Comparison

BuildCalc vs Home Builder Pro Calcs

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

Home Builder Pro Calcs

This app provides over 440 construction and home improvement calculations, including cost and time estimates, and quantity take-offs. It supports U.S. imperial and metric measurements, and allows calculations to be saved and emailed.

Highlights
  • 440+ construction calculators
  • Cost and time estimates
  • Quantity take-offs
  • Unit conversions
  • Save and email calculations
  • Decimal and fraction results
  • U.S. imperial and metric support
Features
Read full description

"Love this app makes my job much easier." - Danny O'Dea Thank you for your calculator suggestions. Now with 440 home improvement calculations and unit conversions Home Builder Pro Calcs gives you access to quickly and easily solve a variety of calculations including hours and cost estimates and take off quantities. Calculations can be saved and emailed. Easy to use and understand inputs and results in either decimals or fractions. Rich support for U.S., imperial, and metric measurements. Built-in calculator with support for ft/in and fractions. Current Calculators include: Business * 28 calculators for loans, pricing, travel costs, and more. Concrete & Paving * 11 calculators for asphalt, concrete, paver bricks, and more. Electrical * 5 different calculators Floors, Walls & Ceilings * 13 calculators for carpet, drywall, wall covering, tile, paint, and more. Foundations * 33 calculators for foundations, soil, grading, rebar, etc. Framing * 19 calculators for balusters, joists, studs, siding, stairs, and more Heating & A/C * 8 calculators for airflow, attics, fans, air conditions, insulation... Hours Estimates * Effort Factor * Over 55 different estimators for: * Carpentry - finish, siding, stairs, walls, ... * Concrete - blocks, bricks, concrete, reinforcement, tile, ... * Doors & Windows - garage doors, glass, metal, windows, wood, ... * Finishes - carpet, paint, wood floors, stucco, plaster, tile, .... * Roofing - roofing, sheathing, sheet metal, ... * Site Work - concrete demolition, excavation, stumps, trees, forms, culverts, landscape, ... Landscape & Yard * 15 calculators for fence, fertilizer, mulch, seeds, trees, mowing and more. Masonry * 8 calculators for walls, joints, core filling,... Miscellaneous * Area, Volume & Angle - 25 calculators for a variety of shapes. * Conversions - 26 different unit conversions * Glossary - Over 370 terms * 11 calculators for tanks, pulleys, weather, wrenches, ... Roof Framing and Roofing * 22 calculators for rafters, ridges, gables, pitch, trusses, shingles and more Wood & Materials * 20 calculators for lumber, nails, plywood, caulking, etc. You may also purchase add-on packs within the app. There are currently two add-ons available: Project Dates & Times * Over 35 calculators help you understand and manage project timing and deadlines. Sensor Angle * A set of 10 calculators that use the angle sensing ability of your iPhone or iPad to easily and accurate measure an angle and calculate a variety of other angles and lengths. Map Estimator * Estimate the distance and area using a map. Great for estimating size of yard, length of fence, etc. If there's a calculator you'd like to see added, visit our website and send us an email.

Screenshots

BuildCalc4 screens
Home Builder Pro Calcs4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Home Builder Pro Calcs at $9.99 against BuildCalc's $24.99. Home Builder Pro Calcs also leads on ratings volume (1.1K vs 72) and iOS requirement (9.3 vs 17.0). BuildCalc's advantage is update cadence (every 3 weeks vs every 3 months) and chart position (#46 vs unranked). On rating, ads, in-app purchases 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

BuildCalc costs $24.99 and Home Builder Pro Calcs $9.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.7 for BuildCalc against 4.7 for Home Builder Pro Calcs. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Home Builder Pro Calcs has 1.1K ratings behind it against 72, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 87% of BuildCalc's written reviews are positive against 78% of Home Builder Pro Calcs's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

BuildCalc ships an update every 3 weeks, Home Builder Pro Calcs every 3 months. The most recent releases landed on October 15, 2026 and October 8, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard7 real differences · 4 level
BuildCalc versus Home Builder Pro Calcs: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterBuildCalcHome Builder Pro Calcs
Price$24.99$9.99 — better
Rating4.7 (72 ratings)4.7 (1.1K ratings) — better
Positive reviews87.4% of reviews — better78.1% of reviews
Number of ratings721.1K — better
Update frequencyEvery 3 weeks — betterEvery 3 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationPaidFree with in-app purchases — better
Best chart rank#46 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS17.09.3 — better
Further details — not scored
Size15 MB21 MB
Age rating4+4+
Developer42nd ParallelCalculated Industries

Customer experience

BuildCalc

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

Home Builder Pro Calcs

All ratings1,073 ratings
Positive93.8%
Neutral1.7%
Negative4.6%
Written reviews146 reviews
Positive78.1%
Neutral3.4%
Negative18.5%

Bugs and requests

BuildCalc

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

Home Builder Pro Calcs

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Incorrect rafter calculations
  • Cannot delete tapes or history
  • Calculator freezes on certain inputs
  • Feet and inches input not working properly

Requested features

5 requests
  • Improved metric support
  • More customization options
  • Deck and fence calculators
  • Better organization and navigation
  • Tutorials and FAQs

In-app purchases

None

BuildCalc

No in-app purchases

None

Home Builder Pro Calcs

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is BuildCalc free?
BuildCalc costs $24.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Home Builder Pro Calcs free?
Home Builder Pro Calcs costs $9.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, BuildCalc or Home Builder Pro Calcs?
Home Builder Pro Calcs is rated higher. BuildCalc averages 4.7 out of 5 from 72 ratings, while Home Builder Pro Calcs averages 4.7 from 1.1K ratings.
Do BuildCalc or Home Builder Pro Calcs have ads?
Neither BuildCalc nor Home Builder Pro Calcs shows ads.
Which is updated more often, BuildCalc or Home Builder Pro Calcs?
BuildCalc ships an update every 3 weeks, and Home Builder Pro Calcs every 3 months. Most recently, BuildCalc was updated on October 15, 2026 and Home Builder Pro Calcs on October 8, 2026.

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