Comparison

Beam vs Poly Thai Reader

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

Head to head
About

Beam

Master the Thai language with this comprehensive learning tool. It offers lessons on the Thai script, daily vocabulary, real-world conversations, and interactive quizzes to help you speak Thai confidently.

Highlights
  • Master Thai script with audio
  • Daily vocabulary lessons
  • Practice real-world conversations
  • Instant translation tool
  • Interactive quizzes
  • Progress tracking and stats
  • Save favorite phrases
Features
Read full description

Sawasdee! Learn to speak real Thai — tones and all. Beam takes you from your first สวัสดี to holding real conversations, with audio on every phrase and the one thing most apps skip: tones. What makes Beam different • Master the 5 Tones — visual pitch guides, minimal-pair drills, and an ear-training quiz. Get understood, not just heard. • Speak & get scored — say a phrase out loud and Beam checks your pronunciation with on-device speech recognition. • Role-play real conversations — order food, take a taxi, bargain, check into a hotel, make friends. Play both sides or take your turn. • Audio on every phrase — hear each word spoken before you say it, so you learn the rhythm, not just the spelling. • Learn the Thai script — all 44 consonants and vowels, with consonant classes and stroke-friendly cards. • Culture & etiquette — the wai, temple manners, khráp/khâ, festivals, and the customs that help you connect respectfully. Learn it and keep it • Smart Daily Review — spaced repetition surfaces words right before you forget them. • Guided Learning Path from beginner to confident. • Word of the Day, instant translation, fast quizzes, favorites & search. • Streaks, achievements & progress stats — and pick your own color theme. Whether you're headed to Bangkok, connecting with family, or fell in love with the culture, Beam is your companion to speaking beautiful Thai. Download Beam and start today!

About

Poly Thai Reader

This app offers a library of graded Thai stories with native audio and instant word definitions to help learners improve their reading comprehension and vocabulary. It features adjustable audio speed, romanization toggles, and grammar explanations for various learning levels.

Highlights
  • Graded Thai stories
  • Native Thai audio with adjustable speed
  • Instant word definitions
  • Favorite words list
  • Romanization toggle
  • Grammar explanations
  • 5 reading levels
Features
Read full description

Struggling to read Thai stories? I designed Poly Thai reader - Read Thai Stories อ่านภาษาไทย to make reading fun and accessible, with a library of graded stories perfect for every level! As a Thai teacher (from "Thai with Grace" on YouTube!), I know how hard it can be to find interesting Thai reading material that's perfect for your level. Other resources may lack the audio pronunciations or the ability to simply look up words with a tap. That's why I created Poly Thai reader - a Thai graded reader app filled with engaging stories that will help you improve your reading skills, whether you are just starting (you can use transliteration) or are intermediate already. I've included all kinds of stories about Thai culture, personal stories about my life, conversations/dialogues, and more. I carefully created each story to build your reading skills while keeping you entertained and motivated. Features: - Native Thai Audio: Listen to my voice as I read each story aloud! You'll learn the correct pronunciation and tones naturally, just by listening. You can also adjust the speed of the audio. - Word-by-Word Highlighting: Watch each word light up as I read it, so it's super easy to follow along. - Instant Word Definitions: Tap any word to see its meaning and hear native audio pronunciation instantly. - Favorite Words List: Save new words to your "favorites" list to review later and build your vocabulary. - Dictionary: Search thousands of Thai words to find the definition and hundreds of example sentences - Categorized words: Search through categories to learn Thai vocabulary and save any word to your own list! - Quiz yourself: Quiz yourself on your saved Thai words and sentences - Romanization Toggle: Turn the romanization (transliteration) on or off depending on your level. Great for beginners or those who want to read pure Thai! - Grammar explanations: Each level has grammar explanations to clear up any questions you might have. For example, explanations about Thai classifiers, pronouns in Thai, Thai patterns, and more. - Change font: You can change the font to practice reading Thai in different fonts. The stories in my graded Thai reader are designed to gradually improve your reading skills: 5 levels for Thai reading: 1. Newbie Level: very-simple stories with a very limited vocabulary. Perfect for those who are brand new to reading Thai! 2. Beginner Level: Simple stories with basic vocabulary and sentence structures. Great for building a strong foundation in easy Thai reading. 3. Easy Level: Slightly longer stories with a bit more vocabulary and some common grammar patterns. 4. Intermediate Level: More challenging Thai stories with a wider range of vocabulary and grammar concepts. 5. Hard Level: These stories have more complex topics, vocabs, patterns, are read at a normal pace (although you can adjust the speed), and are similar to Thai native level texts. Learn Thai for free or upgrade to access: - All the current and future stories - All the vocabulary categories Poly Thai reader is the perfect app for anyone learning Thai language and looking to improve their reading comprehension and vocabulary. If you are ready to level up your Thai reading skills - download Poly Thai reader today and see how quickly you improve! Terms of Use: https://thaiwithgrace.com/poly-thai-reader-terms Privacy Policy: https://thaiwithgrace.com/privacy-policy

Screenshots

Beam4 screens
Poly Thai Reader4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is ads: Poly Thai Reader at none against Beam's shown. Poly Thai Reader also leads on ratings volume (9 vs 2). Beam's advantage is update cadence (weekly vs monthly). On price, rating, 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

Both are free to download. Beam sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and Poly Thai Reader sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $9.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 5.0 for Beam against 5.0 for Poly Thai Reader. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 2 and 9 respectively.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Beam ships an update weekly, Poly Thai Reader monthly. The most recent releases landed on October 14, 2026 and October 21, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
Beam versus Poly Thai Reader: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterBeamPoly Thai Reader
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (2 ratings)5.0 (9 ratings)
Positive reviews—80.0% of reviews
Number of ratings29 — better
Update frequencyWeekly — betterMonthly
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS18.017.4 — better
Further details — not scored
Size88 MB90 MB
Age rating+49+
DeveloperZhi Yao TanEdgar Ruiz

Customer experience

Beam

All ratings2 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Poly Thai Reader

All ratings9 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews5 reviews
Positive80.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative20.0%

In-app purchases

1 purchases

Beam

One-time1
  • Remove advertisements$7.99
3 purchases

Poly Thai Reader

Subscriptions2
  • Monthly$9.991 Month
  • Yearly$69.991 Year
One-time1
  • Poly Thai Reader - Lifetime$99.99

Questions

Is Beam free?
Beam is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Poly Thai Reader free?
Poly Thai Reader is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Beam or Poly Thai Reader?
Beam and Poly Thai Reader are both rated 5.0 out of 5 on the App Store, from 2 and 9 ratings respectively.
Do Beam or Poly Thai Reader have ads?
Beam shows ads; Poly Thai Reader does not.
Which is updated more often, Beam or Poly Thai Reader?
Beam ships an update weekly, and Poly Thai Reader monthly. Most recently, Beam was updated on October 14, 2026 and Poly Thai Reader on October 21, 2026.

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