Puppet Pals vs Number Frames, by MLC
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Puppet Pals
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.
- 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
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Create your own animated shows in real time! Pick your actors and backdrops, drag them onto the stage, and tap record. Your movements and voice are captured live, ready to play back, save, and watch again. Act out a pirate adventure on the high seas, a spooky monster showdown, or a Wild West escape — and mix any characters and scenes however you like. Your shows are only limited by your imagination. FREE FEATURES - A stage full of characters and backdrops to perform with - Turn a photo into a character or a backdrop - Record shows with live animation and audio - Zoom, rotate, and flip characters as you perform - Save shows and watch them anytime CREATIVE CLUB (optional subscription) Join the Creative Club to unlock the full show: - Imagine any character or backdrop, describe it, and watch AI bring it to life - Every character and scene pack included - Record shows up to 10 minutes long - Draw your own characters and backdrops - Export your shows as videos - Widescreen stage and full control over the end-of-show outro Choose your plan, monthly or annual: - Essentials — includes 40 AI creations per month - Unlimited — includes up to 1,000 AI creations per month SUBSCRIPTION DETAILS Payment is charged to your Apple Account at confirmation of purchase. Subscriptions renew automatically unless cancelled at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. You can manage or cancel your subscription anytime in your App Store account settings. Any unused portion of a free trial is forfeited when you purchase a subscription. Privacy Policy: https://www.polishedplay.com/puppetpals1/privacy Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Puppet Pals is fully usable without a subscription — the Creative Club just adds more magic.
Number Frames, by MLC
This app provides virtual number frames to help elementary students visualize and manipulate numbers up to one hundred. It supports counting, comparing, and computing, aiding the transition from one-by-one counting to more efficient strategies. Custom frames can be created for advanced visualization of factors and fractions.
- Standard and custom number frames
- Variety of counters and colors
- 5s grid for grouping emphasis
- Resizable covers for problem modeling
- Drawing and annotation tools
- Math text and writing tools
- Shareable work via image or code
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Number Frames help students structure numbers to five, ten, twenty, and one hundred. Students use the frames to count, represent, compare, and compute with numbers in a particular range. The frames allow students see quantities as equal groups of other quantities and in relation to benchmark quantities. This helps primary students move away from one-by-one counting toward more efficient ways of counting and computing. As students advance, custom frames can be constructed to help visualize factors, products, fractional parts and more. These virtual versions of number frames are open-ended educational tools, ideal for elementary classrooms and other learning environments that use iPads. Number frames are a key model used in Bridges in Mathematics, second edition. Online preview available at: www.mathlearningcenter.org/bridges FEATURES: • Use standard 5-, 10-, 20-, and 100-frames, or create custom frames up to 12 x 12. • Choose from a variety of counters and colors. Drag single counters — or stacks of 5 and 10 — into frames or on to the workspace. • Apply a 5s grid to frames to emphasize every 5th line and reinforce grouping by five. • Hide and reveal counters with resizable covers to create your own problems and model strategies. • Use the drawing tools to annotate work and show understanding. • Add equations, expressions, and descriptions with the math text and writing tools. • Share your work by saving an image or providing a share code to others. MORE APPS For more Number Line resources and other apps, visit: www.mathlearningcenter.org/apps LEARN MORE To learn about Bridges in Mathematics, an elementary curriculum that employs visual models like number line, visit: www.mathlearningcenter.org/bridges/overview ABOUT US This resource is brought to you by The Math Learning Center, a nonprofit organization dedicated to K-12 education since 1976. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This app was crafted by Clarity Innovations. We help improve teaching and learning by creating solutions that match promising technologies with the needs of education. Visit us: www.clarity-innovations.com
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Number Frames, by MLC at none against Puppet Pals's 10. Number Frames, by MLC also leads on review sentiment (89% vs 71%) and rating (4.0 vs 3.8). Puppet Pals's advantage is update cadence (every 6 months vs every 13 months) and ratings volume (50 vs 7). On price, ads and device support there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS
Both are free to download. Puppet Pals sells 10 one-off in-app purchases. Number Frames, by MLC asks for nothing beyond the download.
Number Frames, by MLC holds the better App Store score, 4.0 against 3.8. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Puppet Pals has 50 ratings behind it against 7, 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 89% of Number Frames, by MLC's.
Puppet Pals ships an update every 6 months, Number Frames, by MLC every 13 months. The most recent releases landed on October 2, 2026 and September 16, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Puppet Pals | Number Frames, by MLC |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 3.8 (50 ratings) | 4.0 (7 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 71.0% of reviews | 88.9% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 50 — better | 7 |
| Update frequency | Every 6 months — better | Every 13 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad — better | iPad |
| Requires iOS | 17.0 | 15.4 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 77 MB | 12 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Polished Play, LLC | The Math Learning Center |
Customer experience
Puppet Pals
Number Frames, by MLC
Bugs and requests
Puppet Pals
Reported bugs
3 issues- Crashes when trying to export videos
- Saved videos not playing back properly
- Issues with using own photos and characters
Requested features
4 requests- 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
Number Frames, by MLC
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Puppet Pals
- Wild West$0.99
- Political Par-tay$0.99
- Monsters$0.99
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- Talk Shows$0.99
- Pirates$0.99
- Fairytale$0.99
- Zombie Attack$0.99
- On the Farm$0.99
- Christmas$0.99
- Director's Pass$3.99
Number Frames, by MLC
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Puppet Pals free?
Is Number Frames, by MLC free?
Which has better reviews, Puppet Pals or Number Frames, by MLC?
Do Puppet Pals or Number Frames, by MLC have ads?
Which is updated more often, Puppet Pals or Number Frames, by MLC?
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