Comparison

Writing Wizard vs Penpoints

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

Head to head
About

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.

Highlights
  • 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
Features
Read full description

"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/

About

Penpoints

This app helps children aged 6-11 practice spelling and handwriting using AI-powered feedback on photos of their written work. It supports independent learning for students and provides progress insights for parents and teachers.

Highlights
  • AI-powered handwriting analysis
  • Curriculum-aligned word lists
  • Instant feedback and scoring
  • Parental progress reports
  • Independent learning for children
  • Teacher and parent co-management
Features
Read full description

Penpoints: an app for parents and teachers to let children practice spelling and handwriting independently! Designed for young students in primary / elementary school (from 6 to 11 years old), Penpoints allows practice of physical “pen & paper” handwriting, using AI to dictate lists of words and provide instant feedback from a photo of handwritten words. It’s the perfect tool for kids to enhance their spelling and handwriting skills autonomously, without requiring adult supervision. For whom? - children can practice independently with a fun and rewarding app experience. Suitable for all learning needs (dyslexia, EAL, spelling bee,...) - teachers can use the app in class and for homeworks, to boost frequency of handwriting activities and interest for spelling - parents do not need to be present but can review results and assign additional exercises Key Features: - Personalised Learning: Aligns with British and American curriculums and year groups to deliver relevant word lists for children to practice - AI-Powered Feedback: Using Optical Character Recognition (OCR), the app analyzes photos of handwritten words, compares them to the dictated list, and provides instant score and feedback. - Parental Insights: Results are automatically emailed to parents, complete with a photo of the exercise, allowing them to review and offer additional guidance when needed. - Rewarding Progress: Children earn PenPoints for each completed exercise, encouraging continuous improvement and making learning fun! - In-class & at home: teachers and parents can co-manage a student’s profile to combine in-class activities, teacher-assigned homeworks or additional exercises. How It Works: - Easy Setup: Parent or Teacher creates an account for their child/class on any iPhone or iPad. - Curriculum-Based Practice: The app dictates curriculum-aligned and age-appropriate words for the child to write on paper. - Independent Workstation: Teacher can create a “SpellStation” challenge where a group of students compete on a selection of exercises in a fun and autonomous spelling competition. - Photo Assessment: Children snap a picture of their work, and our AI “teacher” evaluates the handwriting and spelling for accuracy. - Instant Results: The app provides scores and detailed feedback to the child while parents receive a report via email. Why PenPoints? - Boosts confidence by enabling autonomous learning. - Encourages neat handwriting and accurate spelling. - Offers parents a window into their child’s progress, even from a distance. - Offers teachers a fun and self-sufficient platform to boost “handwritten spelling” skills of their students, in class and at home. Make learning an enjoyable journey for your child with PenPoints!

Screenshots

Writing Wizard4 screens
Penpoints4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Penpoints at 5.0 against Writing Wizard's 4.4. Penpoints also leads on in-app purchases (none vs 4) and update cadence (fortnightly vs every 4 months). Writing Wizard's advantage is ads (none vs shown) and ratings volume (5.2K vs 2). On price 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. Writing Wizard sells 4 in-app purchases, starting at $2.49 per month. Penpoints asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Penpoints holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.4. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Writing Wizard has 5.2K ratings behind it against 2, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 74% of Writing Wizard's written reviews are positive against 100% of Penpoints's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Writing Wizard ships an update every 4 months, Penpoints fortnightly. Both last shipped on November 4, 2026.

Scorecard8 real differences · 2 level
Writing Wizard versus Penpoints: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterWriting WizardPenpoints
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.4 (5.2K ratings)5.0 (2 ratings) — better
Positive reviews73.7% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings5.2K — better2
Update frequencyEvery 4 monthsFortnightly — better
AdsNo — betterYes
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesAd-supported — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS15.613 — better
Further details — not scored
Size68 MB99 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperPierre AbelMickael Robin

Customer experience

Writing Wizard

All ratings5,184 ratings
Positive84.3%
Neutral6.0%
Negative9.7%
Written reviews209 reviews
Positive73.7%
Neutral6.7%
Negative19.6%

Penpoints

All ratings1 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews2 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

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

Penpoints

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

4 purchases

Writing Wizard

Subscriptions1
  • Full Access - Monthly$2.491 Month
One-time3
  • All Letters and Numbers$5.99
  • Add Your Words and Word Lists$5.99
  • Lifetime Full Access$9.99
None

Penpoints

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Writing Wizard free?
Writing Wizard is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Penpoints free?
Penpoints is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Writing Wizard or Penpoints?
Penpoints is rated higher. Writing Wizard averages 4.4 out of 5 from 5.2K ratings, while Penpoints averages 5.0 from 2 ratings.
Do Writing Wizard or Penpoints have ads?
Penpoints shows ads; Writing Wizard does not.
Which is updated more often, Writing Wizard or Penpoints?
Writing Wizard ships an update every 4 months, and Penpoints fortnightly. Most recently, Writing Wizard was updated on November 4, 2026 and Penpoints on November 4, 2026.

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