Comparison

Epic vs Read with Ello

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

Head to head
About

Epic

Access a vast digital library for children, featuring over 40,000 books, audiobooks, and videos. This app offers interactive learning tools, multilingual content, and personalized reading experiences for kids. It supports both family and educational use, with features to track progress and build reading confidence.

Highlights
  • 40,000+ books, audiobooks, and videos
  • Read-To-Me books and audiobooks
  • Multilingual content (Spanish, French, Chinese, Gaelic)
  • Reading rewards, badges, and quizzes
  • Vocabulary and pronunciation tools
  • Offline reading
  • Parent and educator dashboards
Read full description

Epic is the world’s largest digital library for kids! Our fun, kid-safe, interactive reading app fuels curiosity and reading confidence by letting kids freely explore their interests with instant access to 40,000+ books, audiobooks, learning videos and more. Anytime, anywhere: Access our library from any Apple device. You can even download books to read offline! Books that read to them: In addition to our library of more traditional ebooks, we have a huge collection of Read-To-Me books and audiobooks. Featuring talented voice actors, fun music and exciting sound effects that bring stories to life! Multilingual: The majority of books on Epic are in English, but we also have books in Spanish, French, Chinese and Gaelic to engage readers of different backgrounds and interests. Fun rewards and learning tools: Reading Buddies, badges and quizzes keep them motivated to read and learn. Spotlight Words and audio-enabled Dictionary Lookup teach vocabulary and pronunciation. FOR FAMILIES: EPIC FAMILY A paid subscription beginning with a 7-day free trial. Cancel anytime. • Up to 4 child profiles, so each kid can enjoy a personalized reading experience. • Parent dashboard lets you see what they’re reading and follow along with their progress. • 95% of Epic parents say Epic helped improve their child’s reading skills. FOR EDUCATORS: EPIC SCHOOL Epic School is free for educators and students to use during the school day. • ELA Tools: Filter titles by AR, DRA, F&P, grade level and more. • Quizzes, Dictionary Lookup and Spotlight Words help build skills. • Help with Daily 20: Teachers can easily assign and share books, then track daily and weekly reading. • Multilingual books and fun reading formats make reading accessible for every student. • 9 out of 10 Epic Educators would recommend us to colleagues. • Also available: Epic School Plus, a district-funded premium offering that gives educators and students 24/7 access to the full Epic library. PRESS AND EXPERT REVIEWS Epic has been featured on The TODAY Show, CNET and Refinery 29, as well as in The Wall Street Journal, Parents Magazine, USA Today, Forbes, Parenting.com and more. “Epic strikes the perfect balance between educational and fun, and should allow parents to feel more confident about introducing the iPad into their children’s daily lives as a tool.” –TechCrunch "Get access to thousands of books on all subject matters" –Parenting.com "Epic is incredibly valuable because it gives students exposure to books that they wouldn't get from a library or our classroom." –Cindy, Epic Educator Ambassador Privacy Policy getepic.com/privacy Terms of Service getepic.com/tos

About

Read with Ello

This app uses advanced AI to act as a personalized reading coach for children. It listens, provides feedback, and guides young learners through a library of decodable books to build reading confidence and skills.

Highlights
  • AI reading coach
  • Personalized 1:1 instruction
  • Library of 700+ decodable books
  • Speech recognition technology
  • Science of Reading principles
  • Adaptive learning system
Features
Read full description

Build confident, independent reading with Ello. Learn to read with the most advanced AI reading coach, Ello. Your child’s read-along companion who listens, teaches, and transforms them into a confident reader. Ello is a transformative reading companion that goes beyond just teaching – Ello listens, corrects, and guides your child as they learn to read. Recognized as one of Time Magazine's top inventions of 2024, and featured on Good Morning America, Ello stands out as an award-winning reading program. More than just an app, Ello acts as a personal reading coach, using speech recognition technology and evidence-based reading instruction to provide immediate assistance when your child gets stuck. Key Features: 1:1 reading companion personalized to your child's needs Library of more than 700 decodable books Crafted by literary experts Uses principles backed by the Science of Reading Trusted by more than 30,000 parents Powered by our AI Adaptive Learn system Built for Pre-K through 3rd Grade What the experts say: "AI reading tutor shines as a responsible AI application" – Common Sense Media "Ello aims to eradicate childhood illiteracy by leveraging artificial intelligence and child speech recognition technology." – TechCrunch Parents love us: "I love this app so much. My granddaughter is struggling with reading. I heard about this app, gave it a try. We both love it so much. When my granddaughter gets stuck on a word, she just taps the screen and the elephant helps her. For those who don’t have patience with helping kids read, this app will help and be patient. I highly recommend this app. The books are also very interesting. She’s eager to read them all." – Kathy J. "She is 6 and has struggled with reading, but Ello makes reading fun. Coupled with us encouraging and making reading fun, it becomes a great partnership and now she comes to me and asks if she can read one of her Ello books. This is a great thing after only one month. Definitely recommend. Give them a try. Our daughter has really flourished this month and made some real progress in her reading." – Jamie M. "My daughter struggles with reading but since we downloaded Ello she enjoys reading, and it has helped her build confidence in her reading!" – Brandie D. How it works: To subscribe to the service, parents sign up for a free trial and then pay $14.99/month for a digital subscription. The subscription includes full app access to Ello’s 1:1 instruction, an exclusive library of digital books, and digital prizes weekly. Ello is recommended for children in preschool, kindergarten, first grade, second grade and third grade. Privacy Policy http://ello.com/privacy Terms of Service http://ello.com/terms

