Charcoal vs Calculator
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Charcoal
This app offers a simple yet powerful sketching experience with rich tools and beautiful color palettes. Easily create and export your artwork for use in other graphics programs. It supports modern iOS features like multiple windows and dark mode for enhanced productivity.
- Simple sketching interface
- Rich drawing tools
- Beautiful color palettes
- Export sketches
- Multiple window support
- Dark mode
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• Charcoal is incredibly easy to use: Just create or open a sketch and start sketching. There are no layers or confusing settings. Instead, Charcoal features rich tools and beautiful color palettes. • Charcoal allows you to export a sketch to use it in your favorite graphics program. • Charcoal supports modern iOS and iPadOS features like multiple windows and dark mode: use it at night or open multiple sketches, even side by side.
Calculator
This free iPad calculator offers a familiar interface that can be resized to suit your needs. Easily switch between a compact view for one-handed typing and a full-screen view for larger calculations. It's optimized for iPad and supports Apple Pencil.
- Free to use
- Resizable calculator interface
- One-finger typing mode
- Full-screen mode
- Optimized for iPad
- Apple Pencil support
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A 100% FREE, simple and familiar calculator for you and your iPad to enjoy. Expand or shrink the calculator by just pinching the screen! - Small view for easy typing with just one finger. - Large view for using the whole screen. Made for your convenience: - No in-app purchases or annoying advertisements. - Optimized to work on iPad - Works with Apple Pencil Created with Love and SwiftUI
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is ratings volume: Charcoal at 144 against Calculator's 5. Charcoal also leads on device support (4 vs 1). Calculator's advantage is iOS requirement (13.0 vs 15.0). On price, rating, review sentiment and update cadence 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. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.5 for Charcoal against 4.4 for Calculator. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Charcoal has 144 ratings behind it against 5, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews split almost evenly too, at 77% and 78% positive.
Charcoal ships an update every 2 months, Calculator every 3 months. Both last shipped on November 3, 2026.
| Parameter | Charcoal | Calculator |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.5 (144 ratings) — better | 4.4 (5 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 76.8% of reviews | 77.8% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 144 — better | 5 |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months — better | Every 3 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod, Vision Pro — better | iPad |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 | 13.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 29 MB | 0 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Lars Augustin | Grant Jarvis |
Customer experience
Charcoal
Calculator
Bugs and requests
Charcoal
Reported bugs
3 issues- Saved sketches lose quality
- Palette colors change unexpectedly
- Freezing when opening color palette
Requested features
4 requests- Ability to change brush/pen size
- Layers and blending tools
- Color wheel and custom color selection
- Import/export options
Calculator
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Charcoal
No in-app purchases
Calculator
No in-app purchases
