Starfall Learn to Read vs Duck Duck Moose Reading
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
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.
- 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
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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.
Duck Duck Moose Reading
This app offers interactive games and activities designed to teach young children phonics and letter sounds. Kids can collect animals and build their own zoo scenes while learning foundational reading skills. Developed with educators, it aligns with Common Core Standards.
- 9 word and letter activities
- Teaches phonics and letter sounds
- Spelling practice for CVC words
- Parent reporting tool
- Aligned with Common Core Standards
- Zoo scene creation
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*** Parents’ Choice Gold Award winner - Parents’ Choice Foundation *** Children’s Technology Review Editor’s Choice Award for Excellence in Design Join Milo the Meerkat and his sidekick Puffs at the zoo on a phonics learning adventure! Duck Duck Moose Reading has 9 different word and letter activities that help kids learn by feeding and playing with flamingos, monkeys, lions, and more. Collect animals and make your own zoo scene as you learn more letter sounds. AGES 3-7. CATEGORY: Curriculum 9 WORD AND LETTER ACTIVITIES - Teaches phonics - the letter sounds for all consonants, short vowels, and long vowels - Practice spelling consonant-vowel-consonant (CVC) words PARENT REPORTING - Includes a new reporting tool so teachers and parents can see how a child is progressing and which letter sounds they have learned DEVELOPED WITH EDUCATORS - Based on the Common Core State Standards - Foundational Skills of Reading - Developed in conjunction with a Stanford University educator, Jennifer DiBrienza, PhD in Early Elementary Education, and a former NYC public school teacher (K-Grade 2) - Tested extensively in classrooms BASED ON COMMON CORE STANDARDS - Letter-sound and word activities - Recognizing and naming lowercase letters - Demonstrating knowledge of letter-sound correspondences - Isolating and pronouncing sounds in CVC (consonant-vowel-consonant) words - Covered CCSS include: RF.K.1d, RF.K.2d, RF.K.2e, RF.K.3a, RF.K.3b _________________ Brought to you by Duck Duck Moose, the creator of Wheels on the Bus and Itsy Bitsy Spider and winner of 15 Parents’ Choice Awards. Check out more fun, educational apps from Duck Duck Moose: Favorite Nursery Rhymes: - Wheels on the Bus - Old MacDonald - Itsy Bitsy Spider - Baa Baa Black Sheep - Peek-a-Zoo (Animal Book for Toddlers) Curriculum Based Learning: - Fish School (Letters, Numbers, Colors, Matching) - Park Math (Addition, Subtraction, Patterns) - Word Wagon (Letters, Phonics, Spelling) - Musical Me! (Music, Notes, Pitch, Rhythm) - Puzzle Pop (Animated Puzzles for all ages) - [NEW!] Duck Duck Moose Reading (Phonics) Creative Play: - Draw and Tell (Draw, Color, Record Voice) - Trucks (Carwash, Tow Truck, Recycling) - [NEW!] More Trucks (Fire Truck, Monster Trucks) - Princess Fairy Tale Maker - Superhero Comic Book Maker ABOUT DUCK DUCK MOOSE (A wholly-owned subsidiary of Khan Academy) Duck Duck Moose, an award-winning creator of educational mobile apps for families, is a passionate team of engineers, artists, designers, and educators. Founded in 2008, the company has created 21 top-selling titles and has received 21 Parents’ Choice Awards, 18 Children’s Technology Review Awards, 12 Tech with Kids’ Best Pick App Awards, and a KAPi award for “Best Children’s App” at the International Consumer Electronics Show. Khan Academy is a nonprofit with a mission to provide a free, world-class education for anyone, anywhere. Duck Duck Moose is now part of the Khan Academy family. Like all Khan Academy offerings, all Duck Duck Moose apps are now free, without ads or subscriptions. We rely on our community of volunteers and donors. Get involved today at www.duckduckmoose.com/about. Check out the Khan Academy app to learn and practice all kinds of topics for elementary school through college and beyond. We’d love to hear from you! Visit us at www.duckduckmoose.com or drop us a line at support@duckduckmoose.com.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: Starfall Learn to Read at 4.2 against Duck Duck Moose Reading's 3.8. Starfall Learn to Read also leads on ratings volume (228 vs 25). Duck Duck Moose Reading's advantage is review sentiment (80% vs 71%) and iOS requirement (9.0 vs 15.0). On price, 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
Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
Starfall Learn to Read holds the better App Store score, 4.2 against 3.8. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Starfall Learn to Read has 228 ratings behind it against 25, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 71% of Starfall Learn to Read's written reviews are positive against 80% of Duck Duck Moose Reading's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.
Starfall Learn to Read ships an update every 9 months, Duck Duck Moose Reading every 11 months. The most recent releases landed on November 3, 2026 and November 1, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Starfall Learn to Read | Duck Duck Moose Reading |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.2 (228 ratings) — better | 3.8 (25 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 71.3% of reviews | 80.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 228 — better | 25 |
| Update frequency | Every 9 months — better | Every 11 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 | 9.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 91 MB | 48 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Starfall Education Foundation | Duck Duck Moose LLC |
Customer experience
Starfall Learn to Read
Duck Duck Moose Reading
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
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- 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
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- 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
Duck Duck Moose Reading
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Starfall Learn to Read
No in-app purchases
Duck Duck Moose Reading
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Starfall Learn to Read free?
Is Duck Duck Moose Reading free?
Which has better reviews, Starfall Learn to Read or Duck Duck Moose Reading?
Do Starfall Learn to Read or Duck Duck Moose Reading have ads?
Which is updated more often, Starfall Learn to Read or Duck Duck Moose Reading?
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