Calca vs RayCrest Lab Calculator
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!
RayCrest Lab Calculator
This app assists researchers, students, and lab teams with essential calculations for preparing buffers, solutions, and dilutions. It provides practical guidance for weighing solids, mixing stocks, and titration, with built-in tools for buffer charts, recipes, and protocol timers.
- Buffer preparation guidance
- Henderson-Hasselbalch recipes
- Stock mixing and titration
- Solution and dilution calculations
- Mass/volume conversions
- Protocol timers
- Saved recipes and compounds
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RayCrest Lab Calculator is a bench-side calculator for researchers, students, and lab teams who prepare buffers, solutions, dilutions, and timed protocols. Turn buffer parameters into practical prep guidance. Choose a buffer, set target pH, concentration, volume, temperature, and preparation preference, then generate steps for weighing solids, mixing stocks, or titration. Built-in tools include: - Buffer charts and filterable buffer selection - Henderson-Hasselbalch buffer recipes - Stock mixing and titration guidance - Solution and dilution calculations - Mass/volume, mole/volume, and molarity conversions - Protocol timers for repeated lab steps - Optional compound lookup and manual molecular weight entry - Saved recipes, compounds, and preferences Designed for iPhone and iPad, RayCrest Lab Calculator keeps everyday lab math organized in one place. Use quick calculations at the bench on iPhone, or the larger iPad layout for planning recipes, viewing buffer ranges, and checking multiple values. Local by default: Saved recipes, compounds, and preferences are stored locally on your device. The app does not include analytics, advertising SDKs, or tracking frameworks. Manual calculators work without online lookup; optional compound search may use network access only when you choose to look up compound information. RayCrest Lab Calculator is a calculation aid for research and educational lab workflows. Always verify units, pH, reagent compatibility, and safety requirements before preparing reagents.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: RayCrest Lab Calculator at Free against Calca's $9.99. RayCrest Lab Calculator also leads on in-app purchases (none vs 2) and rating (4.7 vs 4.5). Calca's advantage is ratings volume (153 vs 3) and iOS requirement (15.0 vs 17.0). On 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
RayCrest Lab Calculator is free to download; Calca costs $9.99 up front. Calca sells 2 one-off in-app purchases. RayCrest Lab Calculator asks for nothing beyond the download.
RayCrest Lab Calculator holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 4.5. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Calca has 153 ratings behind it against 3, so its average is the more settled of the two.
Calca ships an update every 5 months, RayCrest Lab Calculator every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on October 13, 2026 and September 24, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Calca | RayCrest Lab Calculator |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $9.99 | Free — better |
| Rating | 4.5 (153 ratings) | 4.7 (3 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 76.5% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 153 — better | 3 |
| Update frequency | Every 5 months | Every 2 months — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 — better | 17.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 78 MB | 7 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Krueger Systems, Inc. | RAYCREST SOFTWARE LLC |
Customer experience
Calca
RayCrest Lab Calculator
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
RayCrest Lab Calculator
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Calca
- 6-Month Optional Patronage$4.99
- 12-Month Optional Patronage$7.99
RayCrest Lab Calculator
No in-app purchases









