Comparison

Pictello Visual Stories vs Choiceworks

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

Head to head
About

Pictello Visual Stories

Create engaging visual stories and social schedules with photos, videos, and text. Supports literacy development through features like word-by-word highlighting and text-to-speech. Easily share your creations with others or export them for wider distribution.

Highlights
  • Create visual stories with photos and videos
  • Text-to-speech and voice recording
  • Word-by-word text highlighting
  • Built-in word prediction
  • Import books from Tar Heel Reader
  • Share stories via server or Dropbox
  • Export to PDF or print
Read full description

Everyone loves to tell fun, engaging, and imaginative stories. Go ahead and make a social story or visual schedule for a child with autism or a slide show of holiday pictures for your friends - Pictello makes it a breeze to create and share! Whether you use the included natural-sounding Text to Speech voices, or record your own voice, Pictello is the perfect tool for visual storytelling. Each page in a Pictello story consists of a photo or video and some text, which can be read aloud by a Text to Speech voice or your own recorded audio. Develop literacy skills - Support reading with word-by-word text highlighting - Develop writing and spelling with built-in word prediction and Speak as You Type - Create stories to teach academic and social skills - Import free early literacy and adapted academic books from Tar Heel Reader Create and playback with ease - Let students use the wizard to create stories - Play stories page by page or as a slideshow - Use Text to Speech voices to read the story - Turn on switch access for story playback Integrate multimedia - Add your own photos - Include short video clips - Record your own voice or sound Share your stories - Share with other Pictello users through our free sharing server - Use Dropbox to exchange stories - Export to PDF or print to share with non-Pictello users Speak your language - Pick English, Spanish, German, French, Italian or Dutch for the user interface - Select from over 110 free Text to Speech voices in 29 languages - Use genuine American, British, Australian, American-Spanish, Swedish, French, Italian, German, Norwegian and Swedish children's voices - Create interest with fun character and specialty voices Customize to fit your needs - Pick between Wizard or Expert creation modes - Swipe or automatically turn pages - Adjust speech rate and pronunciations Read more at www.assistiveware.com/products/pictello Additional Note: Educational institutions can get a 50% discount if they purchase 20 or more licenses through Apple’s Volume Licensing Program for Education.

About

Choiceworks

This app helps children develop independence and manage emotions through visual schedules, waiting skill practice, and feeling identification tools. It supports caregivers and educators in fostering positive behavior and emotional regulation at home and in school.

Highlights
  • Visual schedules for daily routines
  • Tools for understanding and managing feelings
  • Improve waiting and turn-taking skills
  • Customizable with own images and audio
  • Supports multiple user profiles
  • Printable boards and PDF export
Features
Currently charting
Read full description

Choiceworks is a visual support app that helps make the day easier to understand. It is designed for children, teens, adults, and families who benefit from visual structure, clear routines, and support with transitions, waiting, choices, and feelings. Families, caregivers, educators, and therapists can create customized visual boards using pictures, text, video, and recorded audio. Boards can be used at home, in therapy, during appointments, while traveling, or anywhere a visual plan helps. Choiceworks includes four board types: • Schedule boards show what is happening now and what comes next • Waiting boards make waiting more concrete with a visual timer and activity choices • Feelings boards support communication about emotions, choices, and next steps • Feelings Scale boards help show how big a feeling is and what can help at each level Features include: • Visual schedule, waiting, feelings, and Feelings Scale boards • Visual timers for schedules and waiting • Custom pictures, video, text, and recorded audio • Multiple profiles • Import and export of Choiceworks board files • Send a copy of a board by AirDrop, Files, or email • Optional iCloud Sync & Backup across your own devices signed into the same Apple ID • App menus, included board labels, included card text, and spoken card words in English, Spanish, Italian, Dutch, German, French, and Portuguese • VoiceOver support Choiceworks has no ads, no tracking, and no accounts to create. Your boards, photos, videos, and recordings stay on your device and in your own iCloud. One purchase includes everything. No subscriptions.

Screenshots

Pictello Visual Stories4 screens
Choiceworks4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Pictello Visual Stories at $19.99 against Choiceworks's $39.99. Choiceworks's advantage is rating (4.7 vs 4.1) and update cadence (daily vs every 6 months). On ads, in-app purchases, monetization model 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Pictello Visual Stories costs $19.99 and Choiceworks $39.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Choiceworks holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 4.1. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Choiceworks has 281 ratings behind it against 33, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 71% of Pictello Visual Stories's written reviews are positive against 81% of Choiceworks's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Pictello Visual Stories ships an update every 6 months, Choiceworks daily. Both last shipped on September 23, 2026.

Scorecard6 real differences · 5 level
Pictello Visual Stories versus Choiceworks: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterPictello Visual StoriesChoiceworks
Price$19.99 — better$39.99
Rating4.1 (33 ratings)4.7 (281 ratings) — better
Positive reviews71.4% of reviews81.4% of reviews — better
Number of ratings33281 — better
Update frequencyEvery 6 monthsDaily — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationPaidPaid
Best chart rank—#182 — better
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS17.0 — better18.0
Further details — not scored
Size662 MB395 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperAssistiveWareBee Visual, LLC

Customer experience

Pictello Visual Stories

All ratings33 ratings
Positive78.8%
Neutral3.0%
Negative18.2%
Written reviews63 reviews
Positive71.4%
Neutral6.3%
Negative22.2%

Choiceworks

All ratings281 ratings
Positive92.5%
Neutral2.5%
Negative5.0%
Written reviews140 reviews
Positive81.4%
Neutral10.7%
Negative7.9%

Bugs and requests

Pictello Visual Stories

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

Choiceworks

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Library won't load, preventing app usage
  • Schedules reset when switching profiles
  • Crashes after recent update

Requested features

5 requests
  • Sync schedules across devices
  • Ability to add more than 7-8 steps in a schedule
  • More diverse set of icons and images
  • Customizable timer sounds
  • Option to use recorded voice for schedule titles

In-app purchases

None

Pictello Visual Stories

No in-app purchases

None

Choiceworks

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Pictello Visual Stories free?
Pictello Visual Stories costs $19.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Choiceworks free?
Choiceworks costs $39.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Pictello Visual Stories or Choiceworks?
Choiceworks is rated higher. Pictello Visual Stories averages 4.1 out of 5 from 33 ratings, while Choiceworks averages 4.7 from 281 ratings.
Do Pictello Visual Stories or Choiceworks have ads?
Neither Pictello Visual Stories nor Choiceworks shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Pictello Visual Stories or Choiceworks?
Pictello Visual Stories ships an update every 6 months, and Choiceworks daily. Most recently, Pictello Visual Stories was updated on September 23, 2026 and Choiceworks on September 23, 2026.

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