Comparison

Sight Words Reading Games ABC vs Starfall Learn to Read

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

Head to head
About

Sight Words Reading Games ABC

This educational app helps young children aged 2-7 learn essential sight words through six engaging games. Developed with educational specialists, it covers the Dolch list and common nouns, preparing preschoolers and early elementary students for reading success.

Highlights
  • 220 Dolch sight words
  • 94 additional nouns
  • 6 educational games
  • Preschool to 3rd Grade levels
  • Interactive learning
  • Pronunciation practice
Features
Read full description

***** WONDERFULLY EDUCATIONAL READING PROGRAM FOR BEGINNING READERS (AGES 2-7). ***** Developed in cooperation with educational specialists by an award-winning educational studio, 22learn, the creator of the best-selling Abby Basic Skills and reading program Phonics: Fun on Farm, to best prepare your children for success in kindergarten and school curriculum. * Entirety of 220 SIGHT WORDS from the popular Dolch list (with extra 94 NOUNS!)* * Preschool, Kindergarten, 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Grade Categories * *...in 6 engaging EDUCATIONAL GAMES! * ================================ PRESS REVIEW ================================ * "Action Sight Words is an extra-fun "Extra-terrestrial" way to help children learn challenging sight words." * "As a mother of a 1st Grader and a Pre-Schooler, I was quite impressed with this app." Monica, theiphonemom.com * "an awesome level of interactivity" * "hits the mark on being both educational, and entertaining for kids" Apps4Moms.net * "A colorful and quirky mechanical, industrial theme that children will definitely like. A great tool for teaching and allowing your children learn all about sight words" iheartthisapp.com "Provides ample opportunities to learn all 220 Dolch words through a series of six games and activities. The interface is simple and easy to navigate and overall the look is appealing." Jill Goodman, smartappsforkids.com ----- Abby Sight Words with Wordaliens is a new EDUCATIONAL READING APPLICATION by 22learn. The app is designed to help children learn and practice reading the most common sight words. Sight words are words in English language that do not have a simple one-to-one correspondence between sounds and written letters, and therefore have to be learned “by sight. ” Being able to quickly recognize sight words is a crucial part of learning how to read. Sight words mastery is a necessary step towards an enormous reading improvement. Sight Words offers children an easy-to-use interface and a grand choice of six fun educational games through which children can acquire mastery over this subject matter. ----- The 6 GAMES included are: 1. WORD MACHINE Control the Word Machine. Supply all the words that need to be produced by tapping on the words called. 2. SPELLING Your dog is hungry! Make cans to feed him! To make a can, drag the letter cards to their correct place and make a word you have just heard pronounced. 3. BINGO Make a Bingo to get a ticket for Aliens back home! Tap on the word corresponding to the one that you heard pronounced. Once you have matched cards from one side of the board to the next... Bingo! Aliens are back home! 4. MEMORY GAME Match the sounds to correct word forms! To do so, tap on one of the speakers, hear the word, and then select one of the cards below with a correct word. Do it for all words! 5. GEARS Tap on one of the speakers on the screen, hear the word pronounced, and place the word across the speaker. Repeat for all words to see wonderful gears animation. 6. FLASH CARDS Practice in the Flash Card mode. List through the words and top on the cards to hear the words pronounced again and again! ----- Additional Features Include: - Selection of individual words to be practiced within each category - Avatar selection - Choice of capitalized words and upper-case or lower-case letters - Access to best scores ----- Get this app now and enjoy the progress your children are going to make in their reading skills. 22learn, your trusted educational apps developer

About

Starfall Learn to Read

This free app offers engaging books, games, and movies to help children learn to read. It focuses on vowel sounds and spelling through interactive activities, songs, and movies, fostering a love for language and reading.

Highlights
  • Interactive reading activities
  • Engaging games and movies
  • Focus on vowel sounds and spelling
  • Songs and positive reinforcement
  • Suitable for emerging readers
  • Supports English language learners
Features
Read full description

Starfall® Learn to Read is the second step of Starfall’s Learn to Read phonics sequence, which teaches the foundational skills for learning to read. Step 1: ABCs Step 2: Learn to Read Step 3: It’s Fun to Read Step 4: I’m Reading! In Starfall Learn to Read, children explore early phonics in a sequential, stress-free environment. Each step of the learning journey comes to life with help from the Vowel Pals—delightful characters that add depth and personality to each vowel sound. Children develop their phonics skills through the use of CVC (consonant-vowel-consonant) words, sight words, and vowel teams. Mastering the skills taught in Starfall Learn to Read helps children become confident, independent readers. Travel-ready. No internet connection required. Find Starfall Learn to Read, along with 700+ additional activities and counting across reading, math, music, and more in the Starfall app. The Starfall website and applications are program services of Starfall Education Foundation, a 501(c)(3) publicly supported nonprofit organization. Starfall® and Starfall.com® are registered trademarks in the US, the European Union, and various other countries. Copyright © 2002–2026 by Starfall Education. All rights reserved. Starfall apps are inclusively designed to support all children, including English Language Learners (ELLs). Starfall also provides an Enhanced Accessible Index for children with visual, hearing, or mobility impairments. For more information, please contact Customer Service at (+1) 303-417-6414.

