AlphaBaby Play vs LetterSchool
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
AlphaBaby Play
This app introduces toddlers to letters and shapes through interactive touch and sound. Users can personalize the experience by recording their own voices and adding custom images and captions, fostering early learning and engagement.
- Interactive letters and shapes
- Voice recording for customization
- Add custom images and captions
- Shrink and grow letter animations
- Flick and fly animations
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AlphaBaby Play is the perfect first app for your toddler for the iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad! Touch the screen to show and hear letters and shapes. Flick them to send them flying across the screen. Press them and the letters shrink and grow. Record your own voice for the letters and shapes. Add your own images from the camera or photo library, and record captions to match. Have your child record their own voice! AlphaBaby Play is a free version of the AlphaBaby app, also available on the App Store. You are limited by how many sounds and pictures you can add to the app. Upgrading removes those limits and gives you more ways to customize AlphaBaby. Give AlphaBaby Play a try and see how much fun it is to have your own voice speak the alphabet. Have your child record their own voice for the alphabet, or take turns recording fun captions for your own photos. The possibilities are endless.
LetterSchool
This app helps young children learn to write letters, numbers, and shapes through interactive tracing and spelling games. It offers progress tracking and engaging animations to make learning fun and effective for toddlers and preschoolers.
- Block and cursive letter tracing
- Uppercase and lowercase letters
- Number tracing (1-10)
- Geometric shape tracing
- Word spelling and phonics
- Progress tracking for multiple players
- Interactive animations and sound effects
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The #1 alphabet tracing and words spelling app for toddlers & pre-schoolers. Recommended and used by parents, teachers, and occupational therapists! Loved & played by more than 2 million kids and used at more than 5,000 schools! - Winner of 'National Parenting Product Awards' - NAPPA Awards - ‘Best Mobile App Platinum Award’ nominee! – BMA SPECIAL FEATURES: - Block & Cursive Letters, - Uppercase and Lowercase, - Numbers 1-10, - 24 geometric shapes for toddlers! - Keep track of your child’s progress, - Unlock Golden Levels! - 72 CVC words, 36 CVCC words, and 39 long sound words! - Progress and settings stored for up to three players on the same device, - Interactive and visually attractive fun animations, - Available for both iPads and iPhones! IMPORTANT: The first five letters of the alphabet (both uppercase and lowercase), five shapes, and the first three CVC flashcards (nine words) are completely for free. They can be played entirely (on 3 game steps). Enjoy this trial and have fun! PERFECT FOR KIDS: Kids want to have fun and LetterSchool offers an educational journey with the most engaging and entertaining educational material! - Learn while engaging with over 20+ exciting animations, graphics, and sound effects. - Associate letters with words, master and memorize tracing directions and the correct formation of each character. - Learn phonics, the formation of words, understand syllable formations, and spell entire words. - Perfect for home-schooling kids and kindergartens. A user-friendly app for children with special educational needs. PERFECT FOR PARENTS & TEACHERS: - Choice of the three most popular font families in handwriting education (Handwriting Without Tears, D’Nealian, and Zaner-Bloser). - Complete a set of letters, numbers, or shapes to unlock the Golden Levels! - Golden Level allows progress tracking and displays exactly how the letter was drawn! - A new challenge at every step: Your child traces a letter, number or shape 3 times using different parameters. SAFE: - An educational app created together with parents and educational professionals. - NO ADS! - Advanced settings or purchases only accessible by an adult! - Extremely committed Customer Support ready to answer all questions and fix any issues. LET'S PLAY & LEARN! Join LetterSchool on this exciting educational journey! Download the app and allow your toddler to discover the magical world of letters and words. Before you know it, your kid will become a pro in writing and spelling! SUBSCRIPTION DETAILS: LetterSchool offers several auto-renewing subscription options: per month. quarter, and year. - You can cancel your subscription anytime without an extra cancellation fee. - Payment will be charged to your iTunes account at confirmation of purchase. - Subscription automatically renews unless auto-renew is turned off at least 24-hours before the end of the current period. - The account will be charged for renewal within 24-hours before the end of the current period, and identify the cost of the renewal. - Subscriptions may be managed by the user and auto-renewal may be turned off by going to the user's Account Settings after purchase. - No cancellation of the current subscription is allowed during an active subscription period. - Any unused portion of a free trial period, if offered, will be forfeited when the user purchases a subscription to that publication, where applicable. - Your iTunes account will be charged automatically after the 7-day free trial. CONTACT For more reviews and information, visit our website www.letterschool.com If you have any question or suggestions, please contact us at support@letterschool.com You can also check our FAQ page on https://www.letterschool.com/en/help. Terms of service and privacy policy: https://www.letterschool.com/legal/terms-of-use & https://www.letterschool.com/legal/privacy-policy
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: AlphaBaby Play at 89% against LetterSchool's 55%. AlphaBaby Play also leads on iOS requirement (9.0 vs 15.0). LetterSchool's advantage is ratings volume (17K vs 36) and rating (4.5 vs 4.2). 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
Both are free to download. AlphaBaby Play sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and LetterSchool sells 14 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
LetterSchool holds the better App Store score, 4.5 against 4.2. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: LetterSchool has 17K ratings behind it against 36, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 89% of AlphaBaby Play's written reviews are positive against 55% of LetterSchool's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.
