--- title: "Soulver alternatives, and other calculator notes apps for the Mac" author: Pedro Thomaz source: https://coffeetext.app/blog/soulver-alternatives-calculator-notes --- # Soulver alternatives, and other calculator notes apps for the Mac > Checked 8 November 2026 against the official pages and App Store listings linked below. Prices are in the currency each maker lists, before tax, and can change. I make Coffee, so read this with that in mind. Coffee isn't affiliated with Apple, Soulver, Numi or Calca. If sums are the main thing you do, Soulver is still the app to beat, and you may not need an alternative. If you want something already on your Mac, Apple Notes does maths as you type. If you want a symbolic calculator that solves equations, Calca. If you use Windows or Linux too, Numi. And if your sums belong inside Markdown notes you're already writing, an editor like Coffee works them out beside the line. I make Coffee, so weigh what I say about it. Everything about the other apps comes from their own pages. ## What a calculator notes app is They all work the same basic way. You write in plain text, one line at a time, in something close to ordinary words, and the app shows the answer. `$30 in EUR`, `20% off 80`, `today + 2 weeks`. Most let you name a value and use it further down, which is what makes them good for budgets, estimates and trip plans: change one number and everything below follows. Where they differ is in how far the maths goes, where the answers appear, and whether your sums live with the rest of your writing or in their own app. ## Soulver, described fairly [Soulver](https://soulver.app/) is the best-known app of this kind on the Mac, and its page explains why. You write in plain text and answers appear in a column beside it. It covers hundreds of unit conversions, 190 currencies with live and historical rates, date arithmetic and business days, time zones, interest, repayments and investment growth. You can use variables, line references, subtotals and a grand total, and total lines by tag. Eight popular stocks are included free, with an optional data subscription for many more, which also brings Wolfram|Alpha queries. - **Price:** $59 once. It's also included in Setapp, which its page lists at $15 a month. - **Trial:** 60 days. After that it goes read-only: you can still look at and export your sheets, but not edit them. You're not charged automatically. - **Platforms:** Mac, iPhone and iPad. It needs macOS 14 or later, and iOS or iPadOS 17. - **Your sums:** Soulver says its sheets are plain text, with styling applied from the syntax, and it understands Markdown headings. They sync through iCloud across your Apple devices, and export to plain text, PDF or HTML. Pick Soulver if you rework budgets and estimates often, want loans, stocks or historical rates, or want the same sheets on your phone. Its trial is long enough to find out. ## Numi [Numi](https://numi.app/) calls itself a beautiful calculator app, and its [repository](https://github.com/nikolaeu/numi) describes it as letting you describe tasks naturally and get an answer, with examples like `$20 in euro - 5% discount` and `today + 2 weeks`. There's also a command-line version, which an Alfred extension uses. - **Price:** You can download it from its site. Its [buy page](https://numi.app/buy/) says buying unlocks unlimited notes and iCloud sync, but doesn't show the price before checkout. It's also available on Setapp. - **Platforms:** Mac, Windows and Linux, plus the command-line tool. - **Your sums:** Neither page I read says how notes are stored, beyond the iCloud sync that buying adds. Pick Numi if you want the same calculator on a Mac and a Windows or Linux computer. Check what the free version allows before you rely on it. ## Calca [Calca](https://calca.io/) is still sold. Its [Mac App Store listing](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/calca/id635758264) shows version 1.7.2 from October 2025, at $9.99, from Krueger Systems, needing macOS 12 or later. It's a different kind of tool from Soulver. It calls itself a symbolic calculator that updates as you type, and its site shows functions you can invert to solve for a parameter, linear equations solved by referencing a variable, and matrices with determinants and inverses. Its site says no network is needed. - **Price:** $9.99 on the Mac App Store. - **Platforms:** Mac, iPhone and iPad, and Windows, each from its own store. - **Your sums:** The listing calls it a Markdown text editor and says calculations are stored as plain text, designed to work with iCloud documents. Pick Calca if your sums are algebra rather than shopping, such as solving for an unknown or working with matrices. Its site doesn't mention currencies or units, so check before choosing it for those. ## Math Notes in Apple Notes On macOS Sequoia and later, [Apple Notes solves maths](https://support.apple.com/guide/notes/solve-math-apda85974595/mac) when you type an expression followed by an equals sign, such as `47x96=`. You can make variables, as in `Lunch=25`, as long as they come before the line that uses them. Under Format > Math Results you choose whether answers are suggested, which is the default and puts the answer in when you press Return, inserted automatically after the equals sign, or turned off. - **Price:** Comes with your Apple devices. - **Platforms:** Mac, iPhone and iPad, synced through iCloud. - **Your sums:** Inside Notes, in upgraded iCloud notes or