Comparison

First Words Christmas vs First Words Phonics Pro

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

First Words Christmas

An educational app for toddlers featuring a Christmas theme. It helps young children learn 40 holiday-themed words and their corresponding sounds through interactive letter and word matching.

Highlights
  • 40 Christmas-themed words
  • Matching holiday sounds
  • Interactive letter and word matching
  • Toddler-tested design
  • Adjustable difficulty levels
  • Engaging learning tool
Features
Read full description

Push the letters into place, and Santa Claus is coming to town, bringing gifts of fun and learning! The popular educational app for toddlers is now available with a Christmas theme! First Words Christmas has 40 beautifully illustrated christmas words and matching holiday sounds, from Bell to Toys, Cookies to Star, all of your favorite Christmas words are here. First Words apps are toddler-tested and approved, designed for the littlest of fingers. More than just a game, First Words is a sophisticated learning tool that engages your child, encourages exploration and helps them understand the relationships between letters and words. A variety of options lets you adjust the difficulty level to match the abilities of your younger or older kids. Kids can play First Words by themselves, but they also love bringing their parents along, saying the names of the letters and enjoying the Christmas cheer. If your child is old enough to ask for your new phone or iPod touch, they're old enough for First Words Christmas! ================================= If you like First Words Christmas, be sure to check out the other apps in our highly rated FirstWords series! ================================= ================================= We love getting feedback and hearing stories about kids who use our software! Share your Christmas cheer with a review on iTunes or leave feedback at learningtouch.com. Tell us how your kids like First Words Christmas

About

First Words Phonics Pro

This educational app teaches children reading and spelling through synthetic phonics. It offers two learning levels and various hint options to customize difficulty, making learning engaging with colorful visuals and sound effects.

Highlights
  • Synthetic phonics learning levels
  • Learn words and spelling
  • Letter recognition and matching
  • Interactive exploration interface
  • Child-friendly user interface
  • Engaging artwork and sound effects
  • 121 words in 5 categories
Features
Read full description

"First Words for Kids" includes all 121 words across Animals, Vehicles, Shapes and Colours, Household Items and Numbers. Everything is included with no in-app purchases needed. Three hint settings (colour hints, letter hints, and combined hints) together with five difficulty settings let you fine-tune the challenge as your child grows. The thumbnail navigation lets children explore all words freely, with no time pressure and no countdowns. Used by parents and educators. Featured by Apple on the US App Store in Games/Educational and Games/Kids. ________________________________ SYNTHETIC PHONICS "First Words for Kids" uses synthetic phonics to help children learn to read by linking each letter and letter combination to its sound, then showing how those sounds blend into full words. This is the evidence-based approach recommended by national literacy frameworks in the UK, the US and Australia. Two phonics levels are included: Synthetic Phonics Basic: introduces blending using simple, single-sound phonemes. Designed for children who are just starting out. Synthetic Phonics Advanced: introduces graphemes (letter groups that represent one sound), digraphs (two letters that together make a new sound), and letters with more than one sound. For children ready for a bigger challenge. The app was designed with children who have autism and speech delay in mind. No timers. No pressure. A clean interface that moves at the child's pace. ________________________________ THE MISSION ReadnLearn exists because of Marios. Aris's son has autism and speech delay. Every design decision in every ReadnLearn app comes from watching Marios learn. What works for him works for every child who learns differently. readnlearn.com/the-mission-autism-educational-tools/ ________________________________ FEATURES ● All 121 words across 5 categories, fully included ● Letter sounds through two levels of synthetic phonics, plus letter names ● Learn words and how to spell them ● Recognise upper and lowercase letters and match them to words ● Three hint settings to control how much support the child receives ● Six difficulty settings that grow with the child ● Thumbnail navigation so children can explore all words freely ● Tap any image to hear its sound and name ● Interface designed for small fingers ● Colourful artwork with animations and sound effects ● Studio recordings of all letters, words and spelling ● No timers. No pressure. No ads. No in-app purchases. ● Flight Mode reminder for uninterrupted offline use ________________________________ KNOW WHAT'S INSIDE We follow the Know What's Inside best practices for children's apps, set by Moms with Apps. ________________________________ DISCLOSURE At ReadnLearn, children's privacy and safety come first: ◇ Does not collect or share personally identifiable information ◇ No social network links or social features ◇ No ads ◇ No in-app purchases ◇ Feedback and Tell a Friend buttons are behind a parental gate ◇ More Games button and page are behind a parental gate Privacy policy: readnlearn.com/kids-learning-apps/privacy/ Support: readnlearn.com/kids-learning-apps/#support ________________________________ IF THIS APP HELPED YOUR CHILD Leaving an honest review helps other families with autism, speech delay and learning differences find this app. And if there is something you want added or changed, tell us. Every piece of feedback shapes the next update. app-feedback@readnlearn.com ________________________________ ABOUT ReadnLearn ReadnLearn was founded by Aris Karavias, a children's illustrator and educational app developer with 27 years of experience and 25 published educational apps. His son Marios has autism and speech delay. Every design decision in every app comes from watching Marios learn. The apps have been downloaded over a million times across six languages. Questions or feedback: app-feedback@readnlearn.com Support: app-support@readnlearn.com readnlearn.com

