Comparison

Technology Readiness Levels vs System Designer

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

Head to head
About

Technology Readiness Levels

Quickly access definitions and descriptions for Department of Defense and NASA Technology Readiness Levels (TRLs). Understand the distinctions between different TRL stages and their supporting information.

Highlights
  • DoD and NASA TRL definitions
  • Detailed descriptions for each TRL
  • Supporting information (DoD)
  • SETR Process alignment (DoD)
  • Quick reference guide
Read full description

This is a quick-reference app for the Department of Defense and NASA Technology Readiness Levels (TRLs). It features definitions for both DoD and NASA! For each TRL, the app includes: *Definition *Description *Supporting information (DoD only) *SETR Process alignment (DoD only) Everyone needs a reminder now and then. What's the difference between TRL 5 and TRL 6? Is your invention at TRL 4 or at TRL 5? What's the difference between TRL 1 and TRL 2? All ThinChip Software apps are now available free of charge!

About

System Designer

Design complex systems using a low-code platform that leverages UML standards. Generate code skeletons and manage components graphically. Run and test your system with dynamic type checking.

Highlights
  • UML-based system modeling
  • Code skeleton generation
  • Graphical component creation
  • MSON format for model definition
  • Dynamic type checking
  • Cross-device synchronization via GitHub
Features
Read full description

System Designer is a low-code development platform for creating systems. No matter the frameworks you use and the code you write, the most important is the model that you define to create your system. System Designer helps you to design this model and to generate the classes and components to build your system. DESIGN YOUR SYSTEM WITH EASE If you look at the different JavaScript frameworks on the market, you will notice that they all have their own way to define a model, generally only with code. System Designer uses UML, a standard, to define your model. So you probably already know how to design in System Designer even if you have never run it. The definition of the model is stored on a JSON format called MSON. With MSON you can define types, classes, one to one / one to many relationships and multi inheritance between classes. CODE THE BEHAVIOR OF YOUR SYSTEM Once you have created your model, System Designer generates the skeletons of all your methods. You only have then to add your code to implement them. System Designer provides you helpers to manage your components. You can easily navigate threw your components to create your application. CREATE COMPONENTS GRAPHICALLY There is no need to code to instantiate a component. Create a component in System Designer is like creating a document in a NoSQL Database. In fact, System Designer acts as an ODM (Object-Document Mapper) to manage your components as NoSQL Documents. RUN YOUR SYSTEM You can run your system directly from System Designer. Because you have defined a model for your application, a Dynamic Type Check is done on every action of your system. All warnings are send and shown in System Designer. DESIGN ON THE GO System Designer can be used on macOS, iPad or any browsers. System Designer has a Github module to synchronize your work between all these apps. You can begin your design on your Mac and then continue it on your iPad.

Screenshots

Technology Readiness Levels3 screens
System Designer3 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Technology Readiness Levels at 5.0 against System Designer's 4.4. System Designer's advantage is update cadence (monthly vs every 8 months) and ratings volume (17 vs 2). On price, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model 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

Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Technology Readiness Levels holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.4. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: System Designer has 17 ratings behind it against 2, so its average is the more settled of the two.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Technology Readiness Levels ships an update every 8 months, System Designer monthly. The most recent releases landed on June 1, 2026 and September 18, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
Technology Readiness Levels versus System Designer: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterTechnology Readiness LevelsSystem Designer
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (2 ratings) — better4.4 (17 ratings)
Positive reviews—77.8% of reviews
Number of ratings217 — better
Update frequencyEvery 8 monthsMonthly — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFreeFree
DevicesiPhoneiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS26.015.6 — better
Further details — not scored
Size1 MB7 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperRussell ShannonErwan Carriou

Customer experience

Technology Readiness Levels

All ratings2 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

System Designer

All ratings17 ratings
Positive88.2%
Neutral0.0%
Negative11.8%
Written reviews9 reviews
Positive77.8%
Neutral0.0%
Negative22.2%

In-app purchases

None

Technology Readiness Levels

No in-app purchases

None

System Designer

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Technology Readiness Levels free?
Technology Readiness Levels is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is System Designer free?
System Designer is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Technology Readiness Levels or System Designer?
Technology Readiness Levels is rated higher. Technology Readiness Levels averages 5.0 out of 5 from 2 ratings, while System Designer averages 4.4 from 17 ratings.
Do Technology Readiness Levels or System Designer have ads?
Neither Technology Readiness Levels nor System Designer shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Technology Readiness Levels or System Designer?
Technology Readiness Levels ships an update every 8 months, and System Designer monthly. Most recently, Technology Readiness Levels was updated on June 1, 2026 and System Designer on September 18, 2026.

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