Comparison

Elmo Loves ABCs vs Build With Grandpa

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

Head to head
About

Elmo Loves ABCs

Explore the alphabet with interactive games, songs, and videos featuring beloved characters. This app offers engaging activities to help children learn letter identification, sounds, and tracing, fostering art and music appreciation.

Highlights
  • Interactive letter games
  • Songs and videos about letters
  • Coloring pages
  • Letter tracing activities
  • Personalization options
  • Progress tracker for adults
Currently charting
Read full description

Elmo loves this app! It has songs and videos about letters. It has coloring pages and games about letters. It has all the letters from A to Z! Elmo even made a new alphabet song for it. Elmo thinks it’s the best ABC app ever! Come on, explore the alphabet with Elmo! FEATURES • Slide, sweep, swipe, touch, trace and dig to discover over eighty classic Sesame Street clips, seventy five Sesame Street coloring pages, and four different ways to play hide and seek! • Touch and trace your favorite letter to unlock its surprises. • Tap on the star button to discover even more letter activities. • Personalize by adding your own photos and videos to the game. • ABCs tracker for grown-ups to see how your child is doing. • Ability to purchase even more great letter content and holiday surprises. LEARN ABOUT • Letter identification (uppercase and lowercase) • Letter sounds • Letter tracing • Art and creativity • Music appreciation TIPS • If you wish to personalize Elmo Loves ABCs by adding your own content, remember to complete all the fields: name, recording, photo, and video! If you do not have all four, your content will not appear in the game. • PLEASE NOTE: Personalized photos and videos, are not backed up to the device library. To save or access this content, use the device's camera to create your content. ABOUT US Sesame Workshop’s mission is to use the educational power of media to help kids everywhere grow smarter, stronger, and kinder. Delivered through a variety of platforms, including television programs, digital experiences, books and community engagement, its research-based programs are tailored to the needs of the communities and countries they serve. Learn more at www.sesameworkshop.org. PRIVACY POLICY The Privacy Policy can be found here: https://sesameworkshop.org/about-us/legal/privacy-policy/ CONTACT US Your input is very important to us. If you have any questions, comments, or need help, please contact us at: sesameworkshopapps@sesame.org.

About

Build With Grandpa

This app guides children through the entire process of building a new home, from demolition and foundation to design, painting, and landscaping. It incorporates educational elements like math, literacy, and life skills, all while engaging kids with interactive construction activities.

Highlights
  • Design houses using blueprints
  • Operate construction equipment
  • Learn about safety and power tools
  • Paint, decorate, and landscape
  • Interactive building activities
  • Educational math and literacy games
Features
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Demolish an old building with a wrecking ball, clear the lot with a bulldozer - then design, build, paint, decorate, and landscape a brand new house! Along the way you'll learn about safety equipment and power tools, empty your dump truck, dig and pour a foundation, mix cement, drive construction equipment, enjoy lunch with Grandpa, and measure and build a wall with wood! Be creative as you design from blueprints, paint the house with rollers, and choose your own windows, doors, shutters, landscaping, and fun extras! Ages 5-9. Editor's Choice - Children's Technology Review Parents and teachers love Build With Grandpa because it teaches about renewal and re-building while taking players through the complete process of creating a new home from the ground up. Kids love Build With Grandpa because they get to do everything from *dirt* to *decorate* in this original app! EDUCATIONAL GAMES: 1. Design a house using blueprints. 2. Choose equipment. “Which one is the generator?” 3. Foundation words. “Find the words in the puzzle to make the foundation!” 4. Finish the wall. “Which two boards add up to 8?” 5. Paint the house. “Be creative!” 6. Decorate the house. “Add windows and doors!” FUN INTERACTIVE EXTRAS: 1. Demolish the old house! 2. Clear the lot with a bulldozer! 3. Enjoy lunch with Grandpa! 4. Dump gravel out of a dump truck! 5. Give Grandpa a high five! 6. Add ingredients and mix the cement! 7. Watch 10 fascinating videos about building, narrated by Grandpa! EDUCATIONAL CONTENT: + Math: measurement, addition through 9 + Literacy: read and identify over 40 construction words + Life skills: suburban renewal, identify construction equipment, construction processes + Creativity: design, paint, decorate, and landscape a home + Problem solving, spatial skills, cause and effect PRODUCT SUPPORT: Fairlady Media is committed to developing high-quality family-friendly games with excellent entertainment value. Please contact us if you have suggestions for improvement or to get technical issues resolved: support@fairladymedia.com. Also by Fairlady Media: + Grandma's Garden (dancing Granny teaches preschool skills, ages 5 & under) + Grandpa's Workshop (high-fiving Grandpa teaches primary skills, ages 2-6) + Grandma’s Kitchen (fun and learning with Grandma and her wacky utensils, ages 4-7) + Grandma Loves Bugs (explore the forest to learn about creepy-crawlies, ages 5 & under) + Grandpa In Space (blast off in a custom rocket to explore the solar system, ages 6-8) + Grandma’s Preschool (the best school readiness app on the App Store, ages 3-6) + Fishing With Grandpa (cast and reel in fish and play games with Grandpa, ages 3-6) + Music With Grandma (learn about music and jam on musical instruments, ages 7+) + Camping With Grandpa (go on a hiking adventure and learn about the wilderness, ages 5-8) + At the Zoo With Grandma and Grandpa (tour the zoo and learn about 50+ animals, ages 6-8) + Grandpa’s Toy Shop (design, build, and decorate toys to sell in Grandpa’s shop, ages 6-9) + Smashing Grammar (crush the nouns, verbs, and more to get a high score, ages 9+) These are apps you can feel good about giving to your kids. They are educational beyond the school curriculum - they also teach life skills in real-world contexts. Links that take the user outside the app are contained behind a Parental Gate.

