Comparison

Hooked on Phonics Learning vs ABC Spelling

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

Head to head
About

Hooked on Phonics Learning

This app transforms screen time into educational fun for children aged 3-8. It offers interactive games and activities across reading, math, and spelling, tailored to individual learning needs. Parents receive real-time progress insights and can track their child's development through a comprehensive ebook library and reward system.

Highlights
  • Reading, Math & Spelling Games
  • 1000+ Educational Activities
  • 100+ Ebook Library
  • Adaptive Learning Program
  • Virtual Rewards System
  • Multi-device Compatibility
  • Customizable Learner Profiles
Read full description

Turn screen time into learning time! Hooked on Phonics has been trusted by parents for over 35 years to provide engaging, educational content for kids. Our app uses cutting-edge research and guidance from top educators to teach essential skills. Tailored to support preschool, kindergarten, 1st grade, and 2nd grade learners, our adaptive program targets where each child needs practice. This gives parents real-time progress insights! Learn across different subjects with Hooked on Math and Hooked on Spelling included within our Hooked on Phonics app. Kids can learn, gain rewards, and strengthen early skills that align with your family’s educational goals. Hooked on Phonics helps children (ages 3-8) learn across reading, math, and spelling with:: • 1000+ educational activities designed for preschool, kindergarten, and early grade levels • 100+ ebook library with stories to complement every reading lesson • Multi-device compatibility – keep learning consistent across devices • Three customizable learner profiles to track individual progress Children can: • Gain confidence through interactive learning activities * Earn virtual rewards like cosmetic items for your avatar • Practice reading in our extensive ebook library • Easily resume learning on any device, any time WHAT YOU GET WHEN YOU DOWNLOAD: Hooked on Phonics offers a 7-day free trial of the entire program, including: reading, math, and spelling content. Experience your child’s excitement as they read their first book or solve their first math problem! Terms of use: - Hooked on Phonics provides a 7-day free trial, which upon completion, becomes a monthly subscription charged by the Apple App Store. - Subscriptions automatically renew unless auto-renew is turned off at least 24 hours prior to the end of the current period. - Subscriptions may be managed by the user by going to the “Subscriptions” section in the App store after purchase. https://hookedonphonics.com/terms-of-service/ Practice Packs Mailed Home: Catapult your child's progress by purchasing Practice Packs as an add-on to your App (available on our website). The workbooks, storybooks, and celebration stickers work in tandem with the App to help children develop a deeper understanding of literacy (and mathematics!) concepts. Built by educational experts and reinforced with feedback from our customers, the Practice Pack program includes 5 Pre-reader, and 15 Learn to Read packs that include workbooks, stickers, storybooks, and in the first Pre-reader pack, flashcards that are sent to the home, monthly. Subscribers can customize how often they receive these shipments through their account dashboard to tailor the pacing to each family’s needs. Created in conjunction with the App, the Practice Packs allow children to engage in different modalities of learning, review the skills they’ve gained in the App, and practice hands-on skills—like writing and tracing—that are best mastered in a non-digital environment. The result is an immersive program of learning experiences that keeps kids highly engaged in learning to read. Start your child on the path to becoming a confident lifelong learner, and download Hooked on Phonics now!

About

ABC Spelling

This educational game helps young children learn the alphabet, sound out words, and associate letters with pictures through interactive spelling activities. It features colorful graphics, fun animations, and a report card system to track progress. Designed for parents and children to play together, it offers a free and engaging learning experience.

Highlights
  • Learn alphabet and phonics
  • Interactive spelling games
  • Associate letters with pictures
  • Track learning progress with report cards
  • Colorful graphics and animations
  • Collect achievement stickers
Features
Read full description

Discover a brand new world of education with ABC Spelling - Spell & Phonics, a fun and free game for parents and children to play together! ABC Spelling is a colorful and easy to use educational game that helps young children learn the alphabet, sound out words, and associate letters with pictures. Play anytime and anywhere, it only takes a moment to turn on your phone and help your child learn the ABCs! Featuring three games in one: Spelling: A picture is shown on the screen with letters outlined just above it. Children match the letters at the top by choosing from the tiles below, placing them in the correct order to spell out words. Fill In Blank: Kids spell out the name of the picture using letters on the screen. There’s just one catch, though: all the letters are jumbled up! Blank Spelling: Letters are placed at the bottom of the screen, but this time there’s no clue at the top! ABC Spelling was designed with both adults and children in mind. Kids will love the bright graphics, the easy to touch icons, and the fun cartoon drawings. Parents will love the report card feature that helps track learning progress. Best of all, ABC Spelling - Spell & Phonics is absolutely free, with no third party ads, paywalls, or other distractions. Features: - Fun, educational activities for toddlers, kids, and parents alike! - Colorful graphics and wonderful animations to help kids learn. - Sounds to help children learn phonics for letters and words. - Report cards show learning progress so parents can help their kids at every turn. - Parents have complete control to set options and customize game modes to make learning more effective. - Collect stickers to celebrate learning achievements! Note to Parents: ABC Spelling is a passion project for us. We want to reach kids across the world and give them an educational advantage. Children in cities, towns, even remote places where cell phones are more common than schools can benefit from a learning app like this one. There are so many kids who lack proper schooling, and that's why we want to remove as many barriers as possible to help them learn. As parents, you can do a lot to help us spread the joy of education. Share this app with friends, family, schools, daycares, non-profit organizations, or simply post about it on Facebook or Twitter. One share, one tweet, can make a huge difference. We're parents ourselves, and it's our goal to keep making free educational apps for kids. We need your help to make that happen. Every child should have a chance to learn the basics of spelling, phonics, and numbers. Together, we can give countless kids an opportunity they've never had. Thank you! - Best wishes from the parents at RV AppStudios

