HAM vs xCluster
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
HAM
This utility app offers a comprehensive suite of tools for amateur radio operators, including band conditions, DX-Cluster monitoring, and a logbook. It features direct radio integration for tuning and automatic logging, along with various calculations and resource information.
- DX-Cluster and PSK-Reporter activity monitoring
- Bandplan, Glossar, and AWG resource information
- Built-in radio integration for direct tuning
- Fully featured logbook with QSO editing
- LOTW and QRZ.com log submission
- Calculations for Ohm's law, VSWR, and antennas
- CW Encoder and Decoder
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The ultimate utility App for every HAM-Radio Operator HAM-Toolbox provides a variety of useful Tools to help you operating your HAM-Radio. The Tools are ranging from activity monitoring Tools like DX-Cluster and PSK-Reporter, to Tools helping you with resource information like Bandplan, Glossar, AWG and many more Tools. HAM-Toolbox also has a built-in radio integration, so that you can directly tune to spots from the DX-Cluster and other tools. During logging, the appropriate fields for the frequency and mode will be automatically filled. With a one-time purchase you gain access to all of the following Tools on your iPhone, iPad and Mac. · TOOLS: + Band Conditions + POTA + DX-Cluster + PSK-Reporter + Reverse Beacon Network + Call-Lookup + Locator + Beacons (especially NCDXF) + Repeater + DTMF Generator + CW Encoder and Decoder + Frequency List + QSL Card Designer (design, preview, print and export your own QSL cards) · LOGBOOK: HAM-Toolbox comes with a fully featured Logbook. + Inspect and edit your existing QSOs + Easy-to-use logging interface + Maintenance (Data completion from QRZ.com, Duplicates finder, Mass change) + LOTW and QRZ.com log submission + Integrated Call-Lookup with possibility to update QSO + Worked/Needed statistics for CQ-Zones, ITU-Zones and DXCCs + Map with worked grid locators representation + iCloud-Sync with multiple devices (compatible with SDR-Control and SmartSDR) · Radio-Integration: + Frequency and Mode + Logbook integration + Direct tuning from various Tools like DXCluster, POTA, Frequency List + Supports all major Brands and Radios via Network or USB + YAESU: FT-710, FT-991, FT-DX10, FT-DX100 + Icom: IC-705, IC-7300mk2, IC-7300, IC-7610, IC-7760, IC-9700, IC-R8600, + Kenwood: TS-890, TS-990 + Elecraft: K4 + HamLib · CALCULATIONS: + Ohm's law + VSWR + Dipole-Antenna + Groundplane-Antenna + HB9CV-Antenna + Helix-Antenna + dB Conversion + Wavelength · RESOURCES: + Bandplan + Glossar + Morse + AWG + CTCSS-Codes + Formulas + Q-Codes + Abbreviations + Constants Find out more here: https://ham-toolbox.com Read the Manual: https://go-to.me/hamtoolbox-manual
xCluster
Visualize DX cluster activity on a world map and in a list. Filter spots by call sign or band, and set custom alerts for specific stations or countries. Integrates with popular DX services and provides call parsing for location data.
- Display DX spots on map and list
- Filter by band and call sign
- Set custom alerts
- Integrates with DXSummit and PSK Reporter
- Built-in call parser
- Zoom and pan map
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xCluster is a visual display of dx cluster activity built for the iPad. DX spots are received via telnet or web services and displayed in a tabular form and plotted on a map of the world. You can filter the spots by call sign or band. Spots are created using the latitude and longitude of the dx station and spotter. The program has an internal call parsing component to determine the country for each call but can use QRZ.com for more accurate location data. Lookup priority is QRZ.com with the the call parser as a backup. DX spots can be displayed on a map or in a tabular form. Alerts for specific stations, bands or countries may be set and will be highlighted in the list and on the map. A number of major telnet clusters are built in along with DXSummit and PSK Reporter. PSK Reporter will display other stations that can hear your signal. You must be running WSJT-X or FLDIGI and have it configured correctly to work. You may contact the author with questions, suggestions or issues at support@w6op.com Features: Display dx spots on a map and in a list Predefined cluster servers and websites Filter by band and call sign Set alerts for display in the list and on the map Alerts can be set by country, band and call sign Save alerts in iCloud Built in call parser if QRZ.com is unavailable Freeform cluster command input Zoom and pan the map display
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: xCluster at Free against HAM's $14.99. xCluster also leads on review sentiment (100% vs 69%). HAM's advantage is chart position (#177 vs unranked) and device support (3 vs 1). On rating, ratings volume, 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
xCluster is free to download; HAM costs $14.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.0 for HAM against 4.0 for xCluster. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 7 and 5 respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 69% of HAM's written reviews are positive against 100% of xCluster's.
HAM ships an update monthly, xCluster every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on September 8, 2026 and September 21, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | HAM | xCluster |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $14.99 | Free — better |
| Rating | 4.0 (7 ratings) | 4.0 (5 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 69.2% of reviews | 100.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 7 — better | 5 |
| Update frequency | Monthly | Every 3 weeks — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Paid | Free — better |
| Best chart rank | #177 — better | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, Mac — better | iPad |
| Requires iOS | 18.6 — better | 26.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 83 MB | 33 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Marcus Roskosch | Peter Bourget |
Customer experience
HAM
xCluster
In-app purchases
HAM
No in-app purchases
xCluster
No in-app purchases









