SpellBee vs Academic Ace
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
SpellBee
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Make spelling practice part of your family's routine. SpellBee brings spoken words, school lists and short spelling challenges together in one ad-free app. No account is required. BEE ADVENTURES Explore three illustrated worlds with Bee Buddy, each with four short stops. Play all of Sunny Meadow for free. Premium includes Moonlight Garden and Rainbow Falls. Adventure progress stays on your device. AN INCLUDED VOICE FOR EVERY BUILT-IN WORD Bee Buddy recordings cover all 360 built-in catalog words, their definitions and example sentences. These recordings work offline and are included for everyone. Hear a word again or use slow repeat when you need more time. Adventure narration and feedback also use included recordings. PRACTICE YOUR WAY Type an answer, tap letter tiles, or spell aloud with optional speech recognition. Choose from eight difficulty levels and built-in themed word packs. The built-in packs remain available offline. BRING YOUR SCHOOL WORDS Paste a spelling list from a worksheet or message, then review and edit it before practice. Add your own definitions when helpful. Your custom lists stay on your device. REVIEW AND FIRST-TRY PROGRESS Today's practice mixes words at your level with words due for review. Results separate first-try answers from words completed after another attempt. Per-word review dates and practice history help you decide what to revisit. NUMBER BEE AND MATH BEE Practice spelling numbers as words, or listen to a sum and spell its answer. Daily quests, honey and badges add small milestones along the way. PREMIUM FOR YOUR FAMILY'S ROUTINE The existing Premium plans include: • Moonlight Garden and Rainbow Falls • Unlimited parent-made word lists • Unlimited Math Bee rounds • Online Studio voices for custom words Built-in catalog words use the included Bee Buddy voice, including when Studio is selected. Online custom-word voices require an internet connection; device speech is available as a fallback. Choose a monthly or yearly subscription, or a one-time lifetime purchase. Prices and plan details appear in your store's currency before checkout. A grown-up challenge precedes checkout. Restore Purchases is available in Settings and on the Premium screen. Manage subscription renewals in your store account. PRIVACY Lists, Adventure progress and practice history stay on your device. No account and no ads. Optional speech recognition may use your device provider's servers. Online custom-word pronunciation sends text to our voice service. Purchases are verified securely with Apple or Google. See our privacy policy for operational logging details. Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy Policy: https://nalhamzy.github.io/spellbee/privacy.html
Academic Ace
Practice for UIL academic competitions with focused drills and real contest formats. Track progress with a dashboard, smart review, and achievements. Your data stays private with no ads or tracking.
- UIL contest practice
- Number Sense drills
- Chess Puzzle tactics
- Music Memory quizzes
- Progress dashboard
- Smart review system
- No ads or tracking
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Academic Ace helps students practice for UIL academic competitions on real past tests, not look-alike questions. More than 26,000 questions come straight from contests UIL has given and released, with their official answer keys, and every test runs on the real time limit with the real scoring. Built by a parent and student. Pick your program on Home: A+ (grades 2–8) or High School. A+ SUBJECTS (GRADES 2–8) • Number Sense — 48 released tests (3,840 problems): 80-question mental-math speed tests with a custom keypad, the 10-minute timer and true +5 / −4 scoring. • Chess Puzzle — 1,389 puzzles from released tests, 2017 to today; choose the best move. • Music Memory — the official piece list and recordings for every year since 2017, past quiz questions, composer matching, and a two-step Listening Quiz. • Science — 34 released tests with the graphs, tables and diagrams from the real exams, scored +5 / −2. • Dictionary Skills — 54 released tests: word meanings, origins, special notations like Morse code, and a matching section, scored +3 / −2. • Social Studies — 48 released tests (1,920 questions) with the maps, photos and charts from the real exams, scored +3 / −2, plus 2026-27 practice exams written from UIL's new study outline and clearly labeled as mock exams. • Art — 52 released tests (1,560 questions) on art elements and art history, scored 2 points each, plus 2026-27 practice exams that draw 15 of this year's 30 official works at random for picture identification, clearly labeled as mock exams. HIGH SCHOOL • Spelling & Vocabulary — 27 released District, Region and State tests: find and correct the misspelled word, answer vocabulary questions, and spell words read aloud, one point each. • Social Studies — 44 released tests (1,980 questions) on each year's topic and reading list, scored by part (1, 2 and 3 points, 80 max) with each test's essay prompt, plus a 2026-27 practice exam written from UIL's new reading list and clearly labeled as a mock exam. • Science — 43 released tests (2,580 questions) in biology, chemistry and physics with the circuits, graphs and structures from the real exams, two hours, scored +6 / −2, with each test's data page, practice by section, and UIL's own worked solutions for every chemistry and physics question. • Literary Criticism — 43 released tests (2,795 questions) on literary terms and history, the UIL Reading List, and poems printed on the test as they appear on the page, scored 1 or 2 points each (100 max) with each test's essay prompt, plus a 2026-27 practice exam written from UIL's new reading list and clearly labeled as a mock exam. • Number Sense — 43 released tests (3,440 problems): 80 mental-math problems in 10 minutes, from arithmetic to calculus, with radicals, determinants and other math shown exactly as UIL printed them, scored +5 / −4 like contest day. BUILT TO KEEP STUDENTS IMPROVING • Exam mode for full timed tests, Reinforce mode for the questions you missed. • Smart review — missed questions return on a spaced-repetition schedule, so they actually stick. • Progress dashboard — accuracy trends, per-subject stats, practice time, and a daily streak. • Achievements, an optional daily reminder, and 10 color themes. PRIVACY FIRST • No account, no ads, no tracking. Your practice data stays on your device, and tests work offline. Academic Ace is an independent study aid and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by the University Interscholastic League (UIL).
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is update cadence: Academic Ace at every 4 days against SpellBee's fortnightly. SpellBee's advantage is iOS requirement (13.0 vs 17.0). On price, ads, 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. SpellBee sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month and Academic Ace sells 4 one-off in-app purchases. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
SpellBee ships an update fortnightly, Academic Ace every 4 days. The most recent releases landed on October 7, 2026 and October 29, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | SpellBee | Academic Ace |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | — | 5.0 (2 ratings) — better |
| Number of ratings | — | 2 — better |
| Update frequency | Fortnightly | Every 4 days — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | — | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 13.0 — better | 17.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 104 MB | 81 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | NADIR AL-HAMZI | Cyquila LLC |
In-app purchases
SpellBee
- SpellBee Premium$4.991 Month
- SpellBee Premium Annual$29.991 Year
- SpellBee Lifetime$49.99
Academic Ace
- Small Tip$1.99
- Small Tip$4.99
- Small Tip$9.99
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- Small Tip$19.99
Questions
Is SpellBee free?
Is Academic Ace free?
Do SpellBee or Academic Ace have ads?
Which is updated more often, SpellBee or Academic Ace?
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