Comparison

Calca vs KDE Connect

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

Head to head
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!

About

KDE Connect

Seamlessly integrate your devices with features like a shared clipboard, file sharing, and remote control. Use your phone as a virtual touchpad or keyboard, and even control presentations remotely. All communication is secured with end-to-end encryption.

Highlights
  • Shared clipboard
  • File and URL sharing
  • Virtual touchpad and keyboard
  • Remote presentation control
  • Remote command execution
  • End-to-end encryption
Read full description

KDE Connect provides a set of features to integrate your workflow across devices: - Shared clipboard: copy and paste between your devices. - Share files and URLs to your computer from any app. - Virtual touchpad and keyboard: Use your phone screen as your computer's touchpad or keyboard - Remote presentation remote: control a laser pointer on the screen of your computer by moving your phone around. - Remote commands: run commands on your computer from your phone. - End-to-end TLS encryption: your information is safe. Please note you will need to install KDE Connect on your other computers/phones/tablets and keep the version up-to-date for the latest features to work. This app is part of an open source project and it exists thanks to all the people who contributed to it. Please visit the KDE Connect website to grab the source code.

Screenshots

Calca4 screens
KDE Connect4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: KDE Connect at Free against Calca's $9.99. KDE Connect also leads on in-app purchases (none vs 2). Calca's advantage is rating (4.5 vs 4.2) and review sentiment (76% vs 61%). On ratings volume, update cadence, ads 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

KDE Connect is free to download; Calca costs $9.99 up front. Calca sells 2 one-off in-app purchases. KDE Connect asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Calca holds the better App Store score, 4.5 against 4.2. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 153 and 271 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 76% of Calca's written reviews are positive against 61% of KDE Connect's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Calca ships an update every 5 months, KDE Connect every 3 months. The most recent releases landed on September 25, 2026 and September 11, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
Calca versus KDE Connect: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterCalcaKDE Connect
Price$9.99Free — better
Rating4.5 (153 ratings) — better4.2 (271 ratings)
Positive reviews76.5% of reviews — better60.9% of reviews
Number of ratings153271 — better
Update frequencyEvery 5 monthsEvery 3 months — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac — better
Requires iOS15.014.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size78 MB8 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperKrueger Systems, Inc.KDE e.V.

Customer experience

Calca

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

KDE Connect

All ratings271 ratings
Positive79.7%
Neutral4.1%
Negative16.2%
Written reviews338 reviews
Positive60.9%
Neutral10.4%
Negative28.7%

User reviews

Calca

From 153 App Store ratings

What 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

KDE Connect

From 271 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Works seamlessly across devices
  • 👍 Easy to set up and use
  • 🔒 Secure file transfer
  • 💡 Innovative remote control features
  • 🤖 Great for Linux/KDE integration

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Occasional crashes and connectivity issues
  • 🔋 Drains battery when running in the background
  • 🤖 Limited functionality on iOS compared to Android
  • 🤔 Pairing can be unreliable at times

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
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

KDE Connect

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Clipboard push feature not working
  • App crashes on launch for some users
  • Incompatibility with certain device/OS combinations
  • Inability to discover/connect to devices in some cases

Requested features

5 requests
  • Add support for background operation
  • Improve multi-file transfer capabilities
  • Integrate with system share sheet
  • Implement two-finger scrolling and other gestures
  • Add SMS/notification sync features

In-app purchases

2 purchases

Calca

One-time2
  • 6-Month Optional Patronage$4.99
  • 12-Month Optional Patronage$7.99
None

KDE Connect

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Calca free?
Calca costs $9.99, and also offers in-app purchases.
Is KDE Connect free?
KDE Connect is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Calca or KDE Connect?
Calca is rated higher. Calca averages 4.5 out of 5 from 153 ratings, while KDE Connect averages 4.2 from 271 ratings.
Do Calca or KDE Connect have ads?
Neither Calca nor KDE Connect shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Calca or KDE Connect?
Calca ships an update every 5 months, and KDE Connect every 3 months. Most recently, Calca was updated on September 25, 2026 and KDE Connect on September 11, 2026.

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