CalcBoard vs. Calzy

Calzy is a polished, long-standing iOS calculator best known for its Memory Area — a space where you store numbers and drag them back into calculations later. CalcBoard takes a different approach to the same underlying problem: instead of one calculator with a place to park numbers, it runs several calculators at once.

Calzy details taken from its public App Store listing on September 1, 2026 (version 3.11, $1.99, requires iOS 26.0 or later). Check the current listing before buying.

Where CalcBoard comes out ahead

• More than one calculation at a time. Two panels free, eight with Premium, each independent. Calzy holds one calculation and parks the rest.
• It runs on far more iPhones. Calzy's current version requires iOS 26 or later; CalcBoard needs only iOS 16. On a phone more than a couple of years old, Calzy will not install at all.
• Programmer mode. Binary, octal, decimal, and hex on screen together with bitwise operations — Calzy has no equivalent.
• A 79-unit converter across 10 categories, usable in its own panel next to a live calculation. Calzy has no converter.
• Exact decimal arithmetic, so 0.1 + 0.2 is exactly 0.3 and money totals reconcile to the cent.
• Nothing to pay to find out. The free tier is a working two-panel calculator; Calzy is paid up front, sight unseen.

Where Calzy may suit you better

Calzy is a well-made app and there are cases it fits. Its full feature set is $1.99 against CalcBoard's $2.99 unlock, so it is a pound cheaper if you know up front you want everything. Its drag-and-drop Memory Area is a nice piece of direct manipulation, and its one-tap Tax+ / Tax− keys are quicker than saving a rate as a named variable. And if you are certain you will never want a second calculator on screen, its single-panel focus is simpler than CalcBoard's.

The catch on all of it is iOS 26 — on older hardware the comparison does not arise.

Memory Area vs. the value tray

These solve the same problem — reusing a number you already worked out — in opposite directions. Calzy's Memory Area is a store: finish a calculation, park the result, drag it back later. CalcBoard's tray is a bus between calculators: the number moves from one live panel to another, and both stay on screen.

Which is better depends entirely on whether the earlier calculation is finished. If it is, a memory area is tidier. If you are still adjusting both numbers and comparing them — two loan scenarios, two prices — you want both calculators visible, which is the case a single-panel app cannot make.

CalcBoard also has named variables: rather than storing an anonymous number, you name it (subtotal, tax) and type the name into any expression, in any panel, for as long as you keep it.

Frequently Asked Questions