Comparison

Shoonya Kids vs Squiggle Studio

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

Head to head
About

Shoonya Kids

This multilingual app makes early literacy and math fun for young learners. It offers engaging games designed by educators to build foundational skills in phonics, reading, writing, and number sense across five languages. The app is safe, ad-free, and culturally inclusive.

Highlights
  • Multilingual learning (English, Spanish, Hindi, Marathi, Telugu)
  • Literacy and numeracy games
  • Culturally inclusive content
  • Montessori-inspired design
  • Research-driven curriculum
  • Teacher dashboard for progress tracking
  • Safe and ad-free environment
Features
Read full description

Built with a research grant from the U.S. Department of Education. Reading, phonics, and math in five languages — for ages 3 to 8. Shoonya Kids teaches early literacy and numeracy in English, Spanish, Hindi, Marathi, and Telugu. Children can easily switch languages in a single app, bringing true multilingual learning and accessibility to their fingertips. WHAT CHILDREN PRACTICE Phonics & Reading — letter sounds, blending, digraphs, rhyming, syllable segmenting, CVC words, and high-frequency sight words Writing & Tracing — letter and number formation aligned to Handwriting Without Tears, the standard used in schools Early Math — counting to 100, skip counting, addition, subtraction, geometry, patterns, and positional words Vocabulary — themed words drawn from food, clothing, instruments, and daily life across cultures Progress is self-paced and Montessori-inspired, allowing children to choose their own path. Teachers can customize and differentiate learning for students with a dedicated teacher portal. WHY IT'S DIFFERENT Genuinely multilingual. Shoonya Kids is built with input from pedagogy experts and Dual Language Immersion educators to provide a genuine learning experience. Content is designed for each language and not run through a translator, so that children learn the language as it is intended to be taught. Research-backed. Developed under an SBIR grant from the U.S. Department of Education's Institute of Education Sciences, with WestEd as our independent research partner and classroom testing in California public schools. Built for how children actually learn. Designed in alignment with UNICEF and LEGO Group's RITEC framework and NAEYC's Developmentally Appropriate Practice principles. Safe by design. COPPA- and FERPA-compliant, no ads, no third-party tracking. WHAT EDUCATORS SAY "They don't even know they're learning because they think they're playing — but they're learning!" — Perla Estrada, TK Teacher, Dual Language Immersion, El Camino Elementary "It helps a lot to have technology that is authentic in Spanish and play-based — it's appropriate for the development and age of this group." — Stephanie Hernandez Jarvis, Kindergarten Teacher, El Camino Elementary "Shoonya's multicultural and multilingual platform is the state-of-the-art in early language and multiliteracy development." — Dr. Barbara Flores, Former President, California Association for Bilingual Education IN CLASSROOMS & AT HOME PreK–2nd Grade: Foundational literacy and numeracy Dual Language & English Language Learners: Authentic Spanish, English, Hindi, Telugu and Marathi content After School & Summer Enrichment: perfect for independent learning rotations Common Core aligned: phonemic awareness and number sense Teachers get a dashboard to assign activities, track progress, and see accuracy and completion by student. Shoonya is available for at home use and used in homes across the world for multilingual learning. RECOGNITION U.S. Department of Education Small Business Innovation Research Grant Most Innovative Consumer App — Octane High Tech Awards Spirit of Entrepreneurship Award in Science and Technology — Women's Economic Ventures Antares REACH Grant Featured by NBC, Parentology, and Educational App Store Used by families and teachers in over 80 countries. TRY IT FREE A free version is always available to practice letters in five languages. Full curriculum access is $5.99/month, $19.99/quarter, or $57.99/year. Cancel anytime. Support: support@shoonyadigital.com Privacy Policy: https://www.shoonyadigital.com/privacy-policy Terms of Service: https://www.shoonyadigital.com/terms-of-service

About

Squiggle Studio

This app transforms spoken ideas into printable coloring pages for children. Users can then color, draw on, and save their creations. It prioritizes privacy with no accounts, ads, or tracking.

