Comparison

Retrograf vs GradeLab

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

Head to head
About

Retrograf

Transform your photos and videos with authentic '90s analog film and VHS aesthetics. Apply a variety of filters, adjust key visual elements, and add unique overlay effects to achieve a vintage look.

Highlights
  • 24 film style presets
  • Light leaks, film scratches, fades
  • Vintage color palettes
  • Exposure, contrast, temperature adjustments
  • Vignette and chromatic aberration
  • Customizable overlay effects
Read full description

Inspired by analog film cameras and VHS videos from the '90s, Retrograf reproduces retro touches to your photos + videos. ● Filter Presets Light leaks, film scratches, fades and vintage color palettes are the basic elements for transport your photos and videos back to another era. Retrograf offers 24 fantastic film style presets that combine these elements appropriately. ● Adjustment Tools You can alter the exposure, contrast, temperature, tint, and clarity, enhance shadows and highlights, add vignette and chromatic aberration, and much more. ● Overlay Effects You can create your own look by combining the overlays provided. Overlays include light leaks, film scratches and grainy textures.

About

GradeLab

Transform your photos and videos into cinematic masterpieces with advanced color grading tools. Apply cinematic LUTs, vintage filters, and precise color adjustments. Create dynamic edits with keyframed grading, masks, and transitions.

Highlights
  • Cinematic LUTs & vintage filters
  • Professional color grading tools
  • Masks and local grading
  • Keyframed color grading
  • Video and photo editing
  • Transitions and film effects
  • Professional scopes
Features
Read full description

Turn everyday photos and videos into cinematic stories. GradeLab is a color grading editor for iPhone and iPad with LUT filters, vintage looks, professional color tools and video editing, all in one app. Pick a look, dial in its strength, then make it your own. From warm portraits and moody travel clips to soft film tones and retro aesthetics, GradeLab gives you full control over the light, color and atmosphere of every edit — across the whole frame or just one part of it. CINEMATIC LUTS & VINTAGE FILTERS - Browse cinematic LUTs with live previews on your own photos and videos. - Explore signature looks like Warm Cinema, Teal Orange and Soft Film, plus a full collection of film-inspired LUTs. - Adjust look strength for a subtle finish or a bold cinematic style. - Import your own .cube LUT files and use them just like built-in looks. - Save your color grading as presets and apply them to any photo or video for a consistent style. PROFESSIONAL COLOR GRADING - Exposure, contrast, highlights, shadows, whites and blacks. - Temperature, tint, saturation and vibrance. - Eight-band HSL to shape individual colors. - Color wheels for shadows, midtones and highlights. - Color Warper: shape colors with Hue/Sat and Chroma/Luma modes. - Master, Red, Green and Blue curves. - Hue, saturation and luminance curves for precise color control. - Fade, sharpening and vignette. - Before and after comparison as you edit. MASKS & LOCAL GRADING - Grade one part of the frame instead of the whole picture. - Ellipse, rectangle, gradient and freehand masks. - Feather the edge, set the strength, or invert a mask to grade everything outside it. - Stack several masks on one clip, each with its own grade. - Track a mask to a moving subject and let it follow through the shot, forward or backward. - Use the same masks on photos. KEYFRAMED COLOR GRADING - Animate the grade itself, so a look builds through a shot or falls away at the end. - Keyframe exposure, contrast, temperature, saturation, HSL, color wheels, vignette, curves, film effects and look strength. - Adjust any keyframe by hand, including motion created by mask tracking. TRANSITIONS - 45 transitions between clips: dissolves, dips, wipes, slides, zooms, blur dissolve, whip pan, film burn, glitch, prism, page turn and more. - Set the duration of every transition on the timeline. FILM EFFECTS - Film grain, bloom, glow and halation for an authentic analog feel. PROFESSIONAL SCOPES - Histogram, waveform, RGB parade and vectorscope for accurate grading. APPLE LOG, HDR & PRORES - Grade Apple Log and Apple Log 2 footage, plus HLG HDR video. - Apple Log 2 from iPhone 17 Pro uses its own wide-gamut transform, never Apple Log's. - Export ProRes 422 and ProRes 422 HQ on compatible devices. - Export in 4K or your source resolution, with custom frame rate and bitrate. EDIT VIDEO & PHOTOS - Trim and split clips, change playback speed, and add titles and audio. - Grade photos with the same color tools you use for video. - Export photos as full-resolution JPEG, HEIC or lossless PNG. - No watermarks on your exports. TEXT, LAYERS & MOTION - Add titles with curated font families or your own imported TTF fonts. - Layer overlays with blend modes. - Mask a layer with an ellipse, rectangle or split line so the track underneath shows through. - Feather or invert a layer mask, and keyframe it into a wipe or reveal. - Animate text, transforms and color grading with keyframes. Whether you're grading a travel vlog, a short film or a single portrait, GradeLab helps you create a look that's unmistakably yours. Feature and format availability depend on your source media and device capabilities. Some features require a subscription or one-time purchase. Privacy Policy: https://ak375456.github.io/gradelab/privacy.html Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ App Terms: https://ak375456.github.io/gradelab/terms.html

Screenshots

Retrograf4 screens
GradeLab4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: GradeLab at 100% against Retrograf's 50%. GradeLab also leads on price (Free vs $2.99) and update cadence (daily vs every 2 weeks). Retrograf's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 4) and iOS requirement (16.0 vs 18.0). On 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

GradeLab is free to download; Retrograf costs $2.99 up front. GradeLab sells 4 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per 7 days. Retrograf asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Retrograf ships an update every 2 weeks, GradeLab daily. The most recent releases landed on October 10, 2026 and October 26, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard7 real differences · 3 level
Retrograf versus GradeLab: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterRetrografGradeLab
Price$2.99Free — better
Rating—5.0 (1 ratings) — better
Positive reviews50.0% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings—1 — better
Update frequencyEvery 2 weeksDaily — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationPaidFreemium — better
DevicesiPhoneiPhone, iPad, Mac — better
Requires iOS16.0 — better18.0
Further details — not scored
Size43 MB202 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperSeohyeon LeeAftab fazal Qayum

Customer experience

Retrograf

Written reviews2 reviews
Positive50.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative50.0%

GradeLab

All ratings1 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews1 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

None

Retrograf

No in-app purchases

4 purchases

GradeLab

Subscriptions3
  • Pro Weekly$1.997 Days
  • Pro Monthly$4.991 Month
  • Pro Yearly$14.991 Year
One-time1
  • Lifetime Pro$14.99

Questions

Is Retrograf free?
Retrograf costs $2.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is GradeLab free?
GradeLab is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Retrograf or GradeLab have ads?
Neither Retrograf nor GradeLab shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Retrograf or GradeLab?
Retrograf ships an update every 2 weeks, and GradeLab daily. Most recently, Retrograf was updated on October 10, 2026 and GradeLab on October 26, 2026.

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