HEY CLAY® vs The Reading Bug
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
HEY CLAY®
This app offers an engaging and educational DIY experience for children to learn clay modeling. It guides users through creating various characters and figures with step-by-step instructions and interactive games, fostering creativity and fine motor skills.
- Step-by-step clay modeling instructions
- Interactive kid-friendly interface
- Develops fine motor skills and creativity
- Original colorful animation
- Includes 5 fun games
- Capture and share creations
- No third-party advertising
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Dive into an exciting and educational DIY world! Do you want to teach your kid clay modeling with fun? HEY CLAY® makes it easy. Start with simple balls and sausage shapes, and your child will soon make unique characters, just like a real sculptor! The App connects inspiring clay animation with hands-on modeling. Colorful and engaging, it takes your children on a fun journey of creative crafting! Your kid will learn to roll and bend the clay into various shapes and figures. With amusing clay sets such as Aliens, Dinos, Monsters, and others, the App makes learning an entertaining discovery on how to easily sculpt each of them. Bigfoot, Doggie, Penguin, Donut, Tyrannosaurus, and many other creatures can materialize from the screen. And most importantly – empower your kids to create fantastic claymates you’ll be proud of! FEATURES: • Learn about clay modeling in an easy and intuitive way • All characters contain step-by-step instructions • Fantastic sets such as Shrek, Cats, Plant Friends, Plant Folks, Dragon Island, Bluey, Vivid Accessories (Bubblegum, Aqua and Beads Sets), Colorini, Nice Ice Cream, Easter Studio, Dog Buddies, Minions, Rainbow Unicorns, Construction Vehicles, Advent Calendar, Poop Oops, Fluffy Pets, Eco Cars, Happy Cars, Cyber Cars, Winter Holidays, Ocean, Forest Animals, Beasts, Aliens, Birds, Dinosaurs, Monsters, Animals, Bugs, Fruit, Veg, Mega Dinos, Sweet Rings, Alien Rings, Flower Rings, Dog Story, and Farm Birds • Helps develop fine motor skills, hand-eye coordination, abstract thinking, and creativity • Amazing original colorful animation • Interactive kid-friendly interface with 5 fun games to play • Capture & share your creations with friends • No third-party advertising For best-looking creations, use the original HEY CLAY® air-dry clay: it’s super light, non-sticky, and has bright colors. But the best part is that it allows you to create your own toys: model your favorite characters, wait for the clay to harden, and play with the figures as with real toys! The clay sets are available for purchase through the App. You can also take pictures and share the creations with friends and family easily from the App. Make your clay art gallery to keep your masterpieces! Find HEY CLAY on social networks to see more creative ideas. We’d love to hear your feedback and become friends! Enjoy creative clay modeling with the HEY CLAY® App!
The Reading Bug
This app offers a curated audio experience for children, featuring musical stories, educational facts, and bedtime tales. Parents can manage content and connect membership accounts for exclusive features, providing a safe and imaginative alternative to screen time.
- Award-winning audio content library
- Musical stories and factual deep dives
- Bedtime stories for children
- Parental management portal
- Exclusive member content integration
- Safe and immersive audio experience
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The Ultimate Audio Adventure for Curious Kids. Welcome to The Reading Bug, the parent-managed portal to a world of stories, facts, and imagination. Designed to provide a safe, immersive audio experience, our app brings the magic of the bookstore and the Reading Bug Box directly to your device. ALL YOUR FAVORITE PODCASTS IN ONE PLACE: No more searching! Access our full library of award-winning content: - Reading Bug Adventures: Journey to far-off lands in our signature musical stories. - The Fact Fly’s One Big Question: Spark curiosity with deep dives into how the world works. - The Book Worm’s Story Snacks: Quick, delightful tales for busy moments. - Lauren’s Little Bedtime Stories: Gentle narrations to help your little ones drift off to sleep. EXCLUSIVE MEMBER INTEGRATION: Are you a Reading Bug Box subscriber or a bookstore member? Connect your account to unlock special content and manage your subscription preferences seamlessly within the app. BUILT FOR PARENTS: We know peace of mind matters. This app is designed for parents to manage, ensuring a curated and high-quality listening experience that competes for "mindshare" by offering real substance over mindless screen time. Open the app. Open their imagination. Start your adventure today!
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: The Reading Bug at 5.0 against HEY CLAY®'s 4.6. The Reading Bug also leads on update cadence (every 3 days vs fortnightly). HEY CLAY®'s advantage is ratings volume (13K vs 1). On price, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model 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. HEY CLAY® sells 17 in-app purchases, starting at $5.99 per month and The Reading Bug sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $5.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
The Reading Bug holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.6. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: HEY CLAY® has 13K ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two.
HEY CLAY® ships an update fortnightly, The Reading Bug every 3 days. The most recent releases landed on October 22, 2026 and October 5, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | HEY CLAY® | The Reading Bug |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.6 (13K ratings) | 5.0 (1 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 57.8% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 13K — better | 1 |
| Update frequency | Fortnightly | Every 3 days — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 | 15.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 265 MB | 34 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | HEY CLAY | The Reading Bug |
Customer experience
HEY CLAY®
The Reading Bug
Bugs and requests
HEY CLAY®
Reported bugs
4 issues- App crashing on launch
- Inability to access purchased content
- Losing progress when app closes
- Compatibility issues on older devices
Requested features
5 requests- More free character options
- Offline mode for instructions
- Community section to share creations
- Ability to adjust tutorial speed
- Color mixing and blending tools
The Reading Bug
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
HEY CLAY®
- HEY CLAY Monthly Plan$5.991 Month
- Peacock$0.99
- Penguin$0.99
- Spider$0.99
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- Burger$0.99
- Bigfoot$0.99
- Horse$0.99
- Tyrannosaurus$1.99
- All2 variants$4.99
- All dinos$4.99
- All Bugs$4.99
- All Aliens$4.99
- All Animals$4.99
- All Forest Animals$4.99
- All Beatst$4.99
- All Dog Story$4.99
- All Australian Animals$4.99
The Reading Bug
- Premium Monthly$5.991 Month
- Premium Yearly$44.991 Year
Questions
Is HEY CLAY® free?
Is The Reading Bug free?
Which has better reviews, HEY CLAY® or The Reading Bug?
Do HEY CLAY® or The Reading Bug have ads?
Which is updated more often, HEY CLAY® or The Reading Bug?
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