First Words Deluxe vs First Words Phonics Pro
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
First Words Deluxe
This app helps toddlers learn letters, spelling, and reading through interactive games. It features over 150 words across five categories and supports multiple languages, with adjustable difficulty levels for personalized learning.
- Learn letters and spelling
- Over 150 words in 5 categories
- Multiple language support
- Adjustable difficulty levels
- Phonics option
- Toddler-friendly interface
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* Finalist for the BestAppEver Award: Toddler Apps * The best-selling reading game for kids has gotten even better! We've added more words, more languages, and phonics. First Words Deluxe provides endless fun for the toddlers in your life, all while giving your child a head start on learning their letters and learning to spell words. Now with Spanish, French, German, Japanese, plus US and UK English. First Words Deluxe is toddler-tested and approved, with a user-interface designed specifically for the littlest of fingers. The game includes over 150 words in five kid-friendly categories: ** Animals ** ** Vehicles ** ** Colors ** ** Shapes ** ** Words from around the house ** (Fewer words are shown when the phonics option is selected, because many English words are not spelled phonetically. A total of 68 phonics words are included.) A wide range of options let you tune the game to match your child's current skills and abilities. If your child is old enough to ask for your phone, they're old enough for First Words Deluxe! Here's what educators and reviewers have said about our First Words apps: “First Words is an app that teaches letters and words in fun and interactive way. Very easy to use these apps will help support your little ones learning with great illustrations and bright colors. Each app supports kids learning and encourages kids to explore and discover by revealing, rewarding and teaching.” -- Fun Educational Apps “Excellent - As a teacher, I love this game! Just what technology was meant to do!” -- iTunes Review “This app has great settings that let you control the level of difficulty for the child – either with lots of hints or almost none at all. The letters slide nicely into each word and when completed the child is rewarded by having the pictured animal enlarge and animate briefly.” --Carisa Kluver at Digital Stortyime “First Words Deluxe is a very straightforward word-building game. Words are either said letter by letter as they are dragged into the appropriate gray boxes or, if chosen in the settings, a smaller set of words can be sounded out with phonics. This makes this game a treat for both pre-readers and early spellers.” --Common Sense Media “Looking to guide your toddler towards recognizing letters and how to spell words up to eight letters long? Then First Words Deluxe might be just what you are looking for. This pre-reader and spelling application encourages vocabulary development in a wide range of categories such as: vehicles, animals, at home, colors, and shapes.” --Andrea Gardner at Applicable2u "First Words is a great app -- as I said at the time, 'Leo loves First Words because it's fun and easy. I love it because he's learning to spell words, and the interface makes that learning error-free.'" ---Shannon Des Roches Rosa at Squidalicious *** We love getting feedback from our users. If you have questions or comments, please send them to info@learningtouch.com. ***
First Words Phonics Pro
This educational app teaches children reading and spelling through synthetic phonics. It offers two learning levels and various hint options to customize difficulty, making learning engaging with colorful visuals and sound effects.