Screenshots

Sight Words Reading Games ABC4 screens
Starfall Learn to Read4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Sight Words Reading Games ABC at 4.8 against Starfall Learn to Read's 4.2. Sight Words Reading Games ABC also leads on update cadence (every 2 months vs every 11 months) and ratings volume (69K vs 226). Starfall Learn to Read's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 1). On price, review sentiment, 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. Sight Words Reading Games ABC sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Starfall Learn to Read asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Sight Words Reading Games ABC holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 4.2. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Sight Words Reading Games ABC has 69K ratings behind it against 226, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 72% of Sight Words Reading Games ABC's written reviews are positive against 75% of Starfall Learn to Read's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Sight Words Reading Games ABC ships an update every 2 months, Starfall Learn to Read every 11 months. The most recent releases landed on September 24, 2026 and September 5, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 4 level
Sight Words Reading Games ABC versus Starfall Learn to Read: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterSight Words Reading Games ABCStarfall Learn to Read
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.8 (69K ratings) — better4.2 (226 ratings)
Positive reviews71.8% of reviews74.7% of reviews — better
Number of ratings69K — better226
Update frequencyEvery 2 months — betterEvery 11 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS13.0 — better15.0
Further details — not scored
Size71 MB91 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperCFC s.r.o.Starfall Education Foundation

Customer experience

Sight Words Reading Games ABC

All ratings69,011 ratings
Positive95.2%
Neutral2.7%
Negative2.2%
Written reviews206 reviews
Positive71.8%
Neutral7.8%
Negative20.4%

Starfall Learn to Read

All ratings226 ratings
Positive77.0%
Neutral7.1%
Negative15.9%
Written reviews75 reviews
Positive74.7%
Neutral1.3%
Negative24.0%

User reviews

Sight Words Reading Games ABC

From 69K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Easy to use
  • 🚀 Engaging for kids
  • 💡 Helpful for learning
  • 🎨 Bright and colorful graphics

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Crashes or freezes on some devices
  • 💰 Paid features not accessible across devices
  • 🔧 Limited customization options
  • 🤔 Unclear progression or difficulty levels

Starfall Learn to Read

From 226 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 📚 Excellent phonics and reading instruction method
  • 🎵 Engaging songs and catchy tunes that maintain interest
  • 🎨 Well-designed animations and interactive stories
  • 👶 Effective for children with learning difficulties (dyslexia, ADHD, special needs)
  • 💰 Free version available with substantial content

Room to improve

  • 🐛 App crashes and fails to load on some devices
  • ❌ Math games incompatible with certain iOS versions
  • 📱 Technical issues with black/green screens on launch
  • 🔄 Requires multiple restarts to function properly
  • 💳 Misleading pricing - paid version converted to free

Bugs and requests

Sight Words Reading Games ABC

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Purchase not recognized on all devices
  • Cannot change certain avatar elements
  • Sound or music not working for some users

Requested features

4 requests
  • Allow custom sight word lists
  • Add more levels and difficulty options
  • Provide narration in different accents
  • Enable family sharing for purchased content

Starfall Learn to Read

Reported bugs

8 issues
  • App won't load beyond launch screen (black or green screen)
  • Math games incompatible with iPhone updates
  • Sound not playing in some instances
  • App requires deletion and reinstallation to function
  • Crashes on iOS 9.2.1 and older versions
Show 3 more
  • Glitches when pressing letter machine words
  • App needs to be opened twice each time to run
  • Compatibility issues with various iOS versions

Requested features

10 requests
  • Reward/star system for motivation and progress tracking
  • Lesson progression markers showing mastery of modules
  • Writing and spelling exercises to reinforce learning
  • More stories and content variety
  • UK English version option
Show 5 more
  • Settings to control word pronunciation features
  • More word-building exercises
  • Sight vocabulary games for common words
  • Additional phonics rules (ng, tch, ck, tion, sion)
  • Level progression system to track advancement

In-app purchases

1 purchases

Sight Words Reading Games ABC

One-time1
  • Sight Word & Flashcards Games$6.99
None

Starfall Learn to Read

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Sight Words Reading Games ABC free?
Sight Words Reading Games ABC is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Starfall Learn to Read free?
Starfall Learn to Read is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Sight Words Reading Games ABC or Starfall Learn to Read?
Sight Words Reading Games ABC is rated higher. Sight Words Reading Games ABC averages 4.8 out of 5 from 69K ratings, while Starfall Learn to Read averages 4.2 from 226 ratings.
Do Sight Words Reading Games ABC or Starfall Learn to Read have ads?
Neither Sight Words Reading Games ABC nor Starfall Learn to Read shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Sight Words Reading Games ABC or Starfall Learn to Read?
Sight Words Reading Games ABC ships an update every 2 months, and Starfall Learn to Read every 11 months. Most recently, Sight Words Reading Games ABC was updated on September 24, 2026 and Starfall Learn to Read on September 5, 2026.

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