Comparison

CALC Prime vs Desmos Test Mode

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

Head to head
About

CALC Prime

This advanced scientific calculator is designed for professionals and students, offering a wide range of functions, live conversions, and graphing capabilities. It features a history log, customizable themes, and easy expression editing, making complex calculations intuitive and visually appealing.

Highlights
  • Advanced scientific calculation
  • Smart Basic Graphing
  • Live currency and custom conversions
  • History log with aggregate functions
  • Customizable themes and layout
  • Native watchOS app and custom keyboard
Features
Read full description

Used by 10ths of thousands in iPad equipped classrooms, CALC Prime is optimized for productivity on iOS12-17. It's the multi-tasking powerhouse of tools & features you've been seeking. This release was specifically designed for Working Professionals and Classroom Teacher/Student settings. No pup-ups, external links or any end-user stats collection with the exception of the startup tutorial and the UserVoice powered support center. (MDM & AppConfig enabled for EMM systems such as IBM's MaaS360) * 5-Stars Teacher Certified by the #1 Educational App Store ~ https://www.educationalappstore.com * Used by thousands in iPad equipped classrooms ~ https://QApps.co/News Educational institutions can also benefit from a 50% discount via Apple's VPP (Volume Purchase Program). CALC Prime can Calculate, Aggregate and Convert + it has recently introduced Smart Basic Graphing capabilities. One of it's praised features is the ability to share expressions or user-defined functions easily between CALC users. CALC is an intelligent, multi-functional scientific calculator designed to make math look like art. CALC provides 55 pre-set + any number of user-definable Advanced Functions, Live currency and Custom conversions, and the ability to personalize your experience with limitless options of colors, fonts, shapes, sizes and layout arrangements. CALCs external capabilities include a native watchOS app with haptic and conversions, Notification Center Widget and also a Custom Keyboard calculator. CALC has a quick gratuity "approximator" and an on-screen timer to effectively track the remaining minutes and seconds during a test for instance. CALC is really clever. CALC can do live math expressions: From a simple expression like "1+2" to more advanced expressions like "3+(3x9(80+sin(90)))" Advanced calculator. By swiping left and right on CALC, you can easily access over 50+ advanced math functions and also add your own. History log. CALC remembers what you have calculated. Swipe up, and you can see all your previous calculations and perform aggregate functions. Built in converter. Convert your results in 26 common categories, including currency and one extra custom category where you can define your own units and conversions. Colorfull Themes. Limitless lovely themes for you to browse, including optional parallax background image of your choice! Easy access. Tap & Hold a math expression to edit it. Shake your device to undo Tap & Hold a number key for smart parenthesis Tap & Hold the decimal point for RANDOM decimal Tap & Hold the “ans” key for answer history Tap & Hold the “÷” key for 1/x Tap & Hold the “-” key to negate Text style Edit option for Expressions Tapping sound options ..and a lot more!

About

Desmos Test Mode

This app provides restricted versions of graphing and scientific calculators designed to meet exam requirements. It allows users to practice for specific state or national assessments by selecting the appropriate test mode. Full, unrestricted calculator features are available in separate applications.

Highlights
  • Exam-compliant calculator modes
  • Graphing capabilities
  • Scientific calculator functions
  • Data tables and statistics
  • Interactive sliders
  • Points of interest on graphs
Read full description

