# micro vs Spike™ LEGO® Education

The clearest difference is rating: Spike™ LEGO® Education at 4.8 against micro's 3.3. Spike™ LEGO® Education also leads on review sentiment (69% vs 44%) and update cadence (every 2 months vs every 7 months). micro's advantage is iOS requirement (12.0 vs 14.0). On price, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model there is nothing between them.

Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

Spike™ LEGO® Education holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 3.3. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Spike™ LEGO® Education has 3.5K ratings behind it against 89, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 44% of micro's written reviews are positive against 69% of Spike™ LEGO® Education's.

micro ships an update every 7 months, Spike™ LEGO® Education every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on September 19, 2026 and September 24, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | micro | Spike™ LEGO® Education |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | [3.3 (89 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/microbit/id1092687276/reviews) | **[4.8 (3.5K ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/spike-lego-education/id6443545905/reviews)** |
| Number of ratings | 89 | **3.5K** |
| Positive reviews | 43.8% of reviews | **68.7% of reviews** |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Ads | No | No |
| Update frequency | Every 7 months | **Every 2 months** |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Size | 59 MB | 227 MB |
| Requires iOS | **12.0** | 14.0 |
| Devices | **iPhone, iPad, iPod** | iPad, Mac |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | [Micro:bit Educational Foundation](https://appshunter.io/developer/1484783422) | [LEGO Education](https://appshunter.io/developer/708170734) |

## What reviewers say

### micro

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/microbit/id1092687276)

This app is the essential companion for the BBC micro:bit, a pocket-sized programmable computer. It allows you to wirelessly beam programs to your micro:bit via Bluetooth and includes access to a block-based programming editor. Monitor sensor data and control your micro:bit in real-time.

**Highlights:** Wireless flashing of micro:bit hex files, Access to Microsoft MakeCode editor, Bluetooth beaming of programs, Real-time sensor data monitoring, Control micro:bit buttons and pins, Debug running program code, Store and manage HEX files

**Features:** Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases:** none

**What reviewers like**

- 👍 Easy to use and quick to set up
- 💻 Allows coding on mobile devices
- 🎓 Great for learning and education
- ⚡ Fast download and installation
- 🔧 Works well once properly configured

**What reviewers complain about**

- 🐛 Frequent Bluetooth pairing failures
- 🐛 App crashes during code flashing
- 🐛 Connection drops after flashing
- 📱 Poor optimization for phone screens
- 🔌 Requires frequent device reconnection

**Reported bugs**

- Bluetooth pairing fails or shows false success
- App crashes when flashing code to micro:bit
- Connection lost after code flashing
- White screen display issue
- Login fails with Google accounts

**Requested features**

- Offline mode for iOS
- Integrated IDE in app instead of Safari redirect
- Support for multiple languages
- Persistent Bluetooth connection after flashing
- Mute audio functionality


### Spike™ LEGO® Education

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/spike-lego-education/id6443545905)

This app facilitates playful STEAM learning for students, designed to work with specific LEGO® Education kits. It helps develop computational thinking through coding, encourages building and experimentation, and supports programming for various projects and competitions.

**Highlights:** Icon-block, word-block, and text-based coding, Develop computational thinking, Build, tinker, and experiment with LEGO® creations, Program and debug designs, Create stories with LEGO® Minifigures, Prepare for FIRST® LEGO® League competitions

**In-app purchases:** none

**What reviewers like**

- 🚀 Awesome
- 🚀 Super good
- 🚀 Great app
- 👍 User friendly and easy to use
- 👍 Engineering Excitement in Kindergarten

**What reviewers complain about**

- 🐛 Restricted features due to LEGO's focus on profits
- 🐛 Missing basic quality of life functionality
- 🐛 Doesn't work on iPad
- 🐛 Slow loading and issues with connectivity
- 🐛 Tutorials have limitations

**Reported bugs**

- Bluetooth connection issues
- Unable to flash hub or connect
- Incompatibility with programs written in previous version

**Requested features**

- Hub-to-hub control
- RC features
- Merge Inventor app into one
- Add more color options for color sensor
- Bring back Python coding support


## Frequently asked questions

### Is micro free?

micro is free to download, with no in-app purchases.

### Is Spike™ LEGO® Education free?

Spike™ LEGO® Education is free to download, with no in-app purchases.

### Which has better reviews, micro or Spike™ LEGO® Education?

Spike™ LEGO® Education is rated higher. micro averages 3.3 out of 5 from 89 ratings, while Spike™ LEGO® Education averages 4.8 from 3.5K ratings.

### Do micro or Spike™ LEGO® Education have ads?

Neither micro nor Spike™ LEGO® Education shows ads.

### Which is updated more often, micro or Spike™ LEGO® Education?

micro ships an update every 7 months, and Spike™ LEGO® Education every 2 months. Most recently, micro was updated on September 19, 2026 and Spike™ LEGO® Education on September 24, 2026.

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*Compared by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/) from daily US App Store data. Review summaries are generated from verbatim App Store reviews.*