# Codea vs Occam SI

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Occam SI at none against Codea's 3. Codea's advantage is update cadence (every 2 weeks vs every 2 months) and iOS requirement (18.5 vs 26.0). On price, ads 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. Occam SI asks for nothing beyond the download.

Codea ships an update every 2 weeks, Occam SI every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on October 23, 2026 and October 12, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | Codea | Occam SI |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | **[4.5 (126 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/codea/id439571171/reviews)** | — |
| Number of ratings | **126** | — |
| Positive reviews | 88.1% of reviews | — |
| In-app purchases | Yes | **No** |
| Ads | No | No |
| Update frequency | **Every 2 weeks** | Every 2 months |
| Monetization | Freemium | — |
| Size | 230 MB | 47 MB |
| Requires iOS | **18.5** | 26.0 |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | **iPhone, iPad, Mac** |
| Age rating | 4+ | 17+ |
| Developer | [Two Lives Left](https://appshunter.io/developer/335953314) | [Dakota Bullard](https://appshunter.io/developer/1865709291) |

## 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


### Occam SI

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/occam-si/id6759069376)

**Features:** Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases:** none


## Frequently asked questions

### Is Codea free?

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

### Is Occam SI free?

Occam SI is free to download, with no in-app purchases.

### Do Codea or Occam SI have ads?

Neither Codea nor Occam SI shows ads.

### Which is updated more often, Codea or Occam SI?

Codea ships an update every 2 weeks, and Occam SI every 2 months. Most recently, Codea was updated on October 23, 2026 and Occam SI on October 12, 2026.

---

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