Fermentation Journal vs Fermentation Lab
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side β with what reviewers say about each.
Fermentation Journal
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Fermento keeps pickles, sourdough, cheeses, kombucha, charcuterie and more on schedule with smart timelines, reminders, calculators and exportable logsβfor beginners and pros. Projects & timelines - Unlimited batches with custom milestones and photo notes - pH, salt %, weight and observationsβtimestamped in one place - Smart reminders for feeds, flips, checks and cures Culture management - Starters, SCOBY hotels and kefir grainsβhealth, feeds and lineage together HACCP (for pros) - Decision-tree builder for hazards and CCPs - Monitoring/verification logs with corrective actions - Export tidy PDFs for audits and compliance Calculators & scaling - Hydration, salt %, inoculation ratios and timing helpers - Instant scaling and saved methods Insights - Compare batches, spot trends and review pH/tempo curves - Equipment notes and calibration history (keep sensors honest) Why Fermento? Made by fermentation obsessives. Private, focused and practicalβwhether it's your first kimchi or a full curing chamber. Terms of Use: https://drobinin.com/apps/terms/fermento/
Fermentation Lab
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Fermentation Lab is the cellar notebook for people who ferment at home. Pick a ferment and a recipe: the app weighs the ingredients, tells you what to do each day and keeps track of temperature, pH and salt, jar by jar. Start from a recipe 95 recipes for 39 ferments β sauerkraut, kimchi, kombucha, kefir, yogurt, miso, shoyu, koji, tempeh, cured meats, cheese, vinegar, beer, wine, mead and more β plus bread recipes and pizza styles. Ingredients arrive already weighed and stay in proportion: change how much you make, or one line, and the rest follows. Next to each ingredient you see whether it is in your pantry; what is missing goes to the shopping list. Or write your own recipe and keep it for next time. The right step, every day Each type has its own care sheet: the phases, the task of each phase and the checkpoints β minimum salt, pH by the expected day, temperature limits, humidity, weight loss. Home follows what is fermenting and reminds you of today's task, with a notification when it is due. Short ferments such as bread, koji or yogurt are counted in hours. Log it, understand it Temperature, pH, gravity, notes and photos in one tap. Every reading is read for your ferment: whether it is within the limits of its care sheet, whether it is too early to tell, what counts besides that number. Measuring guides explain how to read pH and Β°Brix properly. You can connect an Inkbird Bluetooth sensor for temperature and humidity. Bread and pizza Baker's percentages on total flour, hydration, sourdough starter, biga and poolish. The method is part of the recipe: autolyse, folds, a night in the fridge, the pan. Doughs made in pieces are asked in pieces β four 250 g dough balls β and the step-by-step recipe has timers. The water temperature that brings the dough to the right temperature is one tap away from Home. The Laboratory Pantry and supplies, a shopping list with a barcode scanner, your cultures, the archive of finished ferments, statistics across batches, a calendar and timers. The Library Problems and doubts ("is it mold?"), techniques and microbes, with a search that reads inside the cards. Share An Instagram story or post with the jar's photo, log or recipe, plus a link to its web page. The Community Your profile is your lab: a jar for every ferment in progress. A weekly leaderboard, daily quests, culture swaps and a swap map. Others see only the types and progress of your lab β never names, notes or photos β and you can hide it. The Brigade, for kitchens A shared lab for kitchen teams: tickets on the rail, shift handovers, the week's HACCP checks, roles. And more Eight languages, a paper or cellar theme, and a predicted flavor profile and umami score (they are estimates). Fermentation Lab helps you keep count and not skip a check. Its values are the common ones of home fermentation: a number within limits says that number is within limits, not that a food is safe or ready. When in doubt, don't taste it.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Fermentation Lab at none against Fermentation Journal's 5. Fermentation Lab also leads on iOS requirement (15.1 vs 17.0). On price, update cadence, ads and device support there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price Β· Rating Β· Positive reviews Β· Number of ratings Β· Update frequency Β· Ads Β· In-app purchases Β· Monetization Β· Best chart rank Β· Devices Β· Requires iOS
Both are free to download. Fermentation Journal sells 5 in-app purchases, starting at $3.99 per 7 days. Fermentation Lab asks for nothing beyond the download.
Fermentation Journal ships an update monthly, Fermentation Lab fortnightly. Both last shipped on October 24, 2026.
| Parameter | Fermentation Journal | Fermentation Lab |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Positive reviews | 100.0% of reviews | β |
| Update frequency | Monthly | Fortnightly β better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No β better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad, iPod β better |
| Requires iOS | 17.0 | 15.1 β better |
| Further details β not scored | ||
| Size | 109 MB | 84 MB |
| Age rating | 12+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Drobinin Limited | Antonio Lice |
In-app purchases
Fermentation Journal
- Starter Culture Pro Weekly$3.997 Days
- Culture & Probiotic Pro$7.991 Month
- Culture & Probiotic Pro3 Days trial$59.991 Year
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- HACCP Safety Compliance Pro$179.991 Year
- Lifetime (Personal)$199.99
Fermentation Lab
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Fermentation Journal free?
Is Fermentation Lab free?
Do Fermentation Journal or Fermentation Lab have ads?
Which is updated more often, Fermentation Journal or Fermentation Lab?
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