Comparison

SiteCalc vs BuildWire Calc

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

Head to head
About

SiteCalc

Features
Read full description

Professional construction calculators for electricians, roofers, carpenters, concrete and paving contractors, HVAC techs, plumbers, masons, painters, floor layers, solar installers, fencers — and the foundations, drywall and business numbers behind every job. Built for tradespeople who need accurate, fast, offline calculations on the job site. No account needed. Calculators work with no internet. FREE IN EVERY TRADE Every trade includes a starter set of full calculators, free forever — try real tools in your own trade before you pay anything. SMART TOOLS • AR Measure: tap point-to-point distances with your camera, no tape needed • Room Scan: capture a room with LiDAR and turn it into instant dimensions • Site Level: use your phone as a digital level and angle finder • Tape Calculator with saved tapes for running totals • Cost Book and reusable estimate templates ELECTRICAL • Voltage drop (NEC / BS 7671 / IEC), wire gauge with temperature and bundling corrections, conduit fill, residential load per NEC 220, ampacity lookup, motor circuit sizing BUSINESS • CAGR, APR, APY, depreciation, future value, loan and lease; cost per square foot, gross pay, effective interest • Project dates: countdowns, days overdue, work days, completion estimates, staffing ROOFING • Pitch converter, roof area (gable, hip, shed, flat), material estimator, rafter length with birdsmouth, common rafters, hip ridge CONCRETE • Volume for slabs, footings, columns and steps, bag estimator, rebar spacing and weight, slab-on-grade CARPENTRY • Board feet, stair layout (2R+T), deck boards, crown angles, plywood, floor joists, subfloor, insulation, ramps, balusters HVAC • BTU load (simplified Manual J), duct sizing, CFM by room, refrigerant charge, fan sizing, attic ventilation, window AC PLUMBING • Pipe sizing, DWV, water heater sizing, drain slope FOUNDATIONS • Footings, columns, slabs, excavation and backfill, grading, squaring, rebar MASONRY • Block walls, core fill, brick, mortar, masonry units, stone retaining walls DRYWALL • Sheets, mud, tape, screws, metal-stud framing PAINTING • Paint gallons, primer, trim, spray coverage, labour FLOORING • Tile, plank, underlayment, grout, transitions PAVING • Asphalt, asphalt parking areas, crushed stone driveways, sealer SOLAR / PV • PV array, string sizing, voltage drop, setbacks FENCING • Posts, rails, pickets, gates, post-hole concrete FEATURES • Calculators work completely offline — no internet required • Supports US (NEC), UK (BS 7671) and EU (IEC) standards • Imperial and metric with instant conversion • Save calculations to history with job names • Export professional PDF reports • Dark mode and large touch targets for gloved hands on site • VoiceOver accessible, Siri shortcuts and widgets PRICING A starter set of calculators in every trade is free forever — no account, no subscription. Own your tools with one-time purchases — no subscription required for calculators: • Trade packs — five bundles grouped by jobsite: Systems (Electrical, Plumbing, HVAC), Structure (Concrete, Foundations, Masonry), Framing & Roofing (Carpentry, Roofing, Solar), Finishes (Drywall, Painting, Flooring), Sitework & Business (Paving, Fencing, Business) • All Trades — every calculator in a single purchase • Power Tools — AR Measure, Room Scan, Site Level, Cost Book and templates, plus unlimited notes and PDF export • Pro Lifetime — every calculator and every power tool, owned outright forever SiteCalc Pro (monthly or yearly, with a 7-day free trial) adds the cloud: iCloud sync across your devices, Crew project sharing, cloud backup for photos, voice notes and scans, new code-edition updates, and Family Sharing — and includes every calculator and power tool while active. If a subscription lapses, you keep everything you bought outright. TERMS OF USE You can find EULA terms of use here: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

About

BuildWire Calc

Features
Read full description

BuildWire Calc puts 36 field calculators for electricians, builders and HVAC technicians in one fast app. Everything runs on your phone, so it works in a basement, on a roof or on a site with no signal. Free: voltage drop, Ohm's law, watts to amps, concrete slab, roof pitch, board feet, BTU, CFM and BTU to kW. Pro: the other 27 calculators, plus PDF and CSV export of saved jobs. ELECTRICAL (11) Voltage drop, wire size, breaker size, service load, Ohm's law, watts to amps, three phase power, conduit bending, AWG to mm2, transformer size, generator size. CONSTRUCTION (15) Concrete slab, footing, steps and block wall, slab rebar, gravel, roof pitch, rafter length, retaining wall blocks, board feet, stud spacing, shingle bundles, drywall screws, stair railing, stair stringer. HVAC (10) BTU for cooling and heating, AC size, CFM, duct size, furnace size, heat pump size, superheat and subcooling, dew point, BTU to kW, refrigerant PT chart. BUILT FOR THE JOB - See the answer as you type. Every result shows its calculation steps and warnings, so you can check the work. - Jobs: save any result to a job (a customer, a quote, a site) and keep them together. - Share a job as a PDF or CSV, or copy it as text, with the system share sheet. - Use it in 14 languages. Imperial or metric, light or dark, favourites and history for the calculators you use most. - Private by design: no account, no ads, no tracking. Your jobs and history stay on your device. PRO Pro unlocks all 36 calculators and job export. Choose a one-time purchase or a yearly subscription. The subscription renews each year until you cancel in your Apple ID settings; you can restore purchases at any time from Settings. Important: results are estimates for planning. Always verify against your local electrical or building code, the manufacturer's data and the project drawings. Code tables that are copyrighted are not included. Questions or a calculator you need? Write to support@powergridsource.com or visit https://powergridsource.com/app/ . Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy Policy: https://powergridsource.com/app/#privacy

Screenshots

SiteCalc4 screens
BuildWire Calc4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is iOS requirement: BuildWire Calc at 15.0 against SiteCalc's 18.0. On price, ads, in-app purchases and device support there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price Ā· Rating Ā· Positive reviews Ā· Number of ratings Ā· Update frequency Ā· Ads Ā· In-app purchases Ā· Monetization Ā· Best chart rank Ā· Devices Ā· Requires iOS

CostPrice Ā· In-app purchases Ā· Ads Ā· Monetization

Both are free to download. SiteCalc sells 10 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month and BuildWire Calc sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $9.99 per year. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

Scorecard1 real difference Ā· 5 level
SiteCalc versus BuildWire Calc: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterSiteCalcBuildWire Calc
PriceFreeFree
Update frequency—Daily
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS18.015.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size21 MB22 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperNeil FaulknerSKYSEED TECH LLC

In-app purchases

10 purchases

SiteCalc

Subscriptions2
  • SiteCalc Pro Monthly7 Days trial$4.991 Month
  • SiteCalc Pro Yearly7 Days trial$39.991 Year
One-time8
  • Sitework & Business Pack$14.99
  • Framing & Roofing Pack$14.99
  • Crew +5 Seats$19.99
Show 5 more
  • Power Tools$24.99
  • Crew +10 Seats$34.99
  • All Trades$49.99
  • Pro Lifetime$99.99
  • Unlimited Crew Seats$149.00
2 purchases

BuildWire Calc

Subscriptions1
  • BuildWire Pro (yearly)$9.991 Year
One-time1
  • BuildWire Pro (lifetime)$19.99

Questions

Is SiteCalc free?
SiteCalc is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is BuildWire Calc free?
BuildWire Calc is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do SiteCalc or BuildWire Calc have ads?
Neither SiteCalc nor BuildWire Calc shows ads.

Other comparisons