Comparison

FiliCal vs Spool Buddy

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

Head to head
About

FiliCal

Calculate the cost of 3D printing projects with ease. Supports both 1.75mm and 3mm filament, allowing you to price by meter or kilogram. Save your calculations to a history for future reference.

Highlights
  • Cost calculation for 3D prints
  • Supports 1.75mm and 3mm filament
  • Price per meter or kilogram
  • Save calculations to history
Features
Read full description

Use this app to quickly and easily work out cost for your 3D printed projects. Features: - 1.75mm & 3mm filament - Price per meter or kilogram - Save calculations to history

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.

Screenshots

FiliCal3 screens
Spool Buddy4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Spool Buddy at 100% against FiliCal's 33%. Spool Buddy also leads on rating (4.3 vs 1.5) and update cadence (every 2 weeks vs every 4 weeks). FiliCal's advantage is iOS requirement (8.3 vs 18.2). On price, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model 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. FiliCal sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and Spool Buddy sells 3 one-off in-app purchases. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Spool Buddy holds the better App Store score, 4.3 against 1.5. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 2 and 9 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 33% of FiliCal's written reviews are positive against 100% of Spool Buddy's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

FiliCal ships an update every 4 weeks, Spool Buddy every 2 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 2, 2026 and September 24, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
FiliCal versus Spool Buddy: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterFiliCalSpool Buddy
PriceFreeFree
Rating1.5 (2 ratings)4.3 (9 ratings) — better
Positive reviews33.3% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings29 — better
Update frequencyEvery 4 weeksEvery 2 weeks — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, Mac
Requires iOS8.3 — better18.2
Further details — not scored
Size21 MB8 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperVmlweb LTDMartian Code Oy

Customer experience

FiliCal

All ratings2 ratings
Positive0.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative100.0%
Written reviews3 reviews
Positive33.3%
Neutral0.0%
Negative66.7%

Spool Buddy

All ratings9 ratings
Positive88.9%
Neutral0.0%
Negative11.1%
Written reviews5 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

1 purchases

FiliCal

One-time1
  • Remove Adverts$0.99
3 purchases

Spool Buddy

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

Questions

Is FiliCal free?
FiliCal is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Spool Buddy free?
Spool Buddy is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, FiliCal or Spool Buddy?
Spool Buddy is rated higher. FiliCal averages 1.5 out of 5 from 2 ratings, while Spool Buddy averages 4.3 from 9 ratings.
Do FiliCal or Spool Buddy have ads?
Neither FiliCal nor Spool Buddy shows ads.
Which is updated more often, FiliCal or Spool Buddy?
FiliCal ships an update every 4 weeks, and Spool Buddy every 2 weeks. Most recently, FiliCal was updated on October 2, 2026 and Spool Buddy on September 24, 2026.

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