Comparison

ShapeBuilder Preschool Puzzles vs AlphaTots Alphabet ABC Game

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

Head to head
About

ShapeBuilder Preschool Puzzles

This app helps young children develop cognitive thinking and fine motor skills through interactive puzzles. It features easy-to-move shapes that snap into place, revealing images and professional voice recordings of words spoken by a speech therapist. The app offers a wide variety of puzzles, including animals, letters, numbers, and musical instruments, in a fun and engaging format.

Highlights
  • Interactive shape puzzles
  • Speech therapist voiceovers
  • Develops cognitive thinking
  • Enhances fine motor skills
  • Educational content (animals, letters, numbers)
  • Sound effects
Features
Read full description

From the creators of the hit, award winning, iPad app Drawing Pad! ShapeBuilder educates & entertains your little one with easy to move shapes that snap into place on top of silhouette puzzles. Each puzzle has 5 to 10 pieces & after positioning all of the pieces, the real image is revealed along with a professional voice recording of the word spoken by a licensed speech therapist that specializes in early child development. ShapeBuilder encourages cognitive thinking & fine motor skills plus exposes young minds to new music instruments, animals, produce, objects & the alphabet in a fun & engaging format with LOTS of sound effects! Designed for kids! No menu buttons on the puzzles to get in the way of game play! Highlights: Total of 173 puzzles! 30 Music instruments with sound effects 21 Fruits & Vegetables 45 Animals - awesome sound effects! 26 Letters - speech therapist sounds out each letter in a fun way 20 Numbers - one through twenty! 31 other fun items like Firetruck, Police Officer, Garbage Truck, and Volcano Random play resets after all puzzles are completed. Kids have so much fun trying to guess what the puzzle will be! By Darren Murtha & Chris Lott for kids and toddlers in preschool, kindergarden & firstgrade! App for kids 3 to 6 years old - MANY 2 year olds play this too but you may have to play together at first. (Perfect for toddlers / preschool / kindergarten / first grade / and babysitters) In 2009-2010 previously featured as an Apple Staff Favorite! (July) and iTunes App Store Essential for Toddlers (October) FEATURED IN: MACWORLD "App of the Day" tinyurl.com/app-of-day THE WASHINGTON TIMES tinyurl.com/sb-washingtontimes USATODAY.COM tinyurl.com/sb-usatoday SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE tinyurl.com/sb-sanfran O'REILLY's Book "Best iPhone Apps" http://tinyurl.com/sb-best-iphone-apps BEAT "Wheels on the Bus" on O'Reilly's APP SMACKDOWN tinyurl.com/app-smackdown "ShapeBuilder earns an edu.Mac.nation daddy score of "A" - Immediately my son was able to locate & move the pieces into position. The audio quality is fantastic, the application is stable, & the variety of puzzle types kept my son engaged & entertained. Together we worked on completing the puzzles & saying out loud what the images were." Michael (an elementary school teacher) from www.edumacnation.com "If you’ve got a preschooler then ShapeBuilder is a great app for your iPhone...This app is great on many levels & a terrific combination of learning & fun." The iPhone Mom (www.theiphonemom.com) "A great little jigsaw app for children aged 3 to 5 years." Daniel Donahoo, Geekdad at wired.com

About

AlphaTots Alphabet ABC Game

This app uses 26 action verbs and fun preschool puzzles to help toddlers learn the alphabet and letter sounds. It features an interactive alphabet, a sing-a-long song, and both upper and lowercase letters.

Highlights
  • 26 preschool puzzles and mini-games
  • Learn letters and their sounds
  • Alphabet sing-a-long song
  • Interactive alphabet
  • Upper and lowercase letters
Read full description

“A” is for action in the fun app that uses 26 action verbs to help toddlers learn the ABCs. Whether they're "building" robots, "digging" for treasure or "zapping" alien spaceships, they'll have a blast learning all of the letters and their sounds. "AlphaTots is the gold standard of ABC flash card apps." — USA Today Features: • 26 fun preschool puzzles and mini-games that help kids learn the alphabet! • An engaging alphabet sing-a-long song. • An interactive alphabet that helps kids recite their ABCs. • Upper- and lowercase versions of every letter. Awards & Recognition: • Featured on NBC's Today Show! • Parents' Choice Award winner • Common Sense Media ON for Learning award winner Crafted by Little 10 Robot. We make educational apps loaded with serious fun.

