Comparison

PotteryNotes vs ClayLab

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

Head to head
About

PotteryNotes

Create detailed notes for your pottery and ceramic projects. Add photos, dimensions, clay types, glazes, and more. Organize and share your project records easily.

Highlights
  • Create detailed project notes
  • Add photos and captions
  • Record dimensions, clay body, glazes
  • Customizable note fields
  • Searchable project list
  • Share notes via email, text, AirDrop
  • Direct image posting to social media
Features
Read full description

Quickly and easily create beautiful notes about your ceramic and pottery projects. Add photos, captions and descriptive data and information, and automatically add them to a searchable list. Share records between devices by email, text and AirDrop. Posting images to Facebook and other services directly from the app. Print your notes on AirPrint printers. After creating a note, add photos, dimensions, weight, clay body, firing information, surface decoration techniques, glazes and many more fields. Customize the layout of your notes by adding, deleting, rearranging and renaming fields, then save your preferred layout to be the new default layout.

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

Screenshots

PotteryNotes4 screens
ClayLab4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: ClayLab at 4.6 against PotteryNotes's 3.5. ClayLab also leads on review sentiment (91% vs 68%) and ratings volume (366 vs 97). PotteryNotes's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 2) and update cadence (every 4 weeks vs every 2 months). On price, ads 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

Both are free to download. ClayLab sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month. PotteryNotes asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

ClayLab holds the better App Store score, 4.6 against 3.5. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 97 and 366 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 68% of PotteryNotes's written reviews are positive against 91% of ClayLab's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

PotteryNotes ships an update every 4 weeks, ClayLab every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on October 7, 2026 and October 20, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard7 real differences · 3 level
PotteryNotes versus ClayLab: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterPotteryNotesClayLab
PriceFreeFree
Rating3.5 (97 ratings)4.6 (366 ratings) — better
Positive reviews67.8% of reviews91.4% of reviews — better
Number of ratings97366 — better
Update frequencyEvery 4 weeks — betterEvery 2 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree — betterFreemium
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone
Requires iOS15.6 — better16.4
Further details — not scored
Size16 MB27 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperPacific Bipeds LLCLorenzo Calvani

Customer experience

PotteryNotes

All ratings97 ratings
Positive63.9%
Neutral7.2%
Negative28.9%
Written reviews87 reviews
Positive67.8%
Neutral9.2%
Negative23.0%

ClayLab

All ratings366 ratings
Positive91.5%
Neutral4.9%
Negative3.6%
Written reviews233 reviews
Positive91.4%
Neutral6.0%
Negative2.6%

User reviews

PotteryNotes

From 97 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Great for tracking pottery
  • 🎨 Customizable fields/templates
  • 📸 Stores photos and notes
  • 🔍 Powerful search feature
  • 💡 Useful for glaze combinations

Room to improve

  • 💥 Data loss after updates
  • 🐛 Frequent app crashes/freezing
  • 📷 Blurry main pictures
  • 🚫 Cannot export notes meaningfully
  • 📉 Outdated features (no sync)

ClayLab

From 366 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Helpful for organizing pottery pieces
  • 👍 Customizable options for clays, glazes, and forms
  • 📸 Ability to take and store photos of pieces
  • 🗒️ Detailed notes and tracking capabilities
  • 🔍 Useful for remembering glaze combinations

Room to improve

  • 🔒 No backup or export functionality
  • 🔍 Lack of search and filtering options
  • 🔢 Limited to 3 glaze layers per piece
  • 📏 No metric measurement options
  • 🗑️ Unable to delete pre-populated options

Bugs and requests

PotteryNotes

Reported bugs

16 issues
  • Lost all photos after update
  • Lost all notes after update
  • App crashes upon opening
  • App freezes
  • Main picture is blurry
Show 11 more
  • Camera function not working
  • Deleting a tag deletes it from other items
  • Firing and created dates reset to update date
  • Unable to export notes
  • Cannot duplicate a note (previously)
  • Editing glazes crashes app
  • Sync issues between devices
  • Recent items not responding
  • Cannot open app after update (version 2.5.13)
  • Main picture blurry
  • Camera function not working (new iOS version)

Requested features

24 requests
  • Sync across devices (iPhone/iPad/iCloud)
  • Cloud backup/storage
  • Dark mode
  • Separate list for ideas/inspiration
  • Reorder pots/items
Show 19 more
  • Batch sharing of files
  • Archive completed pieces
  • Sort by numerical order
  • Sort by clay type/cone
  • Edit photos within app
  • Export to iPhoto for editing
  • File directories/folders
  • Select multiple glazes
  • Select multiple clay bodies
  • Add/delete glaze combinations
  • Mark completed items
  • Show most recently added photo as thumbnail
  • Backup to Google Drive
  • Android version
  • Set main picture for an item
  • Delete unused/incorrectly typed glazes/types
  • Archive function
  • PC version
  • Share directly from app

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

In-app purchases

None

PotteryNotes

No in-app purchases

2 purchases

ClayLab

Subscriptions2
  • Monthly$4.991 Month
  • Yearly$49.991 Year

Questions

Is PotteryNotes free?
PotteryNotes is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is ClayLab free?
ClayLab is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, PotteryNotes or ClayLab?
ClayLab is rated higher. PotteryNotes averages 3.5 out of 5 from 97 ratings, while ClayLab averages 4.6 from 366 ratings.
Do PotteryNotes or ClayLab have ads?
Neither PotteryNotes nor ClayLab shows ads.
Which is updated more often, PotteryNotes or ClayLab?
PotteryNotes ships an update every 4 weeks, and ClayLab every 2 months. Most recently, PotteryNotes was updated on October 7, 2026 and ClayLab on October 20, 2026.

Other comparisons