ELSB vs Clicker Talk
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
ELSB
This comprehensive preliteracy curriculum helps students develop essential print and phonemic awareness skills. It offers daily lessons and assessments across seven levels, guided by an engaging narrator and featuring interactive activities like flashcards and tapping games. Students can also personalize their learning experience by creating unique avatars.
- Multi-year preliteracy curriculum
- Levels 1-7 with daily lessons
- Print and phonemic awareness objectives
- Interactive games (tapping, flashcards)
- Customizable student avatars
- Research-backed effectiveness
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The ELSB app is a multi-year preliteracy curriculum for students who have not acquired print and phonemic awareness. The software brings to life Levels 1—7; daily lessons and level assessments. The program narrator and main character Moe the frog, take students through lessons that are built to shape mastery of 14 objectives following an easy-to-hard sequence. Objectives include sight word vocabulary with flashcards, syllable segmentation with a tapping game, and print awareness with pointing to text as it is read. Collaborate with each student to create their own unique avatar. Five years of solid research have been completed through the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, proving ELSB to be a highly effective literacy program and more effective than a sight-word only program. ELSB is based upon the principles of systematic and direct instruction. It incorporates scripted lessons, least-prompt strategies, teachable objectives, built-in lesson repetition, and ongoing assessments. The seven ELSB levels contain five structured lessons each. All students begin at Level 1. Teach scripted lessons daily in two 30-minute sessions. On the completion of each level, formal assessments are given. ELSB includes everything you need to implement a multi-year literacy curriculum.
Clicker Talk
This app helps students of all abilities develop speaking and listening skills. It offers various activities to build vocabulary, confidence, and comprehension, making it ideal for English language learners and those who struggle with writing.
- Develop vocabulary and confidence
- Boost core language knowledge
- Offer alternative paths to success
- Create a classroom of storytellers
- Access hundreds of ready-made activities
- Create custom activities
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Boost speaking and listening skills across the curriculum with Clicker Talk, designed for students of all abilities. Continuously developed by Crick Software for over 25 years, the Clicker product range is used in schools around the world. DEVELOP VOCABULARY AND BUILD CONFIDENCE Clicker Talk gives children the opportunity to explore new vocabulary, demonstrate their knowledge and rehearse their ideas for writing. It’s particularly effective for those who struggle to express themselves in written form, and for English language learners. Clicker Talk is also a great way for teachers to collect evidence of students’ speaking and listening attainment. BOOST CORE LANGUAGE KNOWLEDGE Listen and Say activities enable younger learners and emergent English speakers to familiarise themselves with core vocabulary. On each page, children click on the picture to listen to the word or phrase and then record, rerecording as many times as they like. All recordings are collated for review once all pages are completed. OFFER ALTERNATIVE PATHS TO SUCCESS Many children in our classrooms have great ideas and knowledge but struggle to express these in their writing. Talk About activities help to break down barriers to literacy and offer children an alternative way to demonstrate their understanding. The activities provide teachers with a valuable record of children’s comprehension of key topics and concepts. CREATE A CLASSROOM OF STORYTELLERS Tell the Story activities break storytelling down into manageable steps, helping children to practice and internalise story patterns and language and to understand narrative ‘building blocks’. These activities are perfect for exploring a sequence of events or the steps of a process, such as making a sandwich or the life cycle of a plant. ACCESS HUNDREDS OF READY-MADE ACTIVITIES Choose from a huge selection of activities on LearningGrids, our online library accessed from within the app. Activities cover a wide variety of curriculum topics across different levels. Or create your own in seconds using the included curriculum picture library or any photos. PART OF CRICK SOFTWARE’S CLICKER FAMILY Based in the UK and US, Crick Software has a worldwide reputation for quality educational software for students of all abilities. To find more Clicker Apps, search for Crick Software in the App Store or visit the Crick Software website.
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: Clicker Talk at Free against ELSB's $149.99. ELSB's advantage is rating (4.0 vs 1.0) and in-app purchases (none vs 1). On ratings volume, 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
Clicker Talk is free to download; ELSB costs $149.99 up front. Clicker Talk sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. ELSB asks for nothing beyond the download.
ELSB holds the better App Store score, 4.0 against 1.0. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 2 and 1 respectively.
ELSB ships an update every 6 weeks, Clicker Talk every 5 months. The most recent releases landed on October 2, 2026 and October 11, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | ELSB | Clicker Talk |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $149.99 | Free — better |
| Rating | 4.0 (2 ratings) — better | 1.0 (1 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 0.0% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 2 — better | 1 |
| Update frequency | Every 6 weeks — better | Every 5 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | Paid | Free with in-app purchases — better |
| Devices | iPad | iPad |
| Requires iOS | 13.0 — better | 17.6 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 238 MB | 24 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Attainment Company | Crick Software |
Customer experience
ELSB
Clicker Talk
In-app purchases
ELSB
No in-app purchases
Clicker Talk
- Clicker Talk Single User$350.00
Questions
Is ELSB free?
Is Clicker Talk free?
Which has better reviews, ELSB or Clicker Talk?
Do ELSB or Clicker Talk have ads?
Which is updated more often, ELSB or Clicker Talk?
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