Comparison

ParentPlus vs Points Scan

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

Head to head
About

ParentPlus

Access your child's academic information, including grades, attendance, and homework, from anywhere. Stay informed about school announcements, alerts, and events to foster a strong school-family connection.

Highlights
  • View grades and scores
  • Track attendance
  • Access homework assignments
  • Check child's schedule
  • Monitor discipline records
  • Receive school announcements and alerts
  • Combined school calendar
Features
Read full description

ParentPlus gives you secure, mobile access to your child's grades, scores, attendance, schedule, discipline record and homework. Parents can also access school announcements, alerts and combined calendar. ParentPlus creates a strong connection between your school and family by sharing information that is critical to your child's success and learning.

About

Points Scan

Quickly determine the Accelerated Reader™ points and reading level for any book by scanning its barcode or searching by title/author. Save your favorite books for easy access.

Highlights
  • Scan book barcodes
  • Instant AR™ point value
  • Instant AR™ level
  • Title search
  • Author search
  • Save to Favorites list
Features
Read full description

Want to know how many Accelerated Reader™ points a book is worth? Points Scan lets you scan a book’s barcode with your smart phone and instantly link to AR™ information. Straight Path Apps brings you the easiest, most convenient way to learn a book ‘s AR™ point value and level when you’re on the go. Simply scan the book’s ISBN (barcode) using your device's camera as a scanner and one screen later; you’ll see the book’s AR™ level, point value and quiz number. If your book doesn't have a barcode, no problem! Points Scan includes both a title and author search, as well. If you find a book you want to remember, you can also save it in a Favorites list. Renaissance Learning™ developed Accelerated Reader ™ and is no way associated with Straight Path Apps.

Screenshots

ParentPlus4 screens
Points Scan4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Points Scan at 4.8 against ParentPlus's 1.7. Points Scan also leads on review sentiment (32% vs 6%) and ratings volume (2.7K vs 254). 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

Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Points Scan holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 1.7. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Points Scan has 2.7K ratings behind it against 254, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 6% of ParentPlus's written reviews are positive against 32% of Points Scan's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly every 5 months. The most recent releases landed on October 1, 2026 and October 2, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
ParentPlus versus Points Scan: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterParentPlusPoints Scan
PriceFreeFree
Rating1.7 (254 ratings)4.8 (2.7K ratings) — better
Positive reviews6.1% of reviews31.6% of reviews — better
Number of ratings2542.7K — better
Update frequencyEvery 5 monthsEvery 5 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFreeFree
DevicesiPhone, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS15.012.1 — better
Further details — not scored
Size52 MB12 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperRediker Software, Inc.Straight Path Apps

Customer experience

ParentPlus

All ratings254 ratings
Positive15.4%
Neutral3.1%
Negative81.5%
Written reviews82 reviews
Positive6.1%
Neutral4.9%
Negative89.0%

Points Scan

All ratings2,740 ratings
Positive94.2%
Neutral2.9%
Negative2.9%
Written reviews57 reviews
Positive31.6%
Neutral15.8%
Negative52.6%

User reviews

ParentPlus

From 254 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Easy access to grades from mobile device
  • 📱 Convenient alternative to website login
  • 📧 Easy access to teacher emails
  • 📅 Calendar sync capability
  • ℹ️ Good for communication and information sharing

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Frequent crashes and freezing
  • 🐢 Extremely slow performance
  • 🔐 Persistent login and credential issues
  • ⚪ White/blank screen on startup
  • 🔄 Constant logout issues

Points Scan

From 2.7K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Easy to use
  • 🚀 Convenient scanning feature
  • 💡 Helpful for AR goals
  • 🙌 Teacher-approved

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Frequent crashes and freezes
  • 🔍 Unable to find many books
  • 🤔 Inconsistent search results
  • 🤯 Buggy barcode scanning

Bugs and requests

ParentPlus

Reported bugs

15 issues
  • App crashes immediately after login
  • Login credentials rejected despite working on website
  • White/blank screen on app launch
  • App freezes and requires force quit
  • Continuous logout without user action
Show 10 more
  • App stuck on loading screen indefinitely
  • Switches to first student's grades when viewing multiple children
  • Password reset times out or fails
  • School name not recognized despite correct input
  • Incompatibility with iOS 16.6 and iPhone 13 Pro
  • Black screen on startup
  • Email interface keyboard blocks input area
  • App not sized properly for iPad despite support claim
  • Calendar sync failures with iPhone X
  • Invalid credentials error on app but not on website

Requested features

9 requests
  • Touch ID/biometric authentication
  • Push notifications for new assignments and grades
  • iPad-specific optimized version
  • Remember login credentials properly
  • Auto-correct in email composition
Show 4 more
  • Ability to add child photos in app
  • Descending order for quarters/semesters (current first)
  • Improved multi-child account management
  • Scrollable email header for better composition

Points Scan

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Scanning issues with books starting with 0
  • Incorrect character display in search results
  • Sudden inability to search by name or author
  • Compatibility problems with older devices

Requested features

4 requests
  • Include word count information
  • Add ability to mark books as completed
  • Improve search functionality
  • Expand book database coverage

In-app purchases

None

ParentPlus

No in-app purchases

None

Points Scan

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is ParentPlus free?
ParentPlus is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Points Scan free?
Points Scan is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, ParentPlus or Points Scan?
Points Scan is rated higher. ParentPlus averages 1.7 out of 5 from 254 ratings, while Points Scan averages 4.8 from 2.7K ratings.
Do ParentPlus or Points Scan have ads?
Neither ParentPlus nor Points Scan shows ads.
Which is updated more often, ParentPlus or Points Scan?
ParentPlus ships an update every 5 months, and Points Scan every 5 months. Most recently, ParentPlus was updated on October 1, 2026 and Points Scan on October 2, 2026.

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