Comparison

Report Monster vs Calca

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

Head to head
About

Report Monster

Capture site photos and notes instantly to generate professional PDF reports. Supports multiple images per report, drawing tools, and GPS tagging. Export reports via email, Dropbox, or Evernote.

Highlights
  • Capture photos and notes on-site
  • Generate professional PDF reports
  • Annotate images with drawing tools
  • Insert maps and tag locations
  • Automatic photo labeling
  • Flexible export options
Features
Read full description

• Used by thousands of businesses and Government agencies across the globe! • WHAT OUR CUSTOMERS HAVE BEEN SAYING: "..I've found it amazing for creating my properties information, and has been a blockbuster with my fellow colleagues.." "..I love report monster.." '..Love your work, that's why I upgraded.." "..exactly the sort of report app I am looking for.." Report Monster is the ultimate field book. Easily capture photos and notes directly on-site. Send professional PDF reports back to your office instantly using Dropbox, Evernote or Email. USE REPORT MONSTER FOR: • Visual Instructions • Installation Records • Site Survey • Design Scoping • Quality Assurance • Claims Adjuster Notes • Asset Management • Property Inspection • Audit Report IN THESE INDUSTRIES: •  Government and Council •  Power and Telecommunication Utilities •  Engineering and Consulting •  Building and Construction •  Insurance •  Real Estate MULTIPLE PHOTOS PER REPORT Take photos with the built-in camera, or use images from the photo library as your main drawing canvas. Add extra detail with 'picture in picture' inset images (requires Pro upgrade). ANNOTATE WITH DRAWING TOOLS Add mark-ups to images using professional drawing tools such as polylines, dimensions, arrows, free-hand draw and text boxes. ADD NOTES TO IMAGES Every page has a dedicated notes field for adding additional information about each image. CREATE AND INSERT FORMS Use the form builder to create custom forms (requires Pro upgrade). Quickly capture field data with free text, multi choice, date and number pickers. INSERT MAPS Add standard maps, satellite imagery, or even Street View images. TAG YOUR LOCATION Pin the report to your current GPS location, or manually re-position as desired. The address is automatically translated and added to your report. AUTOMATIC PHOTO LABELING Captured photos can be automatically labeled with the report name and exported using iTunes at full quality. Eliminates the tedious manual naming of photo files back in the office! COMMON FILE TYPE Easily save the report in PDF format. FLEXIBLE STORAGE AND EXPORT OPTIONS All reports are stored locally on the iPad and can be exported using Email, Dropbox and Evernote. NOTE: The free version of Report Monster supports up to 3 pages per report. An ‘In App Purchase’ allows you to unlock the full 20 pages and 'Form Builder', plus other features.

About

Calca

This app is an advanced symbolic calculator and text editor. It solves equations, simplifies expressions, and allows you to explain your work alongside calculations. Calculations update instantly as you type, and all data is stored as plain text for easy sharing and device syncing.

Highlights
  • Symbolic calculation
  • Equation solving
  • Expression simplification
  • Markdown text editor
  • Real-time updates
  • Unit and currency conversion
  • Matrix operations
Features
Read full description

Calca is a powerful symbolic calculator that gives you instant answers as you type. It solves equations and simplifies complex expressions - it's a computer algebra system in your pocket! It's also a rich Markdown text editor so that you can explain your ideas alongside your calculations. Calca is perfect for professionals and students - anyone who works with numbers and equations. Variables and functions can be created with only a few keystrokes and can be manipulated with a rich library of operators and functions. Calca updates as you type - just like a spreadsheet. You can declare variables, edit their values and watch everything update before your eyes. Since everything is calculated on the device - no network needed - you get answers instantaneously. All calculations are stored as plain text so you can easily share them with other editors and move them from device to device. Calca has been designed to work with iCloud documents so all your devices can access your calculations - you'll always have the latest files ready for viewing and editing. Calca comes with a suite of examples to help you get started covering topics from home mortgages to kinetics. All these examples are fully explained within Calca itself. Are you still using a desktop calculator? Are you using the calculator with the giant buttons that came with your OS? Computers are much more capable than doing simple one-line arithmetic - put your machine to work with Calca! Calculation Features: • Variables `x = 42` • Functions `f(c) = 9/5*c + 32` and even recursive functions • Units `42 mph in kmph` and currency `¥599 in $` • Solves equations (`x + 2x + 4x = 42`, what is x?) • Matrices with inverses so you can solve linear equations • Sum, prod, map, and reduce operations on lists, matrices, and ranges • Trigonometry and complex numbers • Derivatives of functions • Logic operations and if statements • Binary math (& and |) and support for binary and hex number (`0xA9` and `0b1010`) • Keeps track of units (m, s, m/s, m/s^2, etc.) so you can verify your equations as you compute Please visit http://calca.io to see lots of examples. Thank you for looking!

