Probatus vs GageList
Both keep calibration records, but they were built for different jobs. This page sets out where GageList is the better choice, where Probatus is, and what to ask before deciding.
Last reviewed November 2026
The short answer
GageList is cloud gage management for manufacturers: a register of your gages, when each is due, and the calibration records and certificates for them. It has a free plan for a small number of gages, which makes it an easy first step away from a spreadsheet.
Probatus is for the company doing the calibrating. It is built around the calibration itself, done on site for a customer, and what follows: approval, the certificate, the portal and the invoice.
Side by side
The Probatus column describes the product as it is today. The GageList column is limited to what GageList and public software listings say about it. Where we are not sure, it says what to ask.
| Topic | Probatus | GageList |
|---|---|---|
| Built for | Calibration service companies and field teams that calibrate instruments for customers, and backflow testers. | Manufacturers and quality teams keeping their own gages in calibration. |
| Where the work is recorded | On a phone or tablet at the instrument. Readings save on the device first and sync when there is a signal. | A cloud application with mobile apps on paid plans. Ask what works with no connection. |
| Customers | Each instrument belongs to a customer. Customers sign in to a portal for their instruments, certificates and invoices, and can request service. | Centred on one organisation's own gages. Ask how records for external customers are handled. |
| Tool crib, issue and return | An optional feature: issue a gage to a named person and take it back, with history. | Offered as an add-on. |
| Decision rules and uncertainty | Simple, guarded and non-binary decision rules per job, uncertainty budgets per test point, and the reference standards on every certificate. | Ask how uncertainty and the decision rule are recorded and printed. |
| After the calibration | Supervisor approval, signed PDF certificate, work orders, invoices and QuickBooks Online. | Calibration records, certificates and labels. |
| Licensing | Cloud by default: a subscription per technician who records work in the month, with certificates, instruments and office users unlimited. It can also be run on your own servers, which you then install and update yourself; ask us about terms. | A free plan limited by number of gages, then monthly tiers by features and storage. |
| Track record | A new product. | An established cloud product with public reviews on software directories. |
When GageList is the better choice
- You are a manufacturer tracking your own gages and due dates.
- You have only a few gages and want to start for free.
- You want a product built first for a manufacturer's own gages.
When Probatus is the better choice
- Your technicians calibrate at customer sites, often with no signal, and paper field sheets get typed up later.
- Every instrument belongs to a customer, and customers ask for their certificates and history online.
- You need as-found and as-left results, the reference standards used, the uncertainty and the decision rule on every certificate.
- A supervisor has to approve work before a certificate is issued.
- You want the job to end in an invoice, not only in a record.
Questions to ask either vendor
- Can a technician record a calibration with no connection, and what happens to it when the connection returns?
- What is on the certificate, and can we see one produced from our own data?
- How is a correction to a reading recorded, and can the original still be seen?
- How do our customers get their certificates?
- What does it cost for our number of technicians and office staff, in a busy month and a quiet one?
- How do we get our records out if we leave?
You can test the first three on Probatus without talking to anyone: the free certificate generator and as-found / as-left sheet use the same calculations as the product.
Other comparisons
- Probatus vs GAGEtrak: manufacturers managing their own gages, with gage R&R studies and tool crib tracking.
- Probatus vs IndySoft: in-house and commercial calibration labs that want a configurable system, in the cloud or on their own servers.
- Probatus vs Qualer: calibration and service providers and the asset owners they serve, including in regulated industries.
- Probatus vs Beamex CMX: process plants calibrating their own instrumentation, especially with Beamex documenting calibrators.
- Probatus vs Calibration Control: organisations tracking their own equipment on Windows, who prefer a one-time licence.
- Probatus vs Fluke MET/TEAM: calibration labs, often electrical and RF, that automate procedures with Fluke MET/CAL.
Or see all of them on one page.
GageList is a trademark of its owner. Probatus is not affiliated with or endorsed by GageList. Product details change, so confirm anything that matters to your decision with the vendor.
Questions
- Does Probatus have a free plan like GageList?
- Probatus is free to start with no card, and billing is not switched on yet. It is not priced by number of instruments: when billing starts, the charge is per technician who records work in the month, with instruments and certificates unlimited. GageList's free plan is limited by the number of gages.
- Can I move my records from GageList to Probatus?
- Probatus imports instruments and past calibration history from Excel or CSV files, up to 2,000 rows at a time. If you can export your equipment list and calibration records from your current system to a spreadsheet, they can be brought in. There is no direct GageList importer.
- Does Probatus make a lab ISO/IEC 17025 accredited?
- No software does. Accreditation is granted to a laboratory by an accreditation body. Probatus keeps the records an assessor asks to see: readings, the standards used, uncertainty, the decision rule, who did the work and who approved it.
Keep reading
Calibration management software compared
Calibration software falls into a few kinds, built for different organisations. This page sorts the well-known products by who they are for, with a closer comparison of each against Probatus.
Calibration software for small labs
A lab with a handful of technicians does not need an enterprise quality system. It needs readings captured once, certificates that are right the first time and records it can find at an audit.
Preparing calibration records for an ISO/IEC 17025 audit
An assessor picks a certificate and follows it backwards: to the readings, the reference standard, the person who did the work and the procedure they used. This guide covers what that trail has to contain and how to check yours before they do.
See it on one of your own jobs
Add a few instruments, calibrate one on your phone and download the certificate. No card is needed, and your current system can keep running alongside.