Comparison

BuildCalc vs Construction Calculator Master

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

Head to head
About

BuildCalc

This app enhances traditional construction calculators with advanced functions for layout, material estimation, and complex calculations. It offers interactive features, customizable material sizes, and streamlined results presentation to reduce complexity and improve accuracy for professionals.

Highlights
  • Advanced baluster and stair layout
  • Fence post and material estimation
  • Interactive calculation adjustments
  • Customizable material sizes
  • Miter saw vs. protractor rafter calculations
  • Streamlined results display and saving
Features
Currently charting
Read full description

What if you could take the best construction calculator and fix it. That’s right ... you love it, it has served you well, and you stand by it ... but could it do more? Could it be easier to use? After testing by pros from around the world, BuildCalc is ready to give you more - more function and more answers with less complexity, less hassle, and less confusion. MORE FUNCTIONALITY: • Advanced Baluster Function: Complete layout of railing and staircase balusters with less guess work - and with all the flexibility you need for every custom job. • Advanced Stair function: Stair layouts for professional results - including dimensioned drawings of your Stringer, Stringer Installation, and Finished Staircase. And you can email a PDF of these drawings right from BuildCalc so you can print them or share them. • Fence Function: Give BuildCalc a fence row length and it will tell you how many posts, rails, pickets, and or panels you need. • Interactive Functions: The Stair, Baluster, Compound Miter, and Rafter functions are now fully interactive. Want to change input values? Change the Run? Switch between Regular and Irregular Hip Roof analysis? You can do this and your results will be updated automatically - without you needing to remember what key to press. MORE ANSWERS: • You are no longer tied down to: only one brick, block or tile size for the masonry function; a fixed number of drywall sheet sizes; only one footer cross sectional area; or one size of shingles and sheathing. If you don’t see the size you want, you can add as many as you need. And for area input, you can store your custom sizes in Length x Width format, so you won’t have to do mental gymnastics to figure out what was the dimensions for that last size you stored. • Want to cut your hip roof rafter using a miter saw ... or a circular saw using a hand-held protractor? With a tap of a button, BuildCalc will automatically switch between Miter Saw and Protractor results. BuildCalc can do this for Compound Miters, too. • Sheathing Angles, Purlin Angles, Gable Area, Backing Angles, Plan Angles, Rough vs. Finished Stair Layout Dimensions, Stringer Throat, Stringer installation dimensions ... and a lot more not found on other construction calculators. LESS COMPLEXITY AND LESS HASSLE: • Tired of having to press and press and press buttons to get the results of a calculation? BuildCalc puts an end to this. For all advanced functions, you get ALL of your results in list form with just one or two key taps. • And, rather than having to write down those results, all advanced functions allow you to save your results - as many times as you want with a label you choose - so you can recall the complete results at your convenience. Now you can do a calculation today and two days, two weeks or two years later, it is there for you. • Less “quirks”. Have you been annoyed by arcane key stroke sequences on other construction calculators? We are too. BuildCalc 2.1 streamlined the keystrokes to do a better job of giving you less “errors” and more results. Don’t remember what you have to enter before a Hip Rafter or Stair calculation? Well, now you don’t have to. BuildCalc will provide you with a check list of inputs and on-the-spot help to get it right. • Drywall and Masonry “Room Mode”: If you have stored a Length, Width and Height for a room, BuildCalc will give you the Drywall or Masonry required for the walls and the ceiling / floor - with only a tap of the Drywall or Masonry button. No more pondering over complex key sequences ... it just works. NOW WITH ADVANCED STAIRS, BALUSTER, AND HIP/VALLEY FUNCTIONS Get more results than you ever could before - including dimensioned Stringer, Stringer Installation and Finished Staircase Drawings. Drawings can then be emailed to others or printed at your convenience. Email us and we'll send you an example!

About

Construction Calculator Master

This advanced construction calculator simplifies complex measurements for builders, carpenters, and remodelers. It offers a comprehensive suite of math functions, multi-unit support, and visual aids for calculations involving fractions, trigonometry, and rafters. Reduce errors and save time with its intuitive interface and customizable options.

