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Brady Express Labels or Brace?
Brady Express Labels ships an update every 2 months, and Brace weekly. Most recently, Brady Express Labels was updated on October 29, 2026 and Brace on October 25, 2026.

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