Comparison

Algodoo vs murmeli

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

Head to head
About

Algodoo

Design and experiment with realistic 2D physics simulations. Build intricate machines, create virtual science experiments, and explore cause and effect. Share your creations and discover those of others in a vibrant community.

Highlights
  • Create objects with shapes or free-hand drawing
  • Combine components for intricate machines
  • Choose and customize materials
  • Simulate physics with gravity and aerodynamics
  • Explore ideas through trial and error
  • Build animations, contraptions, and experiments
  • Access community-created scenes
Read full description

Bring your ideas to life with realistic physics in Algodoo. This creative and educational app lets you design two-dimensional scenes where objects move according to the laws of physics. See cause and effect in action and refine your builds to perfection. Algodoo is a virtual 2D construction set to enjoy the creative thrill of building fun scenes and machines. You’ll never run out of parts. You can go deeper and analyse the motion and learn about mechanical devices. Once you master the tools and principles, you can build sandbox games or mesmerising, complex simulations. • Use basic 2D geometrical shapes or the free-hand drawing tool to create objects. • Combine components like axles, springs, motors, ropes, and lasers to create intricate machines. • Choose from various materials—steel, wood, rubber, water, and helium—and customise at will. • Press “Simulate” to bring your scene to life, moving under the forces of gravity, aerodynamics, buoyancy, and more. • Use trial and error to explore ideas and perfect your inventions. • Express your imagination with vibrant colors, shapes, and textures. Looking to build animations, contraptions, marble races, moving structures, chain reactions, or virtual science experiments? With Algodoo, the possibilities for invention, creativity, and exploration are endless. With the Quick Tour and tutorial videos, you can easily learn Algodoo’s basic tools and principles. It's not just for fun— the scientific foundation of Algodoo makes it a great teaching and learning aid for exploring physics concepts, operating principles of machines, and even construction. Discover the creativity of others and get inspired for your next build by visiting the Algobox library. Access thousands of scenes created by the Algodoo community and share your own creations by signing up for an Algobox account. Algodoo offers endless fun for users of all ages. Download the app now and start building, and search for #Algodoo on YouTube or social media to explore videos showcasing imaginative creations from our global community.

About

murmeli

Design and build intricate marble runs with a sophisticated yet intuitive interface. This app fosters logical thinking, spatial imagination, and creativity while offering a calming experience and a sense of achievement for all ages.

Highlights
  • Intelligent marble run construction
  • Multi-layered path design
  • Promotes logical thinking
  • Stimulates creative thinking
  • Calming and concentration-building
  • Cross-device syncing
Features
Read full description

With murmeli you can construct intelligent & aesthetic marble runs. Thanks to the sophisticated and intuitive user interface, you can create sophisticated marble runs with multi-layered paths in a short time. In a playful way, murmeli promotes skills such as logical thinking, spatial imagination and visual perception. The countless variations on how a marble run can be built also stimulate creative thinking and problem-solving skills. At the same time, murmeli has a calming effect and promotes the ability to concentrate. Besides all these positive characteristics, murmeli regularly leads to a sense of achievement, which has a positive influence on self-confidence. Due to all these positive properties, murmeli is particularly suitable for supporting the development of cognitive abilities in children of all ages. However, murmeli is designed for people of all ages and offers exciting challenges for adults as well. murmeli is optimized for iOS, iPadOS and macOS devices. Once downloaded, murmeli is available on all these devices. Marble runs can be saved at any time and are automatically synced to all your devices.

Screenshots

murmeli4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: murmeli at Free against Algodoo's $7.99. murmeli also leads on rating (4.6 vs 3.8) and device support (4 vs 1). Algodoo's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 9) and update cadence (monthly vs every 3 months). On review sentiment, ads and iOS requirement 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

murmeli is free to download; Algodoo costs $7.99 up front. murmeli sells 9 one-off in-app purchases. Algodoo asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

murmeli holds the better App Store score, 4.6 against 3.8. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Algodoo has 878 ratings behind it against 77, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 59% of Algodoo's written reviews are positive against 56% of murmeli's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Algodoo ships an update monthly, murmeli every 3 months. The most recent releases landed on October 2, 2026 and September 25, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard7 real differences · 3 level
Algodoo versus murmeli: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterAlgodoomurmeli
Price$7.99Free — better
Rating3.8 (878 ratings)4.6 (77 ratings) — better
Positive reviews59.1% of reviews — better55.6% of reviews
Number of ratings878 — better77
Update frequencyMonthly — betterEvery 3 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree — betterFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPadiPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac — better
Requires iOS12.0 — better13.0
Further details — not scored
Size29 MB73 MB
Age rating9+4+
DeveloperAlgoryx Simulation ABMichael Stoeckli

Customer experience

Algodoo

All ratings878 ratings
Positive69.2%
Neutral7.5%
Negative23.2%
Written reviews714 reviews
Positive59.1%
Neutral12.5%
Negative28.4%

murmeli

All ratings77 ratings
Positive90.9%
Neutral6.5%
Negative2.6%
Written reviews9 reviews
Positive55.6%
Neutral0.0%
Negative44.4%

Bugs and requests

Algodoo

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Scenes resetting to tutorial
  • Textures and images not loading properly
  • Crashes when trying to import images
  • Buttons and controls not working as expected

Requested features

4 requests
  • Add text and scripting options on mobile
  • Improve mobile UI and controls
  • Implement more features from PC version
  • Fix issues with account bans and deletions

murmeli

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

None

Algodoo

No in-app purchases

9 purchases

murmeli

One-time9
  • Labyrinth$3.99
  • Branching$3.99
  • Parallel Start$4.99
Show 6 more
  • Tunnel$4.99
  • Connector$4.99
  • Crossroad$4.99
  • Double Lane$6.99
  • Metro$6.99
  • Acceleration$8.99

Questions

Is Algodoo free?
Algodoo costs $7.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is murmeli free?
murmeli is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Algodoo or murmeli?
murmeli is rated higher. Algodoo averages 3.8 out of 5 from 878 ratings, while murmeli averages 4.6 from 77 ratings.
Do Algodoo or murmeli have ads?
Neither Algodoo nor murmeli shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Algodoo or murmeli?
Algodoo ships an update monthly, and murmeli every 3 months. Most recently, Algodoo was updated on October 2, 2026 and murmeli on September 25, 2026.

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