Comparison

Starfall Learn to Read vs Learn to ReadWriteSpell Lite

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

Learn to ReadWriteSpell Lite

Features
Read full description

"Learn to Read, Write and Spell" app is designed for the IOS platform iPad Users and made for "Made For Ages 5 and Above". This iPAD app teaches advanced reading and spelling skills to adults, adolescents and children, who * Are non-readers, or are reading below their expected level * Know many sight words but cannot decode or encode new words * Are learning disabled - LD * Have an attention deficit disorder - ADD/HD This iPAD app is Recommended for: * Public/private schools (resource rooms, special education classes, ESL programs) * Libraries /literacy centers * Home computers - Home schooling * Correctional, rehabilitation, youth detention centers and vocational facilities * Community colleges (LD resource centers) This multisensory reading, spelling and penmanship program builds an association between symbols and sounds in the English language through self-paced repetition. It utilizes the close association of visual, auditory and kinesthetic elements to help students improve their language skills. The beginning of the iPAD app assumes the student does not know the letters of the alphabet. The app then proceeds to teach all the skills one needs to read on a sixth grade level. This INTERACTIVE iPAD app uses graphics as a vehicle to teach: The sound & key word for each letter of the alphabet * Blending letters to form words * Reading Lessons * Writing Lessons * Spelling Skills * Language Skills * Dictionary Skills Extensive practice in reading, spelling and penmanship throughout the app Specific language skills taught include suffixes, prefixes, the six syllable types, consonant digraphs and blends, diphthongs, singular and plural nouns, apostrophe and contractions, punctuation, exceptional words (words to be memorized), sentence and paragraph structure, etc. Students and teachers can move to different lessons/modules in the program by utilizing the progress report. They can click on the "DOWN ARROW" after the short introduction. This will take them to a progress report. The names of the modules, in the program, are located on the left side of the screen (letter, reading, spelling, writing, language and dictionary lessons). When you "click" them, the voice will identify the name of the module. Next to each module are numbered buttons. These numbers correspond to the numbered lessons in the table of contents in the manual. One may click on the numbered button and go right to the lesson of their choice. Teachers can decide if they wish to have a student follow the sequence, as it is presented on the program, or may decide to use the program to reinforce a particular reading skill which was just introduced in class. The FREE version of "Learn to Read, Write and Spell" iPAD app contains the Introduction, History of English and First Lesson of each module.

Screenshots

Starfall Learn to Read4 screens
Learn to ReadWriteSpell Lite1 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: Starfall Learn to Read at every 9 months against Learn to ReadWriteSpell Lite's every 32 months. Learn to ReadWriteSpell Lite's advantage is iOS requirement (13.0 vs 15.0). On price, ads, in-app purchases 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. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Starfall Learn to Read ships an update every 9 months, Learn to ReadWriteSpell Lite every 32 months. The most recent releases landed on October 9, 2026 and October 4, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences · 8 level
Starfall Learn to Read versus Learn to ReadWriteSpell Lite: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterStarfall Learn to ReadLearn to ReadWriteSpell Lite
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.2 (229 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews74.7% of reviews—
Number of ratings229 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 9 months — betterEvery 32 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFree—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS15.013.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size91 MB586 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperStarfall Education FoundationRogers Center for Learning

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

Learn to ReadWriteSpell Lite

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

None

Starfall Learn to Read

No in-app purchases

None

Learn to ReadWriteSpell Lite

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Starfall Learn to Read free?
Starfall Learn to Read is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Learn to ReadWriteSpell Lite free?
Learn to ReadWriteSpell Lite is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do Starfall Learn to Read or Learn to ReadWriteSpell Lite have ads?
Neither Starfall Learn to Read nor Learn to ReadWriteSpell Lite shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Starfall Learn to Read or Learn to ReadWriteSpell Lite?
Starfall Learn to Read ships an update every 9 months, and Learn to ReadWriteSpell Lite every 32 months. Most recently, Starfall Learn to Read was updated on October 9, 2026 and Learn to ReadWriteSpell Lite on October 4, 2026.

Other comparisons