# Jolly Phonics vs Blending Board

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.

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.

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.

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.

## The numbers

| Metric | Jolly Phonics | Blending Board |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | **[4.4 (4.8K ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/jolly-phonics-learn-to-read/id1149029299/reviews)** | [4.3 (81 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/blending-board/id1521114657/reviews) |
| Number of ratings | **4.8K** | 81 |
| Positive reviews | 42.1% of reviews | **64.5% of reviews** |
| In-app purchases | Yes | **No** |
| Ads | No | No |
| Update frequency | **Every 5 weeks** | Every 10 months |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | **Free** |
| Size | 227 MB | 49 MB |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 | **13.0** |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | **iPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac** |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | [Jolly Learning](https://appshunter.io/developer/897894555) | [Chain Reaction Games LLC](https://appshunter.io/developer/969795617) |

## What reviewers say

### Jolly Phonics

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/jolly-phonics-learn-to-read/id1149029299)

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:** macOS Compatibility, Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases (7)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Full access (monthly) | $4.99 | per month |
| Writing | $0.99 | one-time |
| Sounding | $1.99 | one-time |
| Alternatives | $1.99 | one-time |
| Tricky Words | $1.99 | one-time |
| Sound Groups 2 to 7 | $7.99 | one-time |
| Unlock Everything | $9.99 | one-time |

**What reviewers like**

- 👍 Excellent for teaching phonics
- 🎓 Helpful for learning letter sounds
- 🎨 Multi-sensory approach (writing, reading, signing, singing)
- 🏫 Aligns with school curriculum

**What reviewers complain about**

- 🐛 Frequent crashes and freezes
- 🔇 Audio issues (sound cutting out, missing sounds)
- 🤖 Unresponsive touch controls
- 💰 Expensive for limited content
- 🔁 Requires re-purchase on new devices

**Reported bugs**

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

**Requested features**

- 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

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/blending-board/id1521114657)

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:** Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases:** none


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