Comparison

Simplex Spelling Phonics 1 vs Learn Spelling 2nd Grade

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

Head to head
About

Simplex Spelling Phonics 1

This app uses a scientifically validated phonics approach to improve spelling skills. It teaches fundamental spelling patterns, sounds, and rules through structured lessons and high-frequency words, aiming to build long-term literacy and confidence.

Highlights
  • 450+ high-frequency words
  • 42 instructional phonics lessons
  • Spelling pattern and difficulty organization
  • Reverse phonics approach
  • Contextual spelling rule hints
  • Letter-by-letter feedback
  • Starting assessment test
Features
Read full description

Scientifically validated as a highly effective approach to improving spelling skills through our phonics approach. A published study revealed that students demonstrated an average spelling improvement of 1.9 grades among children in a classroom setting who regularly used Simplex Spelling over a 18 week period. The largest student improvement observed over the same time period was 4.4 grade levels as assessed by administering the Schonell Spelling Test. Linda Chmiliar, "Improving the Spelling Skills of Students with Learning Disabilities using Apps on the iPad", International Journal of Technology and Inclusive Education, pp. 962-971. Special Issue Volume 3, 2016. Simplex Spelling Phonics 1 teaches a full year of spelling curriculum with over 450 high frequency words divided into 42 lists that are organized by spelling patterns and difficulty levels. Each of the 42 lists comes with a lesson that teaches one of the basic building blocks of spelling in the English language. These basic building blocks include the different phonograms, sounds, and spelling rules. Our spelling lists focus on some of the highest frequency words in the English language to help students establish a base foundation of literacy and confidence with spelling and reading. Students learn a new concept for each lesson building on the skills learned from previous lessons. Simplex Spelling Phonics 1 guides the student and acts as a personal spelling coach with every word, while teaching "how to spell" English words. Memorization may be sufficient to pass a spelling test, but it often does not transfer into good long term reading and spelling skills. Our goal with Simplex Spelling Phonics 1 is to not only teach a list of words, but to teach students “how to spell” these words, thus building long term skills that can be used for over 84% of the words in the English language that follow phonetic patterns. Many studies show that students who learn to read through phonics have a higher level of literacy than students who learn to read by using flash cards and the whole word approach. Also, that not all readers are good spellers, but almost all good spellers are also good readers. This is why Simplex Spelling's comprehensive unique phonics approach to spelling really works to create both better spellers and better readers. Note: Now supports both North American and British accents.
 Note: You can not create your own spelling lists. Features: 
 - Over 450 high frequency words to help build literacy. 
 - A starting assessment/placement test. - Review lists. - 42 instructional lessons teach phonics, phonograms, and spelling rules. 
 - A full “reverse phonics” approach that includes sounds made by all the different letter combinations. - Contextually relevant spelling rule hints that help explain “how to spell” English words.
 - Letter by letter feedback system provides immediate feedback. 
 - Guaranteed success on every word. 
 - Support for 40 user accounts. 
 - Export and email student progress reports. - Remembers each user’s progress in every list. - User stats screen to see mastered words and words that require further practice. 
 - Supports both upper and lower case letters.
 - Supports both alphabetic and QWERTY keyboard layouts.
 - Supports US, UK and Canadian English spelling of words. - Featured previously by Apple in New & Noteworthy, What's Hot, Words for the Wise and Spelling & Grammar. - Honorable mention in the 2012 Best App Ever Awards - Best Special Needs App. - AppsforHomeschooling (5/5, Golden App Award, 2011 Readers Choice Award) - Academics' Choice Award - Parents' Choice Award Privacy Disclosure: - No 3rd party ads - Does not share any data - No In-App purchases - Contains child protected links in app to developer's website for additional information, support and teaching tips. - Contains child protected link to developer email support. COPPA Compliant 
https://pyxwise.com/privacy-policy/

About

Learn Spelling 2nd Grade

This app helps second graders master spelling words through engaging read-along lessons and AI-powered adaptive practice. It offers gamified learning with unlockable rewards and allows for student and teacher profiles to track progress. Access to over 10 other educational apps is included with a subscription.

Highlights
  • Read-along lessons
  • Adaptive practice questions
  • Text to speech
  • Gamification with planet art
  • Student and teacher profiles
  • Teacher review of mistakes
Features
Read full description

