Comparison

RIGID vs Ugly's Electrical References

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

Head to head
About

RIGID

This app is a professional tool for electricians and technicians, offering advanced calculations for various conduit bending scenarios. It supports multiple bend types, allows for custom bender and shoe specifications, and can share bending details via text.

Highlights
  • Advanced bending calculations
  • Supports multiple bend types (90, offsets, saddles)
  • Customizable bender and shoe specifications
  • Fraction and decimal calculations
  • Share bending details via text
  • Accounts for gain and shrink
Features
Read full description

RIGIDpro is an advanced bending calculator that was specifically made for helping with Mechanical, Electrical, and Hydraulic Benders. A true respectable side kick to any electrician working with conduit of any type and size. Whether you need to swiftly obtain information about the bender you’re using, or a multiplier card without scrounging through your wallet, or a calculator with the capability of working with fractions (x/16”) and decimals simultaneously, or a bender calculator that accounts for gain and shrink. Allowing you to layout multiple bends on a single conduit quickly. RIGIDpro is your answer. ----- RIGIDpro is broken into 5 different categories. Select Bender: Create, load, and delete benders of various types. Select from several different types of bender styles whether it’s a Mechanical, Electrical, or Hydraulic Bender. All Benders are programmed with the Centerline Radius and Take-Up of the shoe that are based on their factory settings found within their manuals (accuracy may vary slightly). Shoe Specs: Edit and view the information about the selected bender. With a simple click and drag you can change the Centerline Radius (this information can usually be found on the bender’s shoe) or the Take-Up of the specific shoe size being used. Quickly discover additional information about the specified bender’s shoe such as the Gain, Setback, Travel and Radius Adjustment. Mark Conduit: Have a complicated bend? Say a 25” stub, a Three Bend Saddle that needs to be centered 35” from the Back of that 90 at a 22.5 degree interval and needs to clear a 4” conduit, with another 90 66 ½” inches away from the back of the previous 90, and it needs to be cut 25” from the back of that 90. Not only that, but you don’t have the luxury of having a pony handy and you only have a table threader. No problem. The advanced bending calculator of RIGIDpro can handle anything you throw at it. With additional features that allow you to change the conduit size and type; Mark to Center, which deciphers between placing marks at the tip of the hook or the center of the bend; Measure To Center, which will align all bends to the center of conduits, ideal for running raceways with various sizes of conduit. There is the ability to go and edit specific bend measurements; if you wanted the first 25” 90 stub to be 27” without changing the distance afterwards. Also if you have a ground-man and they don’t have the app? RIGIDpro can send them a text with all of the information detailed within the message with a click of the button (make sure it’s okay with them before sending any text messages, all normal rates will apply.). Bends supported are 90 Bends, Offsets, Three Bend Saddle, Four Bend Saddle, Kick with 90 Bends, Kicks, Segmented 90 (3 – 49 shots), and Cut Conduit. With more bends to soon come these bends may be added into whatever sequence you can cleverly come up with. All marks and measurements are based on the push-trough method, from first to last and the Centerline Radius. Multiplier Card: Quickly reference the distance multipliers and shrink constants from 0.5 degree - 90 degrees. Also view the Outside, Inside, and Knock-Out Diameters from ½” – 6” conduit of all types. Calculator: Simple, yet sophisticated. It contains functions such as addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. Also includes the ability to store and recall memory, squaring, and calculating the square root. The calculator gives you the ability to quickly transpose from Fraction:Decimal and Decimal:Fraction. Easily mixing formulas such as 2.61 x 3 ¼”. ----- If you have any suggestions, or notice any bugs please e-mail me RIGIDpro@outlook.com. I’ll do my best to accommodate to everyone. Hand-Benders are not supported with this app -- only Mechanical, Electrical and Hydraulic. There will be more benders make/models added in the future.

About

Ugly's Electrical References

This app provides electricians and electrical professionals with up-to-date digital information based on the National Electrical Code. It includes formulas, wiring diagrams, conduit bending guides, and calculators for various electrical calculations. The app is designed for on-the-job reference and works offline.

Highlights
  • NEC 2026 updates
  • Mathematical formulas and calculators
  • Conduit bending guide with videos
  • Ampacity and conduit fill information
  • Wiring diagrams
  • Conversion tables
  • Works offline
Features
Read full description

