BrainPOP vs Pattern Sets
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
BrainPOP
This app offers award-winning animated educational videos, interactive activities, and quizzes designed by educators. It aims to transform passive screen time into active, enriched learning experiences for children in grades 3-8 across all subjects.
- Animated educational movies
- Interactive activities
- Quizzes
- Content for grades 3-8
- All subjects covered
- Research-backed learning platform
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Access BrainPOP’s award-winning animated movies, activities and quizzes made by educators and replace your kids’ passive screen time with active, enriched learning. Start your free trial today to access content for grades 3-8 across all subjects. BrainPOP is a research-backed learning platform created by educators that know how kids learn best, and perfect for age-appropriate, independent learning. Start watching, learning, playing and growing with us! Terms of Use: https://www.brainpop.com/about/terms_of_use/ Privacy Policy: https://www.brainpop.com/about/privacy_policy/ User Agreement: https://www.brainpop.com/about/user_agreement/
Pattern Sets
This app helps young learners develop number sense by practicing subitizing, the ability to quickly recognize quantities without counting. It features various dot patterns, dice patterns, and 10-frames for practice, with adjustable settings for exposure time and quantity range.
- Subitizing practice
- Dot patterns
- Dice patterns
- 10-frames
- Adjustable time and quantity
- Two-color patterns
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Subitizing, or quickly recognizing the quantity of objects in a group without having to count, is an important number sense skill. Practice recognizing the number of dots in a variety of pattern types including from 1 to 10 dots. Dice patterns and patterns based on 10-frames are included. Patterns are made with one or two colors. Set the length of time a pattern is shown and the range of dots displayed. The iPad version also incorporates up to 20 dots and two 10 Frames Pattern Sets is one app in the NumberSense series designed at Augustana College in Rock Island, Illinois for K-2 grade students. In addition to the support website, see www.augustana.edu/numbersense for information about the project. Pattern Sets is one app in the NumberSense series designed at Augustana College in Rock Island, Illinois for K-2 grade students. In addition to the support website, see www.augustana.edu/numbersense for information about the project.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Pattern Sets at none against BrainPOP's 5. Pattern Sets also leads on rating (5.0 vs 4.7) and iOS requirement (10.0 vs 15.0). BrainPOP's advantage is ratings volume (34K vs 1) and update cadence (every 2 months vs every 7 months). 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. BrainPOP sells 5 in-app purchases, starting at $3.99 per month. Pattern Sets asks for nothing beyond the download.
Pattern Sets holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.7. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: BrainPOP has 34K ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two.
BrainPOP ships an update every 2 months, Pattern Sets every 7 months. The most recent releases landed on October 24, 2026 and October 11, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | BrainPOP | Pattern Sets |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.7 (34K ratings) | 5.0 (1 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 92.6% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 34K — better | 1 |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months — better | Every 7 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 | 10.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 25 MB | 38 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | BrainPOP® | Classroom Focused Software |
Customer experience
BrainPOP
Pattern Sets
Bugs and requests
BrainPOP
Reported bugs
3 issues- Login issues
- Playback problems
- Syncing issues across devices
Requested features
5 requests- More topics and content
- Lower subscription cost
- Better organization of content
- More character diversity
- Support for older devices
Pattern Sets
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
BrainPOP
- BrainPOP Explorer Subscription$3.991 Month
- BrainPOP Full Access14 Days trial$15.991 Month
- BrainPOP Combo Monthly14 Days trial$19.991 Month
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- BrainPOP Full Access Yearly14 Days trial$129.991 Year
- BrainPOP Combo Yearly14 Days trial$159.991 Year
Pattern Sets
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is BrainPOP free?
Is Pattern Sets free?
Which has better reviews, BrainPOP or Pattern Sets?
Do BrainPOP or Pattern Sets have ads?
Which is updated more often, BrainPOP or Pattern Sets?
Other comparisons
