R Programming Compiler vs R Discovery
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
R Programming Compiler
Write and execute R code directly on your mobile device. Ideal for learning, testing code snippets, and statistical computing. Features include syntax highlighting, package management, and plotting capabilities.
- Compile and run R programs
- Supports plotting and graphing
- Advanced source code editor
- Custom keyboard for R characters
- Install and manage R packages
- Language reference guide
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Write R code directly on your iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch! This app is ideal for learning and testing code snippets! R is a programming language and software environment for statistical computing and graphics supported by the R Foundation for Statistical Computing. The R language is widely used among statisticians and data miners for developing statistical software and data analysis Features: - Compile and run your program - Supports plotting and graphing - View program output or detailed error - Select and run chunk of codes - Custom keyboard for easy input of frequently used characters - Optimized for connecting with external physical/bluetooth keyboard - Advanced source code editor with syntax highlighting and line numbers - Open, save, import and share R files - Language reference - Access thousands of packages - Install additional packages from CRAN and Bioconductor (BiocManager) Limitations: - Internet connection is required for compilation - Maximum program running time is 20s - One file can be run at a time - Some file system, network and graphics functions may be limited - This is a batch compiler; interactive programs, for instance swirl, are not supported. If your program provides an input prompt, enter the input in the Input tab prior to compilation. See the Reference tab in the app for code examples. GET FULL ACCESS Upgrade to a Premium Membership and Receive the Following Ongoing Value: • No ads • Unlimited plots • Install packages • Latest Compilers If you choose to purchase a subscription, payment will be charged to your iTunes account, and your account will be charged within 24-hours prior to the end of the free trial or current period. Subscription with a free trial period will automatically renew to a paid subscription. Any unused portion of a free trial period (if offered) will be forfeited when you purchase a premium subscription during the free trial period. You can cancel the automatic renewal of your subscription at any time by going to your settings in the iTunes store after purchase. The cancellation will take effect the day after the last day of the current subscription period, and you will be downgraded to the free service. Terms & Conditions: https://kappsmart.com/rcompiler/terms.html Privacy Policy: https://kappsmart.com/rcompiler/privacy_policy.html
R Discovery
Access and discover over 300 million research papers with AI-powered tools. Understand findings, chat with PDFs, and organize your academic library. Stay current in your field with personalized feeds and alerts.
- Discover 300M+ research papers
- AI-powered research workflows
- Chat with PDFs
- Listen to research papers
- Personalized research feeds
- Organize academic library
- Translate research papers
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R Discovery is your #1 place to discover research literature, stay current, and read what matters faster. Built for students, researchers, clinicians, educators, and academics, R Discovery helps you find relevant papers without spending hours searching across scattered sources. With research-grade AI workflows, R Discovery accelerates every step of your literature journey: discover papers, understand key findings, chat with PDFs, listen to research, translate papers, and build a personalized academic library around your interests. We search, curate, summarize, and organize the literature so you can spend more time on meaningful research and more time with the people you love. R Discovery gives you access to: • 150M+ journal articles • 78M+ open access papers • 10M+ conference documents • 5M+ preprints • 7.5M+ patents • 8M+ summaries and highlights • 9.5M+ research topics • 14M+ authors • 64K+ journals • 120K+ universities and institutions Why researchers use R Discovery: • Personalized research feeds based on your interests • Fast literature search for papers, journals, authors, topics, and institutions • Reliable, clean research database built to reduce duplication and low-quality content • Open access discovery so you can quickly find papers you can read • Full-text access with institutional login through GetFTR and LibKey integrations • Alerts for newly published papers in your field • Summaries and highlights to assess relevance faster • Bookmarks and reading lists to organize your library Upgrade to R Discovery Prime to accelerate your research further with unlimited access for research-grade AI workflows • Ask R Discovery for reference-backed answers from research papers • Chat with PDFs and get instant answers from full papers • Listen to papers with audio streaming for research on the go • Translate research papers into your preferred language • Sync your saved papers with Zotero and Mendeley R Discovery partners with leading global publishers, societies, and research platforms including Wiley, IOP Publishing, Springer Nature, Sage, Taylor & Francis, Hindawi, NEJM, Emerald Publishing, Duke University Press, IntechOpen, AIAA, Karger, Underline.io, J-STAGE, and more. Join 3M+ academics on R Discovery, the highest rated app in this space with a 4.6+ App Store rating. Free to use, or upgrade to R Discovery Prime for unlimited premium access. Get it now! Privacy Policy: https://cactusglobal.com/privacy-policy Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: R Discovery at 4.8 against R Programming Compiler's 3.4. R Discovery also leads on ads (none vs shown) and ratings volume (925 vs 94). R Programming Compiler's advantage is update cadence (every 2 weeks vs monthly). On price, review sentiment, in-app purchases and monetization model there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS
Both are free to download. R Programming Compiler sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month and R Discovery sells 6 in-app purchases, starting at $11.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
R Discovery holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 3.4. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: R Discovery has 925 ratings behind it against 94, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 53% of R Programming Compiler's written reviews are positive against 58% of R Discovery's.
R Programming Compiler ships an update every 2 weeks, R Discovery monthly. The most recent releases landed on October 26, 2026 and October 30, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | R Programming Compiler | R Discovery |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 3.4 (94 ratings) | 4.8 (925 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 53.4% of reviews | 57.8% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 94 | 925 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 2 weeks — better | Monthly |
| Ads | Yes | No — better |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Freemium | Freemium |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 | 15 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 17 MB | 56 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Ketan Appa | CACTUS COMMUNICATIONS SERVICES PTE. LTD |
Customer experience
R Programming Compiler
R Discovery
Bugs and requests
R Programming Compiler
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
R Discovery
Reported bugs
4 issues- Home screen takes a long time to load
- Audio translation feature doesn't work
- Buttons are extremely slow
- Switching between dark and light mode is glitchy
Requested features
5 requests- Add option to view author information in preview
- Enable screen rotation for iPad users
- Add more advanced search functionality
- Allow canceling of export in progress
- Improve integration with Zotero
In-app purchases
R Programming Compiler
- 1 Month Subscription$4.991 Month
- 6 Months Subscription$19.996 Months
- 1 Year Subscription$29.991 Year
R Discovery
- Monthly$11.991 Month
- Monthly$24.991 Month
- Monthly$25.001 Month
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- Yearly$69.001 Year
- Yearly$139.991 Year
- Yearly$143.991 Year
Questions
Is R Programming Compiler free?
Is R Discovery free?
Which has better reviews, R Programming Compiler or R Discovery?
Do R Programming Compiler or R Discovery have ads?
Which is updated more often, R Programming Compiler or R Discovery?
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