Turtles vs Alpha|Beta
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Turtles
Embark on a programming journey with Turtle Graphics, designed for all ages to learn coding fundamentals. Create drawings, mini-games, and explore computer science concepts through interactive exercises. Ideal for both individual learning and classroom settings.
- Interactive Turtle Graphics for drawing
- Learn programming concepts like variables and functions
- Create mini-games
- Explore recursion and fractal shapes
- Beginner-friendly interface
- Suitable for classroom use
Read full descriptionHide full description
Simple commands, deep thinking. Turtles is a turtle graphics programming app for elementary school students and beginners. Draw shapes while learning the basics of programming, including loops, variables, and functions. Give commands to the turtle on the screen to draw lines, create shapes and patterns, and build interactive projects. Before memorizing difficult syntax, learners can build a program, run it, see the result, and improve it step by step. Turtles can be used for children’s first programming experience, adult learning, school lessons, coding classes, and workshops. It also works on iPhone, but a larger screen such as iPad is recommended for creating projects. Sample projects and related information are available on our website. https://turtle360.net/ First Steps in Programming: Turtles is a programming app that helps learners think by combining simple commands. Starting with basic commands such as “move forward,” “turn right,” and “repeat,” even first-time programmers can quickly begin experimenting and learning by doing. Learn Programming Basics: By drawing shapes, learners can understand important programming concepts such as sequencing, loops, conditions, variables, and functions. Because the result appears immediately on the screen, it is easy to understand how a program works. Try More Advanced Expressions: After learning the basics, learners can try more complex shapes, patterns, and fractal drawings. They can also explore ideas connected to computer science, such as recursion, in a natural and visual way. Create Mini Games and Projects: Turtles is not only for moving a turtle. Learners can also create interactive projects and simple mini games based on their own ideas. By combining the commands they have learned, they can experience the joy of thinking and creating by themselves. About Turtle Graphics: Turtle graphics is a programming method where learners give commands to a turtle on the screen to draw shapes. It was developed in the 1960s for the LOGO programming language, and it is still used today in many programming learning environments. Turtles is designed based on this idea so that both children and adults can enjoy learning programming. Acknowledgments: Turtles was inspired by many programming languages and learning environments, including LOGO, Squeak Etoys, Scratch, Python, and Swift. We thank the developers around the world who created and nurtured these ideas.
Alpha|Beta
Master non-Latin alphabets like Greek and Cyrillic with interactive flashcards and adaptive quizzes. Track your learning progress with daily streaks and customize your experience with color themes. This app prioritizes user privacy with no ads, accounts, or tracking.
- Learn 10 non-Latin scripts
- Interactive flashcard decks
- Adaptive quiz system
- Daily streak tracking
- Customizable color themes
- No ads or tracking
Read full descriptionHide full description
Learn to read Greek, Cyrillic, and other non-Latin alphabets — one letter at a time. Alpha|Beta ships with ten scripts: Greek, Russian, Ukrainian, Belarusian, Serbian, Bulgarian, Macedonian, Armenian, Georgian, and Coptic. WHAT'S INCLUDED • A card deck for each alphabet — filter by category (capitals, lowercase, diphthongs, combinations), shuffle the order, or hide names to quiz yourself • Tap any card for pronunciation, an example word, and related case forms • An adaptive quiz that weights questions toward the letters you're still learning, with daily streak tracking • Custom color themes for every language, or build your own palette • Switch languages anytime PRIVACY, BY DESIGN Alpha|Beta has no ads, no account, and no tracking. Your progress syncs across your own devices through your private iCloud account — we never see it.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is update cadence: Alpha|Beta at daily against Turtles's monthly. Alpha|Beta also leads on rating (5.0 vs 4.7). Turtles's advantage is ratings volume (13 vs 1) and iOS requirement (12.0 vs 18.0). 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. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
Alpha|Beta holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.7. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Turtles has 13 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two.
Turtles ships an update monthly, Alpha|Beta daily. The most recent releases landed on October 4, 2026 and September 30, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Turtles | Alpha|Beta |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.7 (13 ratings) | 5.0 (1 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 90.0% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 13 — better | 1 |
| Update frequency | Monthly | Daily — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 12.0 — better | 18.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 11 MB | 1 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Toshio Miyasaka | John Hoedeman |
Customer experience
Turtles
Alpha|Beta
In-app purchases
Turtles
No in-app purchases
Alpha|Beta
No in-app purchases









