RPN vs Calc
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
RPN
This app emulates the first pocket scientific calculator, offering a photo-realistic vintage experience. It simulates original operating speeds and unique arithmetic bugs, with optional modern enhancements like non-volatile registers.
- Photo-realistic look-and-feel
- Multiple vintage skins
- Vintage and Enhanced modes
- Optional key-click and key-glow
- Swipe to correct input
- Display stack and memory registers
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On January 4, 1972, Hewlett-Packard announced the HP-35, world's first scientific calculator small enough to fit in a pocket - more precisely, Bill Hewlett's shirt-pocket. The HP-35 was an immediate hit with students, engineers, and scientists. Despite its steep price of $395 (about $3000 today), it sold ten times better than anticipated in the first year. Experience this unique calculator that won HP the prestigious "IEEE Milestone in Electrical Engineering and Computing" in 2009. Features: • Photo-realistic look-and-feel • Three skins: version 1, versions 2 & 3 (1973) and final version 4 (1974) • Vintage mode and Enhanced mode • Key-click and key-glow, both optional • Swipe left across display to correct number input errors • Cut/copy/paste display value • Display stack registers and memory registers • All decimal points but one light when iPhone battery charge drops below 5% Vintage mode In this mode, peculiarities of a real HP-35 are simulated: - original speed of operation - stack register Z copied to T on trig functions - leading zeros may be entered; zero can be made negative - a negative number may be entered by pressing CHS before or after the number - a keyboard entry or RCL immediately following STO does not raise the stack - for version 1 only: simulation of a number of known arithmetic bugs Enhanced mode - non-volatile stack and registers - use registers 1 through 9 with HP-45-like register arithmetic - register 0 works as LastX register
Calc
This app emulates the classic TI-59, TI-58, and TI-58C calculators with cycle-accurate precision. It includes virtual magnetic cards, a printer, software modules, and a CPU-level debugger for in-depth analysis. Bring your old programs back to life or explore the inner workings of these vintage machines.
- Cycle-accurate TI-59, TI-58, TI-58C emulation
- Virtual magnetic card reader/writer
- PC-100C printer emulation
- CPU-level debugger
- Solid State Software module support
- iCloud syncing for state files
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Calc-U-59 is a TI-59, TI-58, and TI-58C emulator for iPhone, iPad, and Mac. It runs the original ROM, so every program, module, and quirk works exactly as it did on the real hardware — with virtual magnetic cards, a PC-100C printer, all fourteen Solid State Software modules, and a CPU-level debugger for anyone who wants to look under the hood. CYCLE-ACCURATE EMULATION The TMC0501 processor is emulated at the cycle level, reproducing the exact behaviour of the original hardware — including the TI-58C's constant memory, preserved across restarts. The Master Library ROM and many more modules are included. INTEGRATED DEBUGGER Inspect program memory, data registers, CPU state, and internal SCOM registers live as the machine runs. Step through instructions one at a time, or let the emulator run and freeze it at any point. You can even run your own assembly programs! On iPad in landscape and on the Mac it sits beside the calculator; on iPhone and in portrait, turn on the debugger page in Settings. PAPER TAPE PRINTER A functional recreation of the PC-100C thermal printer with dot-matrix font rendering. Trace exactly what programs print and why. Copy output as plain text or as a high-resolution bitmap. MAGNETIC CARD READER Load and save programs and data registers as card files, stored on your device and synced via iCloud. Bring old listings back to life and run them under the debugger. STATE FILES Load .ti59 and .ti58(c) state files to instantly configure the machine with a program, registers, and flags — ideal for sharing reproducible scenarios or revisiting known machine states. SOLID STATE MODULES Select a Solid State Module and run programs from there. Whether you're bringing an old program back to life, running the Master Library modules, or exploring how these machines actually worked under the hood, Calc-U-59 gives you a faithful TI-59 in your pocket. Calc-U-59 is free software under the GPLv3; the source code is on GitHub.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: Calc at Free against RPN's $1.99. Calc also leads on rating (5.0 vs 4.4) and update cadence (every 2 weeks vs every 6 months). RPN's advantage is ratings volume (14 vs 2) and iOS requirement (12.0 vs 18.0). On ads, in-app purchases and device support 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
Calc is free to download; RPN costs $1.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
Calc holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.4. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: RPN has 14 ratings behind it against 2, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 71% of RPN's written reviews are positive against 100% of Calc's.
RPN ships an update every 6 months, Calc every 2 weeks. The most recent releases landed on November 4, 2026 and November 5, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | RPN | Calc |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $1.99 | Free — better |
| Rating | 4.4 (14 ratings) | 5.0 (2 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 71.4% of reviews | 100.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 14 — better | 2 |
| Update frequency | Every 6 months | Every 2 weeks — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Paid | Free — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPod | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 12.0 — better | 18.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 14 MB | 9 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | CuVee Software | Martin Erzberger |
Customer experience
RPN
Calc
In-app purchases
RPN
No in-app purchases
Calc
No in-app purchases









