Cora App Alternatives: Sync Your Fabric Stash Across Devices
Cora is cheap and pleasant. It is also stuck on one device and only tracks fabric. Here is what to use when you outgrow it.
Why people outgrow Cora
Cora has a loyal following for good reasons. It is a one-time purchase — around $6.99 after a five-fabric trial — in a category that has mostly moved to subscriptions. It sorts by price paid, which makes "what is the cheapest fabric I own for a toile?" a real question you can answer. And it exports to CSV and PDF, which is rarer than it should be and means your data is never trapped.
The limits are just as clear:
1. No cross-device sync. Your stash lives on one device. Lose it, upgrade it, or want to catalog from a laptop, and you have a problem.
2. iOS only. No Android, no browser.
3. Fabric only. Patterns are limited; threads, notions, machines and embroidery designs are not there at all.
If any of those is now your daily friction, here are the alternatives.
Quick comparison
| Cora | Sewist Studio | Threadloop | Stash Hub | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price | ~$6.99 one-time | Free + Pro | Free + Plus | ~£3.49/mo |
| iPhone / iPad | Yes | Via browser | Via browser | Native |
| Android | No | Via browser | Via browser | Native |
| Desktop / laptop | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Syncs across devices | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Fabric with yardage | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Sort by price paid | Yes | No | No | Yes |
| CSV / PDF export | Yes | No | No | No |
| Patterns | Limited | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Threads & notions | No | Yes | Partial | Yes |
| Machines | No | Yes | No | No |
| Embroidery designs | No | Yes | No | No |
| Books & magazines | No | Yes | No | No |
As published in August 2026. Worth re-checking before you buy anything.
1. Sewist Studio — the widest coverage, free to start
Sewist Studio runs in any browser, so the same stash is on your phone in the fabric shop and on your laptop at the cutting table. It is mobile-first, so the phone experience is not an afterthought.
Where it goes beyond Cora:
- Fabric with yardage, color families and photos — the Cora core, plus filters across everything
- Patterns with AI photo scanning: photograph an envelope and it catalogs itself
- Threads, notions and machines as proper records
- Embroidery designs including PES and DST files
- Smocking and heirloom reference built in
- Your sewing books and magazines, with a searchable index of what is inside them
- A stash planner that suggests what to sew from fabric you already own
Be honest about the trade: Cora's CSV and PDF export and its sort-by-price-paid are real features that Sewist Studio does not currently match. If exporting your inventory to a spreadsheet is central to how you work, factor that in.
Pick it if: you want one place for the whole studio, on every device, without a subscription to start.
2. Threadloop — free, unlimited, community-backed
Free with no caps, plus barcode scanning for bolt ends, yardage tracking, and a community pattern database past 113,000 entries. Web-based, so it syncs everywhere.
Pick it if: cost is the priority and you want a community around your makes.
3. Stash Hub — if you specifically want a native app
The one alternative here with genuine native iOS and Android apps plus web sync. Magic Input builds a record from a pasted shop URL, and it tracks fabric, patterns, notions, measurements, vouchers and shopping lists.
Pick it if: a native app matters to you and a subscription does not bother you.
Getting your data out of Cora first
This is the part people skip. Do it before you switch:
1. Open Cora and use Export to CSV — it can send to any destination now, not just email.
2. Save the file somewhere that is not the phone you are about to replace.
3. Also run Export to PDF if you want a readable visual backup with photos.
4. Then start adding to the new app as you sew, rather than re-entering 200 fabrics in one sitting. Cataloging as you go is the only migration approach that survives contact with real life.
Keep the CSV regardless of where you land. It is your stash history, and it cost you money to accumulate.
The recommendation
If Cora does what you need and you only sew on one iPhone, there is no reason to move — it is a good app at a fair price.
Move when the single-device limit starts costing you: when you are standing in a fabric shop with the wrong device, or when your studio has grown past fabric into patterns, thread, embroidery files and books. At that point Sewist Studio is the widest replacement and free to start, Threadloop is the free-forever option, and Stash Hub is the one with real native apps.