Screenshots

Epic4 screens
Read with Ello4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is monetization model: Epic at freemium against Read with Ello's subscription. Epic also leads on ratings volume (519K vs 2.8K) and chart position (#18 vs #195). Read with Ello's advantage is review sentiment (78% vs 63%). On price, rating, update cadence and ads 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. Epic sells 12 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month and Read with Ello sells 7 in-app purchases, starting at $14.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.7 for Epic against 4.8 for Read with Ello. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Epic has 519K ratings behind it against 2.8K, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 63% of Epic's written reviews are positive against 78% of Read with Ello's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly every 2 weeks. The most recent releases landed on September 24, 2026 and September 23, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 7 level
Epic versus Read with Ello: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterEpicRead with Ello
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.7 (519K ratings)4.8 (2.8K ratings) — better
Positive reviews62.7% of reviews78.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings519K — better2.8K
Update frequencyEvery 2 weeksEvery 2 weeks
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFreemium — betterSubscription
Best chart rank#18 — better#195
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod, Apple TV — betteriPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS13.0 — better14.0
Further details — not scored
Size161 MB639 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperEpic Creations, Inc.Ello Technology, Inc.

Customer experience

Epic

All ratings518,975 ratings
Positive93.2%
Neutral2.7%
Negative4.1%
Written reviews2,405 reviews
Positive62.7%
Neutral7.7%
Negative29.6%

Read with Ello

All ratings2,766 ratings
Positive94.8%
Neutral1.5%
Negative3.7%
Written reviews205 reviews
Positive78.0%
Neutral6.3%
Negative15.6%

User reviews

Epic

From 519K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Great for engaging kids
  • 📚 Wide variety of books
  • 🎨 Customizable profiles
  • 🏆 Rewards and achievements
  • 🔊 Audio books and read-aloud features

Room to improve

  • 💰 Subscription required for full access
  • 📚 Limited selection of popular books
  • 🔍 Poor search functionality
  • 🔢 Inconsistent leveling system
  • 🐛 Bugs and glitches

Read with Ello

From 2.8K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Helps with reading progress
  • 👍 Engaging and fun for kids
  • 👍 Builds reading confidence
  • 👍 Customized book selection
  • 👍 Motivates kids to read

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Voice recognition issues
  • 🐛 Frequent app crashes and freezes
  • 🐛 Inconsistent performance
  • 🔒 Concerns about subscription model and pricing

Bugs and requests

Epic

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Subscription issues and billing problems
  • Crashes and freezes
  • Incorrect leveling and reading progress tracking
  • Missing/broken features

Requested features

5 requests
  • Add more advanced/older reader books
  • Improve search and filtering options
  • Allow customization of reading levels
  • Provide free access for home use
  • Fix bugs and glitches

Read with Ello

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Books not loading properly
  • App skipping pages during reading
  • Incorrect word recognition

Requested features

5 requests
  • Ability to repeat words/sentences
  • Larger font size options
  • More book variety and levels
  • Sibling profiles and shared books
  • Progress tracking and reporting for parents

In-app purchases

12 purchases

Epic

Subscriptions12
  • Unlimited Children's Books1 Month trial$4.991 Month
  • Unlimited Children's Books1 Month trial2 variants$7.991 Month
  • Monthly Unlimited Access$7.991 Month
Show 9 more
  • Monthly Unlimited Access2 variants$9.991 Month
  • Monthly subscription7 Days trial$9.991 Month
  • Monthly Unlimited Access1 Month trial$11.991 Month
  • Monthly subscription7 Days trial$11.991 Month
  • Monthly Unlimited Access7 Days trial$13.991 Month
  • Monthly Unlimited Access$13.991 Month
  • Annual Subscription7 Days trial$59.991 Year
  • Yearly Unlimited Access7 Days trial$63.001 Year
  • Annual subscription7 Days trial$84.991 Year
7 purchases

Read with Ello

Subscriptions7
  • Read with Ello Subscription14 Days trial$14.991 Month
  • Read with Ello Monthly Plan7 Days trial3 variants$14.991 Month
  • Read with Ello Subscription14 Days trial$25.001 Month
Show 4 more
  • Read with Ello Annual Plan7 Days trial$99.001 Year
  • Read with Ello Subscription14 Days trial2 variants$139.001 Year
  • Read with Ello Annual Plan7 Days trial$139.001 Year
  • Read with Ello Annual Plan14 Days trial$139.001 Year

Questions

Is Epic free?
Epic is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Read with Ello free?
Read with Ello is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Epic or Read with Ello?
Read with Ello is rated higher. Epic averages 4.7 out of 5 from 519K ratings, while Read with Ello averages 4.8 from 2.8K ratings.
Do Epic or Read with Ello have ads?
Neither Epic nor Read with Ello shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Epic or Read with Ello?
Epic ships an update every 2 weeks, and Read with Ello every 2 weeks. Most recently, Epic was updated on September 24, 2026 and Read with Ello on September 23, 2026.
Which is more popular, Epic or Read with Ello?
Epic currently peaks at #18 in the App Store charts, and Read with Ello at #195. Chart position reflects recent download velocity rather than total install base.

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