Comparison

Beam vs PCForge

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

Head to head
About

Beam

Features
Read full description

See your Mac on your iPhone or iPad, and control it from there. Beam streams your Mac's screen and sound to your phone. Tap to click, type with real Mac keys, run your own shortcuts and macros, and play Mac games with a controller. Answer a prompt on the Mac from the couch. Keep a film going in bed. Watch a render finish from the kitchen, then tap in when it needs you. CONTROL YOUR MAC FROM YOUR PHONE • Click mode: tap to click, double or triple tap, touch and hold then lift to right-click, touch and hold then move to drag, slide two fingers to scroll • Live keyboard with a row of Mac keys above it: esc, tab, arrows, home, end, page up and down, F1 to F12, plus command, option, control and shift (tap for one use, hold to lock) • A bar of up to eight buttons you design in Beacon on the Mac: keys and shortcuts, media keys, recorded macros, a text box, the live keyboard and click mode • Pair a game controller with your iPhone or iPad and your Mac sees a real gamepad. No driver to install. STREAM YOUR MAC • Your whole Mac display, or one window you pick from the phone • Mac audio on your phone, or turn it off • About 25 ms typical delay on good home Wi-Fi • Up to 4K or your Mac display's native resolution • Up to 120 fps on ProMotion iPhones and iPads when your Mac's display runs that fast • Picture in Picture, pinch to zoom, and crop to one area of the screen • Flip the picture for teleprompter glass SET UP IN ABOUT 2 MINUTES 1. Install the free Beacon app on your Mac from beamscreen.app. It needs macOS 14 or later. 2. Open Beam on the same Wi-Fi and tap Pair Your Mac. 3. Type the 6-digit code Beacon shows. You only pair once. PRIVATE BY DESIGN • The stream goes straight from your Mac to your phone. It never passes through a Beam server. • The picture, the sound, your clicks and everything you type are encrypted end to end with keys from your pairing. • No account, no sign-up, no email. • Beam and Beacon are open source under AGPL-3.0. FREE, THEN BEAM UNLIMITED • Your first stream starts a 3-day trial with no limits. • After that, 30 minutes of streaming in every 24 hours on your home Wi-Fi, with every feature and every quality setting. • Beam Unlimited is a one-time purchase, not a subscription. It removes the time limit and lets you stream and control your Mac from anywhere over your own Tailscale network (free for personal use). GOOD TO KNOW • Clicking and typing from the phone need Accessibility permission for Beacon on the Mac. • Beam shows and controls your Mac's screen. It doesn't add a second display, move files or sync the clipboard. • Beacon runs on Macs only, not Windows or Linux. • Beam needs iOS 16 or later. Questions go to support@beamscreen.app. A person reads every message, usually within a day.

About

PCForge

Avoid costly errors when building a PC. This tool ensures hardware compatibility with mathematical verification and offers quick checkout options for parts.

Highlights
  • Hardware compatibility verification
  • Mathematically verified builds
  • Instant Amazon checkout
  • Avoid PC part mistakes
  • Precision PC building
Features
Read full description

Buying PC parts without a compatibility check is how builds fail — wrong socket, RAM that won’t run, a PSU that can’t keep up, or a cooler that doesn’t fit. PCForge turns your budget and use case into a compatible parts list. Engine Verified runs five checks before you buy: • Socket — CPU and motherboard match • Form factor — case and board fit • RAM generation — memory that actually works • Thermals — cooler clearance and cooling headroom • Power — PSU can handle the draw You get Overall Build Confidence from 0–100, live prices, and a clear path to checkout when you’re ready. Free on IOS, and web. Start at pcforge.app

Screenshots

Beam4 screens
PCForge4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: PCForge at every 4 days against Beam's every 10 days. On price, ads, in-app purchases 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

Both are free to download. Beam sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and PCForge sells 4 in-app purchases, starting at $5.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Beam ships an update every 10 days, PCForge every 4 days. Both last shipped on October 28, 2026.

Scorecard1 real difference · 9 level
Beam versus PCForge: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterBeamPCForge
PriceFreeFree
Rating—4.3 (6 ratings) — better
Positive reviews—80.0% of reviews
Number of ratings—6 — better
Update frequencyEvery 10 daysEvery 4 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
Monetization—Free
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS16.0 — better16.4
Further details — not scored
Size18 MB51 MB
Age rating4+9+
DeveloperKEVIN ERIK IINCarly Abramowitz

In-app purchases

1 purchases

Beam

One-time1
  • Beam Unlimited2 variants$7.99
4 purchases

PCForge

Subscriptions1
  • PCForge Pro$5.991 Month
One-time3
  • PCForge Enhanced Build$1.99
  • PCForge Extra Scan$2.00
  • PCForge Extra Build$2.00

Questions

Is Beam free?
Beam is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is PCForge free?
PCForge is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Beam or PCForge have ads?
Neither Beam nor PCForge shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Beam or PCForge?
Beam ships an update every 10 days, and PCForge every 4 days. Most recently, Beam was updated on October 28, 2026 and PCForge on October 28, 2026.

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