Comparison

Chromaform vs GradeLab

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

Head to head
About

Chromaform

Features
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Chromaform is a professional-grade RAW photo editor for photographers who demand precision, speed, and total creative control — with a full suite of on-device AI tools that never send your photos to the cloud. REAL-TIME RAW EDITING Open DNG, CR3, NEF, ARW, and other major camera RAW formats with true RAW processing. Exposure and recovery work directly from sensor data — no clipping, no compromise. Every adjustment renders live on the GPU through a Vulkan pipeline (vkdt + MoltenVK) and Metal-accelerated Core Image. COMPLETE ADJUSTMENT TOOLKIT • Light: Exposure, Contrast, Highlights, Shadows + an interactive per-channel Tone Curve • Color: Temperature, Tint, Vibrance, Saturation • Effects: Texture, Clarity, Dehaze, Vignette • Detail: Sharpening, Noise Reduction, and Neural Denoise • Optics: Chromatic Aberration removal Fine-tune any slider with +/− buttons and reset any section with one tap. COLOR GRADING Cinema-style color wheels for shadows, midtones, and highlights. Grade the whole frame, or apply grades selectively to the foreground, background, or a gradient region. ON-DEVICE AI TOOLKIT • Generative Erase — remove unwanted objects and let the model paint in a clean background • Smart Masking — tap any subject to select it with Segment Anything Model 2.1, then adjust just that region • Recolor Clothing — automatically detect garments and recolor them to any hue • Relight — add up to five virtual lights and drag them across the scene to reshape the lighting • Portrait — face-aware adjustments • Match — transfer the look of any reference photo with neural analysis • Auto Adjust — one tap analyzes the scene with Apple's Vision framework (classification, face detection, saliency) for optimal exposure, white balance, and color MASKING & GRADIENTS Combine subject masks with linear, radial, and rectangular gradient masks. Paint masks in or out by hand, feather the edges, and apply any adjustment or color grade to the masked area only. PRESETS & LUTS Nine built-in looks: Natural, Vivid, Film Warm, Film Cool, Cinematic, B&W Classic, B&W High Contrast, Vintage Fade, and Matte. Import your own .cube 3D LUTs for custom film emulations. CREATIVE EFFECTS Add atmosphere with the Water tool — rain drops and streaks. PIPELINE CONTROL See every stage of the processing pipeline and toggle any phase on or off to understand exactly how your edit is built. CLIPPING VISUALIZATION Toggle the Clip overlay to see blown highlights (red) and crushed shadows (blue) — essential for exposure-critical work. NON-DESTRUCTIVE WORKFLOW Your originals are never modified. Edits are stored as lightweight recipes — reopen any image with your edits intact, or reset to original at any time. PROJECT-BASED ORGANIZATION Group photos into projects, rate with stars, filter by rating, and copy, paste, or batch-apply edit recipes across an entire shoot. Review full-screen in the loupe with pinch-to-zoom. PRIVATE BY DESIGN The entire pipeline runs on-device with MoltenVK and Metal. Your photos never leave your device. Privacy Policy: https://chromaform.art/privacy Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

About

GradeLab

Transform your photos and videos into cinematic masterpieces with advanced color grading tools. Apply cinematic LUTs, vintage filters, and precise color adjustments. Create dynamic edits with keyframed grading, masks, and professional scopes.

Highlights
  • Cinematic LUTs & Vintage Filters
  • Professional Color Grading Tools
  • Masks & Local Grading
  • Keyframed Color Grading
  • Video & Photo Editing
  • Professional Scopes
Features
Read full description