The Ugly's Electrical References App has been updated to reflect changes to the 2026 National Electrical Code (NEC) and the 2026 Edition of our popular Ugly’s Electrical References book. The Ugly’s App offers the most pertinent, up-to-date digital information for electricians, including table change information, mathematical formulas; National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA) wiring configurations; a conduit bending guide with videos, ampacity and conduit fill information, transformer and control circuit wiring diagrams, and conversion tables. The 2026 Edition: * Reflects changes to the 2026 NEC * Features expanded coverage of the following topics: * Full-load currents for 3-phase transformers  * Maximum number of conductors in electrical metallic tubing for trade sizes 5 and 6  * Equipment grounding conductors  * General lighting loads for non-dwelling occupancies  * Overview of important NEC code changes from 2020, 2023 and 2026  Electricians and electrical professionals have used ‘Ugly’s Electrical References’ book as their on-the-job reference for over 35 years. This app will serve you even better in the field today.  FEATURING Calculators and Interactive Features • Ohm’s Law Calculator • Voltage Drop Calculator • Ampacity Calculator • To Find: Amps, Watts, Horsepower, KVA • To Find: Inductance, Impedance, Reactance • Three-phase AC Motor Data: Starter, Breaker, Heater, Wire, and Conduit Size • Power Factor Correction • Full Load Current for Motors and Transformers • Locked-Rotor Current Calculator • Offset Bending Calculator • Conduit Fill Calculator • Conversions for Area, Length, Temperature, Time, Volume, and Weight • NEMA Wiring Configurations *Pinch & Zoom for improved readability *Conduit Bending Video Tutorials *Search function helps you quickly find what you need to know *NEC Updater outlines and explains changes to the National Electrical Code© *Electrical Safety including definitions, boundaries, procedures, PPE guidance, and life-saving *First aid procedures *Blueprint symbol identifier *Bookmark your commonly used screens *High-definition images and interactive tables that can be zoomed in for detail *Works offline *Great for electricians, students, engineers, contractors, maintenance workers, and military Interested in a buying more than one copy of the Ugly’s Electrical Reference app for your commercially owned devices? Please email info[at]uglys[dot]net for details on volume purchases. Privacy Policy - http://www.jblearning.com/privacy/ Terms of Service - http://www.jblearning.com/use/ Support – http://www.uglys.net/appsupport The Ugly’s Electrical Reference app is part of the popular Ugly’s Professional Reference® series, which is an imprint of Jones & Bartlett Learning. National Electrical Code and NFPA 70 are registered trademarks of the National Fire Protection Agency and are not associated with Ugly’s Electrical References in any way.

Screenshots

RIGID4 screens
Ugly's Electrical References4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: RIGID at $2.99 against Ugly's Electrical References's $12.99. RIGID also leads on iOS requirement (7.0 vs 17). Ugly's Electrical References's advantage is rating (4.4 vs 2.9) and ratings volume (1.5K vs 15). On update cadence, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model 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

RIGID costs $2.99 and Ugly's Electrical References $12.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Ugly's Electrical References holds the better App Store score, 4.4 against 2.9. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Ugly's Electrical References has 1.5K ratings behind it against 15, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 23% of RIGID's written reviews are positive against 47% of Ugly's Electrical References's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

RIGID ships an update every 4 months, Ugly's Electrical References every 3 months. Both last shipped on November 6, 2026.

Scorecard6 real differences · 5 level
RIGID versus Ugly's Electrical References: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterRIGIDUgly's Electrical References
Price$2.99 — better$12.99
Rating2.9 (15 ratings)4.4 (1.5K ratings) — better
Positive reviews23.1% of reviews47.1% of reviews — better
Number of ratings151.5K — better
Update frequencyEvery 4 monthsEvery 3 months — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationPaidPaid
Best chart rank#199#15 — better
DevicesiPhone, iPodiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS7.0 — better17
Further details — not scored
Size14 MB63 MB
Age rating4+9+
DeveloperBret HardmanInformed Publishing

Customer experience

RIGID

All ratings15 ratings
Positive46.7%
Neutral6.7%
Negative46.7%
Written reviews13 reviews
Positive23.1%
Neutral15.4%
Negative61.5%

Ugly's Electrical References

All ratings1,495 ratings
Positive84.9%
Neutral5.7%
Negative9.4%
Written reviews172 reviews
Positive47.1%
Neutral16.9%
Negative36.0%

Bugs and requests

RIGID

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

Ugly's Electrical References

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Videos not playing
  • Bookmarks not working correctly
  • Navigation issues causing app crashes
  • Incorrect calculation results

Requested features

5 requests
  • Zoom functionality
  • Better search capabilities
  • Spanish language support
  • Offline access to full content
  • Improved bookmarking system

In-app purchases

None

RIGID

No in-app purchases

None

Ugly's Electrical References

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is RIGID free?
RIGID costs $2.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Ugly's Electrical References free?
Ugly's Electrical References costs $12.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, RIGID or Ugly's Electrical References?
Ugly's Electrical References is rated higher. RIGID averages 2.9 out of 5 from 15 ratings, while Ugly's Electrical References averages 4.4 from 1.5K ratings.
Do RIGID or Ugly's Electrical References have ads?
Neither RIGID nor Ugly's Electrical References shows ads.
Which is updated more often, RIGID or Ugly's Electrical References?
RIGID ships an update every 4 months, and Ugly's Electrical References every 3 months. Most recently, RIGID was updated on November 6, 2026 and Ugly's Electrical References on November 6, 2026.
Which is more popular, RIGID or Ugly's Electrical References?
RIGID currently peaks at #199 in the App Store charts, and Ugly's Electrical References at #15. Chart position reflects recent download velocity rather than total install base.

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