AlphaBaby Play ships an update every 4 months, LetterSchool every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on October 23, 2026 and October 31, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | AlphaBaby Play | LetterSchool |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.2 (36 ratings) | 4.5 (17K ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 89.1% of reviews — better | 54.8% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 36 | 17K — better |
| Update frequency | Every 4 months | Every 2 months — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 9.0 — better | 15.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 5 MB | 158 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | +4 |
| Developer | Little Potato Software | Letterschool Enabling Learning B.V. |
Customer experience
AlphaBaby Play
LetterSchool
User reviews
AlphaBaby Play
From 36 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 👶 Excellent for babies and toddlers (ages 8 months to 4 years)
- 🎓 Educational tool teaching letters, numbers, shapes, and colors
- 🎤 Ability to record custom voice and add personal photos
- 🆓 Free version available with quality features
- 🛡️ Child-proof design prevents accidental app store clicks
Room to improve
- 🔄 Random presentation lacks structured learning approach
- 📚 Uses letter names instead of phonetic sounds
- 🔊 Volume control not available
- 💾 In-app purchases not persisting across device changes
- 🎙️ Custom sound recording feature unreliable for some users
LetterSchool
From 17K App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 👍 Engaging and interactive
- 🚀 Helps improve handwriting
- 💡 Supports multiple writing styles (print, cursive, d'nealian)
- 👍 Motivating with rewards and animations
- 👍 Useful for children with learning challenges
Room to improve
- 🐛 Subscription issues (app reverts to lite version, need to restore purchases)
- 🐛 Glitches and crashes (especially with Dari letters)
- 💰 Expensive subscription model
- 🔍 Limited free version
- 🔍 Inconsistent letter formation (not aligned with school standards)
Bugs and requests
AlphaBaby Play
Reported bugs
6 issues- In-app purchases lost when changing iOS devices
- Custom sound recording not working reliably
- In-app upgrade icon not updating after purchase
- Same objects appearing consecutively in random mode
- Settings menu difficult to access and discover
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- Pictures dominating screen disproportionately when mixed with other content
Requested features
10 requests- Phonetic sound options instead of letter names
- Extended number range (up to 50+)
- Sound/volume level control
- Delay option to discourage button mashing
- Multiple voice recordings per object for multilingual families
Show 5 moreShow fewer
- Lowercase letter options
- Colors category as separate learning option
- Better in-app instructions/tutorial
- Improved settings menu accessibility
- More customizable content options
LetterSchool
Reported bugs
4 issues- Dari letter (پ) keeps glitching
- Subscription issues (app reverts to lite version, need to restore purchases)
- Incompatibility with older devices
- Login screen freezes
Requested features
5 requests- Add more languages (Russian, Serbian, Thai, Korean, Hebrew, Hindi, etc.)
- Allow creating custom words/names to practice
- Improve letter sound pronunciations
- Add more visual options (fonts, themes, etc.)
- Integrate with International Phonetic Alphabet
In-app purchases
AlphaBaby Play
- Upgrade to Full AlphaBaby$0.99
LetterSchool
- Monthly Access Pass7 Days trial$4.991 Month
- LetterSchool - Monthly Pass7 Days trial$9.991 Month
- Monthly Access Pass7 Days trial$9.991 Month
Show 7 moreShow fewer
- Quarterly Access Pass7 Days trial$12.993 Months
- LetterSchool - Monthly Pass7 Days trial$14.991 Month
- Quarterly Access Pass7 Days trial$19.993 Months
- Annual Access Pass7 Days trial$44.991 Year
- LetterSchool - Annual Pass$59.991 Year
- Yearly Access Pass7 Days trial$59.991 Year
- LetterSchool - Annual Pass7 Days trial$74.991 Year
- Unlock All Shapes$2.99
- Unlock Full Block Alphabet$6.99
- Unlock Full Cursive Alphabet$6.99
Show 1 moreShow fewer
- All-in-one Package$79.99
Questions
Is AlphaBaby Play free?
Is LetterSchool free?
Which has better reviews, AlphaBaby Play or LetterSchool?
Do AlphaBaby Play or LetterSchool have ads?
Which is updated more often, AlphaBaby Play or LetterSchool?
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