Starfish Academy vs The Phonics App
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Starfish Academy
This app offers an immersive educational gaming experience to master English language skills for students in grades 1-12. It focuses on vocabulary, grammar, phonics, pronunciation, writing, listening, speaking, reading comprehension, and critical thinking through interactive activities and games.
- Interactive learning activities and games
- Comprehensive English skill development
- Effective communication practice
- Foundation for academic excellence
- Personalized learning with progress reports
- Achievement certificates
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Starfish Academy App dives into an immersive world of educational gaming and English language mastery! Tailored for students from Grade 1 – 12, our app is a dynamic tool designed to enhance vocabulary, grammar, phonics, pronunciation, writing, listening, speaking, reading comprehension and critical thinking skills. Engage with our interactive platform that makes learning English a breeze! With vibrant activities and games, students embark on a journey of discovery that foster confidence and active participation in their language development. Why Starfish App? • Interactive learning: immerse yourself in captivating activities and colorful features that make learning English an adventure. • Comprehensive skill development: From vocabulary building to mastering phonics, writing, listening, reading and speaking, our App covers it all. Progress at your own pace without the need for rote memorization. • Effective Communication: Gain the sills to express yourself with clarity and confidence. Our interactive approach cultivates effective communication, enabling seamless interaction with others. • Academic Excellence: Start early on the path to academic success in literature, science, technology and beyond. Our App lays the foundation for lifelong learning and achievement. • Personalized learning: Receive a tailored English learning experience with progress reports and achievement certificate, ensuring every child reaches their full potential with English learning. • Environmentally Conscious: Our app is eco-friendly, reducing the need for additional resources. Give your child the gift of a strong start in English with our innovative language learning App. Join Starfish Academy today and watch your child thrive!!
The Phonics App
This app teaches reading through phonics, focusing on sounds and blending words. It offers a research-led, non-addictive approach with expert guidance and informal checks to reinforce learning. Learn to decode nearly every English word with a focus on clear pronunciation.
- Learn a-z sounds and word blending
- Expert video guidance
- Simple tap-to-hear sound interface
- Learn English sound pronunciation
- Practice with 400+ words
- Learn irregular (tricky) words
- Informal learning checks
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This multi-award-winning phonics app can help absolutely anyone learn to read. Join thousands of people around the world learning to read with The Phonics App! "We loved The Phonics App, as it has been specifically designed NOT to be addictive, and doesn't rely on dopamine hits for kids' rewards." - MadeForMums Tech Awards 2025 Editor's Choice. "A beautifully designed, calm, and research-led approach to early literacy that stands out in a market dominated by highly gamified products" - Digital Education Awards 2025 Highly Commended The Phonics App Features: * Learn the a-z sounds and how to blend 2 and 3 letter words completely free. * Subscribe to learn all the other sounds and practise with 400+ words. * Video guidance from an expert phonics teacher every step of the way. * Beautifully simple - just tap the words to hear the sounds they're made of. * Learn how to pronounce all of the sounds of English (with an English accent). * Build up your knowledge of phonics, one sound at a time. * Learn how to read and understand common irregular (tricky) words. * Informal checks at the end of each section to reinforce your learning. * Learn both lower case and capital letters. * Learn to decode nearly every English word. * No collectibles, coins or dopamine rewards! Why did we make this app? Jonny is a father of two and started making this app to teach his kids to read. It worked really well, so he showed it to Miss Mabel (founder of Reading Roots, community of 750k parents and teachers learning phonics) to see if it would be useful to other people. She said yes, and had a lot of ideas how to make it better! So they spent AGES making 'The Phonics App', and now it's finally ready for you. We hope it helps you learn to read too! Miss Mabel & Jonny Subscriptions in this app follow standard Apple Terms of Use (EULA) which you can read here: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Starfish Academy at none against The Phonics App's 3. Starfish Academy also leads on rating (5.0 vs 4.6) and iOS requirement (13.4 vs 15.6). The Phonics App's advantage is ratings volume (233 vs 3). On price, update cadence, ads and device support 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. The Phonics App sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month. Starfish Academy asks for nothing beyond the download.
Starfish Academy holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.6. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: The Phonics App has 233 ratings behind it against 3, so its average is the more settled of the two.
Starfish Academy ships an update every 6 weeks, The Phonics App monthly. Both last shipped on November 8, 2026.
| Parameter | Starfish Academy | The Phonics App |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 5.0 (3 ratings) — better | 4.6 (233 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | — | 92.5% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 3 | 233 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 6 weeks | Monthly — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | Free — better | Freemium |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 13.4 — better | 15.6 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 161 MB | 248 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Little Stars By Starfish | Phonics Folk Ltd |
Customer experience
Starfish Academy
The Phonics App
Bugs and requests
Starfish Academy
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
The Phonics App
Requested features
3 requests- Option to open pictures for letter sounds
- Accent options for narration (e.g., American English)
- Offer app in Mandarin
In-app purchases
Starfish Academy
No in-app purchases
The Phonics App
- Access Everything Monthly$4.991 Month
- Access Everything Quarterly$12.993 Months
- Access Everything Yearly$29.991 Year
Questions
Is Starfish Academy free?
Is The Phonics App free?
Which has better reviews, Starfish Academy or The Phonics App?
Do Starfish Academy or The Phonics App have ads?
Which is updated more often, Starfish Academy or The Phonics App?
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