Comparison

Clicker Writer vs now>press>play

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

Head to head
About

Clicker Writer

This writing tool supports students of all abilities, from ages 5-11, to build confidence and improve their writing skills. It offers features like speech feedback, word prediction, and customizable grids with pictures to aid sentence construction and vocabulary development.

Highlights
  • Speech feedback for reviewing writing
  • Clicker Grids for sentence building
  • Picture-enhanced word banks
  • Intelligent word prediction
  • Voice notes for prompts
  • SuperKeys for accessibility
Features
Read full description

THE WRITING TOOL FOR SCHOOLS Develop students’ writing skills and build struggling writers’ confidence with Clicker Writer - the writing tool that provides differentiated support for students of all abilities. Continuously developed by Crick Software for over 30 years, the Clicker product range is used in thousands of schools around the world. REVIEW WRITING WITH CLEAR SPEECH Students use the child-friendly keyboard to type into the simple word processor, and a range of speech options encourages them to review what they have written. This helps students find and correct errors for themselves, enabling them to become more independent writers. BUILD WRITING CONFIDENCE WITH CLICKER GRIDS Clicker Grids provide students with point and click access to whole words and phrases. Beginner writers build sentences word-by-word, while developing writers use topic-based word banks to complement their keyboard writing. Browse LearningGrids directly from the app to access hundreds of free sets of Clicker Grids on a wide range of topics - or use the built-in editor (which now includes Cai, our amazing AI assistant) to create your own in seconds! USE SYMBOLS AND PICTURES FOR EXTRA SUPPORT Clicker Writer’s Picturize tool makes it easy to add symbols or pictures to support understanding and writing across Clicker Grids, the spell checker, the word predictor, and your document. It includes 10,000 Widgit symbols and 4,500 curriculum pictures, and you can also add your own images. DEVELOP VOCABULARY AND SPELLING WITH WORD PREDICTION The intelligent word predictor suggests words that fit the context of students’ writing, helping them to use good vocabulary and create flowing text with accurate spelling. CHECK WORDS BEFORE THEY ARE USED Learners can listen to words before they write them, helping them to find the word they want and achieve writing success. Any word in a Clicker Grid or the predictor can be heard before it is used by using our unique Sound Shift tool. ADD VOICE NOTES Voice Notes are a simple yet highly effective way for students to add their own prompts, so they don’t forget their train of thought – add them to the document at any time. WRITING TO BE PROUD OF The child-friendly Sassoon font included in the app makes Clicker documents look great. Save and print your documents directly on your device, or share them with Clicker Writer on your PC, Mac or Chromebook via Google Drive or OneDrive. Whatever your students’ current level, you’ll watch their confidence grow and their motivation soar as they experience writing success! ACCESSIBLE FOR ALL To make access easier for those with physical challenges, the unique SuperKeys option groups the letter keys into clusters, creating just six large areas to target. Just select the cluster containing the letter you want, then choose the letter in the enlarged cluster. Colors and font sizes can be customized for enhanced visibility. ORGANIZE IDEAS WITH CLICKER BOARD Organizing ideas is an important first step in the writing process, and one that many learners struggle with. Clicker Board is a child-friendly mind mapping area that makes it easy to capture and organize thoughts using words, Voice Notes, and pictures.

About

now>press>play

Features
Read full description

A now>press>play Experience is normally delivered by a primary school teacher to a class, as part of classroom lessons. Our library of Experiences covers a wide array of curriculum topics, teaching the central learning objectives and providing rich follow-on activities for afterwards. This app forms part of a school’s access package or free trial to now>press>play services. HOW IT WORKS In a now>press>play Experience every child is given a pair of wireless headphones. Immersed in sound, they become the main character in a story, meeting people, discovering places and solving problems on an educational adventure they’ll never forget. From climbing through layers of rainforest canopy in the Amazon, to fighting a woolly mammoth in the Stone Age, these audio-only adventures are uniquely designed to stimulate children’s imaginations. now>press>play can be used as a whole class activity or with smaller groups for intervention work. Through a child-centred approach to learning, they extend children’s life experiences and are a fun and inclusive way to engage children in the curriculum. CONTENT There are currently 80 curriculum-based Experiences for EYFS, Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2 (i.e. 3 to 11 years old) covering a broad range of subjects across literacy, maths, history, geography, science, PSHE/SEL, religious education and foreign languages. The app gives you access to all our immersive audio adventures in one place, along with their follow-on resources: every Experience includes SATs-style Reading Comprehensions, Writing Opportunities, Quizzes, Storyboards and Discussion Questions, making it simple to plan and deliver quality lessons. WHAT EACH SCHOOL GETS Access to 80 immersive audio Experiences for EYFS, KS1 and KS2 Topics include Maths, Science, History, Geography, PSHE, RE, MFL, and Literacy Follow-on resources for each Experience: Glossary, Storyboard, Quiz, Reading Comprehension, Writing Opportunities, and post-Experience Discussion Questions ‘How It Works’ guides to get the best out of now>press>play for your class Opportunity to access all now>press>play content offline for use in various settings REVIEWS 'now>press>play is an experience the children will never forget; it brings to life for them the topic work, in a way which quite frankly I could never have achieved, in such a direct and engaging manner.' Year 6 Teacher, West Drayton Primary School ‘I was blown away by how the pupils in Year 5 responded to this magnificent Experience. They were plunged into the middle of World War 2, and embraced and internalised every second without question! It has had such an incredible impact on their learning. This is a resource we will continue to utilise at every opportunity.’ Year 5 Teacher, Marshfield School RATINGS & AWARDS ***** 4.9/5 EdTech Impact rating ERA 2020 Winner Bett Awards 2019 Winner

Screenshots

now>press>play4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: now>press>play at none against Clicker Writer's 1. now>press>play also leads on device support (3 vs 1) and iOS requirement (15.0 vs 17). On price, update cadence and ads 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. Clicker Writer sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. now>press>play asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly every 2 months. Both last shipped on November 3, 2026.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
Clicker Writer versus now>press>play: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterClicker Writernow>press>play
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.5 (2 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews42.9% of reviews—
Number of ratings2 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 2 monthsEvery 2 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree—
DevicesiPadiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS1715.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size174 MB27 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperCrick Softwarenow>press>play

In-app purchases

1 purchases

Clicker Writer

One-time1
  • Clicker Writer In-App Purchase$350.00
None

now>press>play

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Clicker Writer free?
Clicker Writer is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is now>press>play free?
now>press>play is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do Clicker Writer or now>press>play have ads?
Neither Clicker Writer nor now>press>play shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Clicker Writer or now>press>play?
Clicker Writer ships an update every 2 months, and now>press>play every 2 months. Most recently, Clicker Writer was updated on November 3, 2026 and now>press>play on November 3, 2026.

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