CalcMate vs Instacalc.com
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
CalcMate
This app combines note-taking with a powerful calculator, allowing you to perform calculations directly within your text. It handles math, currency, unit conversions, and date calculations, offering a streamlined alternative to spreadsheets and traditional calculators.
- Calculate math within text
- Currency and unit conversions
- Date calculations
- Organize notes with folders
- iCloud syncing
- Custom number keyboard
Read full descriptionHide full description
CalcMate is a powerful notepad with a built-in calculator that lets you write naturally while solving calculations instantly. Enter numbers, text, percentages, currencies, dates, and units—all in the same note. Whether you’re calculating invoices, tracking expenses, creating budgets, or making quick estimates, CalcMate eliminates the need to switch between a notes app, calculator, and spreadsheet. What you can do • Perform calculations directly inside your notes. • Calculate percentages, taxes, discounts, and tips. • Convert currencies and units. • Calculate dates and durations. • Create invoices, budgets, bills, and shopping lists. • Reference previous calculations and keep everything organized. Try these examples • 100 + 5 tip • 1000$ + 20% fee • 900$ + 20$ delivery + 1.5% • 500 USD in EUR • 10 BTC in USD • Today + 5 days • Tomorrow + 10 days • 1 kg in lb • subtotal — calculates the total of all previous lines • line5 — uses the result from line 5 • # this is a comment …and much more. Features • Smart note editor with live calculations • Organize notes with folders • Trash folder to restore or permanently delete notes • iCloud sync across your Apple devices • Optional custom number keyboard • Optional running total displayed above the keyboard We’d love your feedback Have questions, suggestions, or need help? Contact us at: lazyboardapp+calcmate@gmail.com
Instacalc.com
This app bridges the gap between simple calculators and complex spreadsheets. It allows for natural language input, variables, and advanced functions, making calculations quick and easy to check. Share your calculations via a permalink.
- Natural language calculations
- Variable and row support
- Excel-style functions
- Unit and currency conversions
- Scientific and programming commands
- Shareable calculation permalinks
Read full descriptionHide full description
Is a pocket calc too simple? Excel too much? Enter instacalc, the calc/spreadsheet sweet spot. Here's what users have to say: “I bleepin' love this site and I use it all the time. I especially love the simple variables and conversions.” “For quick ad-hoc calculations I like instacalc.com because: It's quick to write. It's free. It's less prone to mistakes and easier to check than Excel.” “An astonishing mixture between a simple calculator and a spreadsheet application.” Instacalc lets you... * Crunch numbers while seeing results in real-time * Use natural language (250k + 25%) * Use variables (profit = sales - cost) * Use excel-style functions (SUM, AVG, PMT...) * Use scientific and programming commands (trig, hex/bin, logical operators, if/else...) * Share a calc permalink with anyone (no login) * Use units (meters/feet, etc.) and currency, along with custom units * Dozens of more features (see below) If you login (free), the app syncs with the main instacalc.com website. Welcome to your new, favorite calculator. --- Here's a few more details on features: - Flexible Arithmetic: Easily manage calculations from "2 + 2 - 3" to complex expressions like "(3 * 5) / 2". - Instant Roots and Powers: Compute roots and powers in a snap, from "sqrt(9)" for square roots to "5^2" for exponents. - Master Percentages: Effortlessly calculate percentages, whether it's "5%", finding "17% of 200", or calculating "20 + 50%". - Modulo Operations: Solve "5 mod 3" quickly, perfect for programming and mathematical proofs. - Number Shortcuts: Speed through large numbers with shortcuts like "3.3k" or "200 million". - Scientific Notation Made Simple: Work with large values using entries like "1.234e3" or as simple as "1e-3". - Dynamic Variables & Rows: Create and manipulate variables "x = 9", and perform calculations across rows to streamline data analysis. - Comprehensive Unit Conversions: Convert "15 feet into inches" or complex rates like "15 miles/hour into feet/second". - Time and Date Wizardry: Calculate durations like "3 days in minutes" or perform timezone conversions "8pm PST in EST". - Advanced Financial Calculations: From loan payments using "PMT(rate, nper, pv)" to calculating the internal rate of return with "IRR(values)". - Statistical Tools: Analyze data using functions for variance "var(r1:r3)" or standard deviation "stddev(r1:r3)". - Trigonometry and Logarithms on the Go: Solve "sin(30)" or "log(2)" for both educational and professional uses. - Programming Made Easy: Tackle binary operations "bin(a = 3) and bin(a and b)", logical comparisons "2 * 2 > 3", and conditional statements. - Real-Time Financial Insights: Convert currencies "15 USD in EUR" and check real-time stock prices with "STOCK(AAPL)". Use Instacalc today and transform the way you handle calculations, whether for work, study, or daily life!
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Instacalc.com at none against CalcMate's 5. Instacalc.com also leads on ads (none vs shown). CalcMate's advantage is ratings volume (96 vs 4). On price, rating, review sentiment and update cadence 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
Both are free to download. CalcMate sells 5 one-off in-app purchases. Instacalc.com asks for nothing beyond the download.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.9 for CalcMate against 5.0 for Instacalc.com. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: CalcMate has 96 ratings behind it against 4, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 95% of CalcMate's written reviews are positive against 100% of Instacalc.com's.
CalcMate ships an update fortnightly, Instacalc.com every 2 weeks. Both last shipped on October 20, 2026.
| Parameter | CalcMate | Instacalc.com |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.9 (96 ratings) | 5.0 (4 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 95.2% of reviews | 100.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 96 — better | 4 |
| Update frequency | Fortnightly | Every 2 weeks — better |
| Ads | Yes | No — better |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 16.0 — better | 16.4 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 21 MB | 3 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Elsayed Hussein | Kalid Azad |
Customer experience
CalcMate
Instacalc.com
In-app purchases
CalcMate
- Buy me a coffee$0.99
- Buy me 2 coffees$1.99
- Buy Me a burger$4.99
Show 2 moreShow fewer
- Remove Ads$5.99
- Buy Me a pizza$9.99
Instacalc.com
No in-app purchases









