Spelling Teacher vs Smarty Spell
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Spelling Teacher
This app helps children improve their spelling skills through interactive games and personalized practice. It allows customization of word lists and offers smart practice based on missed words. Parents and teachers can track progress and administer tests.
- Customizable word lists and sentences
- Smart practice based on missed words
- Interactive learning activities
- Voice recording for words and sentences
- Progress tracking and testing
- Multi-user support
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Thank You for the all the amazing feedback!!! --What a fun way for my daughter to practice her weekly spelling words. She can even record her voice saying the words.-- --Well done app. Makes it so simple for my students to study their weekly spelling words at home or in the car. -- Team up with the entire Pop the Penguin gang to advance your students’ spelling skills. The Spelling Teacher app includes Julia, your child's private spelling teacher who interacts with your student while playing fun learning activities. Teacher Julia also reads words and sentences during spelling practice and while taking weekly spelling tests. Of course, if desired a student can make their own recordings of assigned words and sentences, expanding their learning and having even more fun. Spelling Teacher includes 5 fun spelling activities (one for each day of the school week) which helps students master their weekly words list. Spelling Teacher also provides suggestions for homework assignments, a word list practice function, smart practice function which provides students only the words that they missed from the last practice session they completed, and a testing function that parents/teachers can use for administering a weekly spelling test. Spelling Teacher corrects tests and practice tests for parents and teachers and provides the ability to print or e-mail the child's results. With multiuser support, Spelling Teacher is the most capable and advanced spelling app on the App store. Whether you are a parent looking to advance your child’s spelling ability or a teacher looking for a fun and efficient way to help students meet language arts common core standards, this app is for you. Spelling Teacher product fun features: • Completely customize lists with your own words and sentences • Smart Practice based off missed words from a previous practice session or test • Teacher Julia can automatically read each of your words and sentences to you or you can record your own voice for words and sentences • 5 fun spelling activities to help students master their weekly words list Multi-user functionality for households and schools without 1 to 1 iPads • Print or e-mail practice session, homework and test results • Fun space atmosphere to learn with the entire Pop the Penguin gang
Smarty Spell
This comprehensive literacy platform offers three engaging game modes to improve spelling and reading skills. It features extensive customization options for word lists and audio, along with detailed progress tracking for educators and parents.
- Three distinct game modes
- Over 300 built-in words
- Grade-level and thematic word lists
- Custom word lists with photos
- Real human and TTS audio
- Professional-grade data tracking
- Adjustable font sizes and hints
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Smarty Spell: The Ultimate 3-in-1 Literacy Platform Developed by a certified Speech-Language Pathologist, Smarty Spell has evolved into a comprehensive educational platform designed to take your student’s spelling and reading abilities to the next level. With a highly engaging new interface, friendly animal mascots, and superior data tracking, Smarty Spell is the perfect tool for educators, therapists, and parents alike. While it comes loaded with over 300 built-in words, the true power of Smarty Spell lies in its incredible flexibility. Students can tackle words based on their grade level (Kindergarten to 6th Grade), explore thematic categories, or master completely custom word lists created by their teacher. Three Ways to Play: Smarty Spell now features three distinct, interactive game modes to keep students engaged while targeting different literacy skills: Spelling Game: Drag and drop letters to spell the target word with full visual and auditory scaffolding. Reading Game: Build sight-word recognition by matching the spoken word and image to the correct text. Missing Letter Game: A fun, tactile experience where students fill in the blanks on a beautiful wooden tray to complete the word. Unmatched Customization & Accessibility: Smarty Spell adapts to every learner. Reinforce specific vocabulary by adding your own words and photos! The app seamlessly blends real, recorded human audio with a newly integrated, high-quality, kid-friendly Text-to-Speech engine, ensuring every word—even your custom ones—is pronounced perfectly. You can also adjust font sizes, toggle visual hints, and switch between uppercase and lowercase letters to meet each student's exact needs. Professional-Grade Data Tracking: Tracking progress is a breeze with our completely overhauled "Report Card" suite. Teachers and parents can monitor overall accuracy over time via intuitive line graphs, or drill down into specific word lists. Because the app tracks data by game type, you will know exactly if a student has mastered "Animals" in Reading, but still needs practice with "Animals" in Spelling! Enjoy the benefits of a clean, modern interface, engaging gameplay, and robust tracking. Key Features Include: The Content: 3 Distinct Game Modes: Spelling, Reading, and Missing Letter. Over 300 Built-In Words: Ready to play immediately. Grade-Level Lists: Organized sequentially from Kindergarten to 6th Grade. Thematic Lists: Animals, Numbers, Colors & Shapes, Classroom, Body Parts, Common Nouns, Clothes, Fruits, and Vegetables. Total Customization: Create custom lists, add new words, and even upload your own photos and audio recordings. The Gameplay: Premium Audio: High-quality, kid-friendly Text-to-Speech alongside real human audio recordings. Audio Spell Letters: Option to have each letter spoken aloud as the student drags it. Visual Hints: Toggle picture clues on or off to increase or decrease difficulty. Word Reading: Turn target word dictation on or off. Capitalization Control: Choose between all capitals, all lowercase, or standard capitalization. Adjustable UI: 3 different font size options for accessibility. Automatic Transition: Move immediately to the next word, or manually transition to control the pace. The Data: Multi-Student Support: Manage profiles and avatars for an entire classroom or caseload. Advanced Report Cards: View line graphs of session-by-session accuracy. Skill Isolation: Data is tracked independently for Reading, Spelling, and Missing Letter games so you know exactly where a student excels. Word-Level Mastery: See exactly which specific words a student got correct or needs to practice. Easy Exporting: Generate beautiful, multi-page PDF reports to email or print directly from the app via AirPrint.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: Spelling Teacher at 91% against Smarty Spell's 0%. Spelling Teacher also leads on price ($2.99 vs $14.99) and device support (3 vs 1). Smarty Spell's advantage is rating (4.0 vs 2.3). On ratings volume, update cadence, ads and in-app purchases 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
Spelling Teacher costs $2.99 and Smarty Spell $14.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
Smarty Spell holds the better App Store score, 4.0 against 2.3. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 4 and 2 respectively. Written reviews complicate that: 91% of Spelling Teacher's written reviews are positive against 0% of Smarty Spell's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.
Spelling Teacher ships an update every 10 months, Smarty Spell every 9 months. The most recent releases landed on October 23, 2026 and October 8, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Spelling Teacher | Smarty Spell |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $2.99 — better | $14.99 |
| Rating | 2.3 (4 ratings) | 4.0 (2 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 91.3% of reviews — better | 0.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 4 — better | 2 |
| Update frequency | Every 10 months | Every 9 months — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Paid | Paid |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPad |
| Requires iOS | 12.0 — better | 15.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 8 MB | 97 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | FormSoft Group, Ltd. | Smarty Ears |
Customer experience
Spelling Teacher
Smarty Spell
In-app purchases
Spelling Teacher
No in-app purchases
Smarty Spell
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Spelling Teacher free?
Is Smarty Spell free?
Which has better reviews, Spelling Teacher or Smarty Spell?
Do Spelling Teacher or Smarty Spell have ads?
Which is updated more often, Spelling Teacher or Smarty Spell?
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