Comparison

Starfall Learn to Read vs Numbers Rock

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

Head to head
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.

About

Numbers Rock

Features
Read full description

Features of Numbers Rock • Three engaging games that help children practice recognizing basic numbers • Helps train attention, memory skills and focus • Difficulty level is automatically adjusted • Two-Player Option is available • Scores are automatically saved to show progress. • Scores can also be emailed to keep a record of a child's progress. • Colorful graphics and lively music make this game fun to play • Kid-safe: No third party ads or tracking This game helps children develop their attention and memory skills while providing practice recognizing basic numbers. Children, ages 3 to 6, will travel from the outer reaches of space to under the seas as they have fun playing and learning. All of our games are specially created to help children practice the cognitive abilities important for success in school and life. The games automatically adjust to allow children to learn at a level of difficulty personalized for them. As they succeed, new challenges at harder levels will be presented. Children will be challenged to develop their thinking speed as they are required to respond faster and faster in order to win. While a child's difficulty level is automatically adjusted based on his or her performance, it can be easily modified by parents or teachers when necessary. Distraction stimuli can also be added to reinforce increased focus and the ability to stay on task. In addition, a two player option is available which helps children learn how to take turns and be both a good winner and a good loser. The training of each set of letters is divided into three rounds that are progressively more challenging. All three rounds must be completed for grades to be saved in single player mode. Please note that no grades are saved in two player mode. Two player mode only records which Player (1 or 2) won the match after three rounds are completed. A training session is completed only when the program is stopped and then removed from memory. If the program is left open in the background and it is selected, then the last session started will be continued. The app will start off with a 60 minute trial version. You can modify the options and run the games during this trial period. Once the trial has ended, you will need to make a one-time in-app purchase to unlock the games for unlimited use.

Screenshots

Starfall Learn to Read4 screens
Numbers Rock4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Starfall Learn to Read at none against Numbers Rock's 1. Starfall Learn to Read also leads on update cadence (every 9 months vs every 40 months). Numbers Rock's advantage is 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. Numbers Rock sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Starfall Learn to Read asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Starfall Learn to Read ships an update every 9 months, Numbers Rock every 40 months. The most recent releases landed on October 28, 2026 and October 26, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
Starfall Learn to Read versus Numbers Rock: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterStarfall Learn to ReadNumbers Rock
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.2 (228 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews71.3% of reviews—
Number of ratings228 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 9 months — betterEvery 40 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS15.09.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size91 MB70 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperStarfall Education FoundationBrainTrain Inc.

Bugs and requests

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

Numbers Rock

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

None

Starfall Learn to Read

No in-app purchases

1 purchases

Numbers Rock

One-time1
  • Full Version$2.99

Questions

Is Starfall Learn to Read free?
Starfall Learn to Read is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Numbers Rock free?
Numbers Rock is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Starfall Learn to Read or Numbers Rock have ads?
Neither Starfall Learn to Read nor Numbers Rock shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Starfall Learn to Read or Numbers Rock?
Starfall Learn to Read ships an update every 9 months, and Numbers Rock every 40 months. Most recently, Starfall Learn to Read was updated on October 28, 2026 and Numbers Rock on October 26, 2026.

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