Comparison

Elmo Loves 123s vs Alphablocks, How to Write

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

Head to head
About

Elmo Loves 123s

This app offers a variety of games, activities, and videos designed to teach young children about numbers and counting. It features interactive tracing, puzzles, and songs with beloved characters, covering numbers 1 through 20.

Highlights
  • Number tracing with surprises
  • Interactive games and puzzles
  • Songs and videos about numbers
  • Coloring pages
  • Learning tracker for parents
  • Addition & Subtraction practice
Currently charting
Read full description

This is an app full of games, activities, and videos, which will help teach your child about numbers and counting. Elmo loves exploring numbers! This app has songs and videos about numbers. It has coloring pages and games about numbers. It has all the numbers from 1 to 20! Elmo’s friend Abby is here, too! Come on! Explore numbers with Elmo and Abby! FEATURES • Trace your favorite numbers to unlock surprises. • Slide, swipe, touch and trace to discover sixty classic Sesame Street clips, sixty coloring pages, hide-and-seek, jigsaw puzzles, counting games and more! • Touch the Abby button to play number games with Abby and her friends. • 123s tracker for grown-ups to see what your child is learning. LEARN ABOUT • Number identification • Number tracing • Counting groups of objects • Addition & Subtraction • Problem Solving • Art and creativity And if you enjoy learning your 123s, you’ll love learning your ABCs! Check out the Parents' Choice Silver Award winner “Elmo Loves ABCs” in the App Store. ABOUT US Sesame Workshop’s mission is to use the educational power of media to help kids everywhere grow smarter, stronger, and kinder. Delivered through a variety of platforms, including television programs, digital experiences, books and community engagement, its research-based programs are tailored to the needs of the communities and countries they serve. Learn more at www.sesameworkshop.org. PRIVACY POLICY The Privacy Policy can be found here: https://sesameworkshop.org/about-us/legal/privacy-policy/ CONTACT US Your input is very important to us. If you have any questions, comments, or need help, please contact us at: sesameworkshopapps@sesame.org.

About

Alphablocks, How to Write

This app uses animated characters to teach children how to write letters and numbers. It features a guided learning path with pre-writing exercises, letter families, and tracing practice with rhymes. The app is designed by educational experts and is ad-free.

Highlights
  • Pre-writing line practice
  • Letter families based on shape
  • Scaffolded learning trajectory
  • Letter and numeral tracing
  • Writing rhymes for memorization
  • Adventure-based learning
Read full description

Alphablocks and Numberblocks, How to Write is a hands-on, fun way for children to learn to write, packed with brand new Writing Magic. Imagine if the letters of the alphabet and numbers came to life to teach your child how to write... This is exactly what happens in How to Write! Join your favourite characters from the hit CBeebies shows, Alphablocks and Numberblocks, as they find their way home, helping children practice fine motor skills and letter formation accompanied by catchy rhymes along the way. This app is brought to you by top educators and experts in play from the BAFTA award-winning creators of Numberblocks and Blue Zoo animation studios. How does Alphablocks and Numberblocks, How to Write help your child? "Alphablocks and Numberblocks, How to Write helps children build confidence as they practice fine motor skills covering the foundational line shapes that they will need to form letters. The journey is carefully scaffolded, taking children through generic practice lines, pre-letter lines and letter formation. A brilliant app!" Professor Kate Ruttle, Early Years Writing expert and advisor to Alphablocks Ltd. 1. Carefully scaffolded learning trajectory, designed by top literacy educators and experts in play. 2. This app is fun, educational and safe, being COPPA and GDPR-K compliant and 100% ad-free. 3. All presented through a safe, 100% ad-free, digital game for your child to explore. Featuring… - Pre-writing lines to help children practice fine motor skills. - Letters are carefully broken down into four letter families, based on similarities of shape: Bouncy, Straight Line, Curly and Zigzag letter families. - Within each letter family, letters are introduced with the simplest first, so children can build up their skills confidently. - Pre-letter lines help children to repeat the key movement in each letter and numeral, as carefully specified by our literacy experts. - Letter and numeral tracing practice, accompanied by special writing rhymes for each letter of the alphabet and numbers 0-9 help children to remember the movements! - A fun adventure, helping each Alphablock and Numberblock find their way home... and ultimately customising their home with a fun surprise! Privacy & Safety At Blue Zoo Productions Ltd. and Alphablocks Ltd., your child’s privacy and safety is the first priority for us. There are no ads in the app and we will never share personal information with any 3rd parties or sell this on. You can find out more in our Privacy Policy and Terms of Service: Privacy Policy: https://www.learningblocks.tv/privacy-policy Terms of Service: https://www.learningblocks.tv/terms-of-service

