# Puppet Pals vs Showbie

Puppet Pals and Showbie both sit at 3.8 stars, but that hides the real split: 71% of Puppet Pals's written reviews are positive against 36% of Showbie's. Showbie's advantage is update cadence (every 8 days vs every 6 months) and ratings volume (240 vs 53). On price, rating, 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 Showbie sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

Puppet Pals holds the better App Store score, 3.8 against 3.7. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 53 and 240 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 71% of Puppet Pals's written reviews are positive against 36% of Showbie's.

Puppet Pals ships an update every 6 months, Showbie every 8 days. Both last shipped on November 1, 2026.

## The numbers

| Metric | Puppet Pals | Showbie |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | **[3.8 (53 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/puppet-pals/id342076546/reviews)** | [3.7 (240 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/showbie/id548898085/reviews) |
| Number of ratings | 53 | **240** |
| Positive reviews | **70.9% of reviews** | 35.5% of reviews |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Ads | No | No |
| Update frequency | Every 6 months | **Every 8 days** |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free with in-app purchases |
| Size | 77 MB | 297 MB |
| Requires iOS | 17.0 | 17.0 |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | [Polished Play, LLC](https://appshunter.io/developer/332686547) | [Showbie Inc.](https://appshunter.io/developer/523263741) |

## 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


### Showbie

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/showbie/id548898085)

This app facilitates paperless learning by allowing teachers to personalize assignments and provide detailed feedback on student work. It supports various feedback methods, including digital ink, text, and voice annotations, and enables the creation of digital portfolios for students. Parents can also be invited to view student progress.

**Highlights:** Personalize assignments and feedback, Digital ink, text, and voice annotations, Create digital student portfolios, Share work from compatible apps, Real-time class assessment, Private student chat, Parental access to student work

**Features:** Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases (1)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Showbie Pro | $239.99 | one-time |

**What reviewers like**

- 👍 Easy to use
- 🚀 Efficient workflow
- 📚 Helpful for learning
- 🤝 Good for collaboration

**What reviewers complain about**

- 🐛 Frequent crashes and glitches
- 💾 Unreliable file saving and syncing
- 🕰️ Slow performance and lag
- 🔍 Confusing navigation and UI

**Reported bugs**

- Text boxes disappearing or moving unexpectedly
- Notifications not working correctly
- Assignments not uploading or disappearing
- Compatibility issues on older devices

**Requested features**

- Calendar view for assignments
- More annotation tools and customization
- Offline mode for accessing content
- Better integration with other apps


## Frequently asked questions

### Is Puppet Pals free?

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

### Is Showbie free?

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

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

Puppet Pals is rated higher. Puppet Pals averages 3.8 out of 5 from 53 ratings, while Showbie averages 3.7 from 240 ratings.

### Do Puppet Pals or Showbie have ads?

Neither Puppet Pals nor Showbie shows ads.

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

Puppet Pals ships an update every 6 months, and Showbie every 8 days. Most recently, Puppet Pals was updated on November 1, 2026 and Showbie on November 1, 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.*