Congratulations! You're about to unlock everything your kids need to master hundreds of 2nd grade spelling words, all on their own. A superb investment into improving the next generation. What makes this app great? It combines simple, read-along lessons with AI-powered spelling-bee-style adaptive practice questions to make learning 2nd grade spelling skills faster and easier than ever before. Bonus: When you sign up, you unlock all 10+ apps by Class Ace to help your child learn thousands of skills on their own. Watch your child's vocabulary, reading, and writing abilities flourish. Features: • 50+ award-winning, read-along lessons • Effective, adaptive practice • Text to speech. Tap on any word to have it read out loud. • Auto-play. Sit back and enjoy the whole lesson read to you. • Switch between student and teacher profiles. • Teacher View: Review student mistakes • Gamification. Unlock beautiful planet art as you learn spelling. Watch your child's grades improve with just a few minutes of regular practice. Learn Spelling was developed by a team of veteran teachers, technologists, and student testers. ======= Learn Spelling is a member of the Class Ace family of apps. One subscription unlocks full access to all 15+ apps by Class Ace, which includes over 2,500+ lessons covering K-6 subjects and 20+ innovative AI tools. Subscription Info: • Unlimited access to all Class Ace lessons, apps, and tools starts at $14.99 / month after a 1 week free trial and includes 5 student profiles. • Cancel Anytime: You won't be charged if you cancel before the end of the trial period. • Renewal: Auto-renewal may be turned off anytime from your Apple Subscription Manager. If your child needs Learn Spelling but you simply can’t afford it, please email support@classace.io. Subscriptions automatically renew unless they are turned off at least 24 hours before the end of the current period in account settings. Renewals are charged within 24-hours preceding the end of the current period. Payment is charged to your iTunes Account at confirmation of purchase. Subscriptions are managed by the user. Any unused portion of a free trial period, if offered, will be forfeited when the user purchases a subscription to Learn Spelling by Class Ace, where applicable. You can access Learn Spelling without a subscription, but will be limited to 20 free questions per day, and your medals will be lost on leaving the app. No parent wants to see their child fall behind. Yet over 50% of 4th graders weren't proficient in 4th grade common core standards in the US in 2017. Our own kids were struggling to keep up. We built Learn Spelling for them, and now they are excelling on their own. Your kids can too! ======= Help & Support Problems, questions, or want to get in touch? Contact us at support@classace.io Links: Terms of Service: https://classace.io/terms Privacy: https://classace.io/privacy

Screenshots

Simplex Spelling Phonics 14 screens
Learn Spelling 2nd Grade4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Learn Spelling 2nd Grade at Free against Simplex Spelling Phonics 1's $4.99. Learn Spelling 2nd Grade also leads on update cadence (every 10 days vs every 5 months) and rating (4.4 vs 4.0). Simplex Spelling Phonics 1's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 11) and review sentiment (81% vs 60%). On 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

Learn Spelling 2nd Grade is free to download; Simplex Spelling Phonics 1 costs $4.99 up front. Learn Spelling 2nd Grade sells 11 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month. Simplex Spelling Phonics 1 asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Learn Spelling 2nd Grade holds the better App Store score, 4.4 against 4.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Learn Spelling 2nd Grade has 188 ratings behind it against 23, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 81% of Simplex Spelling Phonics 1's written reviews are positive against 60% of Learn Spelling 2nd Grade's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Simplex Spelling Phonics 1 ships an update every 5 months, Learn Spelling 2nd Grade every 10 days. The most recent releases landed on October 16, 2026 and October 7, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard8 real differences · 2 level
Simplex Spelling Phonics 1 versus Learn Spelling 2nd Grade: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterSimplex Spelling Phonics 1Learn Spelling 2nd Grade
Price$4.99Free — better
Rating4.0 (23 ratings)4.4 (188 ratings) — better
Positive reviews81.4% of reviews — better60.0% of reviews
Number of ratings23188 — better
Update frequencyEvery 5 monthsEvery 10 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationPaidFreemium — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS15.011.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size191 MB87 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperPyxwise Software Inc.Class Ace LLC

Customer experience

Simplex Spelling Phonics 1

All ratings23 ratings
Positive69.6%
Neutral8.7%
Negative21.7%
Written reviews43 reviews
Positive81.4%
Neutral4.7%
Negative14.0%

Learn Spelling 2nd Grade

All ratings188 ratings
Positive84.0%
Neutral6.9%
Negative9.0%
Written reviews5 reviews
Positive60.0%
Neutral20.0%
Negative20.0%

In-app purchases

None

Simplex Spelling Phonics 1

No in-app purchases

11 purchases

Learn Spelling 2nd Grade

Subscriptions11
  • Spelling 2nd Grade - 1 Student7 Days trial$2.991 Month
  • Spelling 2nd Grade 2 Students7 Days trial$4.991 Month
  • Spelling 2nd Grade 3 Students7 Days trial$6.991 Month
Show 8 more
  • Spelling 2nd Grade 4 Students7 Days trial$8.991 Month
  • Spelling 2 Monthly Parent7 Days trial$14.991 Month
  • Spelling 2nd Yearly 1 Student7 Days trial$19.991 Year
  • Spelling 2nd Yearly 2 Students$29.991 Year
  • Spelling 2nd Yearly 3 Students7 Days trial$39.991 Year
  • Spelling 2nd Yearly 4 Students7 Days trial$49.991 Year
  • Spelling 2nd Yearly 5 Students7 Days trial$59.991 Year
  • Spelling 2 Yearly 10 Students7 Days trial$109.991 Year

Questions

Is Simplex Spelling Phonics 1 free?
Simplex Spelling Phonics 1 costs $4.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Learn Spelling 2nd Grade free?
Learn Spelling 2nd Grade is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Simplex Spelling Phonics 1 or Learn Spelling 2nd Grade?
Learn Spelling 2nd Grade is rated higher. Simplex Spelling Phonics 1 averages 4.0 out of 5 from 23 ratings, while Learn Spelling 2nd Grade averages 4.4 from 188 ratings.
Do Simplex Spelling Phonics 1 or Learn Spelling 2nd Grade have ads?
Neither Simplex Spelling Phonics 1 nor Learn Spelling 2nd Grade shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Simplex Spelling Phonics 1 or Learn Spelling 2nd Grade?
Simplex Spelling Phonics 1 ships an update every 5 months, and Learn Spelling 2nd Grade every 10 days. Most recently, Simplex Spelling Phonics 1 was updated on October 16, 2026 and Learn Spelling 2nd Grade on October 7, 2026.

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