# RETRO FORTH vs LispPad Go

The clearest difference is review sentiment: LispPad Go at 96% against RETRO FORTH's 33%. LispPad Go also leads on rating (4.9 vs 4.4) and ratings volume (37 vs 5). RETRO FORTH's advantage is iOS requirement (12.4 vs 17.6). On price, update cadence, ads and in-app purchases there is nothing between them.

Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

LispPad Go holds the better App Store score, 4.9 against 4.4. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: LispPad Go has 37 ratings behind it against 5, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 33% of RETRO FORTH's written reviews are positive against 96% of LispPad Go's.

RETRO FORTH ships an update monthly, LispPad Go every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on October 16, 2026 and October 17, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | RETRO FORTH | LispPad Go |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | [4.4 (5 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/retro-forth/id1170943580/reviews) | **[4.9 (37 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/lisppad-go/id1565747728/reviews)** |
| Number of ratings | 5 | **37** |
| Positive reviews | 33.3% of reviews | **96.3% of reviews** |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Ads | No | No |
| Update frequency | **Monthly** | Every 2 months |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Size | 4 MB | 128 MB |
| Requires iOS | **12.4** | 17.6 |
| Devices | **iPhone, iPad, iPod** | iPhone, iPad |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | [Charles Childers](https://appshunter.io/developer/900749636) | [Matthias Zenger](https://appshunter.io/developer/1258939759) |

## What reviewers say

### RETRO FORTH

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/retro-forth/id1170943580)

A compact and adaptable concatenative programming language designed for ease of learning and customization. It features a code editor, interactive listener, and support for Gopher servers, allowing for flexible development.

**Highlights:** Concatenative programming language, Code editor with Markdown subset, Literate programming style, Interactive listener interface, Gopher server data fetching, File manager, Documentation browser

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

**In-app purchases:** none


### LispPad Go

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/lisppad-go/id1565747728)

This app is a lightweight development environment for writing and running Scheme code on iOS. It features a Scheme interpreter, a console for interaction, and a text editor with syntax highlighting and smart indentation. It supports R7RS standard Scheme with a wide range of libraries, including iOS-specific ones.

**Highlights:** Integrated Scheme interpreter, Read-eval-print loop console, Syntax highlighting text editor, R7RS standard Scheme support, iOS-specific libraries, Hygienic macros, Full numerical tower support

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

**In-app purchases:** none


## Frequently asked questions

### Is RETRO FORTH free?

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

### Is LispPad Go free?

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

### Which has better reviews, RETRO FORTH or LispPad Go?

LispPad Go is rated higher. RETRO FORTH averages 4.4 out of 5 from 5 ratings, while LispPad Go averages 4.9 from 37 ratings.

### Do RETRO FORTH or LispPad Go have ads?

Neither RETRO FORTH nor LispPad Go shows ads.

### Which is updated more often, RETRO FORTH or LispPad Go?

RETRO FORTH ships an update monthly, and LispPad Go every 2 months. Most recently, RETRO FORTH was updated on October 16, 2026 and LispPad Go on October 17, 2026.

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