Comparison

Mad Libs vs The Ultimate Buzzer

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

Head to head
About

Mad Libs

Fill in the blanks of hilarious stories to create your own funny tales. This word game offers a fresh, engaging experience with new content added regularly. Play solo or with friends and family, and unlock rewards as you go.

Highlights
  • 21 free Mad Libs stories
  • New swipe gestures for faster play
  • Interactive hints for inspiration
  • Save and share stories
  • Earn stickers and badges
  • Optional in-app purchases for more stories
  • Kid-friendly interface
Features
Read full description

The world’s greatest word game is back with an all-new look! Fill in the blanks and be the funniest person in the room! FEATURES • 21 free Mad Libs stories with new free content added all the time • New swipe gestures make creating stories faster and easier • Interactive hints provide inspiration and speed your play along • Save your stories and share with friends • Earn stickers and badges every time you play • Brand-new Game Center rewards • Replay stories as many times as you want • Play solo or with friends and family • Bright, engaging color palette and all-new typography • Custom illustrations for every book • Explore optional in-app purchases for loads more stories • Kid-friendly interface • No 3rd party advertising AWESOME NEW LOOK Bright, fun, and more engaging—it’s an even cooler Mad Libs app experience. MAD LIBS MUSIC?! For the very first time, an original soundtrack and audio effects. CREATE, LAUGH, AND LEARN This game makes you seriously smart—you’ll learn how to make great, fun, smart word choices! **To restore your previously purchased books from older versions of the Mad Libs app, please visit the menu and click Restore Purchases, located under Game Center.** Please note that this app requires iOS 7.0 or higher For support, please contact: madlibsappsupport@us.penguingroup.com

About

The Ultimate Buzzer

This app provides a collection of sound effects for various occasions, from game nights and parties to pranks and classroom use. It offers multiple modes for playing sounds, including a multi-sound grid and a large single button, with options for hosting multiplayer game shows.

Highlights
  • Over 75 sound effects
  • Multi Sound and Big Button modes
  • Host multiplayer game shows
  • Kids Mode with G-rated ads
  • SharePlay integration
  • Siri and Shortcuts support
  • Record and import custom sounds (Pro)
Features
Read full description

Sometimes a moment just needs a buzzer. The Ultimate Buzzer puts a big red button in your pocket, along with more than 75 sound effects for game nights, classrooms, parties, pranks and the occasional perfectly timed rimshot. Tap a sound and it plays right away. Tap a few and they play together. PICK HOW IT WORKS • Multi Sound: a grid of sounds you can tap as fast as you like, even several at once. • Big Button: pick a sound and it fills the screen as one giant button. Made for trivia, quizzes and anyone who likes to slam things. • Dual Big Button: two giant buttons side by side on iPad, or on iPhone Duo when it's open, for head-to-head rounds. GAME SHOW NIGHT Turn trivia night into a real game show for up to 8 players. Everyone opens the app on their own iPhone or iPad and buzzes in, and the screen tells them when to go. The host sees who was first, down to a fraction of a second, marks the answer right or wrong and keeps score, and can buzz in too. When the game ends, everyone sees the final standings with confetti, plus a results card to share or save to Photos. Players connect to the host over your local network, so nobody needs an account. Joining a game is free. Hosting comes with Pro. KIDS MODE Big, bouncy buttons with animals, trains and other favorites, plus stars and trophies to earn. Any ads in Kids Mode are G-rated, and a grown-up has to solve a math problem to leave. You can even set the app to open straight into Kids Mode. A SOUND FOR EVERYTHING Buzzer, applause, drum roll, rimshot, wah-wah, epic fail, siren, alarm clock, countdown, crickets, cuckoo clock, rooster, cow, UFO and plenty more. They're sorted into Alarms, Animals, Vehicles, Funny, Action, Effects, Around the House and Nature, and you can search or keep your favorites at the top. THE LITTLE EXTRAS • SharePlay: on a FaceTime call, tap a sound and everyone hears it. • Siri, Shortcuts and Control Center: play a sound without opening the app. • A flashlight button for when the lights go out. • Pick any accent color and the whole app follows. GO PRO Pro is a one-time purchase, not a subscription. It removes ads on all your devices and adds: • 10 more sounds • Recording your own sounds, up to 10 seconds each, plus importing audio files and sharing your recordings • Hosting game shows • Every Kids Mode theme: Ocean, Space, Jungle and Candy Not sure yet? Watch a short ad to try a Pro sound free for 24 hours, or to record a sound of your own. Choose Just Me, or Family to share Pro with up to 5 family members through Family Sharing. Already have The Ultimate Buzzer Pro app? Open it once and this app unlocks too, through iCloud. All sounds are in the public domain.

