Comparison

Codea vs Pythonista 3

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

Head to head
About

Codea

Create interactive games and visual ideas using a touch-friendly code editor. Build projects with 2D/3D rendering, physics, and export them to create real apps. Supports Lua and GLSL.

Highlights
  • 2D and 3D renderer
  • Touch-based visual editors
  • Lua programming language
  • Export to Xcode
  • Physics engines
  • GLSL shader editor
  • Import assets from Dropbox
Features
Read full description

"It’s kind of like the Garage Band of coding." – Wired "Codea for iPad is a super slick way to write and run programs on your iPad." – Gizmodo Codea lets you create games and simulations — or just about any visual idea you have. Turn your thoughts into interactive creations that make use of iPad features like Multi-Touch and the accelerometer. We think Codea is the most beautiful code editor you'll use, and it's easy. Codea is designed to let you touch your code. Want to change a color, or an image? Tapping will bring up visual editors that let you choose exactly what you want. Codea is built on the Lua programming language. A simple, elegant language that doesn't rely too much on symbols — a perfect match for iPad. Here's how you use it: type your code. Press play to watch it run. Interact with it. Get creative. FEATURES • A fully featured 2D and 3D renderer • Lots of great example projects to learn from, including games • Touch your code: tap colors, images and sounds to adjust them • Export your finished projects to Xcode to produce real apps • Complete in-line reference documentation accessible from keyboard • Intelligent syntax highlighting and auto-completing code editor • Import your own assets from Dropbox • Full 2D and 3D physics engines for complex motion • Add parameters so you can tweak variables at runtime • Interact with accelerometer and multi-touch on your device • Generate retro-game sound effects • GLSL Shader Language support with live shader editor • Bluetooth keyboard support and keyboard shortcuts • Air Code: code live from your PC using WiFi • Much, much more IMPORTANT INFORMATION • Join the forums at https://talk.codea.io to ask questions, share ideas and get help when you need it • If you need help or wish to get in contact with us, please use the support link on this page • Privacy policy https://codea.io/privacy • Terms https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ SUBSCRIPTION • Codea is free to use for projects up to 500 lines, after which you can subscribe to Codea Pro for access to advanced features and unlimited project size • Monthly and yearly plans available • Lifetime one-time purchase also available • Pricing may vary by region. Your subscription will automatically renew unless auto-renew is turned off at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. You can manage or cancel your subscription in your App Store account settings.

About

Pythonista 3

Develop and run Python 3 scripts directly on your iPad or iPhone. This complete scripting environment includes popular third-party modules and allows access to iOS features like sensors, location, and photos. Automate your device with app extensions and integrate with Shortcuts and Siri.

Highlights
  • Powerful code editor with syntax highlighting
  • Interactive prompt with code completion
  • Integrated visual debugger
  • Offline Python documentation
  • UI editor for prototyping
  • Share sheet and system-wide keyboard extensions
  • Shortcuts app integration
Features
Currently charting
Read full description

