Comparison

ZX81 vs BigPEmu

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both games, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

ZX81

Experience early 1980s home computing with this app dedicated to the Sinclair ZX80 and ZX81. It includes a wealth of example software, offering a nostalgic journey into the origins of personal computing.

Highlights
  • Sinclair ZX80/ZX81 emulation
  • Timex Sinclair 1000 support
  • Includes example software
  • Focuses on early 1980s computing
  • ROM code included with permission
Features
Read full description

Welcome to a taste of early 1980s home computing. This app focuses on the Sinclair ZX81 experience and is loaded with example software. A streamlined watchOS app is included, offering saved session syncing with the iOS app on the paired iPhone. Background: In 1980 the British company Science of Cambridge (later renamed Sinclair Research) released the Sinclair ZX80 home computer. The computer was developed with another technology company, Nine Tiles, and manufactured in a Timex Corporation factory in Dundee, Scotland. Followed in March 1981 by the even more popular successor, the Sinclair ZX81, both models had a profound impact on home and hobbyist computing in the UK and many other countries. Timex Corporation and Sinclair Research continued their joint venture and released the Timex Sinclair 1000 (TS1000) and 1500 (TS1500) variants of the ZX81 for the US market in July 1982 and July 1983 respectively. Meanwhile, another iconic British home computer, the Sinclair ZX Spectrum, was under development and hit the market in April 1982... but that's another story. Special thanks to Nine Tiles for granting permission to include the ROM code, to which they retain the intellectual property rights after all these years. Additionally, many thanks to all the developers of the loaded ZX81 software who have all granted permission to include their titles in the app. We hope this list of software will continue to grow in future updates.

About

BigPEmu

This application emulates the Atari Jaguar console, offering high accuracy and performance for its entire retail game library. It provides advanced features like saved states, movie recording, and customizable controller support, enhancing the classic gaming experience.

Highlights
  • Full retail library compatibility
  • High performance emulation
  • Accurate emulation
  • Saved states and movie recording
  • Jaguar CD support
  • Customizable controller overlays
  • Fast forward and rewind
Features
Read full description

BigPEmu is the first Atari Jaguar emulator to feature compatibility with the entire retail library, along with excellent performance and a wide variety of unique features: • Fast. The emulator runs the entire Jaguar retail library (with default settings) at full speed on most devices. • Accurate. It's the most accurate Jaguar emulator to-date, although it's still being improved all the time. • Better than hardware. Although the emulator defaults to settings which are catered toward compatibility and accuracy, it's capable of far more. BigPEmu enables you to play lots of Jaguar games at a full 60 frames per second for the first time ever! • Saved states and movies. Everything is completely deterministic, just like real life. That's right, I went there. This means that all "randomness" is also controlled by a preserved seed. BigPEmu can record movies from nothing but controller inputs, and play them back with perfect accuracy. You can even interrupt a movie's playback and start playing yourself at any point. • Jaguar CD support. In addition to supporting the entire retail disc library (along with Memory Track), complete hardware emulation means that the Virtual Light Machine is fully functional. Also featured is a virtual disc system with an audio loopback option, allowing the VLM to be used as a native audio/music visualizer. • Excessive presentation detail. There's native support for the Jaguar Game Drive's MRQ format in the software browser (as well as box art sourced from PNG files), support for global and per-game backgrounds, and even support for controller overlays! Everything about the touch overlay for the iOS port is fully customizable, from appearance to collision boxes. • Extra device support. Featuring emulated device support for analog controllers (both via external bank switching and the ADC), driving controllers, rotary controllers, and Team Tap. For native input devices, the iOS port supports any MFi "Extended Gamepad" type device as well as keyboards through Apple's Game Controller API. • Glorious shaders. The emulator comes equipped with a powerful, fully customizable postprocessing system. The system supports any type of effect you can imagine, from applying smoothing filters to simulating CRT displays. • Per-game profiles. Mapping the Atari Jaguar controller to anything other than a telephone with wings can get a little complicated, so you might want to switch your controller mapping up for different games. You can do that! With per-game profiles, you can automatically load up a new input scheme (or any other emulator setting) each time you load a game. • Time travel. Native fast forwarding and rewinding capability means you can speed forward through time or go back in time whenever you please. • Flexible scripting. BigPEmu features a powerful scripting system. The emulator comes with a variety of scripts to enhance popular Jaguar games in amazing ways, from analog controller support to native-resolution and stereoscopic rendering! • The usual. Enjoy all of the emulator niceties you've come to expect in modern times. Automatic preservation of EEPROM, PAL support, custom boot ROM images, native support for multiple display aspect ratios, resolution scaling, custom display cropping, extremely customizable input, and a whole lot more. BigPEmu and Swinecrafters LLC are in no way affiliated with Atari. The name "Atari" and all associated game console names are the property of their respective owners.

Screenshots

ZX814 screens
BigPEmu3 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: ZX81 at Free against BigPEmu's $9.99. ZX81 also leads on update cadence (every 10 days vs every 4 months) and ratings volume (92 vs 27). On rating, review sentiment, ads and in-app purchases 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

ZX81 is free to download; BigPEmu costs $9.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.9 for ZX81 against 5.0 for BigPEmu. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 92 and 27 respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 98% of ZX81's written reviews are positive against 94% of BigPEmu's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

ZX81 ships an update every 10 days, BigPEmu every 4 months. The most recent releases landed on November 2, 2026 and November 4, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
ZX81 versus BigPEmu: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterZX81BigPEmu
PriceFree — better$9.99
Rating4.9 (92 ratings)5.0 (27 ratings) — better
Positive reviews98.4% of reviews — better94.1% of reviews
Number of ratings92 — better27
Update frequencyEvery 10 days — betterEvery 4 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFreeFree
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod, Apple Watch — betteriPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS15.015
Further details — not scored
Size86 MB16 MB
Age rating9++9
DeveloperKevin PalserSwinecrafters LLC

Customer experience

ZX81

All ratings92 ratings
Positive97.8%
Neutral1.1%
Negative1.1%
Written reviews62 reviews
Positive98.4%
Neutral1.6%
Negative0.0%

BigPEmu

All ratings26 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews17 reviews
Positive94.1%
Neutral0.0%
Negative5.9%

In-app purchases

None

ZX81

No in-app purchases

None

BigPEmu

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is ZX81 free?
ZX81 is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is BigPEmu free?
BigPEmu costs $9.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, ZX81 or BigPEmu?
BigPEmu is rated higher. ZX81 averages 4.9 out of 5 from 92 ratings, while BigPEmu averages 5.0 from 27 ratings.
Do ZX81 or BigPEmu have ads?
Neither ZX81 nor BigPEmu shows ads.
Which is updated more often, ZX81 or BigPEmu?
ZX81 ships an update every 10 days, and BigPEmu every 4 months. Most recently, ZX81 was updated on November 2, 2026 and BigPEmu on November 4, 2026.

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