# Puppet Pals vs Maker Studio

The clearest difference is rating: Maker Studio at 4.4 against Puppet Pals's 3.8. Maker Studio also leads on update cadence (every 3 weeks vs every 6 months) and ratings volume (430 vs 50). Puppet Pals's advantage is monetization model (free with in-app purchases vs subscription). On price, review sentiment, ads and in-app purchases there is nothing between them.

Both are free to download. Puppet Pals sells 10 one-off in-app purchases and Maker Studio sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

Maker Studio holds the better App Store score, 4.4 against 3.8. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Maker Studio has 430 ratings behind it against 50, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews split almost evenly too, at 71% and 71% positive.

Puppet Pals ships an update every 6 months, Maker Studio every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 10, 2026 and October 12, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | Puppet Pals | Maker Studio |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | [3.8 (50 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/puppet-pals/id342076546/reviews) | **[4.4 (430 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/maker-studiokids/id1519720747/reviews)** |
| Number of ratings | 50 | **430** |
| Positive reviews | 71.0% of reviews | **71.2% of reviews** |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Ads | No | No |
| Update frequency | Every 6 months | **Every 3 weeks** |
| Monetization | **Free with in-app purchases** | Subscription |
| Size | 77 MB | 802 MB |
| Requires iOS | 17.0 | **11.0** |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | **iPhone, iPad, iPod** |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | [Polished Play, LLC](https://appshunter.io/developer/332686547) | [Arjun Gupte](https://appshunter.io/developer/620272974) |

## 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


### Maker Studio

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/maker-studiokids/id1519720747)

This app empowers children to unleash their creativity by building 3D worlds, animating characters, and drawing cartoons. Kids can design and share their projects as movies, flipbooks, or even 3D prints, with augmented reality features to bring creations to life.

**Highlights:** Create 3D worlds and cities, Animate characters, Draw 2D cartoons and flipbooks, 3D print creations, Augmented Reality projection, Stopmotion animation, Learn 2D/3D visualization

**In-app purchases (2)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Monthly Subscription | $4.99 | per month |
| Annual Subscription | $44.99 | per year |

**What reviewers like**

- 🎨 Creative animation and 3D modeling tools
- 👍 User-friendly interface for kids
- 🎯 Educational and developmental value
- 🌈 Colorful and engaging graphics
- 📱 No ads in the app

**What reviewers complain about**

- 💰 Aggressive paywall after free trial
- 🐛 Frequent crashes and data loss
- ⚠️ Limited free content
- 🔴 Performance issues and lag
- 🎮 Confusing interface for beginners

**Reported bugs**

- App crashes after 3 minutes of gameplay with data loss
- Black screen appearing during gameplay
- World building mode doesn't allow deletion or undo
- Augmented reality missing delete functionality
- iPad compatibility issues with city worlds

**Requested features**

- Delete/undo button for all activities and world building
- Eraser tool for objects in activities
- More character models
- Walking/exploration in cities
- More frequent content updates


## Frequently asked questions

### Is Puppet Pals free?

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

### Is Maker Studio free?

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

### Which has better reviews, Puppet Pals or Maker Studio?

Maker Studio is rated higher. Puppet Pals averages 3.8 out of 5 from 50 ratings, while Maker Studio averages 4.4 from 430 ratings.

### Do Puppet Pals or Maker Studio have ads?

Neither Puppet Pals nor Maker Studio shows ads.

### Which is updated more often, Puppet Pals or Maker Studio?

Puppet Pals ships an update every 6 months, and Maker Studio every 3 weeks. Most recently, Puppet Pals was updated on October 10, 2026 and Maker Studio on October 12, 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.*