Comparison

Lab Mate vs Bio

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

Head to head
About

Lab Mate

This application simplifies complex chemistry calculations for molarity, dilutions, and mixtures. It offers a universal purchase for iPhone, iPad, and Mac, with features like chemical search, custom chemical saving, and a dedicated numeric keyboard for efficient data entry. Users can also customize decimal places and print their calculation history.

Highlights
  • Molarity, dilution, and mixture calculators
  • Percent dilution calculator
  • Chemical search and molecular weight lookup
  • Custom chemical saving
  • Dedicated numeric keyboard
  • Printable calculation history
  • Light and Dark Mode support
Features
Read full description

Lab Mate is an intuitive calculator for molarity, dilutions, and mixtures. A universal app—one purchase works on iPhone, iPad, and macOS. Key Features - Multiple calculators for molarity, dilutions, and mixtures - Percent (%) dilution calculator - Search chemicals by name or formula, including molecular weight lookup - Add and save your own custom chemicals - Dedicated numeric keyboard for fast data entry - Simple and flexible unit selection - Instant calculations with live result updates - Choose how many decimal places to display - Print your calculation history - Native support for Light Mode and Dark Mode Localization Now fully localized for: - English - French - German - Spanish - German - Italian - Portugese - Chinese (Simplified) - Chinese (Traditional) - Japanese - Korean - Russian Important note - In no event shall the developers or any third party providers be liable to anyone for any damages as a result of using the app.

About

Bio

This app provides essential life science calculations for researchers and students. It simplifies complex tasks like solution preparation, cell counting, and molecular conversions, offering detailed calculation steps for lab notes and reports.

Highlights
  • Solution preparation calculations
  • Nucleic acid and protein conversions
  • Manual cell counting with labels
  • Cell density and seeding calculations
  • Molecular weight and GC content
  • Lab solution recipes and notes
Features
Read full description

Bio-Calculator brings everyday life science calculations to your iPhone and iPad. Designed for researchers, students, and laboratory professionals, it covers solution preparation, nucleic acid and protein conversions, manual counting, and cell seeding calculations. SEE THE CALCULATION Supported calculators show the formula and substituted values below the result. Copy the calculation steps for your lab notes, check your method, or use them when preparing a report. MANUAL COUNTING A dedicated Count tab supports multiple counters, custom labels, increment and decrement controls, and counting history. Turn sound and haptic feedback on or off, and transfer counting data to CFU or cell density calculations to avoid entering it again. CELL DENSITY AND SEEDING Calculate cell density and viability from your hemocytometer counting area, number of squares counted, live and dead cell counts, and dilution factor. Add the suspension volume to calculate the total viable cell count. Use your seeding target to calculate the required cell suspension and medium volumes. Enter the overall dilution factor directly, or calculate it from the factor per step and number of dilution steps. NUCLEIC ACIDS AND PROTEINS • Convert mass, amount in moles, and concentration for DNA, RNA, and proteins. • Calculate nucleic acid sequence molecular weight and GC content. • Convert OD260 absorbance readings to nucleic acid concentration. • Calculate vector and insert amounts for ligation reactions. • Estimate DNA and mRNA coding capacity. SOLUTIONS AND UNIT CONVERSIONS • Molarity, mass concentration, and solution dilution calculations. • Molecular weight from a chemical formula. • Relative centrifugal force (RCF) and rotational speed (RPM) conversions. • Temperature conversions and a scientific calculator. MICROBIOLOGY AND VIROLOGY Tools for CFU calculations, colony-counting dilution planning, bacterial growth and doubling time, and TCID50 calculations. LAB SOLUTION RECIPES Find preparation methods for buffers and stock solutions such as PBS, TAE, TBE, Tris, and EDTA, with relevant sterilization, storage, and handling notes. Available in English, Simplified Chinese, and Traditional Chinese. Some features require an in-app purchase. For research and educational calculations. Check input units, counting chamber specifications, and experimental conditions before using results. Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

Screenshots

Lab Mate4 screens
Bio4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Bio at Free against Lab Mate's $6.99. Bio also leads on update cadence (every 3 weeks vs every 5 months) and iOS requirement (17.0 vs 26.0). Lab Mate's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 3) and ratings volume (6 vs 2). On rating, ads and device support 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

Bio is free to download; Lab Mate costs $6.99 up front. Bio sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month. Lab Mate asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 5.0 for Lab Mate against 5.0 for Bio. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 6 and 2 respectively.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Lab Mate ships an update every 5 months, Bio every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on November 3, 2026 and November 8, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 4 level
Lab Mate versus Bio: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterLab MateBio
Price$6.99Free — better
Rating5.0 (6 ratings)5.0 (2 ratings)
Positive reviews0.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings6 — better2
Update frequencyEvery 5 monthsEvery 3 weeks — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationPaidFree with in-app purchases — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, Mac — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS26.017.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size36 MB51 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperMarcus Griffiths杰 吴

Customer experience

Lab Mate

All ratings6 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews3 reviews
Positive0.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative100.0%

Bio

All ratings2 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

None

Lab Mate

No in-app purchases

3 purchases

Bio

Subscriptions2
  • Monthly Plan$2.991 Month
  • Yearly Plan$19.991 Year
One-time1
  • Lifetime member$44.99

Questions

Is Lab Mate free?
Lab Mate costs $6.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Bio free?
Bio is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Lab Mate or Bio?
Lab Mate and Bio are both rated 5.0 out of 5 on the App Store, from 6 and 2 ratings respectively.
Do Lab Mate or Bio have ads?
Neither Lab Mate nor Bio shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Lab Mate or Bio?
Lab Mate ships an update every 5 months, and Bio every 3 weeks. Most recently, Lab Mate was updated on November 3, 2026 and Bio on November 8, 2026.

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