Forge Academy vs Anvil
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Forge Academy
Master developer skills with 73 in-depth courses, interactive lessons, and over 21,000 quiz questions. Earn PDF certificates and learn effectively offline, with no personal data collected.
- 73 in-depth courses
- 21,000+ quiz questions
- Spaced repetition flashcards
- Offline learning
- PDF certificates
- Curated learning paths
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Forge Academy is your complete developer skills companion. 73 in-depth courses, 21,000+ quiz questions, spaced repetition flashcards, and PDF certificates — all offline, with no personal data collected. 73 COURSES ACROSS 12 CATEGORIES Languages: Python, JavaScript, TypeScript, Go, Rust, Java, Kotlin, Swift, C, PHP, Ruby, Bash Web & APIs: HTTP & Web Fundamentals, REST API Design, GraphQL, OpenAPI/Swagger, WebSockets, Authentication & OAuth Data: SQL Essentials, SQL for Analytics, PostgreSQL Advanced, MongoDB, Redis, Data Modeling DevOps: Git Mastery, Docker, Kubernetes, CI/CD, GitHub Actions, Infrastructure as Code, Monitoring & Logging CS Fundamentals: Data Structures, Algorithms & Complexity, Design Patterns, System Design, Microservices, Message Queues Security: OWASP Top 10, Cryptography Basics, HTTPS & TLS Deep Dive, Two-Factor Authentication Software Craft: Testing Fundamentals, Clean Code & Refactoring, Code Review, Debugging Techniques Plus: Linux & Terminal, Networking Fundamentals, Operating Systems, Computer Architecture, Statistics, Machine Learning, Prompt Engineering, Web Performance, Web Accessibility, Semantic Versioning, and more. LEARN EFFECTIVELY - Interactive lessons with real code examples and worked scenarios - 21,000+ quiz questions with detailed explanations — every wrong answer becomes a lesson, and the question bank keeps growing - Spaced repetition flashcards powered by the SM-2 algorithm - Curated learning paths: Foundations, Backend, Frontend, DevOps, Security, Data Science EARN CERTIFICATES - Complete every course to earn a personalized PDF certificate - Share your progress with employers and on LinkedIn - All certificates stored locally and backed up to your private iCloud FREE TO START, ONE-TIME PRO - 12 courses are completely free, including Regex, SQL, Linux, Python, and Markdown - $9.99 one-time unlocks all 73 courses — no subscriptions, ever - Family Sharing enabled - All future courses and new quiz questions included free — the catalog keeps growing BUILT FOR PRIVACY - 100% offline — no internet connection required to learn - No personal data collected — just anonymous usage diagnostics - No tracking, no ads, no third-party advertising SDKs - All progress stored on your device, optionally backed up to your private iCloud PERFECT FOR - Self-taught developers filling knowledge gaps - Bootcamp graduates preparing for interviews - CS students supplementing coursework - Working professionals learning new languages or frameworks - Anyone serious about mastering software fundamentals Forge Academy is made by Zima Logistics — a small team building focused, privacy-first tools for developers and professionals.
Anvil
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.
- 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
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Anvil is a native developer toolkit for macOS, iPhone, and iPad, built to make everyday formatting, encoding, conversion, and inspection tasks faster. Work with JSON, Base64, URLs, timestamps, JWTs, UUIDs, hashes, regular expressions, strings, SQL, CSV, YAML, QR codes, and more from one focused app. Instead of jumping between web utilities, Anvil keeps common developer workflows close at hand in a fast, native interface. Use Anvil to: Format, validate, repair, and inspect JSON. Encode and decode Base64, URLs, HTML entities, and escaped strings. Convert timestamps, number bases, CSV, YAML, and other structured data. Decode JWTs and inspect token payloads. Generate UUIDs, ULIDs, QR codes, hashes, sample text, and formatted code. Analyze strings, compare text, and clean up data while building or debugging. Anvil is designed for developers who want practical tools without clutter. Whether you are debugging an API response, preparing test data, checking a token, formatting a query, or converting values during development, Anvil gives you a polished native workspace for the small tasks that happen all day. Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Terms and Conditions: https://anvilmac.com/terms Privacy Policy: https://anvilmac.com/privacy
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is update cadence: Anvil at every 5 days against Forge Academy's every 3 weeks. Forge Academy's advantage is iOS requirement (18.0 vs 26.0). On price, rating, ratings volume and ads 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
Both are free to download. Forge Academy sells 1 one-off in-app purchase 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 Academy against 5.0 for Anvil. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 1 and 1 respectively.
Forge Academy ships an update every 3 weeks, Anvil every 5 days. The most recent releases landed on September 19, 2026 and September 30, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Forge Academy | Anvil |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 5.0 (1 ratings) | 5.0 (1 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | — | 100.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 1 | 1 |
| Update frequency | Every 3 weeks | Every 5 days — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Freemium |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad, Mac — better |
| Requires iOS | 18.0 — better | 26.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 23 MB | 96 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 9+ |
| Developer | ZIma Logistics LLC | Alex Javier Rivas Martinez |
Customer experience
Forge Academy
Anvil
In-app purchases
Forge Academy
- Forge Academy Pro$14.99
Anvil
- Anvil Pro Monthly7 Days trial$3.991 Month
- Anvil Pro Yearly$37.991 Year
- Anvil Pro Lifetime$79.99