Screenshots

Hooked on Phonics Learning4 screens
ABC Spelling4 screens

Verdict

The call

Hooked on Phonics Learning and ABC Spelling both sit at 4.5 stars, but that hides the real split: 86% of ABC Spelling's written reviews are positive against 42% of Hooked on Phonics Learning's. ABC Spelling also leads on in-app purchases (none vs 21). Hooked on Phonics Learning's advantage is chart position (#79 vs unranked) and ratings volume (18K vs 3.2K). On price, rating, update cadence and ads 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. Hooked on Phonics Learning sells 18 in-app purchases, starting at $6.99 per month. ABC Spelling asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.5 for Hooked on Phonics Learning against 4.6 for ABC Spelling. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Hooked on Phonics Learning has 18K ratings behind it against 3.2K, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 42% of Hooked on Phonics Learning's written reviews are positive against 86% of ABC Spelling's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Hooked on Phonics Learning ships an update monthly, ABC Spelling every 2 weeks. Both last shipped on November 1, 2026.

Scorecard5 real differences · 6 level
Hooked on Phonics Learning versus ABC Spelling: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterHooked on Phonics LearningABC Spelling
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.5 (18K ratings)4.6 (3.2K ratings) — better
Positive reviews42.4% of reviews85.7% of reviews — better
Number of ratings18K — better3.2K
Update frequencyMonthlyEvery 2 weeks — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree — better
Best chart rank#79 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS15.015.0
Further details — not scored
Size635 MB205 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperHooked on PhonicsRV AppStudios LLC

Customer experience

Hooked on Phonics Learning

All ratings18,169 ratings
Positive86.8%
Neutral4.4%
Negative8.8%
Written reviews375 reviews
Positive42.4%
Neutral11.5%
Negative46.1%

ABC Spelling

All ratings3,175 ratings
Positive89.1%
Neutral5.1%
Negative5.8%
Written reviews84 reviews
Positive85.7%
Neutral4.8%
Negative9.5%

User reviews

Hooked on Phonics Learning

From 18K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Helped child learn to read quickly
  • 👍 Fun and engaging for kids
  • 🚀 Effective for teaching phonics
  • 👍 Great customer service
  • 👍 Workbooks and app work well together

Room to improve

  • 🐛 App freezes and crashes frequently
  • 🐛 Progress not saved properly
  • 🐛 Difficult to navigate and use
  • 🔋 Slow loading times
  • 🔒 Subscription issues and billing problems

ABC Spelling

From 3.2K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Great for kids
  • 🚀 Fun and engaging activities
  • 💡 Helpful for learning and development
  • 🔒 No ads or in-app purchases

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Inaccurate phonics sounds
  • 🐛 Incorrect teaching techniques
  • 🐛 Frequent freezing or crashing

Bugs and requests

Hooked on Phonics Learning

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Avatar creation feature broken
  • Incorrect letter pronunciations
  • Levels not loading properly
  • Login issues after updates

Requested features

4 requests
  • More variety in activities and games
  • Ability to skip or customize lessons
  • Offline mode for using the app without internet
  • Support for larger families with more user profiles

ABC Spelling

Reported bugs

2 issues
  • Sound issues
  • Compatibility problems on older devices

Requested features

3 requests
  • Add more advanced word families and blends
  • Incorporate lower case letters
  • Improve sentence structure and grammar

In-app purchases

18 purchases

Hooked on Phonics Learning

Subscriptions14
  • Hooked on Phonics7 Days trial$6.991 Month
  • 1 month 7.997 Days trial$7.991 Month
  • Monthly $7.997 Days trial2 variants$7.991 Month
Show 11 more
  • Hooked on Phonics7 Days trial$7.991 Month
  • 1 month - 8.997 Days trial$8.991 Month
  • Hooked on Phonics7 Days trial$9.991 Month
  • Hooked on Phonics7 Days trial$12.991 Month
  • Monthly $12.997 Days trial2 variants$12.991 Month
  • Monthly $14.997 Days trial$14.991 Month
  • Semi-Annual $29.997 Days trial$29.996 Months
  • Hooked on Phonics$39.991 Year
  • Annual $49.997 Days trial2 variants$49.991 Year
  • 1 year 49.997 Days trial$49.991 Year
  • Annual $79.997 Days trial$79.991 Year
One-time4
  • Can Man eBook$0.99
  • Zap eBook$0.99
  • Unlocking of Step 2 including 3 eBooks$6.99
Show 1 more
  • Unlock Complete 12 Step Set$49.99
None

ABC Spelling

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Hooked on Phonics Learning free?
Hooked on Phonics Learning is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is ABC Spelling free?
ABC Spelling is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Hooked on Phonics Learning or ABC Spelling?
ABC Spelling is rated higher. Hooked on Phonics Learning averages 4.5 out of 5 from 18K ratings, while ABC Spelling averages 4.6 from 3.2K ratings.
Do Hooked on Phonics Learning or ABC Spelling have ads?
Neither Hooked on Phonics Learning nor ABC Spelling shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Hooked on Phonics Learning or ABC Spelling?
Hooked on Phonics Learning ships an update monthly, and ABC Spelling every 2 weeks. Most recently, Hooked on Phonics Learning was updated on November 1, 2026 and ABC Spelling on November 1, 2026.

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