Comparison

Formula & Units vs Periodic

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side โ€” with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Formula & Units

Features
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Formula & Units is an ultimate tool for calculation of complex scientific expressions and convertion of scientific units. Expressions may be comprised of variables and constants, possessing numeric values and sets of units. Support and info at www.volard.wordpress.com The application interface consists of three custom (A, B, C) value-units expressions and six preset constants, which may be added to the final expression field by pressing the corresponding buttons. Value-Units Expression contains three fields: value field, numerator (top) units field and denominator (bottom) units field. Units must be typed exactly as they appear in the provided list in the Help section. Power of unit is typed directly after unit : s2. Metric prefixes or unit prefixes are recognized automatically: mm = 1.0e-3 m, kA = 1000 A. Metric prefix micro- (1e-6), is changed to 'u'. Additional Units can be added upon request through www.volard.wordpress.com. Example of unit expression as it should appear in numerator or denominator fields: mm2*s*kg*uA-2*MPa-2. Upon addition or subtraction, unit expressions should be of the same dimensionality! Meters cannot be added to Pascals!!! Application provides set of widely used physico-chemical constants. Pressing the corresponding constant button adds the value to the final field. Presets are: Na - Avogadro's constant, h - Planck constant, F - Faraday constant, R - gas constant, kB - Boltzmann constant, g - acceleration of gravity, e - elementary charge, Pi - pi constant. (All in SI units) The final expression is a regular scientific formula consisting of value-units expressions, regular math operations, numbers and functions. Available math functions are provided with buttons-shortcuts. Dot is used as a decimal point. Pressing "Calculate" button evaluates final expression. By default, application converts all units to International System of Units (SI), but it is possible to set the required units directly to the final (where result is shown) units fields before calculation, then the result will be adjusted to meet the requirement. The resulting final expression can be copied to A expression field, by pressing a "A^" top bar button, for further conversion or calculations. For a simple conversion, type the expression that should be converted to A field and preferred units to the B field. Special attention should be paid to dimensionality! For example: To change m3 to US Gallon in expression s*kg/m3, type gal-1 to numerator field or gal to denominator field in the B expression. Press 'convert' button to get the final converted result. For conversion numeric value of B expression has no meaning. Examples can be found at www.volard.wordpress.com.

About

Periodic

Features
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The PeriodicTableElements is an elegant app that is interactive and fun. Easy to use, easy to understand, simple and effective. It shows the periodic table of elements in variety of ways 1) Classic grid with name that is color coded. You can configure it to look however you like. 2) Visually appealing electron distribution. 3) Visually appealing Lewis dot structure. 4) List that can be sorted based on different element properties like group, period, category etc. These awesome periodic tables can be shared by simple double click anywhere on the table. It is possible to copy the periodic table diagrams as high quality SVG xml. Drag your finger on the periodic table canvas to update elements automatically or tap on an element to see more details. Tap on an element and all the rest of the related elements are highlighted. Details of a selected element is shown in a beautifully drawn animated element. Tap on the animated element and you will see more details that can also be shared. Tapping on the list element will navigate you to a page that shows details of the element. It automatically saves your hard work locally on your device so you can come back and pick up from where you left off as your great effort will not be lost. This is a perfect app if you are a student learning chemistry. This is an app for all student groups. From high school to college to university students. Be creative. Enjoy the app!

Screenshots

Formula & Units4 screens
Periodic4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Periodic at Free against Formula & Units's $3.99. Formula & Units's advantage is ads (none vs shown). On update cadence, in-app purchases, device support and iOS requirement there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price ยท Rating ยท Positive reviews ยท Number of ratings ยท Update frequency ยท Ads ยท In-app purchases ยท Monetization ยท Best chart rank ยท Devices ยท Requires iOS

CostPrice ยท In-app purchases ยท Ads ยท Monetization

Periodic is free to download; Formula & Units costs $3.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Formula & Units ships an update every 2 months, Periodic every 5 weeks. The most recent releases landed on August 20, 2026 and May 16, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences ยท 4 level
Formula & Units versus Periodic: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterFormula & UnitsPeriodic
Price$3.99Free โ€” better
Update frequencyEvery 2 monthsEvery 5 weeks โ€” better
AdsNo โ€” betterYes
In-app purchasesNoNo
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, iPod โ€” better
Requires iOS16.015.1 โ€” better
Further details โ€” not scored
Size1 MB35 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperRoman VolinskyOm Prakash Chapagain

In-app purchases

None

Formula & Units

No in-app purchases

None

Periodic

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Formula & Units free?
Formula & Units costs $3.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Periodic free?
Periodic is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do Formula & Units or Periodic have ads?
Periodic shows ads; Formula & Units does not.
Which is updated more often, Formula & Units or Periodic?
Formula & Units ships an update every 2 months, and Periodic every 5 weeks. Most recently, Formula & Units was updated on August 20, 2026 and Periodic on May 16, 2026.

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