Turn everyday photos and videos into cinematic stories. GradeLab is a color grading editor for iPhone and iPad with LUT filters, vintage looks, professional color tools and video editing, all in one app. Pick a look, dial in its strength, then make it your own. From warm portraits and moody travel clips to soft film tones and retro aesthetics, GradeLab gives you full control over the light, color and atmosphere of every edit — across the whole frame or just one part of it. CINEMATIC LUTS & VINTAGE FILTERS - Browse cinematic LUTs with live previews on your own photos and videos. - Explore signature looks like Warm Cinema, Teal Orange and Soft Film, plus a full collection of film-inspired LUTs. - Adjust look strength for a subtle finish or a bold cinematic style. - Import your own .cube LUT files and use them just like built-in looks. - Save your color grading as presets and apply them to any photo or video for a consistent style. PROFESSIONAL COLOR GRADING - Exposure, contrast, highlights, shadows, whites and blacks. - Temperature, tint, saturation and vibrance. - Eight-band HSL to shape individual colors. - Color wheels for shadows, midtones and highlights. - Color Warper: shape colors with Hue/Sat and Chroma/Luma modes. - Master, Red, Green and Blue curves. - Hue, saturation and luminance curves for precise color control. - Fade, sharpening and vignette. - Before and after comparison as you edit. MASKS & LOCAL GRADING - Grade one part of the frame instead of the whole picture. - Ellipse, rectangle, gradient and freehand masks. - Feather the edge, set the strength, or invert a mask to grade everything outside it. - Stack several masks on one clip, each with its own grade. - Track a mask to a moving subject and let it follow through the shot, forward or backward. - Use the same masks on photos. KEYFRAMED COLOR GRADING - Animate the grade itself, so a look builds through a shot or falls away at the end. - Keyframe exposure, contrast, temperature, saturation, HSL, color wheels, vignette, curves, film effects and look strength. - Adjust any keyframe by hand, including motion created by mask tracking. TRANSITIONS - 45 transitions between clips: dissolves, dips, wipes, slides, zooms, blur dissolve, whip pan, film burn, glitch, prism, page turn and more. - Set the duration of every transition on the timeline. FILM EFFECTS - Film grain, bloom, glow and halation for an authentic analog feel. PROFESSIONAL SCOPES - Histogram, waveform, RGB parade and vectorscope for accurate grading. APPLE LOG, HDR & PRORES - Grade Apple Log and Apple Log 2 footage, plus HLG HDR video. - Apple Log 2 from iPhone 17 Pro uses its own wide-gamut transform, never Apple Log's. - Export ProRes 422 and ProRes 422 HQ on compatible devices. - Export in 4K or your source resolution, with custom frame rate and bitrate. EDIT VIDEO & PHOTOS - Trim and split clips, change playback speed, and add titles and audio. - Grade photos with the same color tools you use for video. - Export photos as full-resolution JPEG, HEIC or lossless PNG. - No watermarks on your exports. TEXT, LAYERS & MOTION - Add titles with curated font families or your own imported TTF fonts. - Layer overlays with blend modes. - Mask a layer with an ellipse, rectangle or split line so the track underneath shows through. - Feather or invert a layer mask, and keyframe it into a wipe or reveal. - Animate text, transforms and color grading with keyframes. Whether you're grading a travel vlog, a short film or a single portrait, GradeLab helps you create a look that's unmistakably yours. Feature and format availability depend on your source media and device capabilities. Some features require a subscription or one-time purchase. Privacy Policy: https://ak375456.github.io/gradelab/privacy.html Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ App Terms: https://ak375456.github.io/gradelab/terms.html

Screenshots

Chromaform2 screens
GradeLab4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: GradeLab at every 2 days against Chromaform's every 9 days. Chromaform's advantage is iOS requirement (16.0 vs 18.0). On price, ads, in-app purchases and device support 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. Chromaform sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month and GradeLab sells 4 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per 7 days. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Chromaform ships an update every 9 days, GradeLab every 2 days. The most recent releases landed on November 5, 2026 and November 10, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences · 8 level
Chromaform versus GradeLab: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterChromaformGradeLab
PriceFreeFree
Rating—5.0 (1 ratings) — better
Positive reviews—100.0% of reviews
Number of ratings—1 — better
Update frequencyEvery 9 daysEvery 2 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
Monetization—Freemium
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, Mac — better
Requires iOS16.0 — better18.0
Further details — not scored
Size35 MB208 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperChromaform, Inc.Aftab fazal Qayum

In-app purchases

3 purchases

Chromaform

Subscriptions2
  • Chromaform Pro$2.991 Month
  • Chromaform Pro$14.991 Year
One-time1
  • Chromaform Pro Lifetime$59.99
4 purchases

GradeLab

Subscriptions3
  • Pro Weekly$1.997 Days
  • Pro Monthly$4.991 Month
  • Pro Yearly$14.991 Year
One-time1
  • Lifetime Pro$14.99

Questions

Is Chromaform free?
Chromaform is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is GradeLab free?
GradeLab is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Chromaform or GradeLab have ads?
Neither Chromaform nor GradeLab shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Chromaform or GradeLab?
Chromaform ships an update every 9 days, and GradeLab every 2 days. Most recently, Chromaform was updated on November 5, 2026 and GradeLab on November 10, 2026.

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