# Gear Design vs Epicycles

The clearest difference is price: Epicycles at Free against Gear Design's $2.99. Epicycles also leads on rating (5.0 vs 1.5) and update cadence (every 5 days vs every 12 months). Gear Design's advantage is iOS requirement (9.3 vs 15.0). On ratings volume, ads and in-app purchases there is nothing between them.

Epicycles is free to download; Gear Design costs $2.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

Epicycles holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 1.5. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 2 and 2 respectively.

Gear Design ships an update every 12 months, Epicycles every 5 days. The most recent releases landed on November 2, 2026 and November 3, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | Gear Design | Epicycles |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | $2.99 | **Free** |
| Rating | [1.5 (2 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/gear-design/id1136191442/reviews) | **[5.0 (2 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/epicycles/id6450433959/reviews)** |
| Number of ratings | 2 | 2 |
| Positive reviews | 0.0% of reviews | — |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Ads | No | No |
| Update frequency | Every 12 months | **Every 5 days** |
| Monetization | Paid | **Free** |
| Size | 38 MB | 4 MB |
| Requires iOS | **9.3** | 15.0 |
| Devices | iPad | **iPhone, iPad, iPod** |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | [DRH YAZILIM VE MUHENDISLIK HIZMETLERI LTD STI](https://appshunter.io/developer/914295588) | [Limit Point Software](https://appshunter.io/developer/377981570) |

## What reviewers say

### Gear Design

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/gear-design/id1136191442)

Design involute gears with a CAD interface, allowing visual assessment through touch gestures. Generate and export STL data for 3D printing and perform tooth bending strength analysis with PDF sharing.

**Highlights:** Involute gear design, CAD interface, Touch gesture controls (zoom, rotate), STL data generation, Email export, Tooth bending strength analysis, PDF sharing

**Features:** macOS Compatibility, Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases:** none


### Epicycles

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/epicycles/id6450433959)

Explore the visualization of complex Fourier series through interactive epicycles. Create and analyze approximations of parametric curves and complex functions. Save animations and export custom terms for later use.

**Highlights:** Visualize Fourier series of 2D functions, Create epicycles from drawn curves, Save custom terms to documents, Export animations as GIFs, Adjust time and number of terms, Interactive graphic elements

**Features:** macOS Compatibility

**In-app purchases:** none


## Frequently asked questions

### Is Gear Design free?

Gear Design costs $2.99, with no in-app purchases.

### Is Epicycles free?

Epicycles is free to download, with no in-app purchases.

### Which has better reviews, Gear Design or Epicycles?

Epicycles is rated higher. Gear Design averages 1.5 out of 5 from 2 ratings, while Epicycles averages 5.0 from 2 ratings.

### Do Gear Design or Epicycles have ads?

Neither Gear Design nor Epicycles shows ads.

### Which is updated more often, Gear Design or Epicycles?

Gear Design ships an update every 12 months, and Epicycles every 5 days. Most recently, Gear Design was updated on November 2, 2026 and Epicycles on November 3, 2026.

---

*Compared by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/) from daily US App Store data. Review summaries are generated from verbatim App Store reviews.*