# Unicode Pad vs xKeyboard

The clearest difference is price: xKeyboard at Free against Unicode Pad's $2.99. xKeyboard also leads on ratings volume (181 vs 8) and update cadence (monthly vs every 3 months). Unicode Pad's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 3) and review sentiment (74% vs 39%). On ads and device support there is nothing between them.

xKeyboard is free to download; Unicode Pad costs $2.99 up front. xKeyboard sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $0.29 per month. Unicode Pad asks for nothing beyond the download.

Unicode Pad holds the better App Store score, 3.5 against 3.2. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: xKeyboard has 181 ratings behind it against 8, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 74% of Unicode Pad's written reviews are positive against 39% of xKeyboard's.

Unicode Pad ships an update every 3 months, xKeyboard monthly. The most recent releases landed on October 15, 2026 and October 17, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | Unicode Pad | xKeyboard |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | $2.99 | **Free** |
| Rating | **[3.5 (8 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/unicode-pad/id374098312/reviews)** | [3.2 (181 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/xkeyboard-custom-keyboard/id1440245962/reviews) |
| Number of ratings | 8 | **181** |
| Positive reviews | **73.7% of reviews** | 39.2% of reviews |
| In-app purchases | **No** | Yes |
| Ads | No | No |
| Update frequency | Every 3 months | **Monthly** |
| Monetization | Paid | **Free with in-app purchases** |
| Size | 140 MB | 103 MB |
| Requires iOS | **11.0** | 18.0 |
| Devices | **iPhone, iPad, iPod** | iPhone, iPad |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | [Ziga Kranjec](https://appshunter.io/developer/368394743) | [煦 张](https://appshunter.io/developer/494537607) |

## What reviewers say

### Unicode Pad

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/unicode-pad/id374098312)

Access and copy thousands of Unicode characters to use in any app. Create custom keyboards for frequently used symbols and share them with friends. Search characters by name, codepoint, or glyph, and view detailed descriptions.

**Highlights:** Copy characters to clipboard, Customizable keyboards, Share custom keyboards, Search characters by name/codepoint/glyph, View extended character descriptions, Thousands of symbols available

**In-app purchases:** none

**What reviewers like**

- 👍 Comprehensive symbol catalog
- 💡 Customizable keyboards
- 🚀 Easy to use interface
- 🔍 Powerful search functionality
- 🌟 Useful for nicknames and special characters

**What reviewers complain about**

- 🐛 Occasional crashes
- 📦 Some characters display as boxes
- 🐌 Laggy scrolling and slow loading
- 🖱️ Manual copy-pasting required
- ⌨️ Limited keyboard space for custom keyboards

**Reported bugs**

- App crashes when selecting notepad
- App crashes on startup
- Scrolling is laggy
- Custom keyboards take time to load
- Characters not appearing on keyboard after adding

**Requested features**

- Ability to add keyboards to other apps
- More space for custom keyboards
- Integration with iOS keyboard
- Add backspace/delete/return keys to custom keyboards
- Ability to rearrange keys on custom keyboards


### xKeyboard

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/xkeyboard-custom-keyboard/id1440245962)

Design your own keyboard with custom layouts, keys, symbols, and Unicode characters. This app allows you to create specialized keyboards for various needs, from mathematical equations to phonetic alphabets, and use them across different text editing applications.

**Highlights:** Custom keyboard layouts, Symbol and Unicode integration, Specialized keyboards (Math, IPA, Chemistry), Template-based creation, Use in text editing apps

**In-app purchases (3)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| VIP - 1 Month | $0.29 | per month |
| VIP - 1 Year | $2.99 | per year |
| VIP - Lifetime | $8.99 | one-time |

**What reviewers like**

- 🚀 Highly customizable
- 👍 Versatile for various use cases
- 🚀 Powerful keyboard creation capabilities
- 👍 Useful for conlangs and rare scripts
- 👍 Allows creating custom characters

**What reviewers complain about**

- 🔒 Paywall for core functionality
- 🐛 Crashes when deleting/editing keys
- 👎 Confusing and unintuitive interface
- 👎 Lacks documentation and tutorials
- 👎 Missing basic features like autocorrect

**Reported bugs**

- Crashes when trying to delete/edit keys
- Installed keyboards don't show custom layouts
- App crashes on certain script/language changes

**Requested features**

- Add ability to export/share custom keyboards
- Improve keyboard customization workflow
- Implement swipe typing and autocorrect
- Add more language/script support
- Allow creating custom characters/symbols


## Frequently asked questions

### Is Unicode Pad free?

Unicode Pad costs $2.99, with no in-app purchases.

### Is xKeyboard free?

xKeyboard is free to download, with in-app purchases available.

### Which has better reviews, Unicode Pad or xKeyboard?

Unicode Pad is rated higher. Unicode Pad averages 3.5 out of 5 from 8 ratings, while xKeyboard averages 3.2 from 181 ratings.

### Do Unicode Pad or xKeyboard have ads?

Neither Unicode Pad nor xKeyboard shows ads.

### Which is updated more often, Unicode Pad or xKeyboard?

Unicode Pad ships an update every 3 months, and xKeyboard monthly. Most recently, Unicode Pad was updated on October 15, 2026 and xKeyboard on October 17, 2026.

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*Compared by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/) from daily US App Store data. Review summaries are generated from verbatim App Store reviews.*