Comparison

LetterSchool vs 26 Letters

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

Head to head
About

LetterSchool

This app helps young children learn to write letters, numbers, and shapes through interactive tracing and spelling games. It offers progress tracking and engaging animations to make learning fun and effective for toddlers and preschoolers.

Highlights
  • Block and cursive letter tracing
  • Uppercase and lowercase letters
  • Number tracing (1-10)
  • Geometric shape tracing
  • Word spelling and phonics
  • Progress tracking for multiple players
  • Interactive animations and sound effects
Features
Read full description

The #1 alphabet tracing and words spelling app for toddlers & pre-schoolers. Recommended and used by parents, teachers, and occupational therapists! Loved & played by more than 2 million kids and used at more than 5,000 schools! - Winner of 'National Parenting Product Awards' - NAPPA Awards - ‘Best Mobile App Platinum Award’ nominee! – BMA SPECIAL FEATURES: - Block & Cursive Letters, - Uppercase and Lowercase, - Numbers 1-10, - 24 geometric shapes for toddlers! - Keep track of your child’s progress, - Unlock Golden Levels! - 72 CVC words, 36 CVCC words, and 39 long sound words! - Progress and settings stored for up to three players on the same device, - Interactive and visually attractive fun animations, - Available for both iPads and iPhones! IMPORTANT: The first five letters of the alphabet (both uppercase and lowercase), five shapes, and the first three CVC flashcards (nine words) are completely for free. They can be played entirely (on 3 game steps). Enjoy this trial and have fun! PERFECT FOR KIDS: Kids want to have fun and LetterSchool offers an educational journey with the most engaging and entertaining educational material! - Learn while engaging with over 20+ exciting animations, graphics, and sound effects. - Associate letters with words, master and memorize tracing directions and the correct formation of each character. - Learn phonics, the formation of words, understand syllable formations, and spell entire words. - Perfect for home-schooling kids and kindergartens. A user-friendly app for children with special educational needs. PERFECT FOR PARENTS & TEACHERS: - Choice of the three most popular font families in handwriting education (Handwriting Without Tears, D’Nealian, and Zaner-Bloser). - Complete a set of letters, numbers, or shapes to unlock the Golden Levels! - Golden Level allows progress tracking and displays exactly how the letter was drawn! - A new challenge at every step: Your child traces a letter, number or shape 3 times using different parameters. SAFE: - An educational app created together with parents and educational professionals. - NO ADS! - Advanced settings or purchases only accessible by an adult! - Extremely committed Customer Support ready to answer all questions and fix any issues. LET'S PLAY & LEARN! Join LetterSchool on this exciting educational journey! Download the app and allow your toddler to discover the magical world of letters and words. Before you know it, your kid will become a pro in writing and spelling! SUBSCRIPTION DETAILS: LetterSchool offers several auto-renewing subscription options: per month. quarter, and year. - You can cancel your subscription anytime without an extra cancellation fee. - Payment will be charged to your iTunes account at confirmation of purchase. - Subscription automatically renews unless auto-renew is turned off at least 24-hours before the end of the current period. - The account will be charged for renewal within 24-hours before the end of the current period, and identify the cost of the renewal. - Subscriptions may be managed by the user and auto-renewal may be turned off by going to the user's Account Settings after purchase. - No cancellation of the current subscription is allowed during an active subscription period. - Any unused portion of a free trial period, if offered, will be forfeited when the user purchases a subscription to that publication, where applicable. - Your iTunes account will be charged automatically after the 7-day free trial. CONTACT For more reviews and information, visit our website www.letterschool.com If you have any question or suggestions, please contact us at support@letterschool.com You can also check our FAQ page on https://www.letterschool.com/en/help. Terms of service and privacy policy: https://www.letterschool.com/legal/terms-of-use & https://www.letterschool.com/legal/privacy-policy

About

26 Letters

This app helps beginner readers learn letter shapes and sounds through interactive tracing and image association. It offers a structured learning path with tests and practice with everyday words, designed for all ages.

