Comparison

SAM Studio vs Spike™ LEGO® Education

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

Head to head
About

SAM Studio

This platform offers tools and curriculum-aligned lesson plans for engaging STEAM and coding education. It features intuitive visual coding apps and wireless electronic blocks to bring computational thinking to life in the classroom.

Highlights
  • Curriculum-aligned lesson plans
  • Intuitive visual flow-based and block-based coding
  • Wireless Bluetooth electronic blocks
  • Lesson Builder tool
  • Teacher support and training
  • Support for various sensors and motors
Features
Read full description

SAM Labs provides everything you need to deliver the most engaging STEAM and Coding learning experiences in your classroom. Giving you the tools and support to make the most of your lessons, SAM Labs makes learning interactive and engaging. This includes curriculum-aligned lesson plans, intuitive visual flow-based and block-based apps, wireless electronic blocks that connect seamlessly to provide stimulating challenges. Design lessons with algorithms, programs and systems to bring computational thinking to life! Why use SAM Labs? - A fun and interactive way to bring coding to life - An intuitive visual, flow-based and block-based coding tailored for any classroom or ability level - SAM Blockly enables progression to block-based programming - Easy-to-use, wireless Bluetooth SAM Blocks that are made to last - NEW! Build your own lessons to integrate within your current or upcoming units of study - Unparalleled teacher support, onboarding, and training - Versatile technology that can be used across a variety of subjects Incredibly easy to bring into the classroom – and simple to teach with. You can use the SAM Studio App virtually or bring your projects to life using physical SAM Labs blocks, sensors and devices, including: - Buttons, RGB Light, Buzzer - Multiple sensors: Light, Proximity, Heat, Tilt, Pressure - Controller & Sliders - DC & Servo motors - Wheels, car chassis & roller ball - LEGO®-compatible gear attachments - Chargers and charging station A subscription to SAM Studio also gives you access to our standards-aligned course content, including easy-to-follow lesson plans, editable presentations, step-by-step guides, an engaging interactive Lesson Builder tool, and more! Link: https://store.samlabs.com For more information, book a quick demo: https://go.samlabs.com/book-a-demo Supported languages: English (US), English (UK), Chinese, Italian, Spanish, German, French, Dutch, Polish, Portuguese, Swedish, Japanese, Korean, Arabic, Hebrew Supported Bluetooth: Our app runs on devices that support Bluetooth 4.0 and up. LEGO® is a trademark of the LEGO Group of companies which does not sponsor, authorize or endorse this site.

About

Spike™ LEGO® Education

This app facilitates playful STEAM learning for students, designed to work with specific LEGO® Education kits. It helps develop computational thinking through coding, encourages building and experimentation, and supports programming for various projects and competitions.

Highlights
  • Icon-block, word-block, and text-based coding
  • Develop computational thinking
  • Build, tinker, and experiment with LEGO® creations
  • Program and debug designs
  • Create stories with LEGO® Minifigures
  • Prepare for FIRST® LEGO® League competitions
Read full description

Engage every student in playful STEAM learning with the LEGO® Education SPIKE™ App. Designed for use with the LEGO® Education SPIKE™ Portfolio, the SPIKE App is a powerful tool that helps teachers facilitate engaging, hands-on STEAM learning.      When combined with SPIKE Essential or SPIKE Prime, the SPIKE App allows students to:  - Develop computational thinking skills using a progression of icon-block, word-block, and text-based coding. - Build, tinker, and experiment - progressing from simple creations to complex structures. - Learn to program, test and tweak designs, debug and optimize, create stories with LEGO® Minifigures, prepare for FIRST® LEGO® League competitions, and more! *** IMPORTANT***  This is not a standalone educational app. This app is used to program LEGO® Education SPIKE™ Essential and LEGO® Education SPIKE™ Prime, which are sold separately. Please contact your local LEGO Education reseller for further information.    LEARN MORE: LEGOeducation.com/Teacher-resources For app support, contact LEGO® Education at https://support.legoeducation.com. LEGO, the LEGO logo and the SPIKE logo are trademarks and/or copyrights of the LEGO Group. FIRST® LEGO® League is a jointly held trademark of FIRST® and the LEGO Group. ©2026 The LEGO Group. All rights reserved.

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: SAM Studio at 100% against Spike™ LEGO® Education's 68%. SAM Studio also leads on rating (5.0 vs 4.7). Spike™ LEGO® Education's advantage is ratings volume (3.7K vs 3) and update cadence (every 2 months vs every 5 months). 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

SAM Studio holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.7. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Spike™ LEGO® Education has 3.7K ratings behind it against 3, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 100% of SAM Studio's written reviews are positive against 68% of Spike™ LEGO® Education's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

SAM Studio ships an update every 5 months, Spike™ LEGO® Education every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on October 24, 2026 and October 25, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
SAM Studio versus Spike™ LEGO® Education: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterSAM StudioSpike™ LEGO® Education
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (3 ratings) — better4.7 (3.7K ratings)
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews — better68.2% of reviews
Number of ratings33.7K — better
Update frequencyEvery 5 monthsEvery 2 months — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFreeFree
DevicesiPadiPad, Mac — better
Requires iOS15.014.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size2 MB227 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperSAM LabsLEGO Education

Customer experience

SAM Studio

All ratings3 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews1 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Spike™ LEGO® Education

All ratings3,010 ratings
Positive94.3%
Neutral2.2%
Negative3.6%
Written reviews132 reviews
Positive68.2%
Neutral8.3%
Negative23.5%

Bugs and requests

SAM Studio

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

Spike™ LEGO® Education

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Bluetooth connection issues
  • Unable to flash hub or connect
  • Incompatibility with programs written in previous version

Requested features

5 requests
  • Hub-to-hub control
  • RC features
  • Merge Inventor app into one
  • Add more color options for color sensor
  • Bring back Python coding support

In-app purchases

None

SAM Studio

No in-app purchases

None

Spike™ LEGO® Education

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is SAM Studio free?
SAM Studio is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Spike™ LEGO® Education free?
Spike™ LEGO® Education is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, SAM Studio or Spike™ LEGO® Education?
SAM Studio is rated higher. SAM Studio averages 5.0 out of 5 from 3 ratings, while Spike™ LEGO® Education averages 4.7 from 3.7K ratings.
Do SAM Studio or Spike™ LEGO® Education have ads?
Neither SAM Studio nor Spike™ LEGO® Education shows ads.
Which is updated more often, SAM Studio or Spike™ LEGO® Education?
SAM Studio ships an update every 5 months, and Spike™ LEGO® Education every 2 months. Most recently, SAM Studio was updated on October 24, 2026 and Spike™ LEGO® Education on October 25, 2026.

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