Writing Wizard vs Twinkl Formation & Handwriting
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Writing Wizard
This app helps children learn to trace letters, numbers, and words with a fun, motivating system. It offers customizable tracing practice, interactive games, and progress reports for parents and educators.
- Trace letters, numbers, and words
- Customizable tracing practice
- Interactive games and animated stickers
- Create custom word lists with audio
- Progress reports for tracking
- Printable PDF worksheets
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"Fantastic, customizable tracing practice with fun rewards." 5 Stars - Common Sense Media 500,000+ units sold (including 300,000+ to schools) ! Writing Wizard is designed to help every child learn how to trace letters, numbers, and words through a fun system carefully designed to maintain motivation. • Show and enforce how to trace letters correctly • Letter names and phonics (customizable) • 16 Fonts available (including 3 most popular in the US) • Fun tracing using 50+ animated stickers, sound effects and interactive games that animate letters at the end of tracing • Uppercase & lowercase letters, numbers, and words • Ability to create your own word lists (and record audio for each word) • Fully customizable to suit every child’s needs (letter size, difficulty,...) • Check progress thanks to reports that display what the child has traced • Shapes tracing activity for toddlers • Create PDF Worksheets and print them to help your child to write on paper • Use Apple pencil to write at a very small size All the shapes, the first 7 letters, numbers, and words are free. The remaining letters and the ability to add your own words can be unlocked with a one-time purchase or a monthly subscription. _______ ACCOLADES • "Writing Wizard is the most complete and intelligent letter tracing app we’ve seen"" AppoLearning.com • "This brand-new app should be the go-to for every parent, teacher and therapist to work on handwriting" - TOP PICKS - 5 stars - SmartAppsForKids.com • "Writing Wizard by L’Escapadou is everything a parent wants in a handwriting app, and more." 5/5 - kids-app-reviews.com • "L’Escapadou has made handwriting fun." AppyMall.com 5/5 • Listed in "20 best educational iPhone and iPad apps for kids of 2013" - appsplayground.com • Editor's Choice Award for Excellence in Design - Children's Technology Review _______ PERFECT FOR KIDS Kids want to have fun, and Writing Wizard offers a lot of fun to keep them motivated in the learning process! • They can trace using 50+ animated stickers and sound effects • Once tracing is complete, they can interact with them on 4 games that animate letters • They can trace any word - like their name - and record their voice for each word • They can collect stars in 5-Stars play mode _______ PERFECT FOR PARENTS & TEACHERS • Ability to create your own word lists (and record audio for each word) • Detailed reports provide information on what kids have done, including the ability to replay and export the tracings to view kids' progress • Share word lists via iCloud Drive or other cloud providers, adhoc network, or email • Multiple parameters to customize the app according to the child’s current education level (e.g. letter size, difficulty, show/hide model, allow to stop between key points, etc.) • 3 most popular fonts in the US (ZB, DN & HWT) and 13 international fonts (UK, Scandinavia, Australia, Germany and France) • Upper and lower case letters, numbers (and word lists) • Letter names and letter sounds (which can be customized) • A customizable 5-Stars play mode prompting the child to trace a letter or a word 5 times using different parameters (each step is more challenging) • Create an unlimited number of users • Many settings to customize the app (sound, game time limit, black background,...) • In the A-Z section, special graphics available to match letters (e.g. ant graphic for A/a) _______ Privacy Policy KNOW WHAT'S INSIDE As a Moms with Apps member, we follow the "Know what's inside" best practices for kids’ apps L’Escapadou takes children’s privacy seriously. We believe you should not have to worry about your kids being tracked by apps or websites. This app: • Does not collect any user information (we do not use data collection tools) • External Links : Before accessing a parent section, an operation must be solved so that young kids cannot access it. Terms of use : https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/
Twinkl Formation & Handwriting
This app helps young learners develop essential handwriting skills by practicing letter and number formation, and shapes. It offers a fun, engaging, and prep-free experience for children, with customizable word lists and offline functionality.
