18XXc vs Meshtastic
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
18XXc
This app assists players of 18XX board games by providing specialized calculators for fundraising, routes, and game results. It supports a vast number of 18XX games and includes a game editor for unsupported titles.
- Fundraising calculator
- Route calculator
- Result calculator
- Game editor
- Supports numerous 18XX games
- Upload results to BoardGameGeek
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An 18XX calculator to help with playing 18XX board games. The app is 100% free (no functionality locked behind IAP). Currently it comes with build in support for the following games: - 1817 - 1822: The Railways of Great Britain - 1822CA - 1822MX - 1822PNW - 1824: Austrian-Hungarian Railway - 1830: Railways & Robber Barons - 1832: The South - 1835 - 1840: Vienna Tramways - 1844: Schweiz - 1846: The Race for the Midwest - 1848: Australia - 1849: The Game of Sicilian Railways - 1854 - 1860: Railways of Isle of Wight - 1861: The Railways of the Russian Empire - 1862: Railway Mania in the Eastern Counties - 1867: The Railways of Canada - 1880: China - 1882: Assiniboia - 1888 - N - 1889: History of Shikoku Railways - 1899 DAIHAN - 18Chesapeake - 19Cuba - 18CZ - 18DO: Dortmund - 18EU - 18Espania - 18FL - 18GA - 18GB: The Railways of Great Britain - 18 Hiawatha - 18IN: Railways Across Indiana - 18Ireland - 18Korea - 18MEX - 18 Milwaukee - 18MS: The Railroads Come to Mississippi - 18NewEngland - 18NY - 18RoyalGorge - 18SJ: Railways of the Frozen North - 18Texas - 18USA - 18West: Rails to the Pacific - 21Moon - Harzbahn 1873 - The Hiawathas - Railways of the Lost Atlas It comes with the following calculators: - Fund raising calculator for floating companies and funding emergency train purchases (including loans). - Route calculator that supports multiple routes, route bonuses, stock jumps, and partial payout calculations. - Result calculator that includes uploading result to BoardGameGeek.com and sharing it over other media. It also supports managing OR payouts for players between stock rounds. Comes with a game editor if the game you are playing is not supported by default. If you have any questions the best place to contact me is on Bluesky (see the About screen in the app).
Meshtastic
This app enables off-grid, decentralized text messaging using low-power LoRa radios. It creates a mesh network for communication in areas lacking cellular or WiFi service. The open-source platform is designed for reliable, decentralized connectivity.
- Off-grid communication
- Decentralized mesh network
- LoRa radio integration
- Text messaging
- Open source platform
- Low-power operation
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Meshtastic® is an open source, off-grid, decentralized, mesh network built to run on low-power Lora radios letting you send text messages in areas without reliable cellular or WiFi service.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: 18XXc at 4.9 against Meshtastic's 4.1. 18XXc also leads on iOS requirement (15.0 vs 17.5). Meshtastic's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 4) and update cadence (weekly vs monthly). On price, ads and monetization model 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. 18XXc sells 4 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month. Meshtastic asks for nothing beyond the download.
18XXc holds the better App Store score, 4.9 against 4.1. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Meshtastic has 843 ratings behind it against 17, so its average is the more settled of the two.
18XXc ships an update monthly, Meshtastic weekly. Both last shipped on November 3, 2026.
| Parameter | 18XXc | Meshtastic |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.9 (17 ratings) — better | 4.1 (843 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | — | 44.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 17 | 843 — better |
| Update frequency | Monthly | Weekly — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPod | iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple TV, Apple Watch — better |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 — better | 17.5 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 19 MB | 147 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 12+ |
| Developer | Magnus Orn Gylfason | Meshtastic LLC |
Customer experience
18XXc
Meshtastic
Bugs and requests
18XXc
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
Meshtastic
Reported bugs
4 issues- Canned messages configuration issues
- Location sharing and traceroute functions not working
- Settings screen bugs and crashes
- Inconsistent behavior when switching between devices
Requested features
5 requests- Offline maps support
- Ability to customize notifications
- More sorting and filtering options for nodes
- Apple Watch and Shortcuts integration
- Improved documentation and user guidance
In-app purchases
18XXc
- Monthly subscription$4.991 Month
- Yearly subscription$4.991 Year
- Monthly subscription$9.991 Month
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- Yearly subscription$9.991 Year
Meshtastic
No in-app purchases









