Short version: Pellica is the more capable app — a built-in meter, a 1,200-lab directory and OCR scan matching are real features Film Logbook has none of. But its cloud sync sits behind a monthly subscription, where Film Logbook's iCloud sync is included in a one-time €5.99. Pick on whether you want the toolkit or the flat price.
These two disagree about what a film app should be. Pellica's answer is everything you need at the camera — meter the scene, log the frame, find a lab, match the scans when they come back, on iPhone or Android. Film Logbook's answer is narrower: keep an excellent record of rolls and frames, sync it, and stay out of the way. Both are defensible. One costs more over time.
Pricing
Sync is included at every tier, because it runs through your iCloud rather than a server we'd have to fund. Pay once, keep it.
View App Store listing ↗The app is free to download with a good deal available without paying. Cloud sync is the headline Pro feature. Check their page for the current rate.
View official pricing ↗This is the one difference worth doing arithmetic on. A monthly subscription for sync costs more than a single €5.99 payment within the first year, and keeps costing after that. Whether that's bad value depends entirely on whether you use the rest of what Pro and the app give you — if the meter replaces a handheld and the lab finder saves you an afternoon, it may well pay for itself.
Which one fits you
Choose Film Logbook if…
- You want sync without a recurring charge — it's included, via your own iCloud.
- You already own a light meter, or meter by eye, and don't need one in the app.
- You want a genuinely free tier to test the habit before paying.
- You log double exposures and want both layers handled properly.
- You shoot anything from 35mm up to large format.
- Fewer, faster fields beats a deeper toolkit for you.
Choose Pellica if…
- You want metering and logging in one app — Film Logbook has no meter at all.
- You shoot Android, or share a log across iPhone and Android.
- A searchable directory of labs by process is genuinely useful to you.
- You want scans matched to frames automatically by reading the negative's edge print.
- You want weather captured alongside location, automatically.
- PDF contact sheets are how you like to review a roll.
The real difference
Pellica is trying to be the only app in your bag. That ambition shows: metering calibrated against a handheld, a lab finder spanning dozens of countries, OCR that reads the edge printing on your negatives to line scans up with frames. If those land for you, it's a lot of tool for the money, and no amount of simplicity elsewhere makes up for a feature you actually need.
Film Logbook is trying to be the app you're still using in three years. That means a narrower surface — rolls, frames, settings, reference images, tags, location — and it means the parts that could quietly become a bill are designed not to. Sync goes through your own iCloud, so there's no server on our side to pay for and therefore nothing to charge you monthly for. That's a structural choice, not a promotion.
So the honest test is a subtraction: take Pellica's meter, lab finder and OCR matching away, and how much of the value is left for you? If the answer is "most of it, I just want a good log," you're paying rent for tools you don't open. If the answer is "those are the reasons I'd install it," Pellica is the better app and the subscription is the price of admission.
Side by side
| Film Logbook | Pellica | |
|---|---|---|
| Platforms | iPhone (iOS 15+) | iOS and Android |
| Pricing model | Free tier + €5.99 one-time | Free tier + monthly Pro subscription |
| Sync | Your own iCloud, included at every tier | Encrypted cloud sync, gated behind Pro |
| Works offline | Yes, fully | Yes — on-device storage by default |
| Light meter | Not included | Built in, incident and reflected |
| Lab directory | Not included | Yes, filterable by process |
| Matching scans to frames | Manual, by frame order | OCR reads the negative's edge print |
| Location | Optional automatic GPS | Automatic GPS, plus weather |
| Double exposures | Recorded as a first-class case | See their site |
| Formats | 35mm through large format | 35mm, 120 and large format |
| Export | JSON, and PDF with Pro | PDF contact sheets, CSV and JSON |
| Best fit | A durable log you pay for once | An all-in-one kit for at the camera |
Bottom line
If you want one app that meters, logs, finds you a lab and matches your scans — and you're on Android, or simply value that breadth — Pellica is the stronger product and it isn't close. Film Logbook doesn't compete on features and won't pretend to. What it offers instead is a log that stays fast, syncs through an account you already own, and stops asking you for money after the first €5.99. Two active rolls are free, which is enough to find out which kind of app you actually are.
Questions
Does Film Logbook have a light meter?
No. It's a logbook, not a meter. If you want both in one app, that's a real point for Pellica.
Is Film Logbook's sync an extra subscription?
No. It runs through your own iCloud and is included on the free tier as well as Pro. There's no server on our side to fund, so there's nothing to bill you for.
Is Film Logbook on Android?
No — iPhone only. Pellica ships on both, so if Android matters, that decides it.
Can I move my log between the two?
Not directly. Both export structured data, so it's possible, but it would mean converting a file by hand rather than pressing an import button.
Two rolls free. Then €5.99, once.
Sync included, no subscription. iPhone, iOS 15 or later.
Get Film LogbookOther comparisons
Pellica is a product of its respective owner and is not affiliated with Film Logbook. Details above were checked in August 2026 against the maker's public site; check theirs for current pricing and features.