Comparison

Custom Boards Elite vs Talk Suite Builder

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

Head to head
About

Custom Boards Elite

Create custom visual support materials using a vast library of symbols or your own photos. Design boards, schedules, and worksheets for communication and learning. Print, save, or email your creations directly from the app.

Highlights
  • Activity creation center
  • 21,000+ built-in symbols
  • Add custom photos
  • Template library (120+)
  • Print, save, and email
  • Organize with folders
Features
Read full description

The Ultimate Visual Support & Activity Creator Empower communication and learning with Custom Boards Elite! Designed specifically for speech therapists, special education teachers, and parents, Custom Boards Elite is an evidence-based app that revolutionizes how you create visual supports. Whether you need a daily schedule, a communication grid, or an engaging articulation game, Custom Boards gives you the tools to build professional, customized materials in minutes. UNMATCHED SYMBOL LIBRARY Say goodbye to stick figures and limited clip art. Custom Boards includes over 29,000 high-quality, diverse symbols from the renowned Smarty Symbols library. Need something specific? You can easily upload and integrate your own photos directly from your device! 120+ READY-TO-USE TEMPLATES Stop starting from scratch. Choose from over 120 expertly designed templates categorized into six core areas: Activities & Games: Bingo, Dominoes, Board Games, and more. Devices & Switches: Perfect for AAC device overlays. Signs & Labels: Create classroom rules, labels, and directional signs. Grids & Boards: Standard communication grids from 1x1 up to complex layouts. Schedules & Calendars: First-Then boards, weekly schedules, and daily routines. Worksheets: Ready-made educational printables. DEEP CUSTOMIZATION Make every board your own. Our intuitive editor allows you to: Customize background and text colors for every single cell. Tweak border styles (solid, dashed, circular) to highlight specific targets. Easily edit text labels to match your student's specific vocabulary. BUILT FOR SPEECH THERAPISTS Save hours of prep time with our advanced search filters. Target specific speech goals by filtering the entire 21,000+ symbol library by Initial, Medial, or Final letter positions! EXPORT & ORGANIZE When your masterpiece is complete, you are ready to PRINT, SAVE, or E-MAIL the final template. Print directly from your iPad to any AirPrint-ready printer. Creating boards for a whole caseload? Keep your finalized templates neatly organized into custom folders inside the app's Archive. Join the revolution in special education and start creating beautiful, effective visual supports today!

About

Talk Suite Builder

Features
Read full description

Talk Suite Builder is a free app that lets you create fully functional content for Talk Suite Pro. It’s a perfect way to support someone who uses Talk Suite Pro for augmentative communication….whether you’re a Speech Language Professional, teacher, or family member. While Talk Suite Builder is open, you can create all the content you want. Then, simply use our SEND button to email buttons and/or pages you’ve made. Or you can save them to Dropbox, Google Docs, or your Desktop, so you’ll always have the content you’ve made. Talk Suite Builder lets you create content just like you do on the actual app. However, this is not a functional AAC App for communication. As such, it doesn't actually speak. And when you close out of the app, you lose the content or changes you've made in the App. (Although the content you exported is, of course, saved.) Talk Suite Builder lets you tap into the full experience of Talk Suite so you can support others. You’ll experience our engaging and intuitive approach to language.... and our many innovative language approaches. Create new content to use in word-by-word sentence building in our thoughtful Core Columns. For example, create a page of your favorite baseball team, the favorite foods around your house, or even some juicy fun word banks that add personality to a person’s communication. Or create new content for other modes such as Stories, Photo Albums or Talk Topics. For example, work with someone to create a story for Show and Tell. Or if even a Talk Topic that can be used for visit relatives, or the zoo! We’ve included a few sample ideas in each of our Communication Modes… so you can see the best way to create robust and empowering content…. that kind that really builds engagement and interaction! Talk Suite Builder also uses our state-of-the-art "Real Feel" editing, the same interface you’ll find in Talk Suite Pro. And because you actually see and feel what. you're creating, editing actually becomes fun! Download this free and powerful app today. And see how quickly you can learn to bring your support to the next level. Talk Suite Builder. Another way we’re helping you… do more!

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Talk Suite Builder at none against Custom Boards Elite's 10. Talk Suite Builder also leads on update cadence (every 2 days vs every 7 months) and iOS requirement (9.0 vs 15.0). 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. Custom Boards Elite sells 10 in-app purchases, starting at $9.99 per month. Talk Suite Builder asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Custom Boards Elite ships an update every 7 months, Talk Suite Builder every 2 days. The most recent releases landed on October 10, 2026 and October 16, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
Custom Boards Elite versus Talk Suite Builder: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterCustom Boards EliteTalk Suite Builder
PriceFreeFree
Rating1.6 (5 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews55.6% of reviews—
Number of ratings5 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 7 monthsEvery 2 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationSubscription—
DevicesiPadiPad
Requires iOS15.09.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size880 MB421 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperSmarty EarsEllenson Integration Enterprises, Inc.

In-app purchases

10 purchases

Custom Boards Elite

Subscriptions3
  • Monthly Subscription7 Days trial$9.991 Month
  • Six months Access7 Days trial$49.996 Months
  • Yearly Access7 Days trial$59.991 Year
One-time7
  • The ant$0.99
  • Placemat$0.99
  • Tech talk$0.99
Show 4 more
  • Weekly$0.99
  • Orderly$0.99
  • Story Board$0.99
  • Purchase 10,000 Smarty Symbols$19.99
None

Talk Suite Builder

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Custom Boards Elite free?
Custom Boards Elite is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Talk Suite Builder free?
Talk Suite Builder is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do Custom Boards Elite or Talk Suite Builder have ads?
Neither Custom Boards Elite nor Talk Suite Builder shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Custom Boards Elite or Talk Suite Builder?
Custom Boards Elite ships an update every 7 months, and Talk Suite Builder every 2 days. Most recently, Custom Boards Elite was updated on October 10, 2026 and Talk Suite Builder on October 16, 2026.

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