# Puppet Pals vs Sandbox AR

The clearest difference is rating: Sandbox AR at 4.8 against Puppet Pals's 3.8. Sandbox AR also leads on in-app purchases (none vs 10) and review sentiment (100% vs 71%). Puppet Pals's advantage is ratings volume (52 vs 16). On price, ads and device support there is nothing between them.

Both are free to download. Puppet Pals sells 10 one-off in-app purchases. Sandbox AR asks for nothing beyond the download.

Sandbox AR holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 3.8. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 52 and 16 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 71% of Puppet Pals's written reviews are positive against 100% of Sandbox AR's.

Puppet Pals ships an update every 6 months, Sandbox AR every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on November 6, 2026 and November 3, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | Puppet Pals | Sandbox AR |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | [3.8 (52 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/puppet-pals/id342076546/reviews) | **[4.8 (16 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/sandbox-ar/id1582806816/reviews)** |
| Number of ratings | **52** | 16 |
| Positive reviews | 70.9% of reviews | **100.0% of reviews** |
| In-app purchases | Yes | **No** |
| Ads | No | No |
| Update frequency | Every 6 months | **Every 2 months** |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | **Free** |
| Size | 77 MB | 1.6 GB |
| Requires iOS | 17.0 | **14.0** |
| Devices | **iPhone, iPad** | iPad |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | [Polished Play, LLC](https://appshunter.io/developer/332686547) | [Discovery Education Inc.](https://appshunter.io/developer/1557216359) |

## 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


### Sandbox AR

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/sandbox-ar/id1582806816)

Create, build, and explore immersive virtual worlds using augmented reality. This app allows users to scale creations to life-size and share them with others. It's designed to bring interactive technology into educational settings.

**Highlights:** Create, build, and explore in AR, Life-size scale exploration, Share creations via QR code, Capture snapshots and videos, Teacher audio descriptions (DE:X subscribers), Link to curated resources (DE:X subscribers)

**In-app purchases:** none


## Frequently asked questions

### Is Puppet Pals free?

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

### Is Sandbox AR free?

Sandbox AR is free to download, with no in-app purchases.

### Which has better reviews, Puppet Pals or Sandbox AR?

Sandbox AR is rated higher. Puppet Pals averages 3.8 out of 5 from 52 ratings, while Sandbox AR averages 4.8 from 16 ratings.

### Do Puppet Pals or Sandbox AR have ads?

Neither Puppet Pals nor Sandbox AR shows ads.

### Which is updated more often, Puppet Pals or Sandbox AR?

Puppet Pals ships an update every 6 months, and Sandbox AR every 2 months. Most recently, Puppet Pals was updated on November 6, 2026 and Sandbox AR on November 3, 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.*