PCalc Lite vs Solves
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
PCalc Lite
This free scientific calculator offers essential features like RPN mode, unit conversions, and multiple undo/redo. It provides a taste of a more powerful version, with optional in-app purchases for expanded functionality.
- Optional RPN mode
- Multiple undo and redo
- Unit conversions and constants
- Two stylish themes
- Apple Watch app
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PCalc is the powerful choice for scientists, engineers, students, programmers, or indeed anybody looking for a feature rich calculator. It includes an optional RPN mode and multi-line display, a choice of button layouts, an extensive set of unit conversions and constants, a paper tape, multiple undo and redo, engineering and scientific notation, as well as support for hexadecimal, octal, and binary calculations.PCalc Lite is a fully functional and free taste of our very popular scientific calculator. It includes an optional RPN mode, multiple undo and redo, unit conversions and constants, as well as two stylish themes and our highly praised design. A great choice for your new iPad! If you like what you see, the full version has many more settings and themes, a paper tape, engineering and scientific notation, and full support for hexadecimal, octal, and binary calculations. You can also now purchase extra features directly from inside PCalc Lite. Buy them individually, or buy everything. Includes an Apple Watch app, so you can calculate on your wrist!
Solves
A powerful and versatile calculator for all your Apple devices. Edit complex expressions, sync history across devices, and enjoy a clean, ad-free experience. Unlock advanced features like unit conversion and fraction support with an optional upgrade.
- Edit expressions without limitations
- Instant results
- Sync calculation history across devices
- Unit conversion (currencies, physical units)
- Fraction support
- Customizable themes
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Solves is a well-made calculator app for your iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Apple Watch. It allows you to edit expressions without limitations and get instant results. It keeps your calculation history in sync on all devices and lets you to easily interact with it. All this for free and without ads! By purchasing Solves+ you also get: • Unit Conversions: currencies (with crypto, metals & energy), physical units, and your own! • History Tools: comment, bookmark, export, auto clear, and more • Fractions • More Themes • Advanced Settings Hand-typed code. No generative AI was used during the development or by the app itself. Solves+ requires one payment only. You will own it forever on all devices.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: Solves at 4.9 against PCalc Lite's 4.4. Solves also leads on update cadence (every 3 weeks vs every 2 months) and review sentiment (91% vs 83%). On price, ratings volume, 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
Both are free to download. PCalc Lite sells 11 one-off in-app purchases and Solves sells 6 one-off in-app purchases. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
Solves holds the better App Store score, 4.9 against 4.4. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 214 and 381 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 83% of PCalc Lite's written reviews are positive against 91% of Solves's.
PCalc Lite ships an update every 2 months, Solves every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on September 24, 2026 and September 19, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | PCalc Lite | Solves |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.4 (214 ratings) | 4.9 (381 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 82.6% of reviews | 90.6% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 214 | 381 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months | Every 3 weeks — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod, Apple Watch | iPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac, Apple Watch — better |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 | 15 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 76 MB | 82 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | TLA Systems Ltd. | Oleg Barinov |
Customer experience
PCalc Lite
Solves
User reviews
PCalc Lite
From 214 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🚀 Fast and responsive
- 👍 Clean and intuitive interface
- 💡 Customizable themes and settings
- 🚀 Efficient performance
- 👍 Useful conversion tools
Room to improve
- 🐛 Occasional lags and crashes
- 🔒 Lack of dark mode support
- 🔒 Inconsistent icon appearance after upgrades
- 🔒 Limitations in RPN mode on Apple Watch
- 🔒 Lack of financial calculator functions
Solves
From 381 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 👍 Excellent calculator app
- 🚀 Smooth and responsive
- 🔒 No ads or data collection
- 💡 Useful features like history, comments, and unit conversions
- 👍 Clean and intuitive design
Room to improve
- 🐛 Occasional crashes or bugs after updates
- 🐛 Issues with certain mathematical operations
- 🐛 Family sharing not working properly
- 🐛 Lag or performance issues on some devices
- 💡 Desire for more advanced features like fractions, base conversions
Bugs and requests
PCalc Lite
Reported bugs
3 issues- Calculations sometimes produce unexpected results
- Upside-down text censorship feature is problematic
- Purchased features not always accessible on Apple Watch
Requested features
4 requests- Add option to display thousands separators
- Implement a history function to review past calculations
- Provide more customization options for the widget
- Add support for sexagesimal angle input and conversion
Solves
Reported bugs
4 issues- Crashes when pressing certain buttons
- Issues with parsing complex expressions
- Incorrect results for some calculations
- Problems with history clearing or syncing
Requested features
6 requests- Add support for fractions and mixed numbers
- Implement a widget for quick access
- Allow resizing the app window on Mac
- Provide more customization options
- Add support for Apple Watch
Show 1 moreShow fewer
- Improve unit conversion experience
In-app purchases
PCalc Lite
- Theme Pack$0.99
- Power User Pack$0.99
- Multiple Line Pack$0.99
Show 8 moreShow fewer
- Conversion Pack$0.99
- Small Tip$0.99
- Medium Tip$1.99
- Programmer Pack$2.99
- Engineer Pack$2.99
- Large Tip$4.99
- Complete Pack$9.99
- Enormous Tip$9.99
Solves
- Tip Option #1$0.99
- Tip Option #2$1.99
- Tip Option #3$4.99
Show 3 moreShow fewer
- Tip Option #4$9.99
- Solves+$9.99
- Tip Option #5$19.99
