Comparison

Calca vs MathDown

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

MathDown

Create markdown documents with live LaTeX math rendering. Define variables and functions, and enjoy automatic algebraic simplification for beautifully typeset equations. Perfect for math notes, homework, and tutorials.

Highlights
  • Live LaTeX math rendering
  • Define and reuse variables
  • Create and evaluate functions
  • Automatic algebraic simplification
  • Full LaTeX support
Features
Read full description

Pay once, use forever. No subscriptions! Write markdown documents with live LaTeX math rendering. Expressions inside $ and $$ blocks are automatically parsed, evaluated, and displayed as beautifully typeset equations. • Define variables and reuse them across your document • Create functions like let f(x) = x^2 and evaluate them • Automatic algebraic simplification combines like terms • Full LaTeX support: fractions, roots, subscripts, superscripts Perfect for math notes, homework, tutorials, or any document where you want calculations that update as you type.

Screenshots

Calca4 screens
MathDown4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: MathDown at none against Calca's 2. MathDown also leads on update cadence (every 3 weeks vs every 5 months) and review sentiment (100% vs 76%). Calca's advantage is chart position (#193 vs unranked) and iOS requirement (15.0 vs 26.0). On price, 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

Calca costs $9.99 and MathDown $9.99 up front. Calca sells 2 one-off in-app purchases. MathDown asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Calca ships an update every 5 months, MathDown every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 17, 2026 and October 12, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 5 level
Calca versus MathDown: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterCalcaMathDown
Price$9.99$9.99
Rating4.5 (153 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews76.5% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings153 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 5 monthsEvery 3 weeks — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases — betterPaid
Best chart rank#193 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, Mac
Requires iOS15.0 — better26.0
Further details — not scored
Size78 MB13 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperKrueger Systems, Inc.Milestone Made, LLC

Customer experience

Calca

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

MathDown

Written reviews1 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

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

MathDown

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

2 purchases

Calca

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

MathDown

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Calca free?
Calca costs $9.99, and also offers in-app purchases.
Is MathDown free?
MathDown costs $9.99, with no in-app purchases.
Do Calca or MathDown have ads?
Neither Calca nor MathDown shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Calca or MathDown?
Calca ships an update every 5 months, and MathDown every 3 weeks. Most recently, Calca was updated on October 17, 2026 and MathDown on October 12, 2026.

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