Comparison

Flir One vs MainframePunch

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

Head to head
About

Flir One

This app transforms your smartphone into a thermal imaging device when connected to a compatible camera. It helps identify hidden issues like water damage, electrical faults, and HVAC problems with advanced visual enhancements and measurement tools. Document and share your findings easily.

Highlights
  • Thermal camera view
  • Capture photos and videos
  • Temperature spot measurements
  • Color palette selection
  • Add text notes
  • Cloud upload and organization
  • Inspection guides
Features
Read full description

Connect your FLIR ONE® series Thermal Camera for efficient troubleshooting and inspection. Note: This app requires the FLIR ONE series Thermal Camera connected to your smartphone in order to see the thermal camera view, but feel free to explore the app without the device attached. For more information, visit www.flir.com/flirone. Whether you need to inspect electrical panels, find the source of HVAC failures, or discover hidden water damage, the FLIR ONE series offers the features you need to find problems faster and get more work done in less time. With advanced image enhancement features such as FLIR MSX® and FLIR VividIR™, the FLIR ONE series provides best-in-class thermal imagery for smartphones that ensures you can detect problems with precision. The revolutionary rugged and ergonomic camera design combined with the wireless connection of the FLIR ONE Edge series ensures that you can perform efficient troubleshooting with the camera attached to the phone, and have the increased flexibility of detaching the camera to easily inspect targets out of reach, while comfortably viewing your screen. Key FLIR ONE App features: • Scan for faults with the thermal camera view and capture photos and videos to your gallery • Troubleshoot efficiently with automatic tracking of the hottest and coldest spot (Edge Series and Pro Series only) • Choose between a variety of color palettes for best visualization • Analyze faults with temperature spot measurements • Adjust the IR scale to highlight the problem (Edge and Pro Series only) • Switch between Quality Mode for best possible image quality, or Performance Mode for a more responsive camera experience • Add text notes to photos to document your findings • Connecting to FLIR Ignite™ allows you to instantly upload your files to the cloud, so you can access them from any device, organize files into folders, edit images, create reports and share findings with co-workers and clients • FLIR ONE Inspection Guides (paid feature) empowers you to identify issues with confidence, through step-by-step guides packed with helpful tips on how to identify moisture, insulation and air leak issues • Explore the eco-system of a wide range of FLIR ONE compatible apps tailored for specific use cases For additional application ideas and news, or to share your day-to-day discoveries, follow FLIR on social media channels at facebook.com/flir, instagram.com/flir, x.com/flir, and youtube.com/flir. Terms of use: https://www.flir.com/corporate/terms-of-use/

About

MainframePunch

Transform your text into animated, retro punch-card videos with authentic hole patterns and sounds. Add custom captions, preview your creations, and share them instantly. All processing is done on your device for maximum privacy.

Highlights
  • Authentic 80-column punch card creation
  • Live preview and video recording
  • Customizable bottom caption
  • Synchronized punch audio
  • Automatic text flow across multiple cards
  • Adjustable animation speed and card scale
  • On-device processing for privacy
Features
Read full description

MID-CENTURY MODERN MESSAGING Before emojis, before texting, before the screen — there was the punch card. MainframePunch turns whatever you type into an authentic keypunch card, punched column by column, with the clack of a real Hollerith machine. Send one to a friend and they hear the punches too. PUNCH CARDS RIGHT INSIDE MESSAGES — FREE Tap the MainframePunch icon in any conversation and punch a card without leaving the chat: Realistic Custom Card — classic manila stock, your words in real Hollerith code Mid-Century Color Card — the same encoding in period-correct pastels Ready-made cards — SEND COFFEE / ON MY WAY / SYNTAX ERROR / ABEND / CALL ME and more Every iMessage single card animates as it punches and carries genuine keypunch audio, so your recipient watches and hears the machine work. All of it is free. No account, no limits, no catch. THE OPERATOR'S CONSOLE Open the app for the full machine: Type or paste your message and watch the beam sweep across the card Stack up to seven cards into a single deck Export a Full Reel — a shareable video with synced punch audio Send along a Hollerith decoder card so anyone can read the holes (for education or to drive your friends crazy!) Adjust punch speed from deliberate to production line CORRECT DOWN TO THE HOLE Every character is encoded per ANSI X3.26 Hollerith — the same zone and digit punches an IBM 029 would have made in 1964. The sound is sampled from an actual keypunch machine, not a synthesized click. OPERATOR ACCESS Everything is unlimited for your first fourteen days. After that, punching cards in iMessage stay free, and an Operator subscription keeps the reel exporter running: Monthly — $2.99, with a 3-day free trial Annual — $19.99, with a 7-day free trial Already bought MainframePunch? Thank you. Your purchase carries over — you keep everything, permanently, at no charge. Payment is charged to your Apple ID at confirmation of purchase. Subscriptions renew automatically unless auto-renew is turned off at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. Manage or cancel anytime in your App Store account settings. Privacy Policy: https://mainframepunch.com/privacypolicy Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

Screenshots

Flir One4 screens
MainframePunch4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: MainframePunch at none against Flir One's 1. MainframePunch also leads on iOS requirement (15.1 vs 18.0). Flir One's advantage is update cadence (every 5 weeks vs every 12 months). On price, ads 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. Flir One sells 1 in-app purchase, starting at $29.99 per year. MainframePunch asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Flir One ships an update every 5 weeks, MainframePunch every 12 months. The most recent releases landed on October 15, 2026 and October 7, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
Flir One versus MainframePunch: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterFlir OneMainframePunch
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.6 (7.6K ratings) — better—
Positive reviews21.4% of reviews—
Number of ratings7.6K — better—
Update frequencyEvery 5 weeks — betterEvery 12 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases — betterPaid
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS18.015.1 — better
Further details — not scored
Size178 MB58 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperFLIR Systems AktiebolagThomas Gillan

Bugs and requests

Flir One

Reported bugs

7 issues
  • Constantly disconnecting
  • App crashes
  • Doesn't work with older devices after updates
  • Slow refresh rate and high latency
  • App requires full photo library access
Show 2 more
  • Freezes and paralyzes phone
  • Crashes on startup

Requested features

6 requests
  • Bring back swiping between thermal and regular images
  • Allow locking temperature scale
  • Add temperature range display
  • Allow setting own emissivity value
  • Allow selecting colors on manual temperature scale
Show 1 more
  • Improve camera alignment adjustability

MainframePunch

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

1 purchases

Flir One

Subscriptions1
  • Inspection Guides1 Year trial$29.991 Year
None

MainframePunch

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Flir One free?
Flir One is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is MainframePunch free?
MainframePunch is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do Flir One or MainframePunch have ads?
Neither Flir One nor MainframePunch shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Flir One or MainframePunch?
Flir One ships an update every 5 weeks, and MainframePunch every 12 months. Most recently, Flir One was updated on October 15, 2026 and MainframePunch on October 7, 2026.

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