Calibration Control Alternative
A Calibration Control alternative for teams that now need phone and browser access
Most people did not buy Calibration Control by accident. Ape Software publishes it as a Windows application with a one-time license and optional maintenance. That is a reasonable way to buy software. This page is for the case where the work changed shape. People need records from a phone. Someone outside the building needs access. The person who owned the backups left. Axiospec is a subscription that runs in a browser and in native iOS and Android apps. Every plan includes unlimited users and the free plan covers up to 50 active assets. Vendor details checked September 2026. Editions, requirements and pricing change. Confirm anything here with the vendor before you decide.
The free plan includes the full platform, 50 active assets, and unlimited users.
Supports ISO/IEC 17025 · ISO 9001 · AS9100 · ISO 13485
What to look for in a Calibration Control alternative
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Tamper-evident audit trail
Every calibration, adjustment, and quarantine is hash-chained with a timestamp and user attribution, so altered records are detectable and you have a clear, defensible record for audits.
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A mobile app built for the shop floor
Log calibrations at the instrument from iOS or Android, online or offline. QR-scan the asset, enter the reading, attach a photo, e-sign, done. No phones allowed on your floor? Technicians log the same work from any web browser.
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One-click audit packs
Export audit-grade PDF and CSV documentation for any instrument or the whole facility, complete with an integrity verification page.
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Never miss a due date
Next-due dates update automatically when a calibration is logged, and upcoming and overdue work is flagged so you can act before anything lapses.
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Unlimited users, flat per-workspace pricing
Every technician, manager, and read-only auditor is included. You are never penalized with per-seat fees for adding the people who keep records complete.
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Cloud-native, nothing to install
Run Axiospec from any browser with no server to maintain and no per-machine installs. Updates ship continuously, and your data is backed up automatically.
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Bring your data with you
Import your gage registry and calibration history from CSV, Excel, or a legacy export with inline validation. If your export is unusually complex, our team will migrate it for free.
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Records tailored to the standard you work to
Pick your standard and Axiospec asks for what that standard expects, on every calibration and certificate. An ISO/IEC 17025 workspace captures measurement uncertainty, the decision rule, and traceability to the reference standard. An ISO 9001 workspace stays light. Your procedures and your assessor decide compliance, but the record you keep matches what they ask for.
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A calendar of what is due
The Due Calendar shows what is due, due soon, and overdue across your whole program in one view, so nothing slips because a reminder lived in a spreadsheet nobody checks.
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MSA studies in the app
Run all four AIAG MSA studies right on the instrument: Gage R&R, Bias, Linearity, and Attribute agreement. Bias studies pre-fill from the calibration history you already have, readings paste straight from Excel, and there is no separate MSA spreadsheet to maintain.
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Metrology Insights on every instrument
A reliability-based recommended interval, test uncertainty ratio, and conformance or false-accept risk, all computed for each instrument from its own calibration history. It is advisory, so the call stays yours.
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Know who has each tool
The tool crib shows who has every tool, where it lives, and when it is due back. Check tools out with a due-back date, hand them between people, note the condition on return, and get a daily email when returns run overdue, with the full chain of custody on the record.
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Roll compliance up across sites
Run more than one facility from one workspace, with compliance rolled up per site and a workspace-wide total, so a quality lead sees every plant at once.
Switching is painless
Send us your gage registry and calibration history and we load it for you, free on every plan and usually within a couple of business days including the free one. Keep your records, cancel anytime. Your data is always exportable, so there is no lock-in.
Get startedHow the move works: step-by-step migration guide · why teams switch
Common questions
We already own our Calibration Control license. Is a subscription actually cheaper?
Not always. It depends on your seat count and how many years you plan to run the system. Ape Software publishes Per Seat licensing starting at a $768 base license for one user. Add-on seats are $200 each. Concurrent licensing starts at a $1,037 base license with add-on concurrent seats at $300. One 12-month Software Maintenance Agreement comes with each license. The pricing page and the maintenance page both say that if the agreement expires, any version released before that date may be used indefinitely. So the license is a one-time buy and renewing maintenance is optional. Ape Software also publishes renewal discounts of 60, 50 and 25 percent depending on when you renew. Their pricing page has a seat calculator and a cart, so you can price your own setup without asking anyone. Checked September 2026. Axiospec is $0 for up to 50 active assets on the full platform. Paid plans are $59, $129 and $229 per month. Every plan includes unlimited users. Those are very different shapes of cost. Do that arithmetic over the number of years you plan to run the system before anything else.