Screenshots

ShapeBuilder Preschool Puzzles4 screens
AlphaTots Alphabet ABC Game4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is monetization model: AlphaTots Alphabet ABC Game at free against ShapeBuilder Preschool Puzzles's paid. AlphaTots Alphabet ABC Game also leads on update cadence (every 3 months vs every 8 months). ShapeBuilder Preschool Puzzles's advantage is iOS requirement (8.0 vs 12.0). On price, rating, review sentiment and ratings volume 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

ShapeBuilder Preschool Puzzles costs $2.99 and AlphaTots Alphabet ABC Game $2.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.1 for ShapeBuilder Preschool Puzzles against 4.2 for AlphaTots Alphabet ABC Game. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 86 and 36 respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 83% of ShapeBuilder Preschool Puzzles's written reviews are positive against 80% of AlphaTots Alphabet ABC Game's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

ShapeBuilder Preschool Puzzles ships an update every 8 months, AlphaTots Alphabet ABC Game every 3 months. Both last shipped on November 6, 2026.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
ShapeBuilder Preschool Puzzles versus AlphaTots Alphabet ABC Game: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterShapeBuilder Preschool PuzzlesAlphaTots Alphabet ABC Game
Price$2.99$2.99
Rating4.1 (86 ratings)4.2 (36 ratings) — better
Positive reviews83.2% of reviews — better80.4% of reviews
Number of ratings86 — better36
Update frequencyEvery 8 monthsEvery 3 months — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationPaidFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS8.0 — better12.0
Further details — not scored
Size98 MB143 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperMurtha Design LLCLittle 10 Robot

Customer experience

ShapeBuilder Preschool Puzzles

All ratings86 ratings
Positive72.1%
Neutral10.5%
Negative17.4%
Written reviews161 reviews
Positive83.2%
Neutral7.5%
Negative9.3%

AlphaTots Alphabet ABC Game

All ratings35 ratings
Positive74.3%
Neutral8.6%
Negative17.1%
Written reviews102 reviews
Positive80.4%
Neutral7.8%
Negative11.8%

User reviews

ShapeBuilder Preschool Puzzles

From 86 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Easy to use
  • 🎓 Educational for young kids
  • ⭐ Engaging and entertaining
  • 🎨 Vibrant graphics and visuals

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Crashes and compatibility issues
  • 🔇 Missing sound or audio features
  • 🔁 Repetitive puzzles
  • 🕰️ Puzzles advance too quickly

AlphaTots Alphabet ABC Game

From 36 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👶 Highly engaging for toddlers and young children
  • 🎨 Colorful, attractive graphics and animations
  • 📚 Effective alphabet and letter sound learning
  • 🎮 Interactive mini-games for each letter
  • 🧠 Develops fine motor skills and problem-solving

Room to improve

  • 🔊 Sound/audio not working on multiple devices
  • 📱 Not optimized for iPhone 11 and newer models
  • 🎮 Limited content depth - repetitive after initial play
  • ⏸️ Slow app performance and responsiveness
  • 🤔 Confusing verb-based learning (e.g., 'C is for Cut')

Bugs and requests

ShapeBuilder Preschool Puzzles

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • App crashes on launch
  • No sound or audio issues
  • Puzzles not displaying correctly

Requested features

4 requests
  • More variety and new puzzles
  • Ability to pause, replay, or navigate puzzles
  • Customization options (e.g. difficulty, categories)
  • Support for multiple languages

AlphaTots Alphabet ABC Game

Reported bugs

8 issues
  • No sound output on iPad and iPhone versions
  • App doesn't load past home screen
  • Content cuts off at top/bottom on iPhone 11
  • Letter G animation doesn't work
  • App crashes frequently
Show 3 more
  • Poor touch responsiveness and gesture detection
  • Graphics not optimized for newer phone screens
  • Single-finger touch limitation on activity screens

Requested features

8 requests
  • Add repeat/redo button for activities
  • Multiple word examples per letter
  • Support for different English accents (British, etc.)
  • Noun-based learning alongside verb-based
  • Two-handed touch support for activities
Show 3 more
  • More challenging content for older children
  • Shorter hold times for letter transitions
  • Fix letter G animation functionality

In-app purchases

None

ShapeBuilder Preschool Puzzles

No in-app purchases

None

AlphaTots Alphabet ABC Game

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is ShapeBuilder Preschool Puzzles free?
ShapeBuilder Preschool Puzzles costs $2.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is AlphaTots Alphabet ABC Game free?
AlphaTots Alphabet ABC Game costs $2.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, ShapeBuilder Preschool Puzzles or AlphaTots Alphabet ABC Game?
AlphaTots Alphabet ABC Game is rated higher. ShapeBuilder Preschool Puzzles averages 4.1 out of 5 from 86 ratings, while AlphaTots Alphabet ABC Game averages 4.2 from 36 ratings.
Do ShapeBuilder Preschool Puzzles or AlphaTots Alphabet ABC Game have ads?
Neither ShapeBuilder Preschool Puzzles nor AlphaTots Alphabet ABC Game shows ads.
Which is updated more often, ShapeBuilder Preschool Puzzles or AlphaTots Alphabet ABC Game?
ShapeBuilder Preschool Puzzles ships an update every 8 months, and AlphaTots Alphabet ABC Game every 3 months. Most recently, ShapeBuilder Preschool Puzzles was updated on November 6, 2026 and AlphaTots Alphabet ABC Game on November 6, 2026.

Other comparisons