Learn Thai Alphabet & Script vs Start Writing
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Learn Thai Alphabet & Script
Master Thai script through interactive writing practice and real-time feedback. This app teaches all consonants, vowels, and tone marks with native pronunciation, helping you read Thai in weeks.
- Handwriting canvas with stroke scoring
- All Thai consonants, vowels, and tone marks
- Native pronunciation audio
- Multiple quiz modes
- Spaced repetition for review
- Progress tracking and achievements
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Write every Thai letter with your finger and get each stroke scored as you draw. Learn the consonant class behind every letter — the key that makes Thai tones predictable. 44 consonants, 32 vowels, 4 tone marks, native audio, fully offline. Thai letters come with names: ก is ก ไก่ — "gor gai", the chicken. That is how Thai children learn them, and how you will too. But the real key is the class. Each of the 44 consonants belongs to one of three classes — Mid, High or Low — and the class together with the tone mark decides which of the five tones a syllable takes. Memorising letter shapes alone will never let you predict a tone. This app shows the class on every consonant, teaches live and dead syllables and the ห leader, and makes you write each letter with the stroke scored in real time. Built for adults and travelers — not toddlers. Practical, fast, and honest about what it takes to read menus, signs, and messages in Thailand. ▸ Handwriting canvas scores every stroke as you draw ▸ All 44 consonants, 32 vowels & 4 tone marks covered ▸ Native pronunciation for every character ▸ 3 quiz modes + real listening drills ▸ Spaced repetition (SM-2) & a daily challenge ▸ A smart review deck that resurfaces your mistakes ▸ Streaks, badges & weekly progress charts Ten minutes a day, from zero to reading Thai, one letter at a time.
Start Writing
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Handwriting is muscle memory, and muscle memory needs the right kind of repetition. Start Writing gives you a proper practice sheet, correct stroke order, and a scheduler that brings each character back just before you'd forget it. WRITE THREE SCRIPTS Chinese characters, Japanese kana and kanji, and the Latin alphabet, each with its own paper. Chinese and Japanese get the square grid with diagonal guides that teachers use; English gets the four-line baseline grid. STROKE ORDER, ANIMATED Watch any character draw itself stroke by stroke, then trace over the model and write it from memory. Stroke-order data covers the characters you'll actually meet, not just a starter set. SCORING THAT TELLS YOU SOMETHING Every attempt is checked against the reference form for stroke count, position and proportion, so you find out which stroke drifted rather than just seeing a number. REVIEW AT THE RIGHT MOMENT A spaced-repetition scheduler tracks each character separately. Characters you write cleanly move further out; the ones you fumble come back sooner. Your daily goal splits new items from reviews so a session has a clear finish. BUILT FOR APPLE PENCIL Pressure and tilt come through to the stroke. Choose ink colour and stroke width, or turn on finger writing when the Pencil isn't nearby. THIRTY-FOUR THEMED SETS Numbers, family, body, colours, nature, animals, food, time, school, greetings, actions and places — written in parallel across all three scripts and graded from beginner to intermediate. Twenty-five starter sets are free. RADICALS AND KANA TABLES 223 Chinese radicals ordered by stroke count, the full gojūon tables for hiragana and katakana, and the alphabet in upper and lower case. Every entry is practiceable on its own. TRACK WHAT YOU'VE DONE A contribution-style activity map, streak count, per-character history and mastery breakdown. All of it computed on your device. NO ACCOUNT, NO TRACKING Start Writing collects nothing. There is no account, no analytics and no advertising SDK. Your writing history stays on your device unless you turn on iCloud sync, in which case it goes to your own private iCloud database and nowhere else. ONE PURCHASE The full version is a single purchase — no subscription, no expiry. It unlocks importing your own articles and word lists, iCloud sync and restore, Home Screen widgets, ink colour and stroke width, nine word and sentence sets, and unlimited books. Free forever: stroke-order animation for all three scripts, scoring, tracing, twenty-five starter sets, daily goals, practice history and statistics. Character shape data comes from the Make Me a Hanzi project (Arphic Public License) and letter models from open-source school teaching fonts (SIL Open Font License). Full licence texts are in Settings › About › Open Source Licences.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is ads: Start Writing at none against Learn Thai Alphabet & Script's shown. Learn Thai Alphabet & Script's advantage is update cadence (every 6 days vs fortnightly) and iOS requirement (15.5 vs 17.0). On price, in-app purchases 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. Learn Thai Alphabet & Script sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and Start Writing sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
Learn Thai Alphabet & Script ships an update every 6 days, Start Writing fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on October 31, 2026 and October 26, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Learn Thai Alphabet & Script | Start Writing |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 5.0 (5 ratings) — better | — |
| Positive reviews | 50.0% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 5 — better | — |
| Update frequency | Every 6 days — better | Fortnightly |
| Ads | Yes | No — better |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Ad-supported | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 15.5 — better | 17.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 63 MB | 40 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | zhenyu song | 家豪 张 |
In-app purchases
Learn Thai Alphabet & Script
- Remove Ads$2.99
Start Writing
- Premium$14.99
Questions
Is Learn Thai Alphabet & Script free?
Is Start Writing free?
Do Learn Thai Alphabet & Script or Start Writing have ads?
Which is updated more often, Learn Thai Alphabet & Script or Start Writing?
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