Screenshots

Elmo Loves ABCs4 screens
Build With Grandpa4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Build With Grandpa at 100% against Elmo Loves ABCs's 52%. Build With Grandpa also leads on rating (4.5 vs 4.1) and price ($3.99 vs $4.99). Elmo Loves ABCs's advantage is update cadence (every 5 months vs every 115 months) and ratings volume (146 vs 15). On ads, in-app purchases 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

Elmo Loves ABCs costs $4.99 and Build With Grandpa $3.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Build With Grandpa holds the better App Store score, 4.5 against 4.1. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Elmo Loves ABCs has 146 ratings behind it against 15, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 52% of Elmo Loves ABCs's written reviews are positive against 100% of Build With Grandpa's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Elmo Loves ABCs ships an update every 5 months, Build With Grandpa every 115 months. The most recent releases landed on October 30, 2026 and October 26, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard8 real differences · 3 level
Elmo Loves ABCs versus Build With Grandpa: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterElmo Loves ABCsBuild With Grandpa
Price$4.99$3.99 — better
Rating4.1 (146 ratings)4.5 (15 ratings) — better
Positive reviews51.6% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings146 — better15
Update frequencyEvery 5 months — betterEvery 115 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases — betterPaid
Best chart rank#64 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS13.0 — better15.0
Further details — not scored
Size548 MB88 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperSesame Workshop (Apps)Fairlady Media

Customer experience

Elmo Loves ABCs

All ratings138 ratings
Positive73.2%
Neutral4.3%
Negative22.5%
Written reviews186 reviews
Positive51.6%
Neutral9.7%
Negative38.7%

Build With Grandpa

All ratings14 ratings
Positive85.7%
Neutral0.0%
Negative14.3%
Written reviews3 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Bugs and requests

Elmo Loves ABCs

Reported bugs

5 issues
  • Tracing not working as expected
  • Crashes and freezes on various devices
  • Audio issues like missing sounds
  • Incompatibility with newer iOS versions
  • Difficulty downloading/accessing full version

Requested features

5 requests
  • Improved letter tracing functionality
  • Ability to disable ads in paid version
  • More customization options
  • Expanded content beyond just letters
  • Better organization and navigation

Build With Grandpa

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

None

Elmo Loves ABCs

No in-app purchases

None

Build With Grandpa

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Elmo Loves ABCs free?
Elmo Loves ABCs costs $4.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Build With Grandpa free?
Build With Grandpa costs $3.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Elmo Loves ABCs or Build With Grandpa?
Build With Grandpa is rated higher. Elmo Loves ABCs averages 4.1 out of 5 from 146 ratings, while Build With Grandpa averages 4.5 from 15 ratings.
Do Elmo Loves ABCs or Build With Grandpa have ads?
Neither Elmo Loves ABCs nor Build With Grandpa shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Elmo Loves ABCs or Build With Grandpa?
Elmo Loves ABCs ships an update every 5 months, and Build With Grandpa every 115 months. Most recently, Elmo Loves ABCs was updated on October 30, 2026 and Build With Grandpa on October 26, 2026.

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