# Ratio vs Calca

Compared on 15 October 2026 by Ratio. Calca details are from calca.io and the App Store; check them for current pricing.

Calca is a text editor that does symbolic maths: it can solve for unknowns, work with matrices and keep everything offline. Ratio is built for everyday numbers: money, dates, time zones and work maths.

| | Ratio | Calca |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | $14.99 once (1 computer), updates included | See the App Store |
| Platforms | Mac, Windows, Linux | Mac, iPhone, iPad, Windows |
| Live currencies and crypto | Yes, 160+ currencies, refreshed hourly | No live rates (works fully offline) |
| Dates, time zones, working days | Yes | Not its focus |
| VAT, loans, interest | Yes, in plain words | Write your own formulas |
| Solving equations | Yes (“solve x^2 - 5x + 6 = 0”) | Yes, including inverting your own functions |
| Your own functions (“f(x) = x * 1.19”) | Yes, saved for every sheet | Yes |
| Matrices | Determinant, inverse, transpose, product | Yes, in full |
| Logic simplification | No | Yes |
| Command line | On the Mac (`ratio`), plus Raycast | No |
| Languages | English, Romanian, German, French, Spanish, Italian, Japanese, Chinese, Korean | English |

## The same sheet in Ratio

Variables and line references work the way Calca users expect, and money and dates are understood without setting anything up.

| price = 1200 eur | €1,200 |
| --- | --- |
| discount = 15% | 15% |
| price - discount | €1,020 |
| prev in usd | $1,144.31 |
| solve 3x + 2 = 20 | x = 6 |
| 1 mar 2027 + 10 working days | Mon, 15 Mar 2027 |

## Choose Ratio if

Your sums are about money and time: prices in other currencies, invoices with VAT, loan payments, deadlines in working days, meetings across time zones.

## Choose Calca if

You do algebra: you want to define functions and solve for their parameters, work with matrices, or keep the same documents on iPhone and iPad.

## Moving from Calca

Copy the lines you use and paste them into a Ratio sheet. Arithmetic, variables and percentages carry over; function definitions like `f(x) = …` don't.

[Try Ratio free for 7 days](https://useratio.app/download) · $14.99 once, updates included

## Questions

**Does Ratio work like Calca?** Yes for the basics: you type maths in a text document and the answer appears as you write. Ratio adds live currencies, dates and time zones, VAT and loans; Calca adds symbolic algebra and matrices.

**Does Ratio work offline?** Yes. Currencies use the last rates Ratio downloaded; everything else is calculated on your computer.

Source: https://useratio.app/ratio-vs-calca