Comparison

Initial Code vs Teach Your Monster to Read

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

Head to head
About

Initial Code

This educational app helps young children learn to read and spell in English through interactive activities. It focuses on blending, segmenting, and sound-spelling correspondences, with units unlocking as progress is made. Designed for iPad, it reinforces learning for automatic reading and writing skills.

Highlights
  • Reading and spelling practice
  • Blending and segmenting activities
  • Sound-spelling correspondence
  • Word and sentence reading/writing
  • Unit-based progression
  • Reinforces learning through repetition
Read full description

The official app for the Sounds-Write Initial Code phonics programme, for learning to read and spell in English. ******* IPAD ONLY ******* This app is currently unavailable on the iPhone because of the writing element of the app. For young children to become fluent readers and spellers they need to rehearse and consolidate what they are learning. It is this, repeated over and over again, that enables their access to alphabetic code knowledge and skills to become totally automatic and internalised processes. This app offers a variety of activities to develop the skills of blending and segmenting, sound spelling correspondence, word reading and writing and some sentences reading and writing. The app has been designed to introduce all the sound-spelling correspondences your child(ren) needs to learn to put them well on the way to learning to read and write. Each unit will be locked until the child has completed enough of the current unit to be able to progress. For more information on the Sounds-Write programme please visit www.sounds-write.co.uk

About

Teach Your Monster to Read

This app offers fun, phonics-based reading games for children aged 3-6. It helps build essential literacy skills through interactive play, allowing children to create their own monster and embark on a reading adventure. Designed by experts, it's a safe and trusted tool for home and school.

Highlights
  • Interactive reading games for ages 3-6
  • Improve letter sound recognition
  • Learn to read sentences
  • Track player progress
  • Phonics games designed by experts
  • Supports UK phonics programmes
Read full description

Welcome to Teach Your Monster to Read, the award-winning app that makes learning to read fun and engaging! Our educational phonics and reading games have helped millions of children build essential literacy skills. Create your own monster and embark on a magical journey through interactive games designed for home and school use. With a safe, trusted, and highly recommended approach, Teach Your Monster to Read offers phonics-based reading games for all levels. Teaching through play is what we do best—download today and start your child’s reading adventure! TEACH YOUR MONSTER TO READ FEATURES INTERACTIVE KIDS READING GAMES • Take your custom-designed monster through educational games that are suitable for ages 3-6. • Improve letter sound recognition with reading games • Explore a world of phonics and educational games that teach your child to read sentences • Easily track their player’s progress to identify areas where their reader may need extra support PHONICS & READING GAMES DESIGNED BY EXPERTS • Designed in collaboration with Roehampton University and leading game designers • Phonics tools and educational games that complement phases 2-5 of UK Government-approved Letters and Sounds and other major systematic synthetic phonics programmes • 3 reading games designed for those in preschool, primary school, kindergarten, and first grade EDUCATIONAL PLAY AT NO ADDITIONAL COST • Teach Your Monster to Read is available on iPad and iPhone • Explore phonics and educational games without in-app purchases, hidden costs, or in-game adverts • Teach Your Monster to Read supports your child through every step of their reading journey HEAR FROM TEACHERS AND PARENTS WHO USE OUR READING GAMES "This game is the absolute best quality phonics game I have come across for educational and fun value." Marie Lewis, Rochdale “My class have reaped loads of benefits from using the programme and the difference in some of their reading skills has been dramatic." Maria Andrews, Foundation Phase Teacher "This is a fabulous game. I'm not kidding when I say that my daughter essentially learned all her letter sounds using First steps, with relatively minimal input from me! Great for parents to practise their letter sounds too." Eleanor Jones PART OF THE USBORNE FOUNDATION CHARITY Teach Your Monster to Read has been created by Teach Monster Games Ltd. which is a subsidiary of The Usborne Foundation. The Usborne Foundation is a charity founded by children’s publisher, Peter Usborne MBE. Harnessing research, design and technology, we create playful media addressing issues from literacy to health. Teach a monster today when you download our educational app! Teach Monster Games Ltd is a subsidiary of The Usborne Foundation, a registered charity in England and Wales, charity number 1121957.

Screenshots

Teach Your Monster to Read4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Initial Code at Free against Teach Your Monster to Read's $8.99. Initial Code also leads on rating (5.0 vs 4.5) and iOS requirement (12.0 vs 15.0). Teach Your Monster to Read's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 1) and ratings volume (30K vs 2). On 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

Initial Code is free to download; Teach Your Monster to Read costs $8.99 up front. Initial Code sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Teach Your Monster to Read asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Initial Code holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.5. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Teach Your Monster to Read has 30K ratings behind it against 2, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 67% of Initial Code's written reviews are positive against 77% of Teach Your Monster to Read's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Initial Code ships an update every 2 months, Teach Your Monster to Read every 6 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 13, 2026 and October 21, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard9 real differences · 2 level
Initial Code versus Teach Your Monster to Read: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterInitial CodeTeach Your Monster to Read
PriceFree — better$8.99
Rating5.0 (2 ratings) — better4.5 (30K ratings)
Positive reviews66.7% of reviews76.5% of reviews — better
Number of ratings230K — better
Update frequencyEvery 2 monthsEvery 6 weeks — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree — better
Best chart rank—#4 — better
DevicesiPadiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS12.0 — better15.0
Further details — not scored
Size83 MB96 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperSounds-Write LtdTeach Your Monster

Customer experience

Initial Code

All ratings2 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews15 reviews
Positive66.7%
Neutral13.3%
Negative20.0%

Teach Your Monster to Read

All ratings30,085 ratings
Positive86.2%
Neutral6.6%
Negative7.2%
Written reviews452 reviews
Positive76.5%
Neutral5.8%
Negative17.7%

Bugs and requests

Initial Code

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

Teach Your Monster to Read

Reported bugs

2 issues
  • Loss of progress and collected items
  • Compatibility issues on certain devices

Requested features

4 requests
  • Add American English pronunciation option
  • Introduce more practice modes and customization options
  • Implement progress tracking and parental controls
  • Allow selective review of specific letter sounds/words

In-app purchases

1 purchases

Initial Code

One-time1
  • Unlock All Content$5.99
None

Teach Your Monster to Read

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Initial Code free?
Initial Code is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Teach Your Monster to Read free?
Teach Your Monster to Read costs $8.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Initial Code or Teach Your Monster to Read?
Initial Code is rated higher. Initial Code averages 5.0 out of 5 from 2 ratings, while Teach Your Monster to Read averages 4.5 from 30K ratings.
Do Initial Code or Teach Your Monster to Read have ads?
Neither Initial Code nor Teach Your Monster to Read shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Initial Code or Teach Your Monster to Read?
Initial Code ships an update every 2 months, and Teach Your Monster to Read every 6 weeks. Most recently, Initial Code was updated on October 13, 2026 and Teach Your Monster to Read on October 21, 2026.

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