Comparison

Reading Speed/Fluency Builder vs ESL speed readings

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Reading Speed/Fluency Builder

This app helps children improve their reading speed and fluency through a game-like environment. It offers graduated practice, audio support, and motivational rewards to build confidence and comprehension skills for young learners.

Highlights
  • Graduated reading practice
  • Mastery-based progression
  • Multiple texts per level
  • Progress reporting
  • Audio support for fluent reading
  • Fun reward system
  • Incremental reading levels
Features
Read full description

** Happy Frog Apps is a Mom’s Choice Award Winner! Also featured on FunEducationalApps.com, TeachersWithApps.com, and more! ** Reading Fluency Builder quickly develops your child's reading speed to meet grade level expectations. Reading fluency is a key prerequisite if your child is struggling with reading comprehension. Reading Fluency Builder provides a fun game-like environment that motivates even hesitant learners. What parents say about our awesome apps: *** 5 stars! Brilliant! An app that understands how kids actually learn. Thank you!
 *** 5 stars! My kids love this app because of the fun, silly sentences. I love it because it works!  
 Reading Fluency Builder provides: - Graduated practice starting with simple texts and slower speeds. - Students progress only when they demonstrate mastery. - Students can practice with multiple texts per level. - 'At a glance' reporting shows you instantly how your learner is progressing. - Audio support is provided so learners can hear a fluent model. - Fun Reward Center increases student motivation. - Incremental levels take a student from mid Grade 1 reading speed up to mid Grade 5 reading speed. Our app is based on proven research on the effectiveness of modeled and repeated reading to increase fluency -- but we make it fun! Our apps are designed for and tested by typical and special needs children. Testers include children with Autism and other special needs. Our apps work for them! Our apps are also suitable for adults dealing with aphasia or learning English as a Second Language. 
To evaluate the app, download the free version, which has four free levels. Additional levels and additional players can be accessed with in-app purchases. (All levels can be purchased for $2.99 -- price may change.) 

If you prefer no in-app purchases, download the School Edition of this app, which includes all levels and up to 10 players. We take customer service very seriously! If you ever have a problem or find that we've missed something, contact us at our website and we will do our best to fix the problem.  We collect NO private information in our app. None! Our apps do not allow unrestricted web or social media access. We conform to the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act.

About

ESL speed readings

Enhance your reading comprehension and speed with a collection of short stories. Practice with quizzes to check understanding and track progress. Improve your English reading skills with graded vocabulary levels.

Highlights
  • Increase reading speed
  • Improve comprehension
  • 140 short stories
  • Graded vocabulary levels
  • Comprehension quizzes
  • Progress tracking
Features
Read full description

This app will help you increase your reading speed. When you read faster, you understand better, and reading is more enjoyable. Also, speed reading can increase other skills (Elley & Mangubhai, 1979). A good speed to read is around 250 words per minute (Nation, 2005). THE STORIES ---------------------- This app has 140 short stories. Each story is written using easy words. For example, the stories at the elementary level are all written using the 500 most-frequent words in English. This level is easier than the intermediate level because the stories at the intermediate level were written using the 1000 most-frequency words in English. There are a variety of stories. These stories have been collected over many years. Some are famous stories from around the world. The stories are grouped into books. Each book contains twenty short stories. Each story has a set of questions to answer after reading. Answering these questions makes it easy to check that you are speed reading effectively. You should try to get 70% on the quiz. The more stories you read, the more you will increase your reading speed. The stories were written by Sonia Millett. Emmy Quinn and Paul Nation wrote the first version of one of the reading books. FEEDBACK ------------------ The app measures how long it takes you to read each story. To do so, it uses standard words per minute. It also checks if you are speed reading correctly by giving you feedback. This feedback helps you to continue to practicing speed reading effectively. For more information: https://eslspeedreading.tjuggles.com REFERENCES --------------------- - Elley, W. B., & Mangubhai, F. (1979). A research report on Reading in Fiji. Fiji English Teachers Journal, 15, 1-7. - Nation, P. (2005). Reading faster. Pasaa, 36, 21-37.

Screenshots

Reading Speed/Fluency Builder4 screens
ESL speed readings4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: ESL speed readings at 100% against Reading Speed/Fluency Builder's 17%. ESL speed readings also leads on rating (3.0 vs 2.3) and in-app purchases (none vs 3). Reading Speed/Fluency Builder's advantage is ads (none vs shown) and ratings volume (7 vs 2). On price, device support and iOS requirement there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Reading Speed/Fluency Builder sells 3 one-off in-app purchases. ESL speed readings asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

ESL speed readings holds the better App Store score, 3.0 against 2.3. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 7 and 2 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 17% of Reading Speed/Fluency Builder's written reviews are positive against 100% of ESL speed readings's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Reading Speed/Fluency Builder ships an update every 4 months, ESL speed readings every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on October 24, 2026 and October 16, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard7 real differences · 3 level
Reading Speed/Fluency Builder versus ESL speed readings: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterReading Speed/Fluency BuilderESL speed readings
PriceFreeFree
Rating2.3 (7 ratings)3.0 (2 ratings) — better
Positive reviews16.7% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings7 — better2
Update frequencyEvery 4 monthsEvery 2 months — better
AdsNo — betterYes
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesAd-supported — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPod
Requires iOS12.2 — better12.4
Further details — not scored
Size39 MB29 MB
Age rating4+12+
DeveloperJanine TooleThomas Boutorwick

Customer experience

Reading Speed/Fluency Builder

All ratings7 ratings
Positive14.3%
Neutral28.6%
Negative57.1%
Written reviews6 reviews
Positive16.7%
Neutral33.3%
Negative50.0%

ESL speed readings

All ratings2 ratings
Positive50.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative50.0%
Written reviews1 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

3 purchases

Reading Speed/Fluency Builder

One-time3
  • Up to 2 Users$1.99
  • Access All Levels$2.99
  • Add up to 10 Users$2.99
None

ESL speed readings

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Reading Speed/Fluency Builder free?
Reading Speed/Fluency Builder is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is ESL speed readings free?
ESL speed readings is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Reading Speed/Fluency Builder or ESL speed readings?
ESL speed readings is rated higher. Reading Speed/Fluency Builder averages 2.3 out of 5 from 7 ratings, while ESL speed readings averages 3.0 from 2 ratings.
Do Reading Speed/Fluency Builder or ESL speed readings have ads?
ESL speed readings shows ads; Reading Speed/Fluency Builder does not.
Which is updated more often, Reading Speed/Fluency Builder or ESL speed readings?
Reading Speed/Fluency Builder ships an update every 4 months, and ESL speed readings every 2 months. Most recently, Reading Speed/Fluency Builder was updated on October 24, 2026 and ESL speed readings on October 16, 2026.

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