Comparison

GoTalk® Start vs Boardmaker 7 Student Center

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

Head to head
About

GoTalk® Start

This communication app assists individuals with speaking difficulties by providing customizable pages for recorded messages, text-to-speech, and visual aids. Users can create communication books with various layouts and integrate images, videos, and music.

Highlights
  • Adjustable page layouts
  • Customizable navigation
  • Recorded and text-to-speech capabilities
  • Included symbol set
  • Multiple communication page styles
  • Internet image search
Features
Read full description

Attainment has been making augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) tools for 25 years. Our experience is front and center in GoTalk Start, a flexible, easy-to-use, yet powerful communication app for people who have difficulty speaking. As the name implies, GoTalk Start is a great way to start using your iPad for AAC. Built on the framework of Attainment’s full-featured GoTalk NOW, GoTalk Start has all the essentials of an effective AAC app, like adjustable page layouts, customizable navigation, recorded and text-to-speech capabilities, and an included symbol set. Choose from over 60 ready-to-use, high quality text-to-speech voices in 30 languages! So why is GoTalk Start less expensive than GoTalk NOW? Because GoTalk Start is limited to five Communication Pages and doesn’t offer the sharing capabilities of GoTalk NOW. If you need more Communication Pages or the ability to share, simply upgrade your GoTalk Start to full GoTalk NOW Features via an in-app purchase. The new Start offers three styles of communication pages: Standard, Express, and Scene. In Standard pages, the action occurs when the location is pressed. In Express pages, recorded or text-to-speech messages build in a speech bar and play in sequence when the bar is pressed. Scene pages are built around a single photo or image. When you arrange invisible hotspots over people or objects in the photo, the hotspots play speech, music, or videos! Feel free to mix and match pages within a communication book. Create a communication book with unique settings and up to 5 pages in length. Envision the impact of blending video, music, and jump to actions among your pages. How cool is it to have access to 30 different text-to-speech voices, in a variety of different languages! Plus, GoTalk Start is a full-feature scanning app! Features: • Choose 1, 2, 4, 9, 16, or 25 locations per page. • Ability to create multiple books with unlimited pages via in-app purchase. • Use images from your iPad camera, photo library, or the Imagine Symbol set. • Search the Internet in-app for the perfect image or icon. • Purchase SymbolStix or Widgit Symbols libraries in-app. • Crop, scale, or rotate an image using your fingers. • Combine multiple images in a single communication location. • Color pages, borders, and text with any hue. • Move and size text with your fingers so it feels just right. • Record your voice or use our free text-to-speech voice. • Access 30 different text-to-speech voices, in an assortment of different languages. • Add spoken labels (auditory cues) to any button. Great for scanning, guiding visually impaired users, and identifying any new or difficult vocabulary. • Trim videos in-app, and play them from any communication location. • Select our alternate video interface to pause or exit the video easily. • Link songs from your playlist to any communication location and control them with Pause/Play, Next, and Previous. • Include a core vocabulary button for extra quick access to important messages. • Create multimedia social stories and step-by-step instruction layouts by linking pages with an after action. •In-app purchase allows for back up of communication books via Dropbox or to any Mac or PC for safekeeping. • Store and share interactive templates (each including speech, video, text, and jump to links) on our online gallery via in-app purchase. • Download and edit premade templates from Attainment’s collection on the public gallery available via in-app purchase. • Print and save communication book layouts via PDFs. • Access Start with single or two-switch scanning. GoTalk Start participates in Apple's Volume Purchasing Program for Education in the United States. Attainment is well known for top-notch customer service. Email us with questions or comments and check our website for free webinars. And yes, we're happy to talk to you on the telephone!

About

Boardmaker 7 Student Center

Create symbol-supported educational and communication materials for individuals with special needs. Design printable boards, custom books, interactive games, and quizzes to aid communication, behavior, and learning success. Empower educators, therapists, and parents with personalized, life-changing resources.

Highlights
  • Symbol-supported material creation
  • Printable communication boards
  • Custom books
  • Interactive games and quizzes
  • Personalized learning resources
  • Visual supports for communication and behavior
Read full description

Boardmaker 7 is the most powerful tool for creating unlimited symbol-supported educational and communication materials for individuals with special needs. From printable communication boards and custom books to interactive games and quizzes, there are endless options for creating engaging, relevant, and personalized materials in minutes. Symbol-based visual supports have been proven to help people with communication, behavior, and learning challenges succeed in school and life. Boardmaker 7 makes it easy for educators, therapists, and parents to create these materials and use them for life-changing results.

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Boardmaker 7 Student Center at Free against GoTalk® Start's $9.99. Boardmaker 7 Student Center also leads on in-app purchases (none vs 13) and iOS requirement (11.0 vs 15.6). GoTalk® Start's advantage is review sentiment (33% vs 0%) and update cadence (every 6 weeks vs every 9 months). On 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

Boardmaker 7 Student Center is free to download; GoTalk® Start costs $9.99 up front. GoTalk® Start sells 13 one-off in-app purchases. Boardmaker 7 Student Center asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

GoTalk® Start ships an update every 6 weeks, Boardmaker 7 Student Center every 9 months. The most recent releases landed on October 23, 2026 and October 24, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 4 level
GoTalk® Start versus Boardmaker 7 Student Center: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterGoTalk® StartBoardmaker 7 Student Center
Price$9.99Free — better
Rating—3.0 (2 ratings) — better
Positive reviews33.3% of reviews — better0.0% of reviews
Number of ratings—2 — better
Update frequencyEvery 6 weeks — betterEvery 9 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree — better
DevicesiPadiPad
Requires iOS15.611.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size235 MB817 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperAttainment CompanyTobii Dynavox LLC

Customer experience

GoTalk® Start

Written reviews3 reviews
Positive33.3%
Neutral0.0%
Negative66.7%

Boardmaker 7 Student Center

All ratings2 ratings
Positive50.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative50.0%
Written reviews2 reviews
Positive0.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative100.0%

In-app purchases

13 purchases

GoTalk® Start

One-time13
  • Vidhi$0.99
  • Ella$11.99
  • Josh$11.99
Show 10 more
  • Carmen$11.99
  • Vidhi English$11.99
  • Ready-Set-Communicate$19.99
  • Talk All Day$19.99
  • Core! Start NOW$39.99
  • SymbolStix$49.99
  • METACOM (German Keywords)$55.99
  • AAC2go (Girl 3-10)$79.99
  • Upgrade to GoTalk NOW Features$104.99
  • ZAK Kommunikationsbuch für Kinder$199.99
None

Boardmaker 7 Student Center

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is GoTalk® Start free?
GoTalk® Start costs $9.99, and also offers in-app purchases.
Is Boardmaker 7 Student Center free?
Boardmaker 7 Student Center is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do GoTalk® Start or Boardmaker 7 Student Center have ads?
Neither GoTalk® Start nor Boardmaker 7 Student Center shows ads.
Which is updated more often, GoTalk® Start or Boardmaker 7 Student Center?
GoTalk® Start ships an update every 6 weeks, and Boardmaker 7 Student Center every 9 months. Most recently, GoTalk® Start was updated on October 23, 2026 and Boardmaker 7 Student Center on October 24, 2026.

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