Comparison

Calca vs Raycast

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

Raycast

This app extends your desktop productivity to your mobile device. It offers AI chat, note-taking, quick links, code snippets, and seamless cloud synchronization. Keep your essential tools and ideas accessible anywhere.

Highlights
  • AI chat with multiple models
  • Capture and organize notes
  • Save and access Quicklinks
  • Store code snippets and templates
  • Seamless cloud sync across devices
Features
Read full description

Introducing Raycast for iOS: Your all-in-one productivity toolkit with AI, notes, and more – now on mobile as the perfect companion to the macOS app. The app brings your favorite productivity tools from the Mac into your pocket. With Raycast for iOS, you can: • Chat with dozens of AI models from leading providers to get the perfect answers for any task • Capture, organize, and access your thoughts to never lose an important idea again • Save and open Quicklinks for instant access to your most important resources • Store and reuse code snippets and templates to save time on repetitive workflows • Enjoy seamless cloud sync to keep all your content updated across devices Whether you're a long-time Mac user or just discovering Raycast on iOS, you'll have your essential productivity tools always at hand. Raycast for iOS seamlessly extends your desktop workflow to mobile, ensuring you stay productive and organized wherever life takes you. Please note: Raycast for iOS requires a free Raycast account. Premium features available with a Raycast Pro subscription. Terms of Service: https://www.raycast.com/terms-of-service

Screenshots

Calca4 screens
Raycast4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Raycast at Free against Calca's $9.99. Raycast also leads on update cadence (every 11 days vs every 5 months). Calca's advantage is review sentiment (76% vs 55%) and iOS requirement (15.0 vs 18.0). On rating, ratings volume, ads and in-app purchases 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

Raycast is free to download; Calca costs $9.99 up front. Calca sells 2 one-off in-app purchases and Raycast sells 6 in-app purchases, starting at $9.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.5 for Calca against 4.5 for Raycast. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 153 and 242 respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 76% of Calca's written reviews are positive against 55% of Raycast's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Calca ships an update every 5 months, Raycast every 11 days. Both last shipped on September 25, 2026.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
Calca versus Raycast: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterCalcaRaycast
Price$9.99Free — better
Rating4.5 (153 ratings)4.5 (242 ratings)
Positive reviews76.5% of reviews — better54.8% of reviews
Number of ratings153242 — better
Update frequencyEvery 5 monthsEvery 11 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFreemium
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS15.0 — better18.0
Further details — not scored
Size78 MB239 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperKrueger Systems, Inc.Raycast Technologies

Customer experience

Calca

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

Raycast

All ratings242 ratings
Positive86.8%
Neutral2.5%
Negative10.7%
Written reviews126 reviews
Positive54.8%
Neutral12.7%
Negative32.5%

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

Raycast

From 242 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Running circles around Spotlight and Siri
  • 👍 Great start
  • 👍 Amazing fast and effective!
  • 👍 Finally!! Absolutely amazing
  • 👍 Am I really this early?

Room to improve

  • 💰 Useless w/o a Subscription
  • 📁 iOS Limitations Stifle Raycast
  • 🤖 Too Much AI
  • 🤖 Not really Raycast as we know it
  • 🤖 This Isn't Raycast

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

Raycast

Reported bugs

1 issue
  • Sync feature should be free at least for Raycast notes

Requested features

4 requests
  • Attach documents via the UI when starting a conversation
  • Sync between desktop and iOS chat history
  • Create notes quickly from the Share Sheet
  • Extensions support

In-app purchases

2 purchases

Calca

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

Raycast

Subscriptions6
  • Pro7 Days trial$9.991 Month
  • Advanced AI$19.991 Month
  • Max Plan$49.991 Month
Show 3 more
  • Pro14 Days trial$96.001 Year
  • Advanced AI$191.991 Year
  • Max Plan$479.991 Year

Questions

Is Calca free?
Calca costs $9.99, and also offers in-app purchases.
Is Raycast free?
Raycast is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Calca or Raycast?
Calca and Raycast are both rated 4.5 out of 5 on the App Store, from 153 and 242 ratings respectively.
Do Calca or Raycast have ads?
Neither Calca nor Raycast shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Calca or Raycast?
Calca ships an update every 5 months, and Raycast every 11 days. Most recently, Calca was updated on September 25, 2026 and Raycast on September 25, 2026.

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