# Codea vs Pythonista 3

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.

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.

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.

Codea ships an update every 2 weeks, Pythonista 3 every 19 months. The most recent releases landed on September 7, 2026 and September 24, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | Codea | Pythonista 3 |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | **Free** | $9.99 |
| Rating | [4.5 (126 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/codea/id439571171/reviews) | [4.5 (1.5K ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/pythonista-3/id1085978097/reviews) |
| Number of ratings | 126 | **1.5K** |
| Positive reviews | **89.6% of reviews** | 73.4% of reviews |
| In-app purchases | Yes | **No** |
| Ads | No | No |
| Update frequency | **Every 2 weeks** | Every 19 months |
| Monetization | **Freemium** | Paid |
| Best chart rank | — | **#23** |
| Size | 217 MB | 853 MB |
| Requires iOS | 18.6 | **12.0** |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | **iPhone, iPad, iPod** |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | [Two Lives Left](https://appshunter.io/developer/335953314) | [omz:software](https://appshunter.io/developer/285608316) |

## What reviewers say

### Codea

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/codea/id439571171)

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:** macOS Compatibility, Family Sharing, Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases (3)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Codea Pro (Monthly) | $4.99 | per month |
| Codea Pro (Yearly) | $29.99 | per year |
| Codea Pro Lifetime | $99.99 | one-time |

**What reviewers like**

- 🚀 Great for making games
- 👍 Lets me code when I feel the itch
- 💡 Powerful, Playful Development Environment
- 👍 Fantastic prototyping tool
- 👍 One of the best programming apps on iPad

**What reviewers complain about**

- 🐛 Assets don't work
- 🐛 Need Pencil scrolling slider. TOO MUCH ACCIDENTAL WRITING
- 🐛 Crashes frequently
- 🐛 Bugs with keyboard and cursor issues

**Reported bugs**

- 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**

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


### Pythonista 3

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/pythonista-3/id1085978097)

**Currently charting:** #23 Top Paid · Productivity (US App Store)

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:** macOS Compatibility, Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases:** none


## Frequently asked 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 24, 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.*