notes on your Mac. When an answer is inserted, it becomes part of the note's text. Pick Math Notes if your notes are already in Apple Notes and you want quick sums without another app. Apple's page doesn't mention currencies or time zones. For a one-off conversion, [Spotlight](https://support.apple.com/guide/mac-help/search-with-spotlight-mchlp1008/mac) handles units and currency: press Command and Space and type `5 miles in km`. ## Coffee This is the one I make, and it's a different kind of app from the others here. Coffee is a Markdown editor and notes app for the Mac, and the calculator is one of its features rather than the whole point. Any line in any note can be a sum, with nothing to turn on, and the answer appears beside it. *There's a working demo of this [on the page](https://coffeetext.app/blog/soulver-alternatives-calculator-notes).* You write in plain words: `20% of 50`, `flights = €240 times 2`, `$30 in EUR`, `1 BTC in USD`, `Tokyo time`, `2:30 pm HKT in Berlin`, `today + 2 weeks`, `workdays until 24 Dec`, `5 km in miles`, `3h 5m + 45 min`, `€40/hour * 7.5 hours`, `sqrt 144`. Selecting numbers, even a column of a table, shows their sum. Holding ⌥ and dragging a number tries other values. Two things set it apart. **The answer never goes into your file.** Coffee draws answers beside the line and doesn't write them into the note. Your Markdown stays exactly what you typed, so a note full of sums still reads properly anywhere else. The other side of that: open the note in another editor and you see the questions without the answers. PDF, HTML and print carry the answers. A Markdown export doesn't. **Ordinary writing is left alone.** A line is either understood completely or ignored, so "Call Ana at 5 about the 3 tickets" gets no answer, and neither do dates like `05/11/2026`, ranges like `2-3 days` or version numbers. Headings and table rows are skipped, and a line starting with `//` is kept as a comment. Everything is worked out on your Mac except currencies, which fetch exchange rates from Coinbase's public endpoint, a request that says nothing about your note. There's more on that in [currency, time zones and units in your notes](https://coffeetext.app/blog/currency-time-zones-units-in-notes). You can turn calculations off in Settings. - **Price:** 14 days free without a card, then €3 a month, €29 a year, or €79 once with two years of updates. - **Platforms:** Mac only, macOS 15 or later. No phone app. - **Your sums:** Ordinary `.md` files in a folder you choose, with no answers stored in them. Where Soulver is better: loans, interest and investment growth, stock prices, historical currency rates, totals by tag, an iPhone app, and a price paid once with a long trial. Coffee has none of those. Pick Coffee if your sums belong inside documents you're writing anyway, such as a [monthly budget](https://coffeetext.app/blog/monthly-budget-plain-text), a [timesheet](https://coffeetext.app/blog/timesheet-hours-plain-text) or a trip plan, and you want them in plain Markdown files. ## At a glance | App | Price | Platforms | Where your sums are kept | Answers go into the text? | |---|---|---|---|---| | [Soulver](https://soulver.app/) | $59 once, 60-day trial | Mac, iPhone, iPad | Plain text sheets, iCloud sync | Shown in a column beside it | | [Numi](https://numi.app/) | Free download, paid unlock | Mac, Windows, Linux | Not stated | Not stated | | [Calca](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/calca/id635758264) | $9.99 | Mac, iPhone, iPad, Windows | Plain text, iCloud documents | Not stated | | [Apple Notes](https://support.apple.com/guide/notes/solve-math-apda85974595/mac) | Comes with your Mac | Mac, iPhone, iPad | Inside Notes | Yes, when inserted | | Coffee | €3 a month, €29 a year or €79 once | Mac only | `.md` files in your folder | No, never | ## Which to pick - **Sums are the main event, and you want them on your phone:** Soulver. - **You need the same calculator on Windows or Linux:** Numi. - **You're solving equations or working with matrices:** Calca. - **Your notes are in Apple Notes:** Math Notes, already there. - **Your sums sit inside Markdown notes and documents:** Coffee. There's a shorter comparison of the three main approaches in [a calculator inside your notes](https://coffeetext.app/blog/calculator-in-notes-mac). ## Questions ### Is there a free alternative to Soulver on the Mac? Apple Notes does sums as you type on macOS Sequoia and later, and comes with your Mac. Numi can be downloaded from its site, with a paid unlock for unlimited notes and iCloud sync. Spotlight handles one-off unit and currency conversions. ### Is Calca still available? Yes. Its Mac App Store listing shows version 1.7.2 from October 2025, at $9.99, needing macOS 12 or later. ### Does Coffee write the answers into my notes? No. Coffee shows each answer beside its line and never writes it into the file, so your Markdown stays as you typed it. PDF, HTML and print include the answers. A Markdown export doesn't. ### Can Coffee replace Soulver? For sums inside your notes, such as budgets, hours and conversions, it may. For loans, interest, stock prices, historical rates or an iPhone app, no. Soulver does those and Coffee doesn't. --- Written by Pedro Thomaz, who makes Coffee, a Markdown editor for the Mac on macOS 15 or later. It's free for 14 days with no card or account, then €3 a month, €29 a year, or €79 once with two years of updates. More at https://coffeetext.app/llms-full.txt