Screenshots

Mad Libs4 screens
The Ultimate Buzzer4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is ads: Mad Libs at none against The Ultimate Buzzer's shown. Mad Libs also leads on review sentiment (57% vs 32%) and iOS requirement (8.0 vs 17.0). The Ultimate Buzzer's advantage is update cadence (every 2 weeks vs every 4 months) and rating (4.4 vs 4.1). On price, in-app purchases, monetization model 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. Mad Libs sells 10 one-off in-app purchases and The Ultimate Buzzer sells 2 one-off in-app purchases. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

The Ultimate Buzzer holds the better App Store score, 4.4 against 4.1. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: The Ultimate Buzzer has 15K ratings behind it against 2.9K, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 57% of Mad Libs's written reviews are positive against 32% of The Ultimate Buzzer's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Mad Libs ships an update every 4 months, The Ultimate Buzzer every 2 weeks. Both last shipped on November 6, 2026.

Scorecard6 real differences · 4 level
Mad Libs versus The Ultimate Buzzer: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterMad LibsThe Ultimate Buzzer
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.1 (2.9K ratings)4.4 (15K ratings) — better
Positive reviews57.3% of reviews — better32.1% of reviews
Number of ratings2.9K15K — better
Update frequencyEvery 4 monthsEvery 2 weeks — better
AdsNo — betterYes
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS8.0 — better17.0
Further details — not scored
Size106 MB133 MB
Age rating4++9
DeveloperPenguin Group USAMakens Apps, LLC

Customer experience

Mad Libs

All ratings2,887 ratings
Positive76.4%
Neutral9.0%
Negative14.5%
Written reviews218 reviews
Positive57.3%
Neutral14.2%
Negative28.4%

The Ultimate Buzzer

All ratings15,090 ratings
Positive84.1%
Neutral6.0%
Negative9.9%
Written reviews274 reviews
Positive32.1%
Neutral6.2%
Negative61.7%

User reviews

Mad Libs

From 2.9K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🤩 Fun and entertaining
  • 👍 Great learning tool
  • 🤗 Nostalgic and brings back memories
  • 😊 Keeps kids entertained

Room to improve

  • 🤑 Too many paid books, not enough free content
  • 🐛 Frequent crashes and bugs
  • 🙄 Formatting and display issues
  • 😤 Restore purchases not working

The Ultimate Buzzer

From 15K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🤩 Awesome sounds
  • 😆 Fun for games and pranks
  • 👍 Great for kids

Room to improve

  • 🤬 Overwhelmed by ads
  • 🙄 Ads interrupt usage
  • 😒 Ads make app unusable
  • 🤔 Inconsistent sound quality

Bugs and requests

Mad Libs

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • App crashes when trying to read completed stories
  • Restore purchases feature not working properly
  • Formatting issues make stories hard to read
  • Keyboard covers up input fields

Requested features

4 requests
  • More free books and stories
  • Add a back button to fix mistakes
  • Allow creating custom mad libs
  • Add text-to-speech for reading stories

The Ultimate Buzzer

Reported bugs

2 issues
  • Buzzer doesn't work consistently
  • Difficulty navigating back to main screen

Requested features

3 requests
  • More sound options
  • Volume control
  • Ability to save/load favorite sounds

In-app purchases

10 purchases

Mad Libs

One-time10
  • Cool Mad Libs (21 stories)$1.99
  • Goofy Mad Libs (21 stories)$1.99
  • Sleepover Party Mad Libs$1.99
Show 7 more
  • Mad Mad Mad Mad Mad Libs (21 stories)$1.99
  • Haunted Mad Libs (21 stories)$1.99
  • Mad Libs in Love (21 stories)$1.99
  • Ninjas Mad Libs (21 stories)$1.99
  • Happily Ever Mad Libs (21 stories)$1.99
  • We Wish You A Merry Mad Libs (21 stories)$1.99
  • 101 Goofiest Mad Libs$4.99
2 purchases

The Ultimate Buzzer

One-time2
  • Buzzer Pro$3.99
  • Pro - Family$6.99

Questions

Is Mad Libs free?
Mad Libs is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is The Ultimate Buzzer free?
The Ultimate Buzzer is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Mad Libs or The Ultimate Buzzer?
The Ultimate Buzzer is rated higher. Mad Libs averages 4.1 out of 5 from 2.9K ratings, while The Ultimate Buzzer averages 4.4 from 15K ratings.
Do Mad Libs or The Ultimate Buzzer have ads?
The Ultimate Buzzer shows ads; Mad Libs does not.
Which is updated more often, Mad Libs or The Ultimate Buzzer?
Mad Libs ships an update every 4 months, and The Ultimate Buzzer every 2 weeks. Most recently, Mad Libs was updated on November 6, 2026 and The Ultimate Buzzer on November 6, 2026.

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