Screenshots

Calca4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Report Monster at Free against Calca's $9.99. Report Monster also leads on update cadence (every 3 weeks vs every 5 months) and iOS requirement (10.0 vs 15.0). Calca's advantage is rating (4.5 vs 1.6) and review sentiment (76% vs 48%). On 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

Report Monster is free to download; Calca costs $9.99 up front. Report Monster sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and Calca sells 2 one-off in-app purchases. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Calca holds the better App Store score, 4.5 against 1.6. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Calca has 157 ratings behind it against 10, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 48% of Report Monster's written reviews are positive against 76% of Calca's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Report Monster ships an update every 3 weeks, Calca every 5 months. Both last shipped on November 1, 2026.

Scorecard7 real differences · 3 level
Report Monster versus Calca: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterReport MonsterCalca
PriceFree — better$9.99
Rating1.6 (10 ratings)4.5 (157 ratings) — better
Positive reviews48.3% of reviews76.5% of reviews — better
Number of ratings10157 — better
Update frequencyEvery 3 weeks — betterEvery 5 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPadiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS10.0 — better15.0
Further details — not scored
Size36 MB78 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperFilu LtdKrueger Systems, Inc.

Customer experience

Report Monster

All ratings10 ratings
Positive10.0%
Neutral10.0%
Negative80.0%
Written reviews29 reviews
Positive48.3%
Neutral6.9%
Negative44.8%

Calca

All ratings153 ratings
Positive87.6%
Neutral4.6%
Negative7.8%
Written reviews170 reviews
Positive76.5%
Neutral7.1%
Negative16.5%

Bugs and requests

Report Monster

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

Calca

Reported bugs

12 issues
  • Magic Keyboard causes number input to overwrite instead of append
  • Text selection before numbers triggers increment/decrement instead of selecting
  • Cursor jumps forward and backward with external keyboards
  • iPad Pro keyboard truncation in portrait mode
  • Arrow key (=>) doesn't work in landscape mode
Show 7 more
  • App crashes on startup on some devices
  • File saving is temperamental and causes data loss
  • Folders don't persist unless calculations created within them
  • Large number calculations lose precision (10^100 + 1 - 10^100 returns 0 instead of 1)
  • Keyboard focus issues on iPad with Magic Keyboard
  • iOS 13+ button adaptation issues
  • Spinning beach ball on very large calculations

Requested features

15 requests
  • Files app and document browser integration
  • Dropbox and Google Drive support
  • Date calculation functionality
  • Looping and iteration support
  • User-defined function storage in separate files
Show 10 more
  • Temperature unit support (Celsius, Fahrenheit)
  • Logarithmic and non-proportional unit definitions
  • Multiple parametric plots simultaneously
  • Landscape mode optimization
  • Tabular data and multi-row markdown table support
  • Dark mode (now implemented)
  • Subscription model option for ongoing development
  • Decimal place formatting control
  • Charting and financial functions
  • Better document management interface

In-app purchases

1 purchases

Report Monster

One-time1
  • Report Monster Pro Upgrade$19.99
2 purchases

Calca

One-time2
  • 6-Month Optional Patronage$4.99
  • 12-Month Optional Patronage$7.99

Questions

Is Report Monster free?
Report Monster is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Calca free?
Calca costs $9.99, and also offers in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Report Monster or Calca?
Calca is rated higher. Report Monster averages 1.6 out of 5 from 10 ratings, while Calca averages 4.5 from 157 ratings.
Do Report Monster or Calca have ads?
Neither Report Monster nor Calca shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Report Monster or Calca?
Report Monster ships an update every 3 weeks, and Calca every 5 months. Most recently, Report Monster was updated on November 1, 2026 and Calca on November 1, 2026.

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