Circuit Playground vs Thangs
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Circuit Playground
This app serves as a comprehensive electronics reference and calculation tool. It helps makers and hobbyists by simplifying complex calculations for various circuits, deciphering component codes, and providing essential diagrams.
- Circuit value calculations
- Resistor and capacitor code deciphering
- Ohm's Law and power calculators
- Number and character conversions
- Series/parallel component calculations
- IC and connector pinout diagrams
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Circuit Playground simplifies electronics reference & calculation – so you can have more fun hacking, making, & building your projects. Features: • Calculate component values for Op Amp, 555, RC Filter, Resistor Divider circuits & more • Decipher resistor & capacitor codes with ease • Calculate power, resistance, current, and voltage with Ohm's Law & Power Calculators • Quickly convert between decimal, hexadecimal, binary or ASCII characters • Calculate values for multiple resistors or capacitors in series or parallel • Pinout diagrams for widely-used ICs, connectors, & boards • Find color for LED wavelength • Detect a magnet's polarity • Show off your project by submitting pics to Adafruit's Show & Tell • Access exclusive deals from Adafruit Industries All that, plus more functions & enhancements to come!
Thangs
Explore the largest 3D model search engine with over 15 million models. Discover new creators and connect with a growing community for CAD, 3D printing, AR, and VR applications. Find or upload tens of thousands of models weekly across various 3D formats.
- Largest 3D search engine
- Over 15 million 3D models
- Discover 3D creators
- Support for 30+ 3D formats
- Filters for 3D printing
- Connect with creators
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Whether a 3D printing enthusiast, CAD engineer, or AR VR consumer - Thangs is the first stop on your 3D journey: * Search: Largest 3D search engine on the planet, with over 15M models * Discover: Fastest growing community of 3D creators, with thousands of new models uploaded every week * Connect: Find your next favorite creator, follow them and be notified every time they upload new models With support for over 30 3D formats, Thangs users uploads tens of thousands of 3D models a week that span CAD, 3D printing, AR and VR use cases. If it isn’t on Thangs, use Thangs to search over 13M models across all major platforms. Powerful filters allow 3D printers to see only models which are available for 3D printing or additive manufacturing. Metaverse, Omniverse, or 3D printing in real life - Thangs exists to connect 3D creators with 3D consumers.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: Circuit Playground at 86% against Thangs's 24%. Circuit Playground also leads on rating (4.3 vs 3.0) and iOS requirement (12.0 vs 16.4). Thangs's advantage is price (Free vs $2.99) and update cadence (weekly vs every 6 weeks). On ads, in-app purchases 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
Thangs is free to download; Circuit Playground costs $2.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
Circuit Playground holds the better App Store score, 4.3 against 3.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Thangs has 117 ratings behind it against 19, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 86% of Circuit Playground's written reviews are positive against 24% of Thangs's.
Circuit Playground ships an update every 6 weeks, Thangs weekly. The most recent releases landed on September 26, 2026 and September 25, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Circuit Playground | Thangs |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $2.99 | Free — better |
| Rating | 4.3 (19 ratings) — better | 3.0 (117 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 86.0% of reviews — better | 23.8% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 19 | 117 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 6 weeks | Weekly — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free — better | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 12.0 — better | 16.4 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 27 MB | 46 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 12+ |
| Developer | Adafruit Industries | Physna, Inc |
Customer experience
Circuit Playground
Thangs
User reviews
Circuit Playground
From 19 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 👍 Clean, intuitive, easy-to-use interface
- 🚀 Fast load times and responsive performance
- 📚 Comprehensive reference tools and calculators
- 🎯 Resistor and capacitor color code tools
- 📍 Useful pinout references for various boards
Room to improve
- 🐛 Frequent crashes and stability issues
- ⚠️ Outdated and needs regular updates
- ❌ Limited calculator functionality and flexibility
- 🎨 Poor visual design in some areas
- 📱 Compatibility issues with newer iOS versions
Thangs
From 117 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🚀 Efficient 3D model search across multiple platforms
- 👍 Intuitive and clean user interface
- 💡 Image-based search functionality
- 🔄 Seamless syncing with website account
- 📱 Easy browsing on mobile devices
Room to improve
- 🐛 App stuck on splash/loading screen (critical)
- 🖼️ Images fail to load or display
- 🔐 Login functionality broken with 2FA
- ⚠️ Frequent app crashes
- 🔗 Paywall blocking most content
Bugs and requests
Circuit Playground
Reported bugs
10 issues- App crashes when opening multiple capacitors section
- LED Resistor Help Menu crashes the app
- Wavelength to Colour slider inoperable until text field activated
- Capacitor code function broken (incorrect default values)
- Number converter only accepts value 50
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- Resistor color codes show conflicting color solutions
- iPad side-wiping error with page ghosting
- Calculator input issues requiring excessive fiddling
- Document folder missing in version 2
- Crashes on iPad mini 1st generation
Requested features
21 requests- Update USB Type-C connector information
- Add transistor pinouts and HFE values
- Transistor and op-amp calculators
- Voltage divider calculator
- Arduino and Raspberry Pi pinout references
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- More Adafruit board pinouts (HATs, KiPPAHs, TFT, Trinkets)
- LED parallel circuit handling
- Logic gate truth tables (NAND, AND, NOR, etc.)
- Function generator with sine, square, sawtooth, triangle waves
- Tuned LC circuit calculator
- NPN and PNP transistor calculator
- Mica capacitor color codes for vintage radios
- Better PDF datasheet import (via Safari/Dropbox instead of iTunes)
- Ability to rename datasheets for easier identification
- Breadboard templates for drawing
- Number keypad instead of full keyboard for inputs
- Power dissipation calculations on resistor calculator
- Schematic symbol reference
- iCloud syncing for datasheets
- Direct browsing of Adafruit store within app
- iOS 11+ compatibility updates
Thangs
Reported bugs
12 issues- App freezes on splash screen and never loads
- Image preview loading failures
- 2FA login code submission button hidden behind keyboard
- Email/password login not functional
- App crashes within minutes of use
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- Scrolling broken on search results
- Touch input unresponsive on right side of screen
- Blank pages on iPad
- App incompatible with latest iOS versions
- Duplicate content in news feed
- Search results missing known models from Thingiverse
- Inconsistent app behavior between landscape and portrait modes
Requested features
10 requests- Direct download functionality from mobile app
- Dark mode option
- Ability to view liked models on mobile
- Zoom functionality for model images
- Save to collections feature
Show 5 moreShow fewer
- AR (augmented reality) model viewing
- Improved search result relevance
- Back button navigation
- Landscape/portrait mode consistency
- Remove redirect pages for direct downloads
In-app purchases
Circuit Playground
No in-app purchases
Thangs
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Circuit Playground free?
Is Thangs free?
Which has better reviews, Circuit Playground or Thangs?
Do Circuit Playground or Thangs have ads?
Which is updated more often, Circuit Playground or Thangs?
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