# An alternative to SpeedCrunch and Qalculate

Written 18 October 2026 by Adrian Viziteu. SpeedCrunch and Qalculate details are from their own sites; both are free and open source.

SpeedCrunch and Qalculate are excellent free calculators: you type an expression, press Enter, and it goes into a history. Ratio works like a note instead: every line stays editable, can be named and reused, and the whole sheet recalculates as you type.

| | Ratio | SpeedCrunch | Qalculate! |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Price | $9.99 once, 7-day trial | Free, open source | Free, open source |
| Platforms | Linux, Windows, Mac | Linux, Windows, Mac | Linux, Windows and others |
| How you work | A sheet of lines that all stay live | One expression at a time, with history | One expression at a time, with history |
| Live currencies | Yes, 160+ plus crypto | No | Yes |
| Units | 150+ | Some | Very many |
| Dates, time zones, working days | Yes | No | Dates, yes |
| VAT, loans, margins in plain words | Yes | No | No |
| Symbolic algebra | Equations and exact answers | No | Yes, much deeper |

## The same work as a sheet

Instead of a history you scroll back through, a Ratio sheet keeps the steps. Change the first line and everything below updates.

| price = 1200 | 1,200 |
| --- | --- |
| discount = 15% | 15% |
| price - discount | 1,020 |
| L3 * 2 | 2,040 |
| prev / 4 | 510 |
| 255 in hex | 0xFF |
| 0xF0 & 0x3C | 0x30 |
| 1920x1080 aspect | 16:9 |

## Choose Ratio if

Your sums are a few connected steps (a budget, an invoice with VAT, a trip in another currency, a deadline in working days) and you want them in one editable page instead of a history.

## Choose SpeedCrunch or Qalculate if

You want free, open-source software, need Qalculate's symbolic algebra and huge unit list, or mostly type one quick expression at a time.

[Try Ratio free for 7 days](https://useratio.app/download?os=linux) · on Linux, Windows or Mac

## Questions

**Is Ratio free like SpeedCrunch and Qalculate?** No. Ratio has a 7-day free trial and then costs $9.99 once. SpeedCrunch and Qalculate are free and open source.

**What does Ratio do that SpeedCrunch doesn't?** Ratio keeps a whole sheet of lines live, with names and line references, and understands live currencies, dates, time zones, working days, VAT and loans in plain words.

**Does Ratio run on Linux?** Yes. It runs on 64-bit Linux with glibc 2.35 or newer as an AppImage or a .deb. See [Ratio for Linux](https://useratio.app/notepad-calculator-linux).

Source: https://useratio.app/speedcrunch-alternative