Comparison

PuppetMaster vs Community Helpers

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

Head to head
About

PuppetMaster

Create animated videos by acting out scenes or touching the screen. Record your voice to bring characters to life in real-time. Features motion capture, multi-touch control, and the ability to use custom puppets and backgrounds.

Highlights
  • Real-time animation
  • Motion capture
  • Multi-touch animation
  • Create custom puppets
  • Create custom backgrounds
  • Export and share videos
Read full description

PuppetMaster: Animate. Literally. Anything. This animation app lets you instantly bring to life anything you want, just by acting things out in front of the camera or touching the screen. Your voice is recorded as well. The result is your own animated video you can save and share! The app even has fun guided activities that kids can follow along and do, making arts and crafts and then animating them. Features include: * Real-time animation - you animate in the moment, while you talk, and your puppet comes to life in front of your eyes. * Motion capture - intuitively animate characters just by moving your body in front of the device camera. Use front or back camera. (Best results are usually with back camera of newer devices.) * Multi-touch - animate by touching and dragging the puppet and its body parts on the screen, even using both hands or working together with a friend. * Animate one or two puppets - you can have one puppet on its own, or two puppets where both can move and you can control which one is talking at any time. * Create your own puppets - bring to life your physical artwork, your favorite toys, a person or animal, random stuff like your snacks arranged as a character, really anything you like! * Create your own backgrounds - use a painting you made, a diorama, some interesting place, or anything else you want as your background. * Choose from our designs - the app comes with a bunch of cool puppets and backgrounds already in it, in a cute hand drawn style that you can mix and match with your own creations. * Export and share videos with audio - save a video of your puppet show, complete with the audio of your performance, locally and also to social media, cloud storage, or any other typical sharing method. * In-app streaming tutorials and activities - guiding kids through using the app for visual storytelling, and teaching them how to create various physical art pieces and animate them. On our website and social media you'll find more project ideas, educational support, and lesson plans for teachers and homeschooling parents. PuppetMaster was named one of the Best Apps for Teaching and Learning by the American Association of School Librarians. It's a great open ended creative activity for children, supports ISTE standards, and is a great way to integrate the arts into any academic subject for a more engaging class. (Teachers say they prefer it to stop motion animation because it's so much easier and faster.) See our privacy and terms here: https://www.shmonster.com/privacyterms/

About

Community Helpers

This app introduces preschool children to various community helpers and the jobs they do. It features colorful illustrations and high-quality sound to make learning engaging. Regular updates add more activities to keep young learners entertained.

Highlights
  • 19 community helpers
  • Explains job types
  • Colorful illustrations
  • High-quality sound
  • Easy navigation
  • Activity updates
Features
Read full description

Community Helpers an App for preschool children about people who helps us. Key Features: * 19 Community Helpers * The type of work they do * Colourful illustrations * Fantastic Sound Quality * Easy Navigation * More Activities update

Screenshots

PuppetMaster4 screens
Community Helpers3 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: PuppetMaster at 4.0 against Community Helpers's 1.6. PuppetMaster also leads on update cadence (monthly vs every 11 months) and ratings volume (56 vs 7). Community Helpers's advantage is iOS requirement (9.0 vs 13.0). On price, 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

Both are free to download. PuppetMaster sells 6 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month and Community Helpers sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

PuppetMaster holds the better App Store score, 4.0 against 1.6. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: PuppetMaster has 56 ratings behind it against 7, so its average is the more settled of the two.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

PuppetMaster ships an update monthly, Community Helpers every 11 months. The most recent releases landed on November 6, 2026 and November 1, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
PuppetMaster versus Community Helpers: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterPuppetMasterCommunity Helpers
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.0 (56 ratings) — better1.6 (7 ratings)
Positive reviews33.3% of reviews—
Number of ratings56 — better7
Update frequencyMonthly — betterEvery 11 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS13.09.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size415 MB98 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperShmonster LLCMagicbox Animation Private limited

Customer experience

PuppetMaster

All ratings50 ratings
Positive70.0%
Neutral8.0%
Negative22.0%
Written reviews45 reviews
Positive33.3%
Neutral11.1%
Negative55.6%

Community Helpers

All ratings7 ratings
Positive14.3%
Neutral0.0%
Negative85.7%

In-app purchases

6 purchases

PuppetMaster

Subscriptions4
  • Creative Kids' Activities7 Days trial$2.991 Month
  • Animation7 Days trial$2.991 Month
  • Creative Kids' Activities7 Days trial$24.991 Year
Show 1 more
  • Animation7 Days trial$24.991 Year
One-time2
  • Animation$2.99
  • Animation$24.99
1 purchases

Community Helpers

One-time1
  • Community Helpers$1.99

Questions

Is PuppetMaster free?
PuppetMaster is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Community Helpers free?
Community Helpers is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, PuppetMaster or Community Helpers?
PuppetMaster is rated higher. PuppetMaster averages 4.0 out of 5 from 56 ratings, while Community Helpers averages 1.6 from 7 ratings.
Do PuppetMaster or Community Helpers have ads?
Neither PuppetMaster nor Community Helpers shows ads.
Which is updated more often, PuppetMaster or Community Helpers?
PuppetMaster ships an update monthly, and Community Helpers every 11 months. Most recently, PuppetMaster was updated on November 6, 2026 and Community Helpers on November 1, 2026.

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