Comparison

Spool Buddy vs Garage Inventory Pro

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

Head to head
About

Spool Buddy

Effortlessly manage your 3D printing filament inventory. Track brands, colors, and usage with a simple, fast interface. Syncs seamlessly across Apple devices without requiring logins or network calls.

Highlights
  • iCloud syncing
  • No logins or network calls
  • Track brands, colors, and modifiers
  • Search and filter by properties
  • Usage and inventory tracking
  • Optimized for iOS and macOS
Features
Read full description

Filament tracking for 3D printing, without the fuss. Spool Buddy is a simple, fast filament inventory app made for hobbyists who want to know what filament they have, where it is, and how much is left — without accounts, subscriptions, tracking, or complicated setup. Add your filaments, organize them by brand, material, color, location, modifiers, and more. Track usage across one or multiple spools, keep drying logs, attach photos, archive old filament, and export or print your inventory when you need it. Spool Buddy syncs with iCloud, so your filament library stays up to date across iPhone, iPad, and Mac without creating an account. Features include: - Track filament inventory, usage, and remaining amounts - Multi-spool support for filaments - NFC reading and writing - iCloud sync with no logins - Photos for filament entries - Drying logs - Custom brands and materials - Detailed filament information, including colors, polymers, modifiers, fillers, and visual properties - Automatic color names and color family filtering - Support for gradients and complex filament colors - Filter by storage location, brand, color family, modifiers, and polymer - Sort by price, date added, color, brand, and name - Group by brand or material - Usage indicators at a glance - Archive filaments you no longer actively use - Export your inventory to CSV - Print your filament inventory - Optimized for iOS and macOS 26 - Small, fast, and designed to stay out of your way Spool Buddy is completely free to use. There are no subscriptions, no locked features, and no required purchases. In-app purchases are optional tips only, for people who want to support the app’s development. Made by an indie solo developer for people who just want a clean, useful way to manage their filament.

About

Garage Inventory Pro

Features
Read full description

Your garage has a lot of stuff. Remembering where everything is shouldn't be your job. Garage Inventory helps you organize tools, equipment, supplies, storage bins, automotive gear, lawn and garden items, seasonal storage, and everything else you keep in your garage. Build a digital map of your garage so when you need something, you know what you have and exactly where to find it. FIND WHAT YOU NEED Stop searching through shelves, cabinets, drawers, and storage bins. Organize your garage into locations and sub-locations that match the way you actually store things — from a workbench or tool cabinet all the way down to a specific shelf or bin. Search your inventory and quickly find where an item belongs. ADD ITEMS WITH AI Cataloging a large garage shouldn't feel like a second job. Take a photo and let AI help detect the items in it. Review the results, make any changes you want, choose where the items belong, and add them to your inventory. AI can also help suggest where new items should be stored based on the way your garage is organized. ORGANIZE YOUR ENTIRE GARAGE Create locations such as: • Workbench • Tool Storage • Automotive • Lawn & Garden • Seasonal Storage • General Storage Then create locations inside them to represent your actual shelves, cabinets, drawers, boxes, and bins. TRACK MORE THAN JUST TOOLS Garage Inventory is built for the things that accumulate in a real garage. Keep track of: • Tools and equipment • Parts and accessories • Automotive supplies • Lawn and garden equipment • Household and seasonal items • Consumable supplies • Quantities and units • Items currently taken out • Items you've loaned to someone • Items that are running out KNOW WHAT'S CHANGING Keep a history of activity in your garage so you can see when items are used, restocked, moved, or updated. For consumable items, quickly record when supplies are used or restocked and keep their quantities up to date. BUILT FOR GARAGES THAT HAVE OUTGROWN MEMORY You probably don't need an inventory system for twenty things. But once your garage grows into hundreds of tools, supplies, boxes, shelves, and storage locations, remembering everything becomes the system. Garage Inventory gives that job to your phone. Less searching. Less buying things you already own. Less trying to remember where you put something months ago. Just open Garage Inventory and find it. YOUR GARAGE. ORGANIZED. Garage Inventory is designed to stay simple even when your garage isn't. Start building your garage inventory today and make everything you own easier to find. Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

Screenshots

Spool Buddy4 screens
Garage Inventory Pro4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is iOS requirement: Garage Inventory Pro at 15.1 against Spool Buddy's 18.2. On price, update cadence, ads and in-app purchases 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. Spool Buddy sells 3 one-off in-app purchases and Garage Inventory Pro sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Spool Buddy ships an update every 2 weeks, Garage Inventory Pro every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on November 5, 2026 and October 31, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard1 real difference · 9 level
Spool Buddy versus Garage Inventory Pro: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterSpool BuddyGarage Inventory Pro
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.3 (9 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings9 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 2 weeks — betterEvery 3 weeks
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, MaciPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS18.215.1 — better
Further details — not scored
Size10 MB50 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperMartian Code OyHoang Le minh

In-app purchases

3 purchases

Spool Buddy

One-time3
  • Small Tip$0.99
  • Medium Tip$2.99
  • Large Tip$4.99
3 purchases

Garage Inventory Pro

Subscriptions3
  • Pro pass$1.991 Month
  • Pro Pass$4.991 Month
  • Pro Pass$44.991 Year

Questions

Is Spool Buddy free?
Spool Buddy is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Garage Inventory Pro free?
Garage Inventory Pro is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Spool Buddy or Garage Inventory Pro have ads?
Neither Spool Buddy nor Garage Inventory Pro shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Spool Buddy or Garage Inventory Pro?
Spool Buddy ships an update every 2 weeks, and Garage Inventory Pro every 3 weeks. Most recently, Spool Buddy was updated on November 5, 2026 and Garage Inventory Pro on October 31, 2026.

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