Pythonista is a complete scripting environment for Python 3.10, running right on your iPad or iPhone, so you can develop and run Python scripts on the go. Like Python itself, "batteries are included" – from popular third-party modules like requests, numpy, matplotlib, pandas (and many more) to modules that are tailor-made for iOS. With Pythonista, your scripts can access sensor/location data, your photo library, contacts, reminders, the clipboard, and more, allowing you to harness the full potential of both Python and iOS. Pythonista is designed with a user-friendly interface that makes it easy for anyone to get started with coding, regardless of skill level. The complete Python documentation is also available for offline reading in the app. Pythonista is not just for learning and practicing Python – it's also a powerful tool for automating iOS with multiple app extensions. You can invoke scripts directly from the share sheet or a custom system keyboard in almost any app, and integrate scripts with Shortcuts and Siri. With Pythonista, it's easy to run your scripts whenever you need them, without having to switch between different apps. Features: > Powerful code editor with syntax highlighting, code completion, and scripting support > Interactive prompt with code completion, command history, and support for showing images > Integrated visual debugger and object inspector > Complete offline documentation with quick lookup directly from the editor > Various beautiful light and dark color themes, and a theme editor to make your own > UI editor for quick prototyping > Integrated PEP 8 style checker and code formatter > Supports most of the Python standard library and additional modules for graphics, sound, and iOS integration (for example clipboard, contacts, reminders, photos, ui...) > Many popular third-party modules included, for example requests, numpy, matplotlib, pandas, Pillow... > Lots of included examples > Universal app for iPad and iPhone > Share sheet extension for running scripts from almost any app > Scriptable system-wide keyboard to use Python in any app that edits text > Advanced integration with the Shortcuts app, allowing you to use Python scripts as actions in shortcuts and personal automations. Please note that Pythonista is not designed to enable the installation or download of additional modules written in compiled languages (C/C++). While many popular native libraries are included and work out-of-the-box, it is generally not possible to install additional modules with C/C++ dependencies. The name "Pythonista" is used with kind permission from the Python Software Foundation.

Screenshots

Codea4 screens
Pythonista 34 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Codea at Free against Pythonista 3's $9.99. Codea also leads on update cadence (every 2 weeks vs every 19 months) and review sentiment (90% vs 73%). Pythonista 3's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 3) and ratings volume (1.5K vs 126). On rating, 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

Codea is free to download; Pythonista 3 costs $9.99 up front. Codea sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month. Pythonista 3 asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.5 for Codea against 4.5 for Pythonista 3. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Pythonista 3 has 1.5K ratings behind it against 126, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 90% of Codea's written reviews are positive against 73% of Pythonista 3's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Codea ships an update every 2 weeks, Pythonista 3 every 19 months. The most recent releases landed on September 7, 2026 and September 22, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard8 real differences · 3 level
Codea versus Pythonista 3: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterCodeaPythonista 3
PriceFree — better$9.99
Rating4.5 (126 ratings)4.5 (1.5K ratings)
Positive reviews89.6% of reviews — better73.4% of reviews
Number of ratings1261.5K — better
Update frequencyEvery 2 weeks — betterEvery 19 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFreemium — betterPaid
Best chart rank#23 — better
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS18.612.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size217 MB853 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperTwo Lives Leftomz:software

Customer experience

Codea

All ratings126 ratings
Positive86.5%
Neutral4.0%
Negative9.5%
Written reviews308 reviews
Positive89.6%
Neutral4.9%
Negative5.5%

Pythonista 3

All ratings1,522 ratings
Positive85.3%
Neutral3.9%
Negative10.8%
Written reviews538 reviews
Positive73.4%
Neutral6.7%
Negative19.9%

Bugs and requests

Codea

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • App crashes when switching between documents
  • Xcode export not working with latest version of Xcode
  • Keyboard and cursor issues when using Bluetooth keyboard

Requested features

3 requests
  • Add ability to import sounds and 3D models
  • Improve documentation and provide more tutorials
  • Add support for more programming languages beyond Lua

Pythonista 3

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

3 purchases

Codea

Subscriptions2
  • Codea Pro (Monthly)$4.991 Month
  • Codea Pro (Yearly)$29.991 Year
One-time1
  • Codea Pro Lifetime$99.99
None

Pythonista 3

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Codea free?
Codea is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Pythonista 3 free?
Pythonista 3 costs $9.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Codea or Pythonista 3?
Codea and Pythonista 3 are both rated 4.5 out of 5 on the App Store, from 126 and 1.5K ratings respectively.
Do Codea or Pythonista 3 have ads?
Neither Codea nor Pythonista 3 shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Codea or Pythonista 3?
Codea ships an update every 2 weeks, and Pythonista 3 every 19 months. Most recently, Codea was updated on September 7, 2026 and Pythonista 3 on September 22, 2026.

Other comparisons