Cali vs Benchpad
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side โ with what reviewers say about each.
Cali
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With Cali, keep your event organized in a simple to view place. See what's next with the at a glance page, make a new task anywhere you want with the Siri Shortcut, get a morning summary with everything you need for the day, decorate your Lock Screen with useful information and next up events and tasks, and more!
Benchpad
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Benchpad is a scratchpad, not a second brain. Three pads. You name them โ Work / Personal / Scratch, Today / This Week / Someday, whatever fits your head. No folders, no tags, no filing decisions. Open, type, close. WRITE WITHOUT DECIDING Every note app asks "where does this go?" before you've written a word. Benchpad doesn't. Three pads means the decision is already made. WORKS ON A PLANE Offline-first, not offline-tolerant. Every keystroke saves to your device before any network request. Sync happens in the background when you're online โ and merges conflict-free if you edited on two devices at once. CONSTRAINT IS THE PRODUCT Benchpad is for people who want to write things down โ not maintain a system. A note app that knows when to stop. When you can't create infinite folders, you write instead of organizing. Constraint isn't a compromise. It's the product. A REAL EDITOR Headings, checklists, tables, code blocks with syntax highlighting, images, file attachments all with slash commands and a block editor. NO AI. NO ADS. NO DATA MINING. Nothing reads, summarizes, or trains on your notes. Notes are encrypted at rest. Plain markdown โ copy everything out anytime, no lock-in. FREE FOREVER, REALLY One pad, the full editor, offline support, sync, and an archive of 100 notes โ free, no credit card, no time limit. Pro ($10/year flat) unlocks all three pads, all six themes, attachments, voice-note audio, and Markdown/PDF export. Benchpad is for people who want to write things down โ not maintain a system. A note app that knows when to stop.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is update cadence: Benchpad at every 3 weeks against Cali's every 5 months. Benchpad also leads on iOS requirement (15.0 vs 17.0). On price, ads, in-app purchases and device support there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price ยท Rating ยท Positive reviews ยท Number of ratings ยท Update frequency ยท Ads ยท In-app purchases ยท Monetization ยท Best chart rank ยท Devices ยท Requires iOS
Both are free to download. Cali sells 4 one-off in-app purchases and Benchpad sells 1 in-app purchase, starting at $9.99 per year. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
Cali ships an update every 5 months, Benchpad every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 30, 2026 and November 9, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Cali | Benchpad |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Update frequency | Every 5 months | Every 3 weeks โ better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, Mac | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 17.0 | 15.0 โ better |
| Further details โ not scored | ||
| Size | 46 MB | 36 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Ariel Araya-Madrigal | Gagandeep Singh |
In-app purchases
Cali
- One cup of tea$0.99
- One cup of Coffee$0.99
- Three Carrots$2.99
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- A slice of Cake$4.99
Benchpad
- Benchpad Pro$9.991 Year









