Comparison

Jolly Phonics vs Blending Board

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

Head to head
About

Jolly Phonics

This interactive app teaches children to read and write using a systematic synthetic phonics approach. It offers engaging lessons, songs, and games to build phonemic awareness and handwriting skills, aligned with the Science of Reading.

Highlights
  • Explore 42 letter sounds with songs and audio
  • Interactive tools for reading practice
  • Step-by-step handwriting animations
  • Phonics learning games
  • Progress tracking and assessments
Features
Read full description

Teach Your Children to Read and Write with Jolly Phonics! Unlock reading and writing potential with the literacy programme designed for kids and trusted by teachers worldwide. Aligned with the Science of Reading, this interactive app makes learning to read and write and building phonemic awareness fun and engaging! What is Jolly Phonics? Jolly Phonics is a programme for teaching reading and writing. It is based on a systematic synthetic phonics approach, and was developed by teachers Sue Lloyd and Sara Wernham. It is the first stage in teaching children to read and write using the 5 key skills. It focuses on direct, explicit instruction of phonemic awareness and phonics for both reading (decoding) and writing (encoding). Scientific research has consistently shown phonemic awareness to be essential for building strong reading, spelling and writing skills. Why Choose Jolly Phonics? 1. Proven Success: Used in schools globally for over 30 years with proven literacy outcomes. 2. Science-Based Approach: Aligned with the Science of Reading to ensure kids build effective foundational reading and spelling skills. 3. Engaging and Multi-Sensory: Songs, actions and interactive learning games bring phonics learning to life! Key Features That Make Learning Easy and Fun: 1. Explore All 42 Letter Sounds: Go beyond ABC with free songs and audio to help kids learn every sound. 2. Learn to Read: Build phonemic awareness with our interactive learning tools such as flashcards, wordbank and action images to enhance and support every lesson. 3. Learn to Write: Develop strong handwriting skills with step-by-step visual animations. 4. Learning Games: Learn to read and write with fun phonics learning games that reinforce kids' learning. 5. Progress Tracking: Built-in assessments to monitor children's progress and celebrate achievements. Who Is Jolly Phonics For? 1. Kids: From preschoolers learning their first words and ABC, to confident young readers building their phonics skills. 2. Parents: Support your children's early reading, writing, and spelling journey at home with our guided lessons. 3. Teachers: A valuable classroom resource for phonics instruction. Start Your Kids' Phonics Journey Today! Join the millions of families and educators who have embraced the Jolly Phonics programme of learning for confident readers and writers. Whether at home or in the classroom, this app makes literacy learning simple, effective and enjoyable! Why Phonics Instead of ABC? 1. Phonics focuses on letter-sound relationships and how sounds (phonemes) make up words. It teaches kids the valuable skill of decoding, which is essential for reading and spelling fluency. 2. ABC refers to learning letters and their names rather than their sounds. Knowing the alphabet may be a precursor to phonics but doesn't directly teach reading skills. Learning Beyond ABC! Jolly Phonics doesn't stop at just ABC or phonemic awareness. The app offers: 1. Advanced learning strategies 2. Comprehensive handwriting exercises 3. Fun learning games designed for children to reinforce spelling and letter sounds knowledge Start Your Kids' Phonics Journey Today! Join the millions of families and educators who have embraced the Jolly Phonics programme of learning for confident readers and writers. Whether at home or in the classroom, with our structured lessons, interactive tools, and a focus on foundational phonemic awareness, your kids will learn to read, write and spell confidently. Download now and see how Jolly Phonics can transform your children's literacy learning! https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

About

Blending Board

This app helps teachers and parents teach phonics and blending sounds for reading. It allows users to create and customize decks of phonemes for blending activities, supporting both simple and multisyllabic word decoding. Shared decks via QR codes streamline instruction.

Highlights
  • Create custom phoneme decks
  • Blend sounds for word decoding
  • Practice multisyllabic rules
  • Personalize visual deck design
  • Share decks via QR codes
Features
Read full description

The Blending Board App is a powerful educational tool for teachers and parents working with dyslexic learners or anyone else still learning the foundations of blending sounds (phonics) and the multisyllabic rules of English. In this App users will find an easy-to-use resource that allows them to create a deck of phonemes that can be substituted and manipulated to create various kinds of blending activities. The decks enable users to practice decoding simple words, and multisyllabic words, too. Blending Board also offers a unique opportunity for creative flexibility by granting users design options when creating personalized decks that are visually appealing. The end product is a professional-looking, personalized deck of educational materials that users can integrate into instruction with one or many, and which can be used time and again. An easy-to-use QR code system allows the personalized decks to be shared with anyone who has the app, so that the teacher's time can be focused on teaching, not navigating complicated technology.

Screenshots

Jolly Phonics4 screens
Blending Board4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Blending Board at none against Jolly Phonics's 7. Blending Board also leads on review sentiment (65% vs 42%) and iOS requirement (13.0 vs 15.0). Jolly Phonics's advantage is update cadence (every 5 weeks vs every 10 months) and ratings volume (4.8K vs 81). On price, rating, ads and device support 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. Jolly Phonics sells 7 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month. Blending Board asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.4 for Jolly Phonics against 4.3 for Blending Board. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Jolly Phonics has 4.8K ratings behind it against 81, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 42% of Jolly Phonics's written reviews are positive against 65% of Blending Board's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Jolly Phonics ships an update every 5 weeks, Blending Board every 10 months. The most recent releases landed on November 1, 2026 and October 24, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 4 level
Jolly Phonics versus Blending Board: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterJolly PhonicsBlending Board
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.4 (4.8K ratings) — better4.3 (81 ratings)
Positive reviews42.1% of reviews64.5% of reviews — better
Number of ratings4.8K — better81
Update frequencyEvery 5 weeks — betterEvery 10 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac — better
Requires iOS15.013.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size227 MB49 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperJolly LearningChain Reaction Games LLC

Customer experience

Jolly Phonics

All ratings4,773 ratings
Positive83.4%
Neutral6.2%
Negative10.4%
Written reviews247 reviews
Positive42.1%
Neutral10.1%
Negative47.8%

Blending Board

All ratings81 ratings
Positive81.5%
Neutral4.9%
Negative13.6%
Written reviews31 reviews
Positive64.5%
Neutral12.9%
Negative22.6%

Bugs and requests

Jolly Phonics

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Account login issues
  • Inability to restore purchases
  • Blank/white screen problems
  • Compatibility issues with newer devices

Requested features

4 requests
  • More games and interactive activities
  • Print letter option instead of pre-cursive
  • Ability to share purchases across devices
  • Improved customer support and bug fixes

Blending Board

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

7 purchases

Jolly Phonics

Subscriptions1
  • Full access (monthly)$4.991 Month
One-time6
  • Writing$0.99
  • Sounding$1.99
  • Alternatives$1.99
Show 3 more
  • Tricky Words$1.99
  • Sound Groups 2 to 7$7.99
  • Unlock Everything$9.99
None

Blending Board

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Jolly Phonics free?
Jolly Phonics is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Blending Board free?
Blending Board is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Jolly Phonics or Blending Board?
Jolly Phonics is rated higher. Jolly Phonics averages 4.4 out of 5 from 4.8K ratings, while Blending Board averages 4.3 from 81 ratings.
Do Jolly Phonics or Blending Board have ads?
Neither Jolly Phonics nor Blending Board shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Jolly Phonics or Blending Board?
Jolly Phonics ships an update every 5 weeks, and Blending Board every 10 months. Most recently, Jolly Phonics was updated on November 1, 2026 and Blending Board on October 24, 2026.

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