Comparison

Spool Hoarder vs SpoolTagWriter

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

Head to head
About

Spool Hoarder

Features
Read full description

Take control of your 3D printing filament, projects, and print costs from your iPhone or iPad. Spool Hoarder keeps an accurate, searchable inventory, tracks usage, and shows what each print really costs. Filament Inventory, Organized Add, edit, favorite, and group spools. Give each one a status β€” active, used up, sold, gifted, or discarded β€” so a spool you no longer have stays in your history instead of being deleted. Record what you got for sold spools, and restore any record later. Capture brand, material, color and hex, spool size, purchase source, price and currency, storage location, and remaining weight. Weight can be entered as filament only or as a total scale reading. Save print settings like nozzle and bed temperature, flow ratio, and K-factor, and attach photos and color references. Inventory Assistant Ask about your collection in plain language β€” "show my Polyterra spools" or "how much PLA do I have left?" Runs on-device and offline, with no credits used. An optional cloud mode answers broader questions. Smart Spool Capture Scan a barcode and let a built-in filament catalog fill in brand, material, and color. Use AI-assisted recognition on spool photos, or import spools by pasting an order's text. You review everything before saving. Location metadata is stripped from photos before any scan leaves your device, and cloud features ask for your explicit consent first. Locations and NFC Organize spools by shelf, bin, or room with structured storage locations, including duplicate merging and safe deletion. Bind NFC tags to spools and locations: scan a tag to jump straight to a spool, or check spools in with one tap. Projects and Usage Tracking Create projects and assign one or more spools. Log filament usage with automatic inventory deduction, compare required versus actual usage, and keep notes, history, and reprints connected to each project. Print Cost and Planning Estimate print costs from filament weight and spool price, with optional factors like electricity, depreciation, failure rate, markup, and shipping. Spool prices, print costs, and reports each carry their own currency, so mixed-currency collections stay accurate. Turn an estimate into a project or a usage log. Printer Profiles and Tuning Create printer profiles and store tuning details for your setup, with built-in Bambu Lab presets. Reuse tuned values when logging projects or estimating costs. Analytics and Insights View inventory summaries, material breakdowns, brand and color distribution, monthly usage, and low-stock and aging spools. An exit ledger shows what sold spools brought in versus what they cost. Core summaries are free; Pro adds deeper analytics. Import, Export, and Backup Import and export spool data as CSV, and create backups you can restore anytime. Spool Hoarder works offline by default, with light and dark mode, multiple themes, accessibility support, and layout preferences. Spool Hoarder Pro Pro unlocks: β€’ Unlimited spools (the free plan tracks up to 50 current spools) β€’ Unlimited projects and printer profiles β€’ Advanced analytics β€’ Optional cloud sync across your devices β€’ Monthly AI scan credits for cloud-based recognition Spool Hoarder Pro is an auto-renewable subscription: start with a 1-month free trial, then $19.99/year. Payment is charged to your Apple ID at confirmation of purchase. It renews automatically unless canceled at least 24 hours before the end of the current period, and you can manage or cancel anytime in your App Store account settings. AI scan credit packs are also available as one-time purchases. Some features depend on device capabilities or subscription status. Cloud sync and AI-assisted recognition require network access. Spend less time guessing and more time printing. Terms of Use: https://spoolhoarder.com/terms-of-use/ Privacy Policy: https://spoolhoarder.com/privacy-policy/

About

SpoolTagWriter

Features
Read full description

SpoolTagWriter lets you read and write NFC tags for 3D printer filament spools from your iPhone. Use it to scan existing spool tags, view the stored filament data, and create new tags with either preset profiles or custom settings. The app is designed to make spool setup faster, cleaner, and easier to manage without digging through raw tag values by hand. Features: - Scan compatible NFC filament tags - View parsed spool data including brand, material, color, diameter, weight, and extruder temperature range - Inspect raw NFC page data for supported tags - Write tags using preset filament profiles - Browse presets by brand, material type, and color - Create custom spool settings for your own filament - Choose custom colors visually or by entering a hex value - Write spool data in a streamlined iPhone-first workflow SpoolTagWriter is built for makers who want a simple way to manage filament tag data and prepare spools for supported 3D printing workflows.

Screenshots

Spool Hoarder4 screens
SpoolTagWriter4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: SpoolTagWriter at none against Spool Hoarder's 1. Spool Hoarder's advantage is device support (3 vs 1) and iOS requirement (16.6 vs 26.2). On price and ads 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

CostPrice Β· In-app purchases Β· Ads Β· Monetization

Both are free to download. Spool Hoarder sells 1 in-app purchase, starting at $19.99 per year. SpoolTagWriter asks for nothing beyond the download.

Scorecard3 real differences Β· 3 level
Spool Hoarder versus SpoolTagWriter: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterSpool HoarderSpoolTagWriter
PriceFreeFree
Update frequencyEvery 2 monthsβ€”
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo β€” better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, Mac β€” betteriPhone
Requires iOS16.6 β€” better26.2
Further details β€” not scored
Size121 MB6 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperMIDDLEPATH LABS, LLCVictor Nava

In-app purchases

1 purchases

Spool Hoarder

Subscriptions1
  • Pro$19.991 Year
None

SpoolTagWriter

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Spool Hoarder free?
Spool Hoarder is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is SpoolTagWriter free?
SpoolTagWriter is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do Spool Hoarder or SpoolTagWriter have ads?
Neither Spool Hoarder nor SpoolTagWriter shows ads.

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