FirstWork vs First Then Board
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
FirstWork
This platform offers digital Discrete Trial Instruction (DTI/DTT) with thousands of ABA and SPED learning goals. It provides innovative rewards and deep customization for personalized learning programs, trusted by professionals.
- Thousands of ABA and SPED learning goals
- Matching, Receptive Identification, FFC
- Expressive Language and Phonics activities
- Customizable spelling and counting exercises
- Progress monitoring and export features
- Focus Mode to limit distractions
- Digital reward system with app access
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FirstWork is the most popular digital Discrete Trial Instruction(DTI/DTT) platform featuring the most common ABA and SPED learning goals, thousands of targets, innovative rewards, and deep customization options. FirstWork is trusted by thousands of ABA and SPED professionals for their personalized learning programs. Our Learning Categories - featuring thousands of targets for: Matching: Boost cognitive skills by pairing related items. Receptive Identification: Enhance understanding through auditory and visual prompts. Feature, Function, and Class (FFC): Develop categorization and critical thinking skills by identifying objects based on their attributes, roles, and classifications. Expressive Language: Practice vocal responses with instructor-scored expressive language lessons. Letter Sound Matching: Strengthen phonics with interactive letter-sound activities. Spelling: Improve spelling with dynamic and customizable exercises. Counting: Build foundational math skills through counting tasks. Arithmetic: Advance numeracy with a variety of arithmetic challenges. Key Features: Progress Monitoring: Easily graph and monitor learning progress with our intuitive view and export features, helping you stay informed of your learner’s development. Customizable Lessons: Adapt the app to suit your learner’s specific needs with various lesson modifications. Lesson Sharing: Send a copy of your lesson to other FirstWork users, such as colleagues. Focus Mode: During lessons, you can limit access to distracting apps on your device making it an environment more suitable for learning. Reward System: You can grant time on your learner’s favorite apps as a reward, after their time is up, they’ll be brought back to FirstWork for another lesson. It’s ideal for remote learning, learning at home, or learners who enjoy digital rewards. Whether you're a parent, teacher, or ABA professional, FirstWork makes learning easy and enjoyable. Terms of Use: https://firstworkapp.com/terms-of-service/ Privacy Policy: https://firstworkapp.com/privacy-policy/
First Then Board
This visual scheduling tool helps children and individuals who benefit from structure understand sequences of activities. It uses custom photos to create clear, calming visual schedules for daily routines and transitions. Progress can be logged and exported for care teams or educational updates.
- Customizable photo panels for routines
- Multi-step routine creation
- Photo import from camera or library
- Progress logging and export
- Ad-free premium experience
- Unsplash photo integration
- Scheduled boards
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First Then Board is a visual schedule tool that helps children, and anyone who benefits from structure, understand what comes now and what comes next using their own photos or visual supports. Whether you're a parent, teacher, therapist, or caregiver, First Then Board provides a clear, calming way to communicate daily activities, transitions, and expectations without relying on words. With Premium, log each completed routine or note when more time was needed, then export a progress report to share with your care team. This began as a personal project to help my daughter with autism navigate daily routines, and it has grown into a tool designed to support other families facing the same challenges. FREE FEATURES • Free version supported by ads • Simple First and Then photo board • Add up to 5 middle steps for multi-step routines • Use photos from your camera or photo library • Add text labels under each image • Pinch to zoom and reposition photos • Drag to swap panels • Switch between vertical and side-by-side layouts • Reset boards quickly • English and Spanish • Step-by-step tutorial • Contact support from the menu PREMIUM FEATURES • Ad-free experience • Unsplash photo search • Activity timer with automatic celebration • Screen lock • Dark and light mode • Task completion overlays • Custom panel titles and header colors • Quick Boards to save and reuse routines • Scheduled routine reminders • Child profiles with separate photos, saved boards and history • Optional per-child PIN protection • Record completed activities and activities that needed more time • Reload boards from history • Export history to CSV • 90-day completion history • Saved photo library, favorites and search Premium is available through a yearly subscription or a lifetime purchase. Prices and any eligible offers are shown before purchase. Redeem App Store offer codes from the menu. Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is ads: FirstWork at none against First Then Board's shown. FirstWork also leads on update cadence (every 8 days vs every 5 weeks) and ratings volume (14 vs 3). First Then Board's advantage is rating (5.0 vs 4.7). On price, review sentiment, 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
Both are free to download. FirstWork sells 1 in-app purchase, starting at $12.99 per month and First Then Board sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $19.99 per year. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
First Then Board holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.7. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 14 and 3 respectively. Written reviews split almost evenly too, at 100% and 100% positive.
FirstWork ships an update every 8 days, First Then Board every 5 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 6, 2026 and October 18, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | FirstWork | First Then Board |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.7 (14 ratings) | 5.0 (3 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 100.0% of reviews | 100.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 14 — better | 3 |
| Update frequency | Every 8 days — better | Every 5 weeks |
| Ads | No — better | Yes |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Freemium |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 16.0 — better | 26.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 63 MB | 11 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | FirstWork LLC | Angelo Cipollaro |
Customer experience
FirstWork
First Then Board
In-app purchases
FirstWork
- Base$12.991 Month
First Then Board
- First Then Premium Yearly7 Days trial$19.991 Year
- First Then Premium Lifetime$34.99
Questions
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