Screenshots

Elmo Loves 123s4 screens
Alphablocks, How to Write4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Elmo Loves 123s at 4.4 against Alphablocks, How to Write's 3.9. Elmo Loves 123s also leads on chart position (#196 vs unranked) and ratings volume (95 vs 24). Alphablocks, How to Write's advantage is review sentiment (56% vs 40%) and price ($3.99 vs $4.99). On update cadence, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model 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

Elmo Loves 123s costs $4.99 and Alphablocks, How to Write $3.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Elmo Loves 123s holds the better App Store score, 4.4 against 3.9. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 95 and 24 respectively. Written reviews complicate that: 40% of Elmo Loves 123s's written reviews are positive against 56% of Alphablocks, How to Write's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly every 5 months. Both last shipped on October 29, 2026.

Scorecard6 real differences · 5 level
Elmo Loves 123s versus Alphablocks, How to Write: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterElmo Loves 123sAlphablocks, How to Write
Price$4.99$3.99 — better
Rating4.4 (95 ratings) — better3.9 (24 ratings)
Positive reviews40.0% of reviews55.6% of reviews — better
Number of ratings95 — better24
Update frequencyEvery 5 monthsEvery 5 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationPaidPaid
Best chart rank#196 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS15.013.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size459 MB323 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperSesame Workshop (Apps)Blue-Zoo

Customer experience

Elmo Loves 123s

All ratings91 ratings
Positive83.5%
Neutral3.3%
Negative13.2%
Written reviews55 reviews
Positive40.0%
Neutral10.9%
Negative49.1%

Alphablocks, How to Write

All ratings22 ratings
Positive63.6%
Neutral9.1%
Negative27.3%
Written reviews9 reviews
Positive55.6%
Neutral11.1%
Negative33.3%

Bugs and requests

Elmo Loves 123s

Reported bugs

29 issues
  • Videos with crying in them
  • Count video for number 14 missing
  • Purchased features gone
  • Elmo nowhere to be seen after intro
  • Advert added to paid app
Show 24 more
  • App broken after iOS update
  • App only shows half the screen
  • App cuts off content in landscape mode
  • Alignment messed up after iOS upgrade
  • App won't rotate to horizontal position
  • App displays offset, missing screen part
  • Orientation stuck in portrait mode
  • Sporadically won't recognize touch
  • Screen cut off, app unusable
  • Won't go full mode on iPad screen
  • App no longer works with iPhone software
  • Stuck in portrait, won't landscape
  • Tracing not accurate
  • Pop up ads in paid version
  • Videos no longer available (resolved)
  • App doesn't work properly
  • App keeps crashing
  • Crashes too much
  • Doesn't enforce correct form when tracing
  • Poor touch controls for tracing
  • Keep on crashing within seconds
  • App keeps crashing on iOS7
  • Crashes and force closes on iOS7
  • App won't load

Requested features

9 requests
  • Remove videos with crying
  • Restore Count video for number 14
  • Add numbers above 20
  • Add music videos
  • Add number 0
Show 4 more
  • Add support for Portuguese language
  • Add parental lock for settings
  • Improve tracing accuracy
  • Add more diversity

Alphablocks, How to Write

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

None

Elmo Loves 123s

No in-app purchases

None

Alphablocks, How to Write

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Elmo Loves 123s free?
Elmo Loves 123s costs $4.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Alphablocks, How to Write free?
Alphablocks, How to Write costs $3.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Elmo Loves 123s or Alphablocks, How to Write?
Elmo Loves 123s is rated higher. Elmo Loves 123s averages 4.4 out of 5 from 95 ratings, while Alphablocks, How to Write averages 3.9 from 24 ratings.
Do Elmo Loves 123s or Alphablocks, How to Write have ads?
Neither Elmo Loves 123s nor Alphablocks, How to Write shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Elmo Loves 123s or Alphablocks, How to Write?
Elmo Loves 123s ships an update every 5 months, and Alphablocks, How to Write every 5 months. Most recently, Elmo Loves 123s was updated on October 29, 2026 and Alphablocks, How to Write on October 29, 2026.

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