Comparison

Starfish Academy vs The Phonics App

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

Head to head
About

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.

Highlights
  • Interactive learning activities and games
  • Comprehensive English skill development
  • Effective communication practice
  • Foundation for academic excellence
  • Personalized learning with progress reports
  • Achievement certificates
Features
Read full description

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!!

About

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.

Highlights
  • 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
Features
Read full description

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

Starfish Academy4 screens
The Phonics App4 screens

Verdict

The call

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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

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.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

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.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Starfish Academy ships an update every 6 weeks, The Phonics App monthly. Both last shipped on November 8, 2026.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
Starfish Academy versus The Phonics App: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterStarfish AcademyThe Phonics App
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (3 ratings) — better4.6 (233 ratings)
Positive reviews—92.5% of reviews
Number of ratings3233 — better
Update frequencyEvery 6 weeksMonthly — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree — betterFreemium
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS13.4 — better15.6
Further details — not scored
Size161 MB248 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperLittle Stars By StarfishPhonics Folk Ltd

Customer experience

Starfish Academy

All ratings3 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

The Phonics App

All ratings100 ratings
Positive95.0%
Neutral2.0%
Negative3.0%
Written reviews40 reviews
Positive92.5%
Neutral0.0%
Negative7.5%

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

None

Starfish Academy

No in-app purchases

3 purchases

The Phonics App

Subscriptions3
  • Access Everything Monthly$4.991 Month
  • Access Everything Quarterly$12.993 Months
  • Access Everything Yearly$29.991 Year

Questions

Is Starfish Academy free?
Starfish Academy is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is The Phonics App free?
The Phonics App is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Starfish Academy or The Phonics App?
Starfish Academy is rated higher. Starfish Academy averages 5.0 out of 5 from 3 ratings, while The Phonics App averages 4.6 from 233 ratings.
Do Starfish Academy or The Phonics App have ads?
Neither Starfish Academy nor The Phonics App shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Starfish Academy or The Phonics App?
Starfish Academy ships an update every 6 weeks, and The Phonics App monthly. Most recently, Starfish Academy was updated on November 8, 2026 and The Phonics App on November 8, 2026.

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