Comparison

LiquidText vs CalcDraw

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

Head to head
About

LiquidText

This app provides a dynamic workspace for reviewing and organizing information from documents and webpages. It allows users to extract key facts, connect ideas across different sources, and annotate content for research, writing, or study.

Highlights
  • Import documents and webpages
  • Extract and organize excerpts
  • Connect ideas with ink links
  • Compare document sections
  • Annotate PDFs, Word, and PowerPoint
  • Search across all documents
Features
Read full description

*** Named “Most Innovative iPad App of the Year” by Apple App Store *** LiquidText offers a fast, natural way to review, gather, and organize information across all your documents and webpages—then apply the results to writing reports, meeting prep, or simply studying. Pull out key facts and connect them together, squeeze a document to compare sections, draw a line to connect ideas in different documents, comment on multiple pages at once, build upon your thoughts, and much more. ► WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING: * "If you want to experience the power of going beyond paper, you can download LiquidText" – Cult of Mac * One of Macworld’s Top 24 Apps for iPad Pro * One of Time Magazine's Ten Best apps for iPad Pro * * "There's a better way to organize your research, and the app is it." – iMore, Serenity Caldwell * “All you need for deep research projects.” – Macworld, Jackie Dove * "The world changed with...LiquidText" – Law360, Paul Kiesel * "LiquidText may just be *the* app for reviewing and annotating PDFs using Apple's tablet and stylus." – CIO Magazine, James Martin * “One of the most powerful, original iPad apps I've tried in years” – Federico Viticci, MacStories.net ► LIQUIDTEXT’S COMPLETE FEATURE SET INCLUDES: (Features with * require a paid upgrade.) Import • Create a workspace and import all the documents and web pages you need • Compatible with PDF, Word, and PowerPoint document types • Import from Dropbox, iCloud Drive, Box, email, and more • Import content from webpage or send to LiquidText directly from Safari • Instant OCR to select text in scanned documents; do a full document-OCR to search as well!* • Import documents & metadata directly from reference managers (supports Zotero and Mendeley)* Interact • Pull excerpts from all the documents in your project into the Workspace area • Add your own notes (typed or written) to the Workspace area • Freely draw on your notes, or on the workspace itself* • Organize excerpts and notes into groups • Connect anything - draw live “ink links” that span pages, documents, notes, and more* • Create mind-maps by drawing “ink links” connecting your excerpts/notes to one another * • Get context - tap notes and excerpts to find original source Compare • Pinch a document to compare different distant pages side by side • Collapse text to see annotated parts side-by-side • Collapse text to view search results(s) side-by-side • Import unlimited number of documents into a project, view up to 3 at once* Annotate • Freely draw* or highlight on your document, notes, or the workspace itself • Add margin notes/comments to text, images, notes, and excerpts • Comment on two or more selections simultaneously • Replace document with a newer version (and annotations are brought to new doc)* Search • Search for keywords across all your LiquidText documents • Find keywords in title or text of your documents* • Bulk highlight, tag, or link to your search results* Realtime Collaboration • Invite colleagues into your shared projects and work together in near realtime* • Leave comments and notifications for your collaborators* • Privacy controls: set whether each workspace & document in your project is shared or private* Easy Export • Export your project as a PDF (includes your Workspace and documents) • Export your project as a Word file (converts your notes/excerpts into a linear document) • Send a full LiquidText file for those with the app. • Send files by email or to Dropbox, iCloud Drive, Zotero, and more* Sync & Backup* • Real-time, cross-platform sync • Continuous cloud backup • Multi-device display: • Use your desktop or tablet as additional display for your other device • Use your tablet for freehand inking while viewing and keyboarding on your desktop See our terms of use at https://www.liquidtext.net/terms-of-use Learn more at LiquidText.net | Better Than Paper

About

CalcDraw

This free tool lets you write notes and perform calculations simultaneously. Easily capture ideas and share results instantly. Enjoy a smooth and intuitive math workflow.

