NumBots vs First News
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
NumBots
This platform helps children master mental addition and subtraction, moving them from counting to calculating. It focuses on building understanding, recall, and fluency in these core math skills. Designed for early learners, it offers an engaging way to achieve mathematical proficiency.
- Master mental addition
- Master mental subtraction
- Build understanding
- Develop recall
- Achieve fluency
- Transition from counting to calculating
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Addition & Subtraction. Solved. From the innovators who bring you Times Tables Rock Stars, comes a highly engaging platform for learning to add and subtract… NumBots! NumBots is all about every child achieving the “triple win” of understanding, recall and fluency in mental addition and subtraction, so that they move from counting to calculating. Suitable from Year 1 (UK) or Kindergarten (US) upwards. Younger players will be able to access the early stages from a mathematical point of view but will find it increasingly harder to reach the level of fluency required to make continued progress.
First News
This app provides children with a balanced and truthful view of world events, written by award-winning journalists. It offers interactive articles, daily curated news, puzzles, games, and a video platform with news explainers to foster curiosity and critical thinking.
- Weekly 28-page interactive newspaper edition
- Searchable archive of past issues
- Hundreds of news explainer videos
- Weekly topical quiz with avatar and leaderboard
- Interactive puzzles linked to current news
- Daily news feed with age-appropriate articles
- Weekly polls and competitions
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For 20 years, First News has provided trusted & impartial age-appropriate news to kids around the world. Our award-winning weekly newspaper is jam-packed with headlines, sport, entertainment, world news and more. App features: READ: weekly 28-page edition of First News with interactive features, plus a searchable archive. WATCH: hundreds of videos, including news explainers presented by children for children. CHALLENGE: play interactive word and number puzzles. Subscribers can also play the weekly news quiz, based on the latest issue of the paper. STAY AHEAD: read or listen to 3 daily news articles from the UK and around the world. SHARE YOUR OPINION: weekly polls encouraging children to form their own opinions and get their voices heard. Terms of use: https://www.firstnews.co.uk/terms/
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: NumBots at none against First News's 7. NumBots also leads on update cadence (every 5 weeks vs every 6 months) and rating (4.7 vs 4.5). On price, review sentiment, 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
Both are free to download. First News sells 7 in-app purchases, starting at $5.49 per month. NumBots asks for nothing beyond the download.
NumBots holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 4.5. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: NumBots has 319 ratings behind it against 22, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 66% of NumBots's written reviews are positive against 74% of First News's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.
NumBots ships an update every 5 weeks, First News every 6 months. The most recent releases landed on October 29, 2026 and October 24, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | NumBots | First News |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.7 (319 ratings) — better | 4.5 (22 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 66.5% of reviews | 73.9% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 319 — better | 22 |
| Update frequency | Every 5 weeks — better | Every 6 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | Free — better | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 13.0 — better | 17.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 31 MB | 23 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Maths Circle Ltd | First News |
Customer experience
NumBots
First News
Bugs and requests
NumBots
Reported bugs
5 issues- Coins and stars not tracking correctly
- Login issues across devices
- Keyboard not showing up on tablets
- Levels randomly locked or missing
- App crashing and freezing
Requested features
5 requests- More advanced levels and content
- Ability to skip to appropriate level
- Less emphasis on speed, more on accuracy
- Family account support
- Improved login and persistence
First News
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
NumBots
No in-app purchases
First News
- 1 Month Subscription$5.491 Month
- 1-month subscription$9.991 Month
- 3 Month Subscription$24.493 Months
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- 3-month subscription$28.493 Months
- 6 Month subscription$43.996 Months
- 6-month subscription$53.996 Months
- 1 Year Subscription$79.991 Year