Highlights
  • Multi-unit fraction support (feet, inches, yards, metric)
  • Trigonometric functions with visualization
  • Rafter and triangle visualization
  • Imperial, Metric, and US Fractional units
  • Customizable fraction resolution
  • Memory and history functions
  • Dark mode support
Features
Read full description

Get ready for the next generation construction calculator. A must-have tool for fellow builder, carpenter, remodeler and handymen. Save time and reduce costly errors with our extremely easy to use construction calculator with full visual mode for all your calculations. This app features: - Easy to use with a comprehensive set of math functions. - Advanced multi-unit (feet inch fractions, yards, decimal feet, decimal inches and metric) fraction support - Full trig functions with visualization: sine, cosine, tangent, arcsine, arccosine and arctangent - Visualization of triangles, arcs, common and hip/valley rafters - Advanced calculation modes - Imperial, Metric, and US Fractional units - Customizable fraction resolution - Memory and History functions - Max, Min, and average calculation of values in memory - Dark mode support and much more. Download today and become a 10x builder! Terms of use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

Screenshots

BuildCalc4 screens
Construction Calculator Master4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Construction Calculator Master at Free against BuildCalc's $24.99. Construction Calculator Master also leads on ratings volume (436 vs 72) and iOS requirement (11.0 vs 17.0). BuildCalc's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 10) and rating (4.7 vs 4.3). On update cadence, ads and device support 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Construction Calculator Master is free to download; BuildCalc costs $24.99 up front. Construction Calculator Master sells 10 in-app purchases, starting at $0.99 per 7 days. BuildCalc asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

BuildCalc holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 4.3. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Construction Calculator Master has 436 ratings behind it against 72, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 87% of BuildCalc's written reviews are positive against 70% of Construction Calculator Master's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

BuildCalc ships an update every 3 weeks, Construction Calculator Master fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on October 15, 2026 and October 6, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard8 real differences · 3 level
BuildCalc versus Construction Calculator Master: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterBuildCalcConstruction Calculator Master
Price$24.99Free — better
Rating4.7 (72 ratings) — better4.3 (436 ratings)
Positive reviews87.4% of reviews — better70.0% of reviews
Number of ratings72436 — better
Update frequencyEvery 3 weeksFortnightly — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationPaidFree with in-app purchases — better
Best chart rank#46 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPod
Requires iOS17.011.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size15 MB37 MB
Age rating4+4+
Developer42nd ParallelUncaught Exception Inc

Customer experience

BuildCalc

All ratings72 ratings
Positive91.7%
Neutral1.4%
Negative6.9%
Written reviews95 reviews
Positive87.4%
Neutral1.1%
Negative11.6%

Construction Calculator Master

All ratings436 ratings
Positive81.2%
Neutral5.5%
Negative13.3%
Written reviews10 reviews
Positive70.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative30.0%

In-app purchases

None

BuildCalc

No in-app purchases

10 purchases

Construction Calculator Master

Subscriptions10
  • 1 week7 Days trial$0.997 Days
  • 1 week$2.997 Days
  • 1 week7 Days trial$2.997 Days
Show 7 more
  • 1 month7 Days trial$3.991 Month
  • 1 week7 Days trial$4.997 Days
  • 1 month3 Days trial$5.991 Month
  • 1 month7 Days trial$5.991 Month
  • 1 month$9.991 Month
  • 1 year7 Days trial$29.991 Year
  • 1 year7 Days trial$49.991 Year

Questions

Is BuildCalc free?
BuildCalc costs $24.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Construction Calculator Master free?
Construction Calculator Master is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, BuildCalc or Construction Calculator Master?
BuildCalc is rated higher. BuildCalc averages 4.7 out of 5 from 72 ratings, while Construction Calculator Master averages 4.3 from 436 ratings.
Do BuildCalc or Construction Calculator Master have ads?
Neither BuildCalc nor Construction Calculator Master shows ads.
Which is updated more often, BuildCalc or Construction Calculator Master?
BuildCalc ships an update every 3 weeks, and Construction Calculator Master fortnightly. Most recently, BuildCalc was updated on October 15, 2026 and Construction Calculator Master on October 6, 2026.

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