Comparison

Number Line vs Penwick

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

Head to head
About

Number Line

This app provides an interactive number line for educational purposes, enabling users to visualize numbers, perform various math games, and practice rounding. Its simple interface supports zooming, swiping, and marking numbers with pins or freehand drawing.

Highlights
  • Infinite number line visualization
  • Rounding practice (nearest 10, 100, 10,000)
  • Number comparison
  • Pinch-to-zoom functionality
  • Swipe navigation
  • Search for specific numbers
  • Pin marking
  • Freehand drawing tool
Read full description

An infinite number line to use in the classroom, with a simple design that allows for numerous maths games and challenges! • Ask the class to round to the nearest 10/100/10,000. • Visualise the size of numbers relative to one another, including negatives. How to use: • Zoom with a pinch • Swipe along the number line • Go to a number by typing in the search box • Drag and drop pins to mark numbers • Draw free-hand with the pen tool

About

Penwick

Features
Read full description

Penwick teaches cursive / joined-up handwriting the way schools teach it: one letter family at a time, starting with how the letter is formed. Penwick watches how children write letters. Where the pen started, which way it travelled, whether it lifted in the middle of a letter, whether the exit came back down to the line. A tidy-looking "a" drawn backwards is still a backwards "a", and it causes trouble the moment your child tries to join it to something. WHAT YOUR CHILD DOES - Writes on a proper four-line stave, with a stylus or by touch - Works through the letter families in the order schools use them: the straight letters, the anti-clockwise family, the clockwise family, the diagonals - Moves on to joins, then words, then sentences and short stories - Earns their way through activity maps, two mini-games and an eight-land Story Quest ONE THING AT A TIME When a letter falls short, Penwick picks the single worst thing about it, replays the correct formation one pen movement at a time, and says one sentence. Not a list of five corrections. A five-year-old reads none of a list. BUILT WITH A TEACHER Every lower-case letter, and the joins behind dozens of common words, was recorded line by line by a qualified primary teacher rather than pulled out of a font. It is why the joins move like handwriting instead of like letters pushed together. KEPT, MONTH BY MONTH Penwick keeps your child's actual writing, not just a score. Every month shows their real work oldest to newest, so you can see January against June, tap any piece to watch it redrawn exactly as it was written, and print a keepsake page. It stays on the device, for years. SCAN WRITTEN WORK Photograph a finished workbook page and Penwick gives one clear thing to practise next. Printable workbooks in your child's interests are free to download. FOLLOWS THE CURRICULUM Letter families in Year 1, joins from Year 2, in line with the national curriculum for England. Useful anywhere cursive is taught. MADE FOR HOW CHILDREN ACTUALLY USE A TABLET A single touch always writes. Scrolling is a side slider, so a resting palm never sends the page flying. Five writing sizes, because a five-year-old and a nine-year-old do not need the same line. PRIVATE BY DEFAULT No accounts and no adverts. Your child's writing, scores and profile stay on the device. Three things can leave it, each switchable in Settings: referral codes if you share one, the weekly leaderboard (a first name or nickname, a buddy character, a country flag and a star count), and anonymous usage counts. When you choose Scan written work, the photograph of that page is sent for marking and is not kept. Full details at penwick.app/privacy. FAMILY SUBSCRIPTION, FREE TO START The full lowercase alphabet, the assessment and 45 practice sittings are free, with no locks mid-alphabet, ever. A single family subscription unlocks every word, sentence, story and the Story Quest for everyone in the house, with 7 days free before anything is charged. Cancel any time in the App Store. Privacy policy: https://penwick.app/privacy/ Terms of use: https://penwick.app/terms/

Screenshots

Number Line1 screens
Penwick4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Number Line at none against Penwick's 8. Number Line also leads on iOS requirement (13.0 vs 15.0). Penwick's advantage is update cadence (every 4 weeks vs every 15 months). On price, 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Penwick sells 8 in-app purchases, starting at $3.99 per month. Number Line asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Number Line ships an update every 15 months, Penwick every 4 weeks. The most recent releases landed on November 3, 2026 and October 31, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
Number Line versus Penwick: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterNumber LinePenwick
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (5 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings5 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 15 monthsEvery 4 weeks — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS13.0 — better15.0
Further details — not scored
Size16 MB34 MB
Age rating4+9+
DeveloperBlastoff DesignMyAutobot Ltd

In-app purchases

None

Number Line

No in-app purchases

8 purchases

Penwick

Subscriptions8
  • Founders Club Monthly7 Days trial$3.991 Month
  • Founders Club Monthly7 Days trial$4.491 Month
  • Founders Club Monthly7 Days trial$5.991 Month
Show 5 more
  • Penwick Monthly7 Days trial$6.991 Month
  • Founders Club Yearly7 Days trial$39.991 Year
  • Founders Club Yearly7 Days trial$44.991 Year
  • Founders Club Yearly7 Days trial$59.991 Year
  • Penwick Yearly7 Days trial$69.991 Year

Questions

Is Number Line free?
Number Line is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Penwick free?
Penwick is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Number Line or Penwick have ads?
Neither Number Line nor Penwick shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Number Line or Penwick?
Number Line ships an update every 15 months, and Penwick every 4 weeks. Most recently, Number Line was updated on November 3, 2026 and Penwick on October 31, 2026.

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