Ratio vs the iPhone Calculator
Written on by Ratio. Every example was run through Ratio that day.
The Calculator on your iPhone is always in your pocket, and it's free. Ratio lives on your computer. It is for the sums you do at a desk: a budget, a quote, a trip in another currency, where you want every step written down and the answer to change when one number does.
| Ratio | iPhone Calculator | |
|---|---|---|
| Where it runs | Mac, Windows and Linux | iPhone and iPad, and the Calculator on a Mac |
| Price | Free 7-day trial, then $14.99 once | Free, built in |
| How you type | Plain text, one sum per line: “20% off 80” | Buttons, or Math Notes ending a line with = |
| Labels next to numbers | Write them on the same line: “Rent 1150” | Only in Math Notes |
| Names and earlier lines | price = 1200, prev, L3 | Variables in Math Notes |
| Currencies | 160+ currencies and crypto, live: “84 eur in usd” | A converter mode, one pair at a time |
| Dates, time zones, working days | Built in, in words | No |
| VAT, loans, splitting a bill | Built in, in words | Do the steps by hand |
| Adding up a list | sum, average, sum #tag | Add the numbers one by one |
The same sums in both
The phone gets the same answers by tapping keys. In Ratio you write them in words, and they stay on the page, each next to its answer.
| 15% of 240 | 36 |
| 20% off 80 | 64 |
| 120 + 21% | 145.2 |
| 340 - 18% | 278.8 |
| (1200 + 340) / 4 | 385 |
A dinner bill, step by step
On a phone you type the bill, add the tip, divide, and the steps are gone. In Ratio each step has a name, so you can change the tip and see the new share at once.
| # Dinner for 4 | |
| bill = 148 | 148 |
| tip = 15% | 15% |
| with tip = bill + tip | 170.2 |
| each = with tip / 4 | 42.55 |
What a pocket calculator can't do
| 5 km in miles | 3.11 mi |
| 72 f in c | 22.22 °C |
| 2 h 25 min in min | 145 min |
| 1 march 2026 + 90 days | Sat, 30 May 2026 |
| days between 1 jan 2026 and 15 mar 2026 | 73 days |
| pmt(6%/12, 60, 15000) | 289.99 |
Use the iPhone Calculator when
You need one number away from your desk: a tip at the table, a price in a shop, a quick check.
Use Ratio when
You are at your computer and the sum has more than one step, or you want to keep it. A budget, a quote with VAT, a trip in two currencies, a deadline in working days. See also Ratio vs Google Calculator and what a notepad calculator is.
Try Ratio free for 7 days · $14.99 once, on Mac, Windows and Linux
Questions
Is there a Ratio app for iPhone? Not yet. Ratio runs on Mac, Windows and Linux. You can share a sheet as a link and open it on your phone.
Isn't Math Notes the same thing? Math Notes, in Calculator on iOS 18 and later, also works out sums you type. Ratio adds live currencies, dates and time zones, VAT, loans, tags and bill splitting, and it runs on Windows and Linux.
Does Ratio work offline? Yes. Calculations run on your computer, and currencies use the last downloaded rates until you are online again.