StageTools vs Digital Gel
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
StageTools
A comprehensive lighting toolkit for professionals, offering network scanning, DMX inspection, fixture testing, and plot creation. Manage fixture data, files, and notes without needing a laptop, with many tools available offline.
- Network device scanning
- DMX viewer for sACN/ArtNet
- Micro console for fixture testing
- Protocol detector
- LTC timecode generation/reception
- Curve builder
- Quick plot creation
- Scout notes with multimedia
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StageTools is a lighting toolkit for iPhone and iPad, built for the work that happens before, during, and after the rig is in the air. Scout the job. Plot the rig. Troubleshoot the network. Check DMX. Keep fixture data, files, notes, and utility tools close without opening a laptop. TOOLBOX Network Devices scans your show network and helps you keep track of nodes, switches, consoles, and other devices. DMX Viewer listens to sACN and ArtNet so you can inspect live universe data and catch channel changes. Micro Console gives you a pocket-sized lighting console for fixture testing, quick looks, and controlled sACN or ArtNet output when you need it. Protocol Detector passively listens for common show-network traffic so you can see what is talking before you change anything. LTC Timecode can generate, receive, or jam timecode from your device. Curve Builder helps build fixture correction references from meter readings and export them for real show workflows. DIP Switch and CCT Converter cover the small calculations that still come up on set and in the shop. QUICK PLOTS Build fast lighting plots, network layouts, and power notes on one canvas. Add symbols, labels, cables, layers, backgrounds, custom symbols, and exports to PDF or PNG. SCOUT NOTES Create location scouts with photos, videos, marked-up images, note tabs, voice memos, transcripts, files, and PDF export. Make Scout Notes can turn a voice transcript into structured notes you can review and insert. FIXTURES Search, download, favorite, and reference fixtures from the GDTF Share Library. Downloaded fixtures can be used across StageTools workflows. FILES Save links, PDFs, manuals, plots, patch sheets, network diagrams, and local files. Organize by folder, category, and favorites, then share folder bundles when another StageTools user needs the same packet. BUILT FOR LIGHTING WORK StageTools is focused on lighting professionals: set lighting crews, theatrical electricians, lighting designers, programmers, gaffers, and touring techs. Many tools work offline. Live network tools require access to the show network. Core data stays on your device, with optional iCloud Sync for your own devices. StageTools is free to try. A subscription unlocks the full lighting workflow after the trial. Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/
Digital Gel
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Digital Gel is a precision color tool for gaffers, DPs, and lighting programmers. Meter a fixture bare, then meter it again through a gel. Digital Gel captures the difference as a color ratio — a "digital gel" — that you can apply to any other light and read back as CIE x,y coordinates to enter on the console. WHAT IT DOES • Extract a gel from two spectrometer readings (bare + through the gel). • Apply that gel — or a stack of gels — to any target light. • Correct: work backwards and cancel a filter you can't take away. • Refine any result against a real meter reading until it lands. • Get the result as x,y for the console, plus CCT, tint (in CC and Δuv), and mired shift. • See everything on a CIE 1931 chromaticity diagram with the Planckian locus, color-temperature ticks, and optional Rec.709 / P3 / Rec.2020 gamut overlays. CANCEL WHAT YOU CAN'T REMOVE Not every filter is a choice — a tinted window, a diffusion frame, a practical's own glass. Meter your fixture with it in the way, and Correct solves for the x,y to set the fixture to so the light lands where you wanted it after the glass. It states the move in mired and CC as well, so the answer is just as usable if you reach for a CTB and minus green instead of the console — and it tells you when a filter is simply too strong to cancel. Saturated filters don't treat an LED fixture quite the way the math expects, so Correct flags them and lets you Refine: meter the result through the filter, enter the reading, and dial the next value. Refine learns how your fixture and filter actually respond, and closes in within a few passes. BUILT FOR THE SET • Enter light as x,y, as a color temperature (5600), or temperature with tint (3200 -2). • Save a library of gels and custom sources; mark favorites; search your list. • Calibrate a fixture that doesn't hit the color it's told to, so Apply's numbers land where you mean them. • Touch and hold any result to copy its x,y. • Choose CAT02 (recommended) or raw XYZ adaptation math. • A transmission read of each gel's red / green / blue balance at a glance. • Universal: one column on iPhone, two panes on iPad portrait, three in landscape. PRIVATE BY DESIGN No account to create, and no data collected. Your gel library syncs between your own devices through your private iCloud — nobody else can see it — and with iCloud switched off the app is entirely local. Digital Gel works in chromaticity, so it matches color points, not full spectra — when metamerism matters on set, trust your meter, and let Refine close the gap.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: StageTools at Free against Digital Gel's $3.99. Digital Gel's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 2). On update cadence, 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
StageTools is free to download; Digital Gel costs $3.99 up front. StageTools sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $3.99 per month. Digital Gel asks for nothing beyond the download.
StageTools ships an update every 2 weeks, Digital Gel every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 3, 2026 and October 5, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | StageTools | Digital Gel |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free — better | $3.99 |
| Rating | 5.0 (3 ratings) — better | — |
| Number of ratings | 3 — better | — |
| Update frequency | Every 2 weeks — better | Every 3 weeks |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 17.6 | 17.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 87 MB | 2 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | X0 Lighting Control Inc. | TIMO TAPIO HAAPASAARI |
In-app purchases
StageTools
- StageTools Monthly7 Days trial$3.991 Month
- StageTools Annual7 Days trial$39.991 Year
Digital Gel
No in-app purchases