Highlights
  • Write and solve math problems
  • Take notes alongside calculations
  • Instant sharing of results
  • Intuitive and stress-free workflow
  • Copy results to clipboard
Features
Read full description

Calc Draw is a simple calculator app that lets you take handwritten notes while you calculate. Enter numbers and formulas while freely writing on the same screen. It's perfect for shopping, splitting bills, estimating costs, brainstorming ideas, or any situation where calculations alone aren't enough. Write directly on the canvas using a pen or eraser, then share your notes as an image or PDF whenever you need. You can also copy and share calculations, results, and calculation history, making it easy to save and reuse your work. Features Use the calculator and handwriting canvas at the same time Pen, eraser, move tool, Undo & Redo Save calculation history Copy and share calculations and results Export the canvas as an image or PDF Supports Light Mode and Dark Mode Available in multiple languages Calc Draw is designed for people who want to keep calculations and handwritten notes together in one place, without switching between multiple apps.

Screenshots

LiquidText4 screens
CalcDraw4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: CalcDraw at none against LiquidText's 13. CalcDraw also leads on rating (4.8 vs 4.6). LiquidText's advantage is ratings volume (6.4K vs 4) and update cadence (every 2 weeks vs every 5 weeks). On price, ads, device support 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

Both are free to download. LiquidText sells 13 in-app purchases, starting at $5.49 per month. CalcDraw asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

CalcDraw holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 4.6. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: LiquidText has 6.4K ratings behind it against 4, so its average is the more settled of the two.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

LiquidText ships an update every 2 weeks, CalcDraw every 5 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 14, 2026 and October 1, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
LiquidText versus CalcDraw: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterLiquidTextCalcDraw
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.6 (6.4K ratings)4.8 (4 ratings) — better
Positive reviews49.6% of reviews—
Number of ratings6.4K — better4
Update frequencyEvery 2 weeks — betterEvery 5 weeks
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesAd-supported — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, Mac — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS17.616.6 — better
Further details — not scored
Size317 MB19 MB
Age rating17+4+
DeveloperLiquidText, Inc.dai kawaguchi

Customer experience

LiquidText

All ratings6,376 ratings
Positive91.3%
Neutral3.0%
Negative5.8%
Written reviews1,466 reviews
Positive49.6%
Neutral13.6%
Negative36.8%

CalcDraw

All ratings4 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Bugs and requests

LiquidText

Reported bugs

5 issues
  • Frequent crashes and data loss issues
  • Inconsistent behavior with Apple Pencil
  • Text selection and highlighting problems
  • Sync issues between iPad and Mac versions
  • Unexpected changes to existing annotations

Requested features

5 requests
  • Dark mode option
  • Improved palm rejection and writing experience
  • Better export and sharing options
  • Thumbnail/outline view for easier navigation
  • Ability to rotate and resize text/image annotations

CalcDraw

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

13 purchases

LiquidText

Subscriptions10
  • LiquidText Live, Monthly, Stu7 Days trial$5.491 Month
  • LiquidText Live, Monthly, StPr7 Days trial$5.491 Month
  • LiquidText Unlimited, Mo, Stu7 Days trial$10.901 Month
Show 7 more
  • LiquidText Live, Monthly7 Days trial$10.901 Month
  • LiquidText Live, Monthly, Upg7 Days trial$10.901 Month
  • LiquidText Unlimited, Yr, Stu7 Days trial$19.001 Month
  • LiquidText Live, Yearly, Stu7 Days trial$54.901 Year
  • LiquidText Live, Yearly7 Days trial$99.991 Year
  • LiquidText Live, Yearly, Upg7 Days trial$99.991 Year
  • LiquidText Unlimited, Yr7 Days trial$189.991 Year
One-time3
  • LT Pro - For Students$19.99
  • LiquidText Pro$29.99
  • LiquidText Pro II$89.99
None

CalcDraw

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is LiquidText free?
LiquidText is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is CalcDraw free?
CalcDraw is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, LiquidText or CalcDraw?
CalcDraw is rated higher. LiquidText averages 4.6 out of 5 from 6.4K ratings, while CalcDraw averages 4.8 from 4 ratings.
Do LiquidText or CalcDraw have ads?
Neither LiquidText nor CalcDraw shows ads.
Which is updated more often, LiquidText or CalcDraw?
LiquidText ships an update every 2 weeks, and CalcDraw every 5 weeks. Most recently, LiquidText was updated on October 14, 2026 and CalcDraw on October 1, 2026.

Other comparisons