Comparison

Pirate Phonics 1 vs Dinosaur Letters

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

Head to head
About

Pirate Phonics 1

This app uses a pirate adventure theme to teach young children basic phonics and letter recognition. It features interactive challenges across five treasure islands, helping kids learn to read CVC words and over 300 words in total.

Highlights
  • Pirate-themed learning adventure
  • Phonics challenges for letter recognition
  • CVC word building and blending
  • Over 300 words introduced
  • Revisit learned phonics and islands
  • Individual phonic selection
Features
Read full description

Rated 5/5 and Recommended by educationalappstore.com, official advisor to the Tablets for Schools scheme. Pirate Phonics offers fun and Phonics for kids who are just learning to read/recognise letters and simple CVC words. Pirate phonics uses the concept of a child’s dream about pirates as the theme of an educational game to develop skills in the basic phonics. It is a very large App which uses 5 ‘treasure islands’ with a ‘phonic’ route map across each island to recover the treasure stolen by Blackbeard the pirate. Each phonic is introduced by a pirate with ‘phonic challenges’. By passing the challenges coins are collected and the child heads towards where Blackbeard has hidden the treasure. Each island is completed when the children use phonic challenges to open the treasure chest, but of course that’s not the end! Pirate Phonics has been designed to support the first stages of phonic learning over an extended period, at least several weeks. Each phonic is emphasised through the use of several ‘picture words’ which are deliberately read slowly by the narrator. Once a phonic has been unlocked and learned the child can revisit that island and phonic at any time. The whole app introduces more than 300 words! The 5 Treasure Islands introduce the phonics 1 at a time before using blends to form simple words (mainly CVC). Phonics introduced in this App include: •s a t p d •n m i g o •c e u r h •k b f l j •v w x y z •ck ff qu ss zz •ll ch sh th ng th If your child just wants to learn words related to any individual phonic then that can be selected from the ‘extras’ area on the start screen without going through every island. Pirate Phonics 2 is also available now, with even more focus on blending, word building and reading groups of words!

About

Dinosaur Letters

This app helps children learn letter formation in both cursive and pre-cursive styles. It uses phonics to teach spelling and includes engaging games like dot-to-dots and spelling challenges to reinforce learning.

Highlights
  • Letter forming practice (cursive & pre-cursive)
  • US/UK English phonics
  • Phonics-based spelling game
  • Dot-to-dot dinosaur puzzles
  • Cursive style selection
  • Developed by educators
Features
Read full description

Have fun releasing the Dino's from their eggs as you learn your letters! Dinosaur Letters allows your child to practice letter forming in both cursive (joined up) and simple pre cursive form. Letters are sounded out in either US or UK English phonics to allow your child to develop skills of breaking down words. You can choose your cursive style in settings. Completion of capital letters reveals a simple phonics based spelling game. Completion of either style of lower case letters is rewarded by a dot-to-dot puzzle which reveals the dinosaur in the egg. Made By Educators, tested in schools, apps with learning at their core! The British Dyslexia association recommend that children learn the continuous cursive style. The cursive style has some significant advantages for Dyslexic students. The key advantages to this system are: * By making each letter in one movement, children’s hands develop a ‘physical memory’ of it, making it easier to produce the correct shape; * Because letters and words flow from left to right, children are less likely to reverse letters which are typically difficult (like b/d or p/q); * There is a clearer distinction between capital letters and lower case; * The continuous flow of writing ultimately improves speed and spelling.

Screenshots

Pirate Phonics 14 screens
Dinosaur Letters4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Pirate Phonics 1 at 3.3 against Dinosaur Letters's 1.0. Pirate Phonics 1 also leads on monetization model (free vs paid) and ratings volume (3 vs 1). Dinosaur Letters's advantage is review sentiment (80% vs 69%). 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Pirate Phonics 1 costs $2.99 and Dinosaur Letters $2.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Pirate Phonics 1 holds the better App Store score, 3.3 against 1.0. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 3 and 1 respectively. Written reviews complicate that: 69% of Pirate Phonics 1's written reviews are positive against 80% of Dinosaur Letters's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Pirate Phonics 1 ships an update every 8 months, Dinosaur Letters every 11 months. The most recent releases landed on October 23, 2026 and October 15, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
Pirate Phonics 1 versus Dinosaur Letters: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterPirate Phonics 1Dinosaur Letters
Price$2.99$2.99
Rating3.3 (3 ratings) — better1.0 (1 ratings)
Positive reviews68.8% of reviews80.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings3 — better1
Update frequencyEvery 8 months — betterEvery 11 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFree — betterPaid
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS7.0 — better12.0
Further details — not scored
Size408 MB13 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperUnit11madebyeducators

Customer experience

Pirate Phonics 1

All ratings3 ratings
Positive33.3%
Neutral33.3%
Negative33.3%
Written reviews48 reviews
Positive68.8%
Neutral6.3%
Negative25.0%

Dinosaur Letters

All ratings1 ratings
Positive0.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative100.0%
Written reviews10 reviews
Positive80.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative20.0%

In-app purchases

None

Pirate Phonics 1

No in-app purchases

None

Dinosaur Letters

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Pirate Phonics 1 free?
Pirate Phonics 1 costs $2.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Dinosaur Letters free?
Dinosaur Letters costs $2.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Pirate Phonics 1 or Dinosaur Letters?
Pirate Phonics 1 is rated higher. Pirate Phonics 1 averages 3.3 out of 5 from 3 ratings, while Dinosaur Letters averages 1.0 from 1 ratings.
Do Pirate Phonics 1 or Dinosaur Letters have ads?
Neither Pirate Phonics 1 nor Dinosaur Letters shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Pirate Phonics 1 or Dinosaur Letters?
Pirate Phonics 1 ships an update every 8 months, and Dinosaur Letters every 11 months. Most recently, Pirate Phonics 1 was updated on October 23, 2026 and Dinosaur Letters on October 15, 2026.

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