Screenshots

First Words Christmas4 screens
First Words Phonics Pro4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: First Words Phonics Pro at every 2 months against First Words Christmas's every 13 months. First Words Phonics Pro also leads on iOS requirement (9.0 vs 12.2). First Words Christmas's advantage is review sentiment (92% vs 67%) and rating (4.5 vs 4.3). On ratings volume, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

First Words Christmas costs $1.99 and First Words Phonics Pro $4.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

First Words Christmas holds the better App Store score, 4.5 against 4.3. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 12 and 22 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 92% of First Words Christmas's written reviews are positive against 67% of First Words Phonics Pro's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

First Words Christmas ships an update every 13 months, First Words Phonics Pro every 2 months. Both last shipped on October 23, 2026.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
First Words Christmas versus First Words Phonics Pro: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterFirst Words ChristmasFirst Words Phonics Pro
Price$1.99 — better$4.99
Rating4.5 (12 ratings) — better4.3 (22 ratings)
Positive reviews92.3% of reviews — better66.7% of reviews
Number of ratings1222 — better
Update frequencyEvery 13 monthsEvery 2 months — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationPaidPaid
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS12.29.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size21 MB84 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperLearning Touch LLCRead 'n' Learn

Customer experience

First Words Christmas

All ratings12 ratings
Positive83.3%
Neutral8.3%
Negative8.3%
Written reviews13 reviews
Positive92.3%
Neutral0.0%
Negative7.7%

First Words Phonics Pro

All ratings22 ratings
Positive81.8%
Neutral4.5%
Negative13.6%
Written reviews3 reviews
Positive66.7%
Neutral0.0%
Negative33.3%

In-app purchases

None

First Words Christmas

No in-app purchases

None

First Words Phonics Pro

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is First Words Christmas free?
First Words Christmas costs $1.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is First Words Phonics Pro free?
First Words Phonics Pro costs $4.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, First Words Christmas or First Words Phonics Pro?
First Words Christmas is rated higher. First Words Christmas averages 4.5 out of 5 from 12 ratings, while First Words Phonics Pro averages 4.3 from 22 ratings.
Do First Words Christmas or First Words Phonics Pro have ads?
Neither First Words Christmas nor First Words Phonics Pro shows ads.
Which is updated more often, First Words Christmas or First Words Phonics Pro?
First Words Christmas ships an update every 13 months, and First Words Phonics Pro every 2 months. Most recently, First Words Christmas was updated on October 23, 2026 and First Words Phonics Pro on October 23, 2026.

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