# Codea vs CodeBrew

The clearest difference is rating: Codea at 4.5 against CodeBrew's 3.8. Codea also leads on update cadence (every 2 weeks vs every 3 months) and review sentiment (90% vs 69%). CodeBrew's advantage is monetization model (free vs freemium) and iOS requirement (15.0 vs 18.5). On price, ads, in-app purchases and device support there is nothing between them.

Both are free to download. Codea sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month and CodeBrew sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

Codea holds the better App Store score, 4.5 against 3.8. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Codea has 126 ratings behind it against 9, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 90% of Codea's written reviews are positive against 69% of CodeBrew's.

Codea ships an update every 2 weeks, CodeBrew every 3 months. The most recent releases landed on October 21, 2026 and October 16, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | Codea | CodeBrew |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | **[4.5 (126 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/codea/id439571171/reviews)** | [3.8 (9 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/codebrew-ide-for-java/id6475267297/reviews) |
| Number of ratings | **126** | 9 |
| Positive reviews | **89.7% of reviews** | 68.8% of reviews |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Ads | No | No |
| Update frequency | **Every 2 weeks** | Every 3 months |
| Monetization | Freemium | **Free** |
| Size | 230 MB | 379 MB |
| Requires iOS | 18.5 | **15.0** |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | **iPhone, iPad, iPod** |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | [Two Lives Left](https://appshunter.io/developer/335953314) | [Julius Naeumann](https://appshunter.io/developer/1402019766) |

## 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


### CodeBrew

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/codebrew-ide-for-java/id6475267297)

This mobile application provides a full Java Integrated Development Environment (IDE) for iOS devices. It features intelligent code completion, live issue highlighting, and includes the Java 21 JDK for offline use. Users can also explore game development with a custom graphics framework and learn from example projects.

**Highlights:** Java 21 JDK included, Offline coding support, Intelligent code completion, Live issue highlighting, Custom graphics framework for games, Example projects library

**Features:** macOS Compatibility

**In-app purchases (1)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| CodeBrew Pro | $17.99 | one-time |


## Frequently asked questions

### Is Codea free?

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

### Is CodeBrew free?

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

### Which has better reviews, Codea or CodeBrew?

Codea is rated higher. Codea averages 4.5 out of 5 from 126 ratings, while CodeBrew averages 3.8 from 9 ratings.

### Do Codea or CodeBrew have ads?

Neither Codea nor CodeBrew shows ads.

### Which is updated more often, Codea or CodeBrew?

Codea ships an update every 2 weeks, and CodeBrew every 3 months. Most recently, Codea was updated on October 21, 2026 and CodeBrew on October 16, 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.*