# Puppet Pals vs Kidos

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Puppet Pals at 71% against Kidos's 36%. Kidos's advantage is update cadence (every 5 weeks vs every 6 months) and ratings volume (1.6K vs 53). On price, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model there is nothing between them.

Both are free to download. Puppet Pals sells 10 one-off in-app purchases and Kidos sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $3.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

Kidos holds the better App Store score, 4.0 against 3.8. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Kidos has 1.6K ratings behind it against 53, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 71% of Puppet Pals's written reviews are positive against 36% of Kidos'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, Kidos every 5 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 31, 2026 and October 29, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | Puppet Pals | Kidos |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | [3.8 (53 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/puppet-pals/id342076546/reviews) | **[4.0 (1.6K ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/kidos-safe-search/id1480200678/reviews)** |
| Number of ratings | 53 | **1.6K** |
| Positive reviews | **70.9% of reviews** | 35.7% of reviews |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Ads | No | No |
| Update frequency | Every 6 months | **Every 5 weeks** |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free with in-app purchases |
| Size | 77 MB | 36 MB |
| Requires iOS | **17.0** | 18.0 |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | [Polished Play, LLC](https://appshunter.io/developer/332686547) | [iComet](https://appshunter.io/developer/408908544) |

## What reviewers say

### Puppet Pals

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/puppet-pals/id342076546)

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.

**Highlights:** 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

**In-app purchases (10)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Wild West | $0.99 | one-time |
| Political Par-tay | $0.99 | one-time |
| Monsters | $0.99 | one-time |
| Talk Shows | $0.99 | one-time |
| Pirates | $0.99 | one-time |
| Fairytale | $0.99 | one-time |
| Zombie Attack | $0.99 | one-time |
| On the Farm | $0.99 | one-time |
| Christmas | $0.99 | one-time |
| Director's Pass | $3.99 | one-time |

**What reviewers like**

- ⭐ Great app for classrooms and education
- 🤩 Lots of fun and creativity
- 👍 Easy to use
- 💯 Awesome for making videos and animations
- 🎨 Ability to use own photos and characters

**What reviewers complain about**

- 💰 Many features require paid upgrade
- 🤬 Frustrating that you can't use own characters without paying
- 🐛 Bugs with exporting and saving videos
- 🙄 Limited free content

**Reported bugs**

- Crashes when trying to export videos
- Saved videos not playing back properly
- Issues with using own photos and characters

**Requested features**

- 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


### Kidos

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/kidos-safe-search/id1480200678)

This app provides a privacy-first, child-friendly search engine. It filters out adult content and offers a clean, distraction-free browsing experience with easy-to-read fonts and large previews, making it ideal for families and users seeking safe online exploration.

**Highlights:** Child-friendly search engine, Filters adult and inappropriate content, Privacy-first, no data collection, Large fonts for readability, Big thumbnail previews for navigation, Unlimited bookmarks (Pro feature)

**Features:** macOS Compatibility, Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases (2)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Premium Monthly Subscription | $3.99 | per month |
| 1 Year Subscription | $39.99 | per year |

**What reviewers like**

- 👍 Safe and appropriate for kids
- 🤩 Great protection from Google
- 🥳 Useful for school projects
- 😇 Provides kid-friendly content

**What reviewers complain about**

- 🐛 Frequent crashes and freezes
- ⏱️ Slow loading times
- 🚫 Overly restrictive, blocks legitimate sites
- 💤 Limited content and features

**Reported bugs**

- Losing user data and favorites after updates
- Inability to access Google and other essential services
- Inappropriate content slipping through the filters

**Requested features**

- Ability to delete bookmarks
- Improved search functionality
- Expand content library
- Parental controls and settings


## Frequently asked questions

### Is Puppet Pals free?

Puppet Pals is free to download, with in-app purchases available.

### Is Kidos free?

Kidos is free to download, with in-app purchases available.

### Which has better reviews, Puppet Pals or Kidos?

Kidos is rated higher. Puppet Pals averages 3.8 out of 5 from 53 ratings, while Kidos averages 4.0 from 1.6K ratings.

### Do Puppet Pals or Kidos have ads?

Neither Puppet Pals nor Kidos shows ads.

### Which is updated more often, Puppet Pals or Kidos?

Puppet Pals ships an update every 6 months, and Kidos every 5 weeks. Most recently, Puppet Pals was updated on October 31, 2026 and Kidos on October 29, 2026.

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*Compared by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/) from daily US App Store data. Review summaries are generated from verbatim App Store reviews.*