Comparison

ClayLab vs Perch Pot

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

Head to head
About

ClayLab

A digital diary for ceramists to meticulously document their pottery projects. Track every stage, from forming to firing, and record detailed information about glazes, clay bodies, and application techniques. Organize and retrieve your work with advanced search and backup features.

Highlights
  • Comprehensive progress tracking
  • Detailed documentation of glazes and materials
  • Advanced search and filtering
  • Data backup and import/export
  • Layering and application details logging
  • Unlimited photos per piece
Features
Read full description

Never lose track of a pottery piece again. ClayLab is a pottery journal and studio tracker designed by potters for potters. Track pieces, glazes, firings, experiments, and inventory in one place. Whether you work in a home studio or a shared community studio, ClayLab helps you stay organized, find your work, and learn from every experiment. Track every stage of your pottery journey, from wet clay to finished work. Record glazes, underglazes, slips, oxides, stains, clay bodies, forming methods, dimensions, weight, firing results, and more. Keep detailed notes and photos so you always know what worked and what didn't. ▶ Stay Organized Track pieces through every stage Record sold, gifted, traded, available, and archived pieces Organize work with custom locations Quickly find pieces in shared studios Unlimited pieces Unlimited photos ▶ Track Your Process Glazes and underglazes Clay bodies Forming methods Slips, oxides, and stains Stage tracking Status tracking Detailed notes Dimensions and weight tracking ▶ Learn From Every Experiment Compare results across pieces Search and filter by glaze, clay body, form, stage, and more Record glaze layering and application details Track dipping times Calculate shrinkage and monitor changes through firing ▶ Backup & Restore Protect your pottery records with export and import tools. Easily back up your data and move it between devices. Perfect for potters, ceramic artists, students, hobbyists, and studio members who want to keep better records, stay organized, and improve their craft. ▶ What's Included No ads Unlimited pieces Search and filtering Custom glazes Custom underglazes Custom clay bodies Custom stains Custom oxides Custom forms Custom forming methods Custom locations Dimensions tracking Weight tracking Stage tracking Status tracking Unlimited photos General note-taking ▶ ClayLab Pro Backup export Backup import Unlimited glaze layers Coat tracking Application method logging Glaze annotations Dipping time tracking Duplicate pieces (up to 20 copies) Custom stage definitions ▶ How do ClayLab Pro subscriptions work? ClayLab Pro Monthly: billed monthly ClayLab Pro Yearly: billed annually at a discounted rate Payment will be charged to your Apple ID account upon confirmation of purchase. Subscriptions automatically renew unless auto-renew is turned off at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. You can manage subscriptions and turn off auto-renewal in your App Store account settings. www.claylabapp.com/terms www.claylabapp.com/privacy-policy

About

Perch Pot

Organize and track all your pottery projects with this pocket-sized app. Document glazes, stages, and techniques with photos and notes, all searchable. Customize your workflow and easily recover deleted items.

Highlights
  • Search, sort, and filter projects
  • Photo documentation for work
  • Automatic iCloud sync and backup
  • Customizable project stages and forms
  • Track glazes, clays, and techniques
  • Capture project ideas
  • Undo delete functionality
Features
Read full description

Organize your pottery work with an app that's always in your pocket. Track glazes with a tap, document what works (or doesn't) with a photo, and have it all searchable. Perch Pot helps you track everything about your pottery projects: • Search, sort, filter — Full text search for your notes, sort by what stage your project is at, or filter to a particular clay or custom tag • Photos — Pictures help you remember your work like nothing else, so they're front and center right alongside your notes • Automatic sync — Out of the box backup and syncing for all your projects privately on your iCloud account • Optimized workflows — Everything you track should be quick and painless so you can get back to making • Customize everything — What stages do you want to track your projects through? What glazes does your studio have? Customize stages, forms, clays, decorative techniques, glazes, and custom tags • Ideas — Capture project ideas like a neat decorative technique or a good glaze combo in a separate section • Undo delete — Anything you delete can be found and recovered from the recently deleted section of settings • Export your data — You shouldn't be locked into an app, so you can always export all your photos and data (and import data from elsewhere) I built the app I wanted to use for my pottery, and it's really improved how I work. Perch Pot will always be free so anyone can bring a bit more beauty into this world. Happy potting!

Screenshots

ClayLab4 screens
Perch Pot4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Perch Pot at none against ClayLab's 2. ClayLab's advantage is rating (4.6 vs 4.3) and ratings volume (358 vs 20). On price, review sentiment, update cadence 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. ClayLab sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month. Perch Pot asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

ClayLab holds the better App Store score, 4.6 against 4.3. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: ClayLab has 358 ratings behind it against 20, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 92% of ClayLab's written reviews are positive against 86% of Perch Pot's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on September 29, 2026 and September 25, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
ClayLab versus Perch Pot: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterClayLabPerch Pot
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.6 (358 ratings) — better4.3 (20 ratings)
Positive reviews91.6% of reviews — better86.1% of reviews
Number of ratings358 — better20
Update frequencyEvery 2 monthsEvery 2 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFreemiumFree — better
DevicesiPhoneiPhone, iPad — better
Requires iOS16.4 — better17.0
Further details — not scored
Size27 MB5 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperLorenzo CalvaniJeffrey Mohan

Customer experience

ClayLab

All ratings358 ratings
Positive91.6%
Neutral5.0%
Negative3.4%
Written reviews227 reviews
Positive91.6%
Neutral6.2%
Negative2.2%

Perch Pot

All ratings20 ratings
Positive80.0%
Neutral5.0%
Negative15.0%
Written reviews36 reviews
Positive86.1%
Neutral2.8%
Negative11.1%

Bugs and requests

ClayLab

Reported bugs

2 issues
  • Occasional crashes or performance issues
  • Data loss when changing devices or reinstalling

Requested features

6 requests
  • Add hand-building option alongside thrown pieces
  • Ability to track firing details (cone, atmosphere, etc.)
  • Option to create custom categories (e.g., sold, gifted)
  • Search and filter by glaze, clay, form, etc.
  • Sync data across devices (iCloud, etc.)
Show 1 more
  • Export data to CSV or PDF format

Perch Pot

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

2 purchases

ClayLab

Subscriptions2
  • Monthly$4.991 Month
  • Yearly$49.991 Year
None

Perch Pot

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is ClayLab free?
ClayLab is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Perch Pot free?
Perch Pot is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, ClayLab or Perch Pot?
ClayLab is rated higher. ClayLab averages 4.6 out of 5 from 358 ratings, while Perch Pot averages 4.3 from 20 ratings.
Do ClayLab or Perch Pot have ads?
Neither ClayLab nor Perch Pot shows ads.
Which is updated more often, ClayLab or Perch Pot?
ClayLab ships an update every 2 months, and Perch Pot every 2 months. Most recently, ClayLab was updated on September 29, 2026 and Perch Pot on September 25, 2026.

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