Puppet Pals vs Number Rack, by MLC
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Puppet Pals
Bring your stories to life by creating animated shows in real time. Choose actors and backdrops, then record your movements and voice to produce unique performances. Unleash your creativity with endless storytelling possibilities.
- Real-time animation recording
- Create actors from photos
- Use photos as backdrops
- Zoom and rotate characters
- Downloadable creative characters
- Director's Pass for all content
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Create your own animated shows in real time! Pick your actors and backdrops, drag them onto the stage, and tap record. Your movements and voice are captured live, ready to play back, save, and watch again. Act out a pirate adventure on the high seas, a spooky monster showdown, or a Wild West escape — and mix any characters and scenes however you like. Your shows are only limited by your imagination. FREE FEATURES - A stage full of characters and backdrops to perform with - Turn a photo into a character or a backdrop - Record shows with live animation and audio - Zoom, rotate, and flip characters as you perform - Save shows and watch them anytime CREATIVE CLUB (optional subscription) Join the Creative Club to unlock the full show: - Imagine any character or backdrop, describe it, and watch AI bring it to life - Every character and scene pack included - Record shows up to 10 minutes long - Draw your own characters and backdrops - Export your shows as videos - Widescreen stage and full control over the end-of-show outro Choose your plan, monthly or annual: - Essentials — includes 40 AI creations per month - Unlimited — includes up to 1,000 AI creations per month SUBSCRIPTION DETAILS Payment is charged to your Apple Account at confirmation of purchase. Subscriptions renew automatically unless cancelled at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. You can manage or cancel your subscription anytime in your App Store account settings. Any unused portion of a free trial is forfeited when you purchase a subscription. Privacy Policy: https://www.polishedplay.com/puppetpals1/privacy Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Puppet Pals is fully usable without a subscription — the Creative Club just adds more magic.
Number Rack, by MLC
This virtual manipulative tool helps children develop number sense through interactive bead groupings. It supports exploration of addition and subtraction strategies with customizable rows and colors. Ideal for elementary classrooms, it includes annotation and sharing features.
- 1-10 rows of 10 beads
- Resizable bead covers for subtraction
- Color-coded bead rows
- Annotation and drawing tools
- Math text and writing tools
- Shareable work via image or code
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Number Rack facilitates the natural development of children’s number sense. The movable, colored beads encourage learners to think in groups of fives and tens, helping them to explore and discover a variety of addition and subtraction strategies. This virtual version of the manipulative is an open-ended educational tool, ideal for elementary classrooms and other learning environments. FEATURES • Display 1 to 10 rows of beads, 10 beads per row. • Hide beads with resizable covers, which allows teachers or learners to model subtraction or difference problems. • Reverse the colors of rows 6 to 10 to distinguish (or not) groupings of 25 beads. • Use the drawing tools to annotate work and show understanding. • Add equations, expressions, and descriptions with the math text and writing tools. • Share work by saving an image or providing a share code to others. Great for creating the initial setup of an activity, then sharing it with students so they can explore it further.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: Puppet Pals at 3.8 against Number Rack, by MLC's 3.2. Puppet Pals also leads on update cadence (every 6 months vs every 25 months) and ratings volume (50 vs 9). Number Rack, by MLC's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 10) and review sentiment (100% vs 71%). On price, ads 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
Both are free to download. Puppet Pals sells 10 one-off in-app purchases. Number Rack, by MLC asks for nothing beyond the download.
Puppet Pals holds the better App Store score, 3.8 against 3.2. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Puppet Pals has 50 ratings behind it against 9, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 71% of Puppet Pals's written reviews are positive against 100% of Number Rack, by MLC's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.
Puppet Pals ships an update every 6 months, Number Rack, by MLC every 25 months. The most recent releases landed on August 27, 2026 and June 24, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Puppet Pals | Number Rack, by MLC |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 3.8 (50 ratings) — better | 3.2 (9 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 71.0% of reviews | 100.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 50 — better | 9 |
| Update frequency | Every 6 months — better | Every 25 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad — better | iPad |
| Requires iOS | 17.0 | 14.7 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 77 MB | 4 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Polished Play, LLC | The Math Learning Center |
Customer experience
Puppet Pals
Number Rack, by MLC
Bugs and requests
Puppet Pals
Reported bugs
3 issues- Crashes when trying to export videos
- Saved videos not playing back properly
- Issues with using own photos and characters
Requested features
4 requests- Add more characters, backgrounds, and themes
- Allow exporting and sharing of videos
- Improve video editing and recording features
- Add sound effects and background music options
Number Rack, by MLC
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Puppet Pals
- Wild West$0.99
- Political Par-tay$0.99
- Monsters$0.99
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- Talk Shows$0.99
- Pirates$0.99
- Fairytale$0.99
- Zombie Attack$0.99
- On the Farm$0.99
- Christmas$0.99
- Director's Pass$3.99
Number Rack, by MLC
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Puppet Pals free?
Is Number Rack, by MLC free?
Which has better reviews, Puppet Pals or Number Rack, by MLC?
Do Puppet Pals or Number Rack, by MLC have ads?
Which is updated more often, Puppet Pals or Number Rack, by MLC?
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