Comparison

Pictello Visual Stories vs Verbal Me

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

Verbal Me

This AAC and choice board app assists nonverbal children in classroom participation. Users tap buttons to hear spoken words or phrases, with customizable pages and pre-built options for various learning needs. It supports Bluetooth switch access for users with dexterity challenges.

Highlights
  • Tap-to-speak buttons
  • Customizable pages with editable text and pictures
  • Pre-built learning pages
  • Spanish language option
  • Bluetooth switch compatibility
  • Page navigation options
Read full description

This easy-to-use AAC and choice board app was suggested and edited by special needs teachers and therapists to help nonverbal kids participate in class. Users tap a button and the iPad or iPhone speaks the button text aloud in either a boy's or girl's voice. Page choices include yes/no, alphabet, numbers, interactive speaking clock, skip counting, opposites, colors, world map, US coins, bullying, getting dressed, using the bathroom, seasons, emotions, BINGO, body parts, life cycle of a butterfly, custom pages with editable text and pictures. Educators and parents can switch pages by sliding one finger from the upper right to the lower left of the iPad screen. Alternatively, turn on the settings and arrow buttons to let kids switch pages. Choose from over 100 prebuilt pages with colorful buttons and create up to 100 additional pages with custom buttons you can edit. A Spanish-language version is also available. SWITCH USERS: Students with dexterity challenges can use a Bluetooth switch with Verbal Me. First, open your iPad or iPhone Settings app. In the Bluetooth section, turn on Bluetooth and connect to the switch device. Then in Verbal Me, button 1 could be assigned to advance to next button and button 2 to press the button. Or on 1-button switches, turn on auto scanning in the Verbal Me settings (gear icon), and press your switch button when the desired button is selected.

Screenshots

Pictello Visual Stories4 screens
Verbal Me4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Verbal Me at $8.99 against Pictello Visual Stories's $19.99. Verbal Me also leads on update cadence (every 3 months vs every 7 months) and device support (4 vs 2). Pictello Visual Stories's advantage is rating (4.1 vs 3.9) and ratings volume (33 vs 9). On review sentiment, 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

Pictello Visual Stories costs $19.99 and Verbal Me $8.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Pictello Visual Stories holds the better App Store score, 4.1 against 3.9. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 33 and 9 respectively. Written reviews complicate that: 71% of Pictello Visual Stories's written reviews are positive against 76% of Verbal Me's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Pictello Visual Stories ships an update every 7 months, Verbal Me every 3 months. The most recent releases landed on October 24, 2026 and October 23, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 4 level
Pictello Visual Stories versus Verbal Me: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterPictello Visual StoriesVerbal Me
Price$19.99$8.99 — better
Rating4.1 (33 ratings) — better3.9 (9 ratings)
Positive reviews71.4% of reviews76.5% of reviews — better
Number of ratings33 — better9
Update frequencyEvery 7 monthsEvery 3 months — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationPaidPaid
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac — better
Requires iOS17.012.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size660 MB20 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperAssistiveWarefishdog.net

Customer experience

Pictello Visual Stories

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

Verbal Me

All ratings7 ratings
Positive71.4%
Neutral28.6%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews17 reviews
Positive76.5%
Neutral0.0%
Negative23.5%

In-app purchases

None

Pictello Visual Stories

No in-app purchases

None

Verbal Me

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Pictello Visual Stories free?
Pictello Visual Stories costs $19.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Verbal Me free?
Verbal Me costs $8.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Pictello Visual Stories or Verbal Me?
Pictello Visual Stories is rated higher. Pictello Visual Stories averages 4.1 out of 5 from 33 ratings, while Verbal Me averages 3.9 from 9 ratings.
Do Pictello Visual Stories or Verbal Me have ads?
Neither Pictello Visual Stories nor Verbal Me shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Pictello Visual Stories or Verbal Me?
Pictello Visual Stories ships an update every 7 months, and Verbal Me every 3 months. Most recently, Pictello Visual Stories was updated on October 24, 2026 and Verbal Me on October 23, 2026.

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