# Puppet Pals vs ScratchJr

The clearest difference is rating: Puppet Pals at 3.8 against ScratchJr's 2.5. Puppet Pals also leads on review sentiment (71% vs 50%) and ratings volume (52 vs 4). ScratchJr's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 10) and update cadence (every 2 months vs every 6 months). 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. ScratchJr asks for nothing beyond the download.

Puppet Pals holds the better App Store score, 3.8 against 2.5. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Puppet Pals has 52 ratings behind it against 4, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 71% of Puppet Pals's written reviews are positive against 50% of ScratchJr's.

Puppet Pals ships an update every 6 months, ScratchJr every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on October 23, 2026 and October 13, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | Puppet Pals | ScratchJr |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | **[3.8 (52 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/puppet-pals/id342076546/reviews)** | [2.5 (4 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/scratchjr-icreate/id6447120978/reviews) |
| Number of ratings | **52** | 4 |
| Positive reviews | **71.0% of reviews** | 50.0% 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 | 284 MB |
| Requires iOS | 17.0 | **9.3** |
| Devices | **iPhone, iPad** | iPad |
| Age rating | 4+ | 17+ |
| Developer | [Polished Play, LLC](https://appshunter.io/developer/332686547) | [I Create Robot Technology Co., LTD](https://appshunter.io/developer/1602810061) |

## 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


### ScratchJr

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/scratchjr-icreate/id6447120978)

This app enables graphical programming to control hardware via Bluetooth, allowing for two-way interaction between software and physical devices. Create interactive projects by programming hardware or controlling on-screen characters with physical inputs.

**Highlights:** Graphical programming interface, Bluetooth device connectivity, Hardware control via programming, On-screen character control via hardware, Two-way software-hardware interaction

**Features:** macOS Compatibility

**In-app purchases:** none


## Frequently asked questions

### Is Puppet Pals free?

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

### Is ScratchJr free?

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

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

Puppet Pals is rated higher. Puppet Pals averages 3.8 out of 5 from 52 ratings, while ScratchJr averages 2.5 from 4 ratings.

### Do Puppet Pals or ScratchJr have ads?

Neither Puppet Pals nor ScratchJr shows ads.

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

Puppet Pals ships an update every 6 months, and ScratchJr every 2 months. Most recently, Puppet Pals was updated on October 23, 2026 and ScratchJr on October 13, 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.*