Comparison

Filament vs Spoolman GO

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

Head to head
About

Filament

Features
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Take control of your 3D printer filament collection. Filament Tracker is a native app for iPhone, iPad, and Mac that gives every spool a unique ID, a home, and a complete history β€” from purchase to retirement. β€” ASK YOUR INVENTORY ANYTHING β€” Type a question β€” like "how many grams of red PLA do I have?" β€” and get an instant answer instead of adding it up yourself. Powered entirely by on-device Apple Intelligence, so nothing leaves your device and no internet connection is required. No Apple Intelligence on your device? Search still works exactly as before. β€” KNOW WHAT YOU HAVE β€” Browse your entire collection filtered by state, brand, type, color family, or location, with live counts on each filter option. Sort by grams remaining to spot low spools at a glance. Every spool shows its true filament color with the hex code alongside it, and tracks its weight, state (New β†’ In Use β†’ Low β†’ Empty β†’ Retired) with an at-a-glance colored stripe, event history, and photos. β€” SMART INTAKE & AUTO-FILL β€” Skip tedious data entry. Paste text from a product page or receiptβ€”or on iPhone and iPad, use your camera to scan text off box and bag labels. On compatible devices, on-device Apple Intelligence parses it to extract the spool's brand, material, color, and net weight instantly. β€” SCAN TO FIND. SCAN TO MOVE. β€” Print a QR code for any spool or location, scannable on iPhone or iPad, or use your iPhone to write and scan custom NFC tags at your workbench. A quick tap or scan instantly identifies what's loaded and where it is. Move a spool to a new location in two quick scans. β€” LOCATIONS THAT FIT YOUR SETUP β€” Organize your collection by dry box, AMS unit, shelf, printer, or any location you define. Locations marked as Connected to Printer automatically count loaded spools as In Use. β€” TRACK EVERY GRAM β€” Log print sessions to keep grams-remaining accurate, or connect a Bluetooth scale to weigh a spool and get its remaining filament instantly β€” set the empty weight once and every future weigh-in subtracts it automatically. Attach photos from your camera, photo library, or Files to any spool or filament record. Track purchase price and source URL per spool, with per-spool currency overrides for international purchases. β€” BUILT-IN FILAMENT REFERENCE β€” Look up print temperatures, drying recommendations, density, and resistance ratings for ~30 filament types β€” from PLA and PETG to specialty materials like PA6-CF, BVOH, and ASA. Tap any entry to filter your spools by that type. β€” ICLOUD SYNC β€” Your inventory syncs silently across all your devices via CloudKit. Works fully offline; changes sync automatically when connectivity returns. Full sync diagnostics and a cache reset are available in Settings. β€” BACKUP & RESTORE β€” Export a complete snapshot β€” spools, filament, locations, event history, photos, and reference data β€” as a portable archive or a plain JSON file for hand-editing. Restore at any time using a safe path that never risks accidental data loss to iCloud. β€” CSV EXPORT & IMPORT β€” Export your full inventory as a 28-column CSV for Numbers, Excel, or any spreadsheet app. Import it back to bulk-update brand, type, color, location, purchase info, and more β€” matched by Spool ID, with missing reference entries created automatically. β€” LIGHT MODE & ACCESSIBILITY β€” The app now follows your device's Light or Dark Mode setting automatically, and every screen supports VoiceOver and Dynamic Type. β€” SEAMLESS MAC COMPANION β€” The app runs natively on Mac with the same data, sync, and features as on iPhone and iPad, including search right from macOS Spotlight. The Mac version additionally supports the TD-1 filament tester β€” capture optical transmission-distance and hex color readings directly via USB and sync them back to your iOS devices automatically. No subscriptions. No account required beyond iCloud β€” your data stays in your own private iCloud database. An optional one-time tip in Settings earns a Supporter badge, never required.

About

Spoolman GO

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Spoolman GO is the iPhone companion app for your self-hosted Spoolman or FilaMan-compatible server. Manage your filament spools, track inventory, and write NFC tags in the OpenSpool format β€” right from your iPhone. FEATURES β€’ Dashboard with inventory overview: total weight, material distribution, low-stock warnings, and manufacturer statistics at a glance β€’ Spool list with search and filters by material, manufacturer, location, and stock status, including a remaining-weight status indicator β€’ Detail view with all filament data, settings, and remaining weight β€’ Book filament consumption and log measured remaining weight β€’ Overview for spools, filaments, vendors, and locations β€” edit all fields β€’ Multi-color display: pie chart (coaxial) or linear gradient (longitudinal) in lists and details β€’ Scan QR codes and open the matching spool directly (`/spool/show/...` and `WEB+SPOOLMAN:S-...`) β€’ Read and write passive NFC tags (OpenSpool 1.0, NDEF MIME application/json; no direct printer or accessory pairing) β€’ Automatically store NFC tag UID on the matching spool (lot_nr) β€’ Auto-detect API: native Spoolman (/api/v1) or FilaMan Spoolman compatibility (/spoolman/api/v1) β€’ Light / Dark / System color scheme β€’ Demo Mode: explore the general app UI without a server using realistic sample data; writing NFC tags requires Live Mode β€’ No account, no cloud service β€” all your data stays with you β€’ Settings: server connection, appearance and language, low-stock threshold β€’ Improved VoiceOver support with labeled actions, form fields, filters, and purchase states REQUIREMENTS β€’ Self-hosted Spoolman or FilaMan with Spoolman-API Plugin β€’ For NFC: iPhone 7 or newer, iOS 13+, physical device required (not Simulator) β€’ For QR scanning: camera access PRIVACY Spoolman GO collects no user data. All settings are stored locally. The app only communicates with the server you configure. TERMS OF USE Apple Standard EULA: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

Screenshots

Filament4 screens
Spoolman GO4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Filament at none against Spoolman GO's 1. Filament also leads on device support (3 vs 1). Spoolman GO's advantage is update cadence (every 6 days vs fortnightly) and iOS requirement (16.4 vs 26.0). 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. Spoolman GO sells 1 in-app purchase, starting at $2.99 per month. Filament asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Filament ships an update fortnightly, Spoolman GO every 6 days. The most recent releases landed on September 28, 2026 and October 14, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences Β· 2 level
Filament versus Spoolman GO: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterFilamentSpoolman GO
PriceFreeFree
Update frequencyFortnightlyEvery 6 days β€” better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo β€” betterYes
DevicesiPhone, iPad, Mac β€” betteriPhone
Requires iOS26.016.4 β€” better
Further details β€” not scored
Size25 MB53 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperDavid OreolFLORIAN BERTHOLD PFLAUM

In-app purchases

None

Filament

No in-app purchases

1 purchases

Spoolman GO

Subscriptions1
  • Spoolman GO Monthly$2.991 Month

Questions

Is Filament free?
Filament is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Spoolman GO free?
Spoolman GO is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Filament or Spoolman GO have ads?
Neither Filament nor Spoolman GO shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Filament or Spoolman GO?
Filament ships an update fortnightly, and Spoolman GO every 6 days. Most recently, Filament was updated on September 28, 2026 and Spoolman GO on October 14, 2026.

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