Calca vs Craft
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
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.
- Symbolic calculation
- Equation solving
- Expression simplification
- Markdown text editor
- Real-time updates
- Unit and currency conversion
- Matrix operations
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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!
Craft
This app helps you organize your thoughts, manage tasks, and boost productivity with an AI assistant. Create structured documents, plan your day, and connect with other tools for a seamless workflow across all your devices.
- AI Assistant for research and writing
- Structured document creation
- Native task management system
- Daily notes and calendar view
- Offline access and sync
- Integrations with other tools
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Unleash your creativity and take control of your plans with Craft, a productivity app that transforms how you write, organize, and get things done. Create structured documents, manage tasks, organize your knowledge with Collections, and chat about it all with the AI Assistant. With seamless sync across iPhone, iPad, Mac, and the web, your workspace is always ready, online or offline. WRITE ANYWHERE, ANYTIME Your best ideas don’t wait for an internet connection. Work seamlessly offline with full access to all features, then let your changes sync automatically when you reconnect. Whether you’re on iPhone, iPad, or Mac, Craft keeps your writing experience consistent and powerful. AI ASSISTANT IS THERE TO HELP For seamless research, text editing, or searching across your entire knowledge base, Craft’s AI Assistant keeps you in flow on every device you use Craft on. Powered by advanced large language models, it finds any note, answers questions based on your content, and helps you stay on top of your knowledge without making you maintain a strict organizational system. BUILT-IN TASK MANAGEMENT Turn your ideas into action with our native Tasks system. Capture tasks as they emerge in your notes, manage them in a dedicated Inbox, and access them from any page with the Assistant’s help. Set target dates, due dates, and reminders to stay on track. With a unified tasks view, it’s the perfect balance between AI-powered fluidity and a dedicated, always-available space. STAY ON TOP OF YOUR DAY Make daily planning effortless with Daily Notes. Capture quick thoughts, plan your schedule, track tasks, or maintain your personal journal, all in one dedicated space. Switch to the calendar view to visualize your progress, reflect on your week, and understand how your days are shaping up. CONNECT YOUR DOCS TO OTHER TOOLS Turn Craft into the home for your whole workflow. Connect your documents to popular AI chat tools and productivity apps using deep integrations and APIs. Save conversations into Craft, pull in tasks, events, or other content from your existing tools, or even use your Craft documents as a CMS for powering a blog or website. EVERYTHING YOU NEED - Available on iPhone, iPad, Mac, and the web - Markdown and keyboard shortcuts - Link sharing and web publishing - Version history - Fast, reliable sync - Advanced integrations and API support - AI-powered Assistant - Incredible customer support WHAT’S NEW Craft Assistant: your smart partner to brainstorm, research, and write. It can help you find your notes across your space, rewrite and summarize documents, all while keeping you in the flow. MCP & API: connect Craft to AI models and other tools in your productivity stack, turning it into an organizational layer and live memory. Whiteboards: turn thoughts into visuals with a spacious canvas for sketching ideas, mapping projects, and collaborating creatively. QUESTIONS? Contact us on X at @craftdocs or email feedback@craft.do SUBSCRIPTION DETAILS If you purchase a Craft subscription, you’ll be charged via the payment method associated with your Apple ID. Your account will be charged for renewal within 24 hours of the end of the current period. You can turn off auto-renewal at any time in your account settings on the App Store. Craft subscriptions are available as one-month and 12-month packages. Prices may vary depending on country and are subject to change without notice. Current subscriptions cannot be canceled during the active subscription period. If you don’t choose to purchase a Craft subscription, you can continue using Craft for free. Terms of service: https://www.craft.do/terms Privacy policy: https://www.craft.do/privacy
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: Craft at Free against Calca's $9.99. Craft also leads on update cadence (every 10 days vs every 5 months) and rating (4.8 vs 4.5). Calca's advantage is iOS requirement (15.0 vs 17.0). On ads, in-app purchases, monetization model 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
Craft is free to download; Calca costs $9.99 up front. Calca sells 2 one-off in-app purchases and Craft sells 9 in-app purchases, starting at $9.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
Craft holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 4.5. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Craft has 6.6K ratings behind it against 153, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 76% of Calca's written reviews are positive against 85% of Craft's.
Calca ships an update every 5 months, Craft every 10 days. The most recent releases landed on September 25, 2026 and September 24, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Calca | Craft |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $9.99 | Free — better |
| Rating | 4.5 (153 ratings) | 4.8 (6.6K ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 76.5% of reviews | 84.7% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 153 | 6.6K — better |
| Update frequency | Every 5 months | Every 10 days — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, Mac, Vision Pro — better |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 — better | 17.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 78 MB | 314 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Krueger Systems, Inc. | Craft Docs Limited |
Customer experience
Calca
Craft
User reviews
Calca
From 153 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 💡 Unique blend of text editor and calculator
- 📝 Markdown support for documentation
- 🔄 Dynamic recalculation of all values
- ⚙️ Powerful mathematical and algebraic capabilities
- 📊 Unit conversion and unit-aware calculations
Room to improve
- 🐛 Magic Keyboard input bugs on iPad
- ⚠️ Appears abandoned or poorly maintained
- 🐛 Text selection issues with external keyboards
- 📱 iPad landscape mode problems
- 🐛 Cursor jumping and screen jumping during editing
Craft
From 6.6K App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🚀 Absolutely amazing
- 👍 Beautiful, clean, simple, increasingly powerful
- 👍 Fantastic Essential App
- 👍 Intuitive and easy to use
- 👍 Seamless sync between devices
Room to improve
- 💰 Expensive subscription
- 🐛 Crashes after recent update
- 🔍 Lack of customization options (e.g. font size)
- 🔍 Inconsistent and confusing UI conventions
- 🔍 Lack of basic features like tags and tables
Bugs and 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
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- 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
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- 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
Craft
Reported bugs
3 issues- Crashes when using voice control dictation
- Inconsistent behavior when rearranging notes
- Exporting to PDF creates blank first page
Requested features
5 requests- Add support for tables and columns
- Implement tagging system for better organization
- Improve text editing and formatting options
- Integrate with more third-party apps and services
- Add graph view for visualizing note connections
In-app purchases
Calca
- 6-Month Optional Patronage$4.99
- 12-Month Optional Patronage$7.99
Craft
- Plus Monthly Subscription1 Month trial$9.991 Month
- Legacy - Monthly Subscription$10.991 Month
- Family Monthly Subscription1 Month trial$17.991 Month
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- Team Monthly Subscription$59.991 Month
- Plus Annual Subscription1 Year trial$95.991 Year
- Legacy - Annual Subscription$99.991 Year
- Family Annual Subscription1 Year trial$179.991 Year
- Business Monthly Subscription2 variants$299.001 Month
- Team Annual Subscription$599.001 Year









