Comparison

Variance vs lemma

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

Head to head
About

Variance

Prepare for quantitative finance interviews with this app. Practice probability, mental math, logic puzzles, and more with detailed solutions and progress tracking. Sharpen your mathematical intuition and problem-solving skills for trading and research roles.

Highlights
  • Probability practice
  • Mental math exercises
  • Logic puzzles
  • Detailed solutions
  • Progress tracking
  • Topic-specific practice
Read full description

Variance is the ultimate quant interview prep app for aspiring traders, quant researchers, and finance professionals. Whether you're targeting a role at a hedge fund, trading firm, or just prepping for fun, Variance gives you the tools to practice the quantitative skills that top firms test — rigorously and on the go. WHAT YOU'LL PRACTICE • Probability • Mental math • Sequences & Patterns • Brainteasers & logic puzzles • Expected value FEATURES • Hundreds of problems across multiple difficulty levels • Detailed solutions and explanations for every question • Topic-by-topic practice to target your weak spots • Progress tracking to see how you improve over time • Clean, distraction-free interface built for focused study WHO IT'S FOR Variance is built for students and professionals preparing for quantitative interviews at top firms, and other top quant shops. It's also great for anyone who wants to sharpen their mathematical intuition and problem-solving speed. Prepare smarter. Interview with confidence. Download Variance today. Terms of Use: www.thequantprepapp.com/terms Privacy Policy: www.thequantprepapp.com/privacy

About

lemma

This app provides focused, daily practice for quantitative interviews, featuring timed sprints of math and probability problems. It tracks your skill across disciplines with adaptive difficulty and offers hints and solutions to help you improve. Designed for those preparing for trading firm interviews or seeking to build a quantitative thinking habit.

Highlights
  • Daily timed problem sprints
  • Per-category ELO skill tracking
  • Adaptive difficulty
  • Hints and step-through solutions
  • Streaks, XP, and achievements
  • Leaderboard
Features
Read full description

Train like a quant. Daily. Lemma is the focused, no-fluff prep app for quantitative interviews — built for students and grads targeting Jane Street, Citadel, Optiver, Two Sigma, and the rest of the trading-firm gauntlet. WHAT'S INSIDE WITH YOUR SUBSCRIPTION • Daily sprints — bite-sized timed sets of mental math, probability, combinatorics, expected value, and market-making problems • Per-category ELO — your skill is tracked across 10 disciplines, from Novice to Expert • Adaptive difficulty — problems chosen to keep you at the edge of your level, not above or below • Hints + step-through solutions — get unstuck without giving up • Streaks, XP, leagues — habit loops without the noise • Achievements — unlock as you grind • Leaderboard — see how you stack up WHO IT'S FOR • CS / math undergrads applying to trading firms • Recent grads prepping for technical interviews • Self-learners who want a daily quantitative-thinking habit • Anyone curious about how trading interviews actually feel WHY LEMMA We strip out the gamified clutter and keep what matters: hard problems, fast iteration, real numbers on your progress. The interface borrows more from a Bloomberg terminal than a typical mobile game — monospaced metrics, hairline borders, dark by default. Most prep books drown you in 800 pages. Most courses lock you in for months. Lemma is 10 minutes a day, sharpened every day. — Lemma offers an optional auto-renewable subscription for unlimited daily sprints and premium problem sets. Subscriptions auto-renew unless cancelled at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. Manage or cancel anytime in your Apple ID settings. Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy Policy: https://rogeru13.github.io/lemma-legal/privacy-policy/

Screenshots

Variance4 screens
lemma4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: lemma at every 3 days against Variance's every 2 weeks. lemma also leads on iOS requirement (15.1 vs 26.0). Variance's advantage is ratings volume (5 vs 1). On price, rating, ads and in-app purchases 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. Variance sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $24.99 per month and lemma sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $6.99 per 7 days. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 5.0 for Variance against 5.0 for lemma. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Variance has 5 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Variance ships an update every 2 weeks, lemma every 3 days. The most recent releases landed on September 30, 2026 and October 12, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
Variance versus lemma: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterVariancelemma
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (5 ratings)5.0 (1 ratings)
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings5 — better1
Update frequencyEvery 2 weeksEvery 3 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFreemiumFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS26.015.1 — better
Further details — not scored
Size18 MB31 MB
Age rating12+12+
DeveloperBenjamin KawanoRoger You

Customer experience

Variance

All ratings5 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews2 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

lemma

All ratings1 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

2 purchases

Variance

Subscriptions2
  • Variance Pro Monthly$24.991 Month
  • Variance Pro Yearly$99.991 Year
3 purchases

lemma

Subscriptions3
  • Lemma Premium$6.997 Days
  • Lemma Premium$9.991 Month
  • Lemma Premium3 Days trial$59.991 Year

Questions

Is Variance free?
Variance is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is lemma free?
lemma is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Variance or lemma?
Variance and lemma are both rated 5.0 out of 5 on the App Store, from 5 and 1 ratings respectively.
Do Variance or lemma have ads?
Neither Variance nor lemma shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Variance or lemma?
Variance ships an update every 2 weeks, and lemma every 3 days. Most recently, Variance was updated on September 30, 2026 and lemma on October 12, 2026.

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