- Letter and number formation practice
- Shape tracing
- Fine motor skill development
- Customizable word lists
- Offline functionality
- Multi-language support
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Take the hassle out of handwriting lessons with the Twinkl Formation & Handwriting app! It’s a fun-filled, prep-free way to help your little learners form letters, numbers and shapes, and build those all-important fine motor skills. So, why will you love the Twinkl Formation & Handwriting app? Your weekend is safe. Just set them up and watch them practice. You get back the time you’d spend prepping tracing sheets for lowercase and uppercase letters, numbers 1-100, and simple shapes. No more begging to practice! The kids are actually asking to use it. That's a win-win. From the classroom to the car. It works on any device and keeps the learning consistent, no matter where they are. It's built by people who get it. The app has been developed by expert lead teachers and senior practitioners , so you can have total confidence in its standards. Phonics panic, solved. Phase 2/3 sounds and over 100 CVC words are ready-to-go, so you have exactly what you need for your next lesson. Cater to all your learners, wherever you are in the world. The app has specific fonts and professional audio in English for the US, UK, Australia and New Zealand, along with Welsh, Spanish, Arabic and Afrikaans. Stress-free screen time. The app works completely offline, so you can breathe easy knowing the kids are safe and the content is secure. Adaptable to your needs. Create your own custom word lists to personalize the experience for your learners. Full support for your teaching. The app is compatible with a great range of supporting printable resources from the Twinkl website. How to access the Twinkl Formation & Handwriting app: Twinkl Ultimate members get full access to the app and all of Twinkl’s other mobile and web apps as part of your membership. If you just want app access without the wider benefits of Twinkl, you can take out an in-app subscription. Or, if you want to see how it works, you can try some of the features of the app for free in Try! Mode. Got questions? You can contact our lovely Twinkl Cares team 24/7, and you can always speak to a real human - that’s the Twinkl difference. Our Privacy Policy: https://www.twinkl.com/legal#privacy-policy Our Terms and Conditions: https://www.twinkl.com/legal#terms-and-conditions Apple Standard Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Rated 3+ by the Indonesia Game Rating System (IGRS)
Screenshots
Verdict
Writing Wizard and Twinkl Formation & Handwriting both sit at 4.4 stars, but that hides the real split: 74% of Writing Wizard's written reviews are positive against 41% of Twinkl Formation & Handwriting's. Writing Wizard also leads on ratings volume (5K vs 61). Twinkl Formation & Handwriting's advantage is update cadence (every 6 weeks vs every 4 months). On price, rating, ads and in-app purchases 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
Both are free to download. Writing Wizard sells 4 in-app purchases, starting at $2.49 per month and Twinkl Formation & Handwriting sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $0.49 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.4 for Writing Wizard against 4.5 for Twinkl Formation & Handwriting. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Writing Wizard has 5K ratings behind it against 61, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 74% of Writing Wizard's written reviews are positive against 41% of Twinkl Formation & Handwriting's.
Writing Wizard ships an update every 4 months, Twinkl Formation & Handwriting every 6 weeks. The most recent releases landed on September 22, 2026 and September 20, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Writing Wizard | Twinkl Formation & Handwriting |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.4 (5K ratings) | 4.5 (61 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 73.8% of reviews — better | 41.2% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 5K — better | 61 |
| Update frequency | Every 4 months | Every 6 weeks — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 15.6 — better | 16.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 68 MB | 225 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Pierre Abel | Twinkl Limited |
Customer experience
Writing Wizard
Twinkl Formation & Handwriting
Bugs and requests
Writing Wizard
Reported bugs
3 issues- App crashes when trying to access locked features
- Purchased content not unlocking properly
- Inconsistent letter formation guidance
Requested features
4 requests- Add more letters, numbers, and shapes
- Allow recording of custom voice instructions
- Improve compatibility with stylus/digital pens
- Provide more customization options
Twinkl Formation & Handwriting
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Writing Wizard
- Full Access - Monthly$2.491 Month
- All Letters and Numbers$5.99
- Add Your Words and Word Lists$5.99
- Lifetime Full Access$9.99
Twinkl Formation & Handwriting
- Twinkl Monthly Subscription$0.491 Month
- Annual Subscription$2.991 Year
Questions
Is Writing Wizard free?
Is Twinkl Formation & Handwriting free?
Which has better reviews, Writing Wizard or Twinkl Formation & Handwriting?
Do Writing Wizard or Twinkl Formation & Handwriting have ads?
Which is updated more often, Writing Wizard or Twinkl Formation & Handwriting?
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