Highlights
  • Interactive letter tracing
  • Image-based sound association
  • Progressive lesson testing
  • Everyday word sound practice
  • Visually-focused design
Features
Read full description

The 26 Letters method was developed by an Adult Literacy volunteer tutor to help beginner readers quickly learn the alphabet letter shapes and their main sounds. While it was created to serve adults, 26 Letters is visually-designed for learners of all ages: LEARN LETTER SHAPES Practice writing upper and lowercase letters on-screen with your finger or stylus. A moving hand guides the direction to correctly trace each letter. LEARN LETTERS’ MAIN SOUNDS IN TWO SIMPLE STEPS 1: Learn the names of 26 images that artfully mimic letter shapes 2: Isolate the first sound in each name and see the letter shapes revealed in the same 26 images TEST UNDERSTANDING A test after each lesson ensures learners have mastered the content before unlocking the next lesson. PRACTICE WITH EVERYDAY WORDS An additional 150+ images of everyday words to practice listening for first, middle and last sounds. Images are accompanied by audio – perfect for beginner English speakers to learn simple words while learning to read. VISUALLY-FOCUSED Friendly images, video tutorials and clear icons make it simple for the non/beginner reader to understand and navigate. FREE & EASY 100% cost and ad-free. Easy and fun to use.

Screenshots

LetterSchool4 screens
26 Letters4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: 26 Letters at 100% against LetterSchool's 55%. 26 Letters also leads on in-app purchases (none vs 10) and rating (4.8 vs 4.5). LetterSchool's advantage is update cadence (every 2 months vs every 22 months) and ratings volume (17K vs 5). 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. LetterSchool sells 10 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month. 26 Letters asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

26 Letters holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 4.5. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: LetterSchool has 17K ratings behind it against 5, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 55% of LetterSchool's written reviews are positive against 100% of 26 Letters's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

LetterSchool ships an update every 2 months, 26 Letters every 22 months. The most recent releases landed on November 6, 2026 and November 2, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard7 real differences · 3 level
LetterSchool versus 26 Letters: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterLetterSchool26 Letters
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.5 (17K ratings)4.8 (5 ratings) — better
Positive reviews54.5% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings17K — better5
Update frequencyEvery 2 months — betterEvery 22 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS15.010.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size158 MB104 MB
Age rating+44+
DeveloperLetterschool Enabling Learning B.V.Penny Sidik

Customer experience

LetterSchool

All ratings17,001 ratings
Positive87.6%
Neutral6.1%
Negative6.3%
Written reviews253 reviews
Positive54.5%
Neutral8.3%
Negative37.2%

26 Letters

All ratings5 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews1 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Bugs and requests

LetterSchool

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Dari letter (پ) keeps glitching
  • Subscription issues (app reverts to lite version, need to restore purchases)
  • Incompatibility with older devices
  • Login screen freezes

Requested features

5 requests
  • Add more languages (Russian, Serbian, Thai, Korean, Hebrew, Hindi, etc.)
  • Allow creating custom words/names to practice
  • Improve letter sound pronunciations
  • Add more visual options (fonts, themes, etc.)
  • Integrate with International Phonetic Alphabet

26 Letters

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

10 purchases

LetterSchool

Subscriptions6
  • Monthly Access Pass7 Days trial$4.991 Month
  • Monthly Access Pass7 Days trial$9.991 Month
  • Quarterly Access Pass7 Days trial$12.993 Months
Show 3 more
  • Quarterly Access Pass7 Days trial$19.993 Months
  • Annual Access Pass7 Days trial$44.991 Year
  • Yearly Access Pass7 Days trial$59.991 Year
One-time4
  • Unlock All Shapes$2.99
  • Unlock Full Block Alphabet$6.99
  • Unlock Full Cursive Alphabet$6.99
Show 1 more
  • All-in-one Package$79.99
None

26 Letters

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is LetterSchool free?
LetterSchool is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is 26 Letters free?
26 Letters is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, LetterSchool or 26 Letters?
26 Letters is rated higher. LetterSchool averages 4.5 out of 5 from 17K ratings, while 26 Letters averages 4.8 from 5 ratings.
Do LetterSchool or 26 Letters have ads?
Neither LetterSchool nor 26 Letters shows ads.
Which is updated more often, LetterSchool or 26 Letters?
LetterSchool ships an update every 2 months, and 26 Letters every 22 months. Most recently, LetterSchool was updated on November 6, 2026 and 26 Letters on November 2, 2026.

Other comparisons