# Forge vs Anvil

The clearest difference is monetization model: Forge at free against Anvil's freemium. Forge also leads on iOS requirement (18.0 vs 26.0). On price, rating, ratings volume and update cadence there is nothing between them.

Both are free to download. Forge sells 4 one-off in-app purchases and Anvil sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $3.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 5.0 for Forge against 5.0 for Anvil. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 1 and 1 respectively.

Forge ships an update every 9 days, Anvil every 5 days. The most recent releases landed on October 3, 2026 and September 30, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | Forge | Anvil |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | [5.0 (1 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/forge-developer-toolkit/id6761248635/reviews) | [5.0 (1 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/anvil-dev-toolset/id6775051027/reviews) |
| Number of ratings | 1 | 1 |
| Positive reviews | — | 100.0% of reviews |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Ads | No | No |
| Update frequency | Every 9 days | **Every 5 days** |
| Monetization | **Free** | Freemium |
| Size | 9 MB | 96 MB |
| Requires iOS | **18.0** | 26.0 |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | **iPhone, iPad, Mac** |
| Age rating | 4+ | 9+ |
| Developer | [ZIma Logistics LLC](https://appshunter.io/developer/1883563240) | [Alex Javier Rivas Martinez](https://appshunter.io/developer/1866632509) |

## What reviewers say

### Forge

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/forge-developer-toolkit/id6761248635)

This app offers a comprehensive suite of 24 developer tools, including text and data manipulation, encoding, hashing, and web utilities. It operates entirely offline, prioritizing user privacy by not collecting personal data. Access generators, converters, and cheat sheets conveniently on your mobile device.

**Highlights:** 24+ offline developer tools, Text & data manipulation, Encoding & hashing utilities, Web & API tools, Generators & converters, Cheat sheets & playgrounds, Privacy-focused, no data collection

**Features:** macOS Compatibility, Family Sharing, Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases (4)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Forge: Small Tip | $0.99 | one-time |
| Forge: Medium Tip | $2.99 | one-time |
| Forge: Large Tip | $4.99 | one-time |
| Forge Pro | $5.99 | one-time |


### Anvil

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/anvil-dev-toolset/id6775051027)

A native toolkit for developers on macOS, iPhone, and iPad that streamlines everyday formatting, encoding, conversion, and inspection tasks. It supports a wide range of data types and formats, offering a focused and fast interface for common development workflows.

**Highlights:** JSON formatting and validation, Base64, URL, and HTML entity encoding/decoding, Timestamp and number base conversion, JWT decoding and payload inspection, UUID, ULID, and QR code generation, String analysis and data cleaning

**Features:** Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases (3)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Anvil Pro Monthly | $3.99 | per month |
| Anvil Pro Yearly | $37.99 | per year |
| Anvil Pro Lifetime | $79.99 | one-time |


## Frequently asked questions

### Is Forge free?

Forge is free to download, with in-app purchases available.

### Is Anvil free?

Anvil is free to download, with in-app purchases available.

### Which has better reviews, Forge or Anvil?

Forge and Anvil are both rated 5.0 out of 5 on the App Store, from 1 and 1 ratings respectively.

### Do Forge or Anvil have ads?

Neither Forge nor Anvil shows ads.

### Which is updated more often, Forge or Anvil?

Forge ships an update every 9 days, and Anvil every 5 days. Most recently, Forge was updated on October 3, 2026 and Anvil on September 30, 2026.

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*Compared by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/) from daily US App Store data. Review summaries are generated from verbatim App Store reviews.*