- Synthetic phonics learning levels
- Learn words and spelling
- Letter recognition and matching
- Interactive exploration interface
- Child-friendly user interface
- Engaging artwork and sound effects
- 121 words in 5 categories
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"First Words for Kids" includes all 121 words across Animals, Vehicles, Shapes and Colours, Household Items and Numbers. Everything is included with no in-app purchases needed. Three hint settings (colour hints, letter hints, and combined hints) together with five difficulty settings let you fine-tune the challenge as your child grows. The thumbnail navigation lets children explore all words freely, with no time pressure and no countdowns. Used by parents and educators. Featured by Apple on the US App Store in Games/Educational and Games/Kids. ________________________________ SYNTHETIC PHONICS "First Words for Kids" uses synthetic phonics to help children learn to read by linking each letter and letter combination to its sound, then showing how those sounds blend into full words. This is the evidence-based approach recommended by national literacy frameworks in the UK, the US and Australia. Two phonics levels are included: Synthetic Phonics Basic: introduces blending using simple, single-sound phonemes. Designed for children who are just starting out. Synthetic Phonics Advanced: introduces graphemes (letter groups that represent one sound), digraphs (two letters that together make a new sound), and letters with more than one sound. For children ready for a bigger challenge. The app was designed with children who have autism and speech delay in mind. No timers. No pressure. A clean interface that moves at the child's pace. ________________________________ THE MISSION ReadnLearn exists because of Marios. Aris's son has autism and speech delay. Every design decision in every ReadnLearn app comes from watching Marios learn. What works for him works for every child who learns differently. readnlearn.com/the-mission-autism-educational-tools/ ________________________________ FEATURES ● All 121 words across 5 categories, fully included ● Letter sounds through two levels of synthetic phonics, plus letter names ● Learn words and how to spell them ● Recognise upper and lowercase letters and match them to words ● Three hint settings to control how much support the child receives ● Six difficulty settings that grow with the child ● Thumbnail navigation so children can explore all words freely ● Tap any image to hear its sound and name ● Interface designed for small fingers ● Colourful artwork with animations and sound effects ● Studio recordings of all letters, words and spelling ● No timers. No pressure. No ads. No in-app purchases. ● Flight Mode reminder for uninterrupted offline use ________________________________ KNOW WHAT'S INSIDE We follow the Know What's Inside best practices for children's apps, set by Moms with Apps. ________________________________ DISCLOSURE At ReadnLearn, children's privacy and safety come first: ◇ Does not collect or share personally identifiable information ◇ No social network links or social features ◇ No ads ◇ No in-app purchases ◇ Feedback and Tell a Friend buttons are behind a parental gate ◇ More Games button and page are behind a parental gate Privacy policy: readnlearn.com/kids-learning-apps/privacy/ Support: readnlearn.com/kids-learning-apps/#support ________________________________ IF THIS APP HELPED YOUR CHILD Leaving an honest review helps other families with autism, speech delay and learning differences find this app. And if there is something you want added or changed, tell us. Every piece of feedback shapes the next update. app-feedback@readnlearn.com ________________________________ ABOUT ReadnLearn ReadnLearn was founded by Aris Karavias, a children's illustrator and educational app developer with 27 years of experience and 25 published educational apps. His son Marios has autism and speech delay. Every design decision in every app comes from watching Marios learn. The apps have been downloaded over a million times across six languages. Questions or feedback: app-feedback@readnlearn.com Support: app-support@readnlearn.com readnlearn.com
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: First Words Phonics Pro at none against First Words Deluxe's 1. First Words Phonics Pro also leads on update cadence (every 2 months vs every 4 months) and iOS requirement (9.0 vs 12.2). First Words Deluxe's advantage is review sentiment (89% vs 67%). On price, rating, ratings volume and ads 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
First Words Deluxe costs $4.99 and First Words Phonics Pro $4.99 up front. First Words Deluxe sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. First Words Phonics Pro asks for nothing beyond the download.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.3 for First Words Deluxe against 4.3 for First Words Phonics Pro. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 51 and 22 respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 89% of First Words Deluxe's written reviews are positive against 67% of First Words Phonics Pro's.
First Words Deluxe ships an update every 4 months, First Words Phonics Pro every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on October 29, 2026 and October 23, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | First Words Deluxe | First Words Phonics Pro |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $4.99 | $4.99 |
| Rating | 4.3 (51 ratings) — better | 4.3 (22 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 89.2% of reviews — better | 66.7% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 51 — better | 22 |
| Update frequency | Every 4 months | Every 2 months — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases — better | Paid |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 12.2 | 9.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 103 MB | 84 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Learning Touch LLC | Read 'n' Learn |
Customer experience
First Words Deluxe
First Words Phonics Pro
Bugs and requests
First Words Deluxe
Reported bugs
2 issues- Words sometimes disappear from the screen
- Occasional crashes or freezes reported
Requested features
4 requests- Allow users to add custom words and images
- Expand word list with more advanced vocabulary
- Implement a phonics-focused mode for all words
- Add multilingual support in the base app
First Words Phonics Pro
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
First Words Deluxe
- Word Pack 1$4.99
First Words Phonics Pro
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is First Words Deluxe free?
Is First Words Phonics Pro free?
Which has better reviews, First Words Deluxe or First Words Phonics Pro?
Do First Words Deluxe or First Words Phonics Pro have ads?
Which is updated more often, First Words Deluxe or First Words Phonics Pro?
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