Primary Writer vs CaliKids
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Primary Writer
This app allows children and adults to create and customize stories with various backgrounds and colors. Once complete, users can share their creations as PDFs or print them directly from their iPad.
- Story writing interface
- Customizable paper backgrounds
- Color customization options
- PDF export
- AirPrint direct printing
- Kid-friendly design
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Primary Writer is an app for kids (or the kid at heart) who like to write. Write your story, choose your paper's background and further customize the look with color and other choices. When you're done, you can share the pdf version of your creation to your friends or relatives. If you have access to an AirPrint printing device, you can print it out directly from your iPad.
CaliKids
This app offers a structured method for children aged 2 and up to learn reading, writing, and counting. It progresses through 65 levels, covering everything from basic strokes and letter sounds to sentence construction and simple arithmetic.
- 65 structured learning levels
- Reading, writing, and number modules
- Age-appropriate difficulty settings
- Progress tracking for parents
- Print and cursive handwriting practice
- Offline progress saving
- Multilingual support
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CaliKids is a method for learning to read, write and count, from age 2. It isn't a bundle of loose games: it's 65 levels in order, each one getting ready for the next. Pick the age (2-3, 3-5, 5-7 or 7+) and the app teaches what comes next, at the right difficulty. It goes from first scribbles to reading sentences, from tracing an A to writing from memory, and from counting pictures to adding and taking away. READING · 21 levels Letters and their sounds, capitals and lowercase, vowels, rhymes, syllables, words split up and put back together, word searches and sentences to put in order. A slow voice reads aloud while a box follows along. WRITING · 24 levels First strokes, loops and mazes to loosen up the hand; every letter with its stroke order animated; which letters go up and which go down on the line; copying, writing without a model, and letter and word dictation. Writing starts with capitals, which are easier, and lowercase comes next. In the word exercises, the app reads what your child has written. NUMBERS · 20 levels Counting, comparing sizes and amounts, shapes, writing each digit, ordering from smallest to largest, adding and taking away with pictures, doubles, sharing, the number line and telling the time to the hour. MADE FOR KIDS • Each exercise says in one line what it's for. • Hints and an eraser that removes just one part: mistakes are no big deal. • Every exercise picks up where you left it, even after closing the app. • Stickers to collect and an encouraging voice. • Print and cursive school handwriting, and 11 notebook rulings to choose from. • Works with Apple Pencil. • Works with VoiceOver and the system text size. FOR THE FAMILY • A parents panel showing what they've mastered and what they find hard, plus a review of what they find hardest. • No ads and no accounts: progress is stored only on the device. • In 6 languages: English, Spanish, Italian, French, German and Portuguese. WHAT'S FREE AND WHAT'S PAID All 65 levels of the method — reading, writing and numbers — can be tried for free: half the rounds of each one, between 10 and 15. To keep going after that, CaliKids Premium opens every level in full, with every word topic, and brings new content as it arrives. It's a weekly or yearly subscription that renews automatically unless you cancel it, and you manage it from your account settings. Each word topic can also be bought on its own from its game. Every purchase goes behind a parental gate first, and anyone who already had the app keeps what they had: the levels that were free stay free. Terms of use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy policy: https://docs.google.com/document/d/e/2PACX-1vQ2zvoWh3YxPXD7xGIk0tE_AM1wlQdcVKgvnPvHfmw4ZHDU4qfMQZhYOP8UJ9YDVQUaSwhCHKQsDQvV/pub
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: CaliKids at 5.0 against Primary Writer's 3.7. CaliKids also leads on in-app purchases (none vs 8) and update cadence (every 4 weeks vs every 2 months). Primary Writer's advantage is ratings volume (3 vs 1) and iOS requirement (15.6 vs 18.0). On price, ads, monetization model 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
Both are free to download. Primary Writer sells 8 one-off in-app purchases. CaliKids asks for nothing beyond the download.
CaliKids holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 3.7. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 3 and 1 respectively.
Primary Writer ships an update every 2 months, CaliKids every 4 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 3, 2026 and October 15, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Primary Writer | CaliKids |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 3.7 (3 ratings) | 5.0 (1 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 75.0% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 3 — better | 1 |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months | Every 4 weeks — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Freemium |
| Devices | iPad | iPhone, iPad — better |
| Requires iOS | 15.6 — better | 18.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 130 MB | 7 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Winztech Services LLC | Oliver Tacoronte Mendoza |
Customer experience
Primary Writer
CaliKids
In-app purchases
Primary Writer
- Animals 1$0.99
- Valentine Fun$0.99
- Halloween Treat$0.99
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- Spring Faves$0.99
- We Love Mom$0.99
- We Love Dad$0.99
- Summertime$0.99
- Christmas$0.99
CaliKids
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Primary Writer free?
Is CaliKids free?
Which has better reviews, Primary Writer or CaliKids?
Do Primary Writer or CaliKids have ads?
Which is updated more often, Primary Writer or CaliKids?
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