Comparison

Portulator vs Calcohol

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

Head to head
About

Portulator

This utility app helps winemakers calculate the precise amount of spirits needed to achieve a desired alcohol percentage in port wine. It offers two modes: one for fortified wines and another for port-style wines, also calculating residual sugar.

Highlights
  • Calculate spirits for fortified wines
  • Calculate spirits for port-style wines
  • Target alcohol percentage input
  • Calculate residual sugar
  • Input wine and spirit alcohol percentages
  • Input must volume and Brix levels
Features
Read full description

This app is a utility that calculates the amount of spirits to add to a wine to make a port wine of a target alcohol percentage. The first tab is for fortified wines where the user simply inputs the wine volume, wine alcohol percentage, spirits alcohol percentage, and the desired port wine alcohol percentage. The result is the volume of spirits to add to the wine. The second tab is for port-style wines. With a given must volume and a starting and ending Brix, one can calculate the amount of spirits to add for a target alcohol percentage and a given spirits alcohol percentage. The tab also calculates residual sugar after the addition of spirits.

About

Calcohol

This app provides a comprehensive suite of tools for liquor makers, offering calculations for dilution, contraction, mixing, heating, boiling, and distillation. It also includes a notebook for recipes and iCloud sync, with support for various measurement systems.

Highlights
  • Alcohol strength calculations (dilution, contraction)
  • Mixture calculations by volume and mass
  • Heating and temperature management tools
  • Boiling point and distillation calculations
  • Mash and spirit making calculators
  • Notebook with iCloud sync
Features
Read full description

Here is a functions list: • Notebook - save notes, recipes and so on with iCloud sync (for iOS 13 and later) • Dilution – calculating require water volume, to decrease alcohol strength to desired • Contraction – calculating require volume of higher ABV solution, to increase available alcohol strength to desired • Mixing Alcohol by Volume – calculating mixture of two alcohol solutions by given their volume • Mixing Alcohol by Mass – calculating mixture of two alcohol solutions by given their weight • Weight to Volume - calculate volume of liquid by its weight • Gravity Change – calculating alcohol per volume, based on gravity change in SG, Plato and Brix • Water Temperature Mix – calculating overall temperature after mixing two solutions • Chilling Water – calculating volume of cold water, to chill hot one • Electric Heating Power – calculating required electrical current, voltage and % of max heater power, to get desired power from particular electric heater • Heating Time – calculating heating time by given liquid volume • Heating Power - heating source power calculation, which is applied to increase liquid temperature • Boiling – calculating boiling point by given pressure. With iPhone 6 and later version (except SE), atmospheric pressure can be read from build-in barometer • Hydrometer Reading Correction – correction reading hydrometer value depending on temperature • Mash Maker – calculate mash parameters, such as water, yeast requirements, alcohol amount prediction. All calculation based on specified ingredients list, its amount and desired total volume of mash • Strike Water – calculate required temperature for strike water, to get target mash temperature • Spirit Maker – this feature will help you to mix strong alcohol, water and sugar, to make liquor with specific proportion of that ingredients • Distillation Cut – calculate each fraction volume • Drip Speed – calculate time to collect specific volume • Theoretical Plates – calculate plates equivalent of your column extender Can be configured to calculate volumes in metric, UK or US imperial systems

Screenshots

Portulator2 screens
Calcohol4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Calcohol at Free against Portulator's $1.99. Calcohol also leads on update cadence (every 2 months vs every 20 months) and ratings volume (190 vs 2). Portulator's advantage is review sentiment (100% vs 63%) and in-app purchases (none vs 1). On ads, device support and iOS requirement 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

Calcohol is free to download; Portulator costs $1.99 up front. Calcohol sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Portulator asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Portulator holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.7. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Calcohol has 190 ratings behind it against 2, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 100% of Portulator's written reviews are positive against 63% of Calcohol's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Portulator ships an update every 20 months, Calcohol every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on September 15, 2026 and September 26, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard7 real differences · 3 level
Portulator versus Calcohol: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterPortulatorCalcohol
Price$1.99Free — better
Rating5.0 (2 ratings) — better4.7 (190 ratings)
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews — better62.5% of reviews
Number of ratings2190 — better
Update frequencyEvery 20 monthsEvery 2 months — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationPaidFree with in-app purchases — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS12.012.0
Further details — not scored
Size1 MB20 MB
Age rating17+17+
DeveloperMark KaraszDenis Orlov

Customer experience

Portulator

All ratings2 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews2 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Calcohol

All ratings190 ratings
Positive92.1%
Neutral4.2%
Negative3.7%
Written reviews64 reviews
Positive62.5%
Neutral9.4%
Negative28.1%

In-app purchases

None

Portulator

No in-app purchases

1 purchases

Calcohol

One-time1
  • Full Version$0.99

Questions

Is Portulator free?
Portulator costs $1.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Calcohol free?
Calcohol is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Portulator or Calcohol?
Portulator is rated higher. Portulator averages 5.0 out of 5 from 2 ratings, while Calcohol averages 4.7 from 190 ratings.
Do Portulator or Calcohol have ads?
Neither Portulator nor Calcohol shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Portulator or Calcohol?
Portulator ships an update every 20 months, and Calcohol every 2 months. Most recently, Portulator was updated on September 15, 2026 and Calcohol on September 26, 2026.

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