Free42
No written verdict yet. Here is what commenters said.
5recommend
0warn against
Feb 1, 2026first mention
Jun 3, 2026latest mention
Why people recommend it
“If I don't have it in hand I use Free42.”
Mid-1980s chemical engineer, later numerical analyston “HP re-releases classic computer science calculator: …”
“a great choice is the Free42 project by Thomas Okken”
Show 3 more
“Thomas Okken's free42 is a great, free HP42S emulator which runs on iOS.”
“My other favorite calculator is free42”
Caveats and dissent
No one in these comments warned against it.
Who recommends it in their own words
Threads where it came up
- HP re-releases classic computer science calculator: The HP-16C 2 mentions
- Ask HN: Do you still physical calculators? 2 mentions
- Graphing Scientific Calculator Based on the ESP32 1 mention
- Ti-84 Evo 1 mention
- My thousand dollar iPhone can't do math 1 mention
Data: free42.json. Quotes are verbatim; the verdict and theme labels are written by a model from these comments, and every clause links to its sources.
All comments 7
“up to and including the Free42 on my phone today”
“If I don't have it in hand I use Free42.”
“a great choice is the Free42 project by Thomas Okken”
“It's great if you like RPN calculators”
“Thomas Okken's free42 is a great, free HP42S emulator which runs on iOS.”
“My other favorite calculator is free42”
I have one on my desk at work. I use it 2-3 times a week for quickly calculating things. It gives me a good feeling every time I use it.