When does it make sense to stay on Calibration Control?
When the license is paid for and the workflow works. Ape Software lists more than 160 included label templates that are fully editable. It sells Terminal seats at $50 under Per Seat licensing and $75 under Concurrent. Those cover check out and check in, status changes, asset transfers and printing without a full seat. Read Only Users are listed as free. Its maintenance page says support for a bug in the current version is free even if your agreement is not current. If everyone who touches the system is on Windows in one building, that setup is doing its job. There is no reason to rush. Move when people need records from a phone. Move when someone outside that network needs access. Move when you want all four AIAG MSA studies and per-instrument uncertainty budgets in the same place as the records.
Our records live in an Access file on a shared drive. Does that make this hard?
No. Ape Software says Calibration Control stores records in an MS Access file or in SQL Server. Both back up from inside the software on the Utilities tab. Either one is fine for us. Send an export and we map it for you. Our import wizard matches your columns to ours and validates every row before anything saves. In Axiospec there is no file on a mapped drive and no backup for anyone to own. White-glove migration is free on every plan including the free one. We work from whatever export file you can produce. We do not work inside another vendor's software.
What is the export path out of Calibration Control?
Ape Software's brochure describes the database formats as open and invites customers to build data bridges to other databases. Data grids export to Excel or PDF from the right-click menu. Selections vary by grid, so confirm the path with Ape Software before you set a date. Some customers use Ape Software's hosted SQL Server option. If Ape hosts your database, ask Ape Software how you get a direct copy. On our side each import batch imports the rows that pass and lists the rest by file line and reason. A registry load lands as one batch an admin can undo from the dashboard.
Do the rows in the Calibration History grid land as separate records?
Yes. History imports as real per-event records. Each event stays a separate dated record. Calibration History is one of the grids in Calibration Control and grids export to Excel or PDF from the right-click menu. Attachments and pictures are a separate question from the grid export. Ape Software's overview describes attachments and pictures on equipment and calibration records, so ask them how to pull those files out. From your go-live date every new calibration writes to a tamper-evident hash-chained audit trail with e-signatures. Records tailor to the standard your workspace selects. That is tailoring and not a compliance guarantee.
What about technicians who are not sitting at a Windows PC?
Every license tile on Ape Software's pricing page is marked Windows OS Installation. Its requirements page lists Windows 10, Windows 11 and Windows Server. We did not find an iOS or Android app or a browser client on the pages we checked in September 2026. Ape Software does list annual cloud hosting for the SQL Server database at $399 a year. That is hosting for the database, so ask Ape Software what remote access it gives your people. Axiospec ships native iOS and Android apps on every plan including the free one. Full browser access comes with them. Technicians scan a QR code, print labels or enter readings by voice.
Before you move anything
What the migration actually involves
You produce whatever export your current system can give you. We map the columns, you review the mapping, then we load it. Every row is validated before anything saves. Each batch imports the rows that pass and lists the rest by file line and reason, so a bad row never blocks the rest of the file. A registry load lands as one batch an admin can undo. Certificate PDFs and scanned attachments come across too. Those are the part that most often needs a conversation, so raise them early. The work runs over email and does not tie up your calendar. It is free on every plan, including the free plan. Keep your existing system running until you have signed off on the loaded data.
How you would leave us
Export your data yourself, at any time, on any plan including the free one. That covers the asset register, the calibration history as per-event records, and the certificate files. There is no exit fee. You are reading this page because you are leaving a system you already bought, so ask us this question the same way you are asking it of them. Ask it before you migrate rather than after.
See how Axiospec compares for yourself.
Unlimited users, self-serve import in an afternoon, and audit-ready proof from day one.
Got a gage list? Send it over and we load it for you, usually in a couple of business days. Free on every plan.
Supports ISO/IEC 17025 · ISO 9001 · AS9100 · ISO 13485