Calctan vs CalculatorWidgy
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Calctan
This app offers a high-precision scientific and financial calculator with a smart formula workspace and an auditable tape for tracking calculations. It's designed for students and professionals needing to edit complex expressions, manage finances, and export reports.
- Smart formula editing with tap-to-edit cursor
- Undo/Redo functionality
- Advanced scientific math functions
- Auditable calculation tape
- Exportable reports via AirPrint/PDF
- iCloud sync across devices
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Calctan is a high-precision scientific and financial tape calculator designed for iPhone and iPad. Built for students, engineers, accountants, and business professionals, Calctan bridges the gap between scientific computing and practical everyday finance. Edit complex formulas with ease, audit running totals on a printable tape, and enjoy a distraction-free workspace with zero ads. KEY FEATURES 1. SMART FORMULA WORKSPACE • Tap-to-Edit Cursor: Tap anywhere in your expression to fix numbers, operators, or parentheses instantly—no need to clear your work and start over. • Dedicated Undo & Redo: Step backward and forward through previous edits effortlessly with intuitive controls. • Live Syntax & Instant Preview: Real-time calculation results with automatic balancing of parentheses as you type. • Fluid Multi-Line Display: Dynamic scaling ensures long, complex formulas are never cut off. 2. ADVANCED SCIENTIFIC ENGINE • Complete Math Suite: Trigonometric functions (radians/degrees, inverse, hyperbolic), factorials, permutations, powers, roots, modulo, and logarithms. • True Order of Operations: Context-aware order of operations with high-precision calculations that eliminate floating-point rounding errors. • Built-in & Custom Constants: Standard libraries for mathematics, physics, and chemistry, plus custom slots for tax rates, currency multipliers, or business margins. 3. ACCOUNTING TAPE & REPORT EXPORT • Auditable Calculation History: Every calculation is automatically logged on a persistent digital paper tape. • Label & Categorize: Add custom notes, tags, and project labels to organize expenses, homework sets, or client billing. • Batch Operations: Select multiple past entries to calculate running totals on the fly. • AirPrint & PDF Export: Generate clean, itemized calculation sheets ready to print, save, or share. 4. DESIGNED FOR PRODUCTIVITY • Haptic Feedback & Precision Control: Smooth cursor dragging and tactile feedback optimized for high-speed input. • iPad Multitasking: Full support for Split View, Slide Over, external keyboards, and trackpads. • Seamless iCloud Sync: Keep your saved formulas, custom constants, and calculation tapes synchronized across all your devices. • High-Contrast Themes: Handcrafted color palettes engineered to minimize eye strain during long study or work sessions. • Private & Ad-Free: Zero tracking, no telemetry, and no ads. Your calculations remain strictly on your device and private iCloud storage. PERFECT FOR: • STEM & College Students: Algebra, calculus, physics, and lab assignments with clear, step-by-step editing. • Finance & Accounting: Tax prep, budgeting, invoice balancing, and expense verification with itemized logs. • Retail & Small Business: Fast customer totals, margin/discount calculations, and printable audit trails.
CalculatorWidgy
Perform calculations directly from your home screen with interactive widgets. View the entire calculation process and result simultaneously. Save and review past calculations locally or sync them across devices via iCloud.
- Interactive home screen widgets
- Simultaneous calculation and result display
- Local calculation history
- iCloud synchronization
- Perform calculations without opening app
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iOS 17 has brought us interactive widgets, and we immediately thought about how to provide a better experience for our users. Just a few days later, the inspiration for a calculator struck! The interactive widget feels like a dedicated addition to the calculator, allowing users to perform daily calculations right on their home screen without having to open the app. Unlike most calculators, we display both the calculation process and the result simultaneously on the interface, making it easier for users to follow the entire calculation process. Additionally, we save all calculation results locally, enabling you to review past calculations whenever you need. If you wish, you can even synchronize these results across your devices using iCloud. There is one known issue: Rapidly tapping the interactive widget may cause the app to open, so a few of our fast users may need to slow down a bit for now. We are committed to perfecting this feature, so if you have any suggestions or feedback, please don't hesitate to contact us at commonemails@163.com.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Calctan at none against CalculatorWidgy's 1. Calctan also leads on rating (4.5 vs 4.2) and ratings volume (61 vs 5). CalculatorWidgy's advantage is review sentiment (60% vs 29%) and update cadence (monthly vs every 3 months). On price, ads, device support and iOS requirement 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. CalculatorWidgy sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Calctan asks for nothing beyond the download.
Calctan holds the better App Store score, 4.5 against 4.2. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Calctan has 61 ratings behind it against 5, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 29% of Calctan's written reviews are positive against 60% of CalculatorWidgy's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.
Calctan ships an update every 3 months, CalculatorWidgy monthly. The most recent releases landed on November 6, 2026 and November 3, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Calctan | CalculatorWidgy |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.5 (61 ratings) — better | 4.2 (5 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 28.6% of reviews | 60.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 61 — better | 5 |
| Update frequency | Every 3 months | Monthly — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | Free — better | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 16.6 | 15.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 9 MB | 8 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | +4 |
| Developer | Jorge Lozada | 永刚 陈 |
Customer experience
Calctan
CalculatorWidgy
In-app purchases
Calctan
No in-app purchases
CalculatorWidgy
- Pro$3.99









