Comparison

Brainf*ck vs PHP Recipes

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

Head to head
About

Brainf*ck

This tool provides an integrated development environment for an esoteric programming language known for its extreme minimalism. It allows users to write and execute programs using only eight simple commands, challenging and amusing programmers.

Highlights
  • Minimalist command set
  • Turing complete language
  • Instruction pointer execution
  • Byte cell array
  • Data pointer movement
  • Input/Output streams
Features
Read full description

Brain***k IDE is an esoteric programming language created in 1993 by Urban Müller, and is notable for its extreme minimalism. The language consists of only eight simple commands and an instruction pointer. While it is fully Turing complete, it is not intended for practical use, but to challenge and amuse programmers. Brain***k simply requires one to break commands into microscopic steps. The language's name is a reference to the slang term Brain***k, which refers to things so complicated or unusual that they exceed the limits of one's understanding. History In 1992, Urban Müller, a Swiss physics student, took over a small online archive for Amiga software. The archive grew more popular, and was soon mirrored around the world. Today, it is the world's largest Amiga archive, known as Aminet. Müller designed Brain***k with the goal of implementing it with the smallest possible compiler, inspired by the 1024-byte compiler for the FALSE programming language. Müller's original compiler was implemented in machine language and compiled to a binary with a size of 296 bytes. He uploaded the first Brain***k compiler to Aminet in 1993. The program came with a "Readme" file, which briefly described the language, and challenged the reader "Who can program anything useful with it? :)". Müller also included an interpreter and some quite elaborate examples. A second version of the compiler used only 240 bytes. As Aminet grew, the compiler became popular among the Amiga community, and in time it was implemented for other platforms. Several Brainf*ck compilers have been made smaller than 200 bytes, and one is only 100 bytes. Language design The language consists of eight commands, listed below. A Brain***k program is a sequence of these commands, possibly interspersed with other characters (which are ignored). The commands are executed sequentially, with some exceptions: an instruction pointer begins at the first command, and each command it points to is executed, after which it normally moves forward to the next command. The program terminates when the instruction pointer moves past the last command. The Brain***k language uses a simple machine model consisting of the program and instruction pointer, as well as an array of at least 30,000 byte cells initialized to zero; a movable data pointer (initialized to point to the leftmost byte of the array); and two streams of bytes for input and output (most often connected to a keyboard and a monitor respectively, and using the ASCII character encoding). Privacy policy: https://static.macflash.ru/PRIVACY_POLICY_EN Terms of use: https://static.macflash.ru/TERMS_OF_USE_EN

About

PHP Recipes

Access a curated collection of standard PHP and SQL code examples for quick reference. This app provides tested, ready-to-use "recipes" to save developers time, and is useful for exam preparation and interviews. All content is available offline and searchable.

Highlights
  • Directory of PHP and SQL operations
  • Tested code "recipes"
  • Offline access
  • Quick search by code or topic
  • Useful for exams and interviews
  • Cross-platform iOS and MacOS support
Features
Read full description

Tap Run and the real output appears right under the code, so you know what it does before it goes into your project. No PHP to install, no IDE, no setup, no account. 360+ short examples, one task each. Over 95% run on PHP 8.5. You know what you need, but not the exact syntax: • How do I pass values into an SQL query without concatenating strings? • How do I add a month to a date? • How do I build a random string from a given set of characters? Each has a working example here. • 21 sections, including arrays, classes and interfaces, enums, closures, exception handling, regular expressions, files, JSON and XML, databases, algorithms, and design patterns. • What changed from PHP 7.0 to 8.4, with before-and-after code: match expressions, named arguments, constructor property promotion, readonly properties, property hooks. • Reference, 150+ entries: keywords, magic methods, superglobals, and functions for strings, arrays, and files. Tap a word in the code to look it up. • 200+ SQL queries: JOIN, GROUP BY, subqueries, window functions; more than half run on a practice database. • Search looks inside the code: type array_map to find every example that uses it. • Edit an example and run your version, or write your own. • Works on iPhone, iPad, and Mac. • Everything except running code works offline. Free version: 200+ PHP examples and 120+ SQL queries, the full reference, and 12 runs and 12 edits a day (PHP and SQL runs share one limit). Full version: all examples and queries, unlimited edits and examples of your own, and up to 30 PHP and 80 SQL runs a day. One-time purchase, no subscription. Built by a developer for developers. The project behind it has been in active development since 2015.

Screenshots

Brainf*ck4 screens
PHP Recipes4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: PHP Recipes at 100% against Brainf*ck's 40%. PHP Recipes also leads on rating (5.0 vs 2.9). Brainf*ck's advantage is update cadence (every 2 weeks vs every 6 months) and ratings volume (10 vs 3). On price, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model 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

Both are free to download. Brainf*ck sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $1.49 per month and PHP Recipes sells 4 one-off in-app purchases. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

PHP Recipes holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 2.9. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 10 and 3 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 40% of Brainf*ck's written reviews are positive against 100% of PHP Recipes's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Brainf*ck ships an update every 2 weeks, PHP Recipes every 6 months. The most recent releases landed on October 26, 2026 and October 27, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
Brainf*ck versus PHP Recipes: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterBrainf*ckPHP Recipes
PriceFreeFree
Rating2.9 (10 ratings)5.0 (3 ratings) — better
Positive reviews40.0% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings10 — better3
Update frequencyEvery 2 weeks — betterEvery 6 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFreemiumFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac — betteriPhone, iPad, Mac
Requires iOS13.0 — better17.0
Further details — not scored
Size8 MB7 MB
Age rating12+4+
Developermacflash.ruFedor Obraztsov

Customer experience

Brainf*ck

All ratings10 ratings
Positive40.0%
Neutral10.0%
Negative50.0%
Written reviews10 reviews
Positive40.0%
Neutral10.0%
Negative50.0%

PHP Recipes

All ratings3 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews1 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

3 purchases

Brainf*ck

Subscriptions2
  • Premium month$1.491 Month
  • Premium year$4.991 Year
One-time1
  • Premium unlimited$9.99
4 purchases

PHP Recipes

One-time4
  • Оperations with example$0.99
  • PHP Samples$0.99
  • SQL queries$0.99
Show 1 more
  • Full version (no restrictions)$2.99

Questions

Is Brainf*ck free?
Brainf*ck is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is PHP Recipes free?
PHP Recipes is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Brainf*ck or PHP Recipes?
PHP Recipes is rated higher. Brainf*ck averages 2.9 out of 5 from 10 ratings, while PHP Recipes averages 5.0 from 3 ratings.
Do Brainf*ck or PHP Recipes have ads?
Neither Brainf*ck nor PHP Recipes shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Brainf*ck or PHP Recipes?
Brainf*ck ships an update every 2 weeks, and PHP Recipes every 6 months. Most recently, Brainf*ck was updated on October 26, 2026 and PHP Recipes on October 27, 2026.

Other comparisons