** These are restricted versions of the Desmos Calculators that comply with exam requirements. To prepare for specific state or national assessments, select the corresponding test from the menu in the app. Find out whether Desmos is used for your test at www.desmos.com/testing. If you’d like to use full, unrestricted versions of the calculators, download the Scientific or Graphing Calculator apps or visit www.desmos.com. ** At Desmos, we imagine a world of universal math literacy where math is accessible and enjoyable for all students. To that end, we’ve built simple yet powerful calculators. They’re intuitive, beautiful, and completely free. - - - Graphing Calculator Features: Graphing: Plot polar, Cartesian, and parametric graphs. There’s no limit to how many expressions you can graph at one time—and you don’t even need to enter expressions in y= form! Sliders: Adjust values interactively to build intuition, or animate any parameter to visualize its effect on the graph. Tables: Input and plot data, or create an input-output table for any function. Statistics: Use regressions to find the lines (or other curves!) that best fit your data. Zooming: Scale the axes independently or at the same time with the pinch of two fingers, or edit the window size manually to get the perfect view of your graph. Points of Interest: Touch a curve to show its maximum and minimum values, intercepts, and points of intersection with other curves. Tap any of these points of interest to see their coordinates. Hold and drag along a curve to see the coordinates change under your finger as you trace. - - - Scientific Calculator Features: Variables: Assign values to variables that you can use in other expressions. Since all of your work is held in the expressions list, you can compute a value once and use it in many places simultaneously. Take advantage of the “ans” key, which always stores the value of the previous expression. Arithmetic: Beyond the four basic operations, the scientific calculator also supports exponentiation, radicals, absolute value, logarithms, rounding, and percentages. Trigonometry: Evaluate the fundamental trigonometric functions and their inverses using either radians or degrees for angle measure. Statistics: Compute the mean and standard deviation (sample or population) of a list of data. Combinatorics: Count combinations and permutations and calculate factorials. - - - Four-Function Calculator Features: Simple and Beautiful: Just the basics done right. Add, subtract, multiply, divide, and take square roots. Multiple Expressions: Unlike many four-function calculators, all of your previous work remains visible on the screen. The special “ans” key always holds the value of the previous computation (and updates automatically!), so you never have to remember or copy a result.

Screenshots

CALC Prime4 screens
Desmos Test Mode4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: CALC Prime at 74% against Desmos Test Mode's 17%. CALC Prime also leads on rating (4.3 vs 1.6) and update cadence (every 2 months vs every 4 months). Desmos Test Mode's advantage is price (Free vs $8.99) and ratings volume (369 vs 4). On ads, in-app purchases and iOS requirement 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

Desmos Test Mode is free to download; CALC Prime costs $8.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

CALC Prime holds the better App Store score, 4.3 against 1.6. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Desmos Test Mode has 369 ratings behind it against 4, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 74% of CALC Prime's written reviews are positive against 17% of Desmos Test Mode's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

CALC Prime ships an update every 2 months, Desmos Test Mode every 4 months. The most recent releases landed on August 28, 2026 and October 14, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard7 real differences · 3 level
CALC Prime versus Desmos Test Mode: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterCALC PrimeDesmos Test Mode
Price$8.99Free — better
Rating4.3 (4 ratings) — better1.6 (369 ratings)
Positive reviews73.7% of reviews — better16.5% of reviews
Number of ratings4369 — better
Update frequencyEvery 2 months — betterEvery 4 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationPaidFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod, Apple Watch — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS15.5 — better16.0
Further details — not scored
Size9 MB6 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperQApps LLCDesmos

Customer experience

CALC Prime

All ratings4 ratings
Positive75.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative25.0%
Written reviews19 reviews
Positive73.7%
Neutral15.8%
Negative10.5%

Desmos Test Mode

All ratings369 ratings
Positive14.4%
Neutral2.4%
Negative83.2%
Written reviews139 reviews
Positive16.5%
Neutral5.0%
Negative78.4%

Bugs and requests

CALC Prime

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

Desmos Test Mode

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • App crashes and freezes during use
  • Unexpected phone behavior and lockouts
  • Compatibility issues across different devices and OS versions

Requested features

3 requests
  • Add customization options for the calculator interface
  • Improve compatibility with older devices
  • Provide more flexible calculator modes during tests

In-app purchases

None

CALC Prime

No in-app purchases

None

Desmos Test Mode

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is CALC Prime free?
CALC Prime costs $8.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Desmos Test Mode free?
Desmos Test Mode is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, CALC Prime or Desmos Test Mode?
CALC Prime is rated higher. CALC Prime averages 4.3 out of 5 from 4 ratings, while Desmos Test Mode averages 1.6 from 369 ratings.
Do CALC Prime or Desmos Test Mode have ads?
Neither CALC Prime nor Desmos Test Mode shows ads.
Which is updated more often, CALC Prime or Desmos Test Mode?
CALC Prime ships an update every 2 months, and Desmos Test Mode every 4 months. Most recently, CALC Prime was updated on August 28, 2026 and Desmos Test Mode on October 14, 2026.

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