Highlights
  • Voice-activated drawing generation
  • Extensive coloring tools
  • Freehand drawing capabilities
  • Undo/redo functionality
  • Save and print options
  • Gallery of pre-made images
Features
Read full description

Squiggle Studio turns whatever your child can say into a colouring page. Tap the microphone and say an idea — "a dragon reading a book", "a mermaid astronaut" — and a picture appears, ready to colour. Children who can't read yet can pick from the gallery instead: every idea is a picture, not a word. Colour it in. Tap any part to fill it. Sixteen colours, plus a colour wheel for everything in between. Draw on top. Switch to the pencil and add your own lines anywhere. Change your mind. Undo steps back through everything, one tap at a time. Keep it. Save finished drawings to your photos, or print them to colour on paper. Built for families: • No accounts and no sign-in — nothing to set up • No ads of any kind • No analytics or tracking software • We never ask for your child's name, age, photo or location • Drawings stay on your device The only thing that leaves the device is the short text of what to draw, which goes to Google's AI so it can draw it. Our full privacy policy is in the app. SQUIGGLE STUDIO PRO — OPTIONAL SUBSCRIPTION Squiggle Studio is free to use. An optional subscription raises how many new drawings can be made each month. • Title: Squiggle Studio Pro • Length: 1 month, renewing automatically • Price: $2.99 per month (USD; equivalent local price set by Apple) • What it changes: 60 new drawings each month instead of 5. Nothing else is locked behind it — every tool works the same either way, and the 16 gallery pictures are always free. Payment is charged to your Apple Account at confirmation of purchase. The subscription renews automatically unless cancelled at least 24 hours before the end of the current period, and your account is charged for renewal within 24 hours before the period ends. Manage or cancel it in your Apple Account settings after purchase. Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Full terms: https://squigglestudio.app/terms Privacy Policy: https://squigglestudio.app/privacy

Screenshots

Shoonya Kids4 screens
Squiggle Studio4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Squiggle Studio at 5.0 against Shoonya Kids's 4.2. Squiggle Studio also leads on review sentiment (100% vs 73%) and update cadence (every 4 days vs every 3 weeks). Shoonya Kids's advantage is ratings volume (97 vs 3). On price, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model 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. Shoonya Kids sells 6 in-app purchases, starting at $5.99 per month and Squiggle Studio sells 1 in-app purchase, starting at $2.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Squiggle Studio holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.2. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Shoonya Kids has 97 ratings behind it against 3, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 73% of Shoonya Kids's written reviews are positive against 100% of Squiggle Studio's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Shoonya Kids ships an update every 3 weeks, Squiggle Studio every 4 days. The most recent releases landed on October 24, 2026 and October 22, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
Shoonya Kids versus Squiggle Studio: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterShoonya KidsSquiggle Studio
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.2 (97 ratings)5.0 (3 ratings) — better
Positive reviews73.0% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings97 — better3
Update frequencyEvery 3 weeksEvery 4 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFreemium
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS17.615.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size845 MB9 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperShoonya Digital IncNidhi Mehta

Customer experience

Shoonya Kids

All ratings97 ratings
Positive76.3%
Neutral6.2%
Negative17.5%
Written reviews63 reviews
Positive73.0%
Neutral4.8%
Negative22.2%

Squiggle Studio

All ratings3 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews1 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Bugs and requests

Shoonya Kids

Reported bugs

27 issues
  • Subscription cancellation not confirmed
  • No updates on cancellation status
  • Lot of click ads
  • Hissing noise while tracing
  • Won't restore purchases
Show 22 more
  • Restore purchases button does nothing
  • Link to contact them is not working
  • Paid subscription but hardly has anything
  • Unable to use the app after payment
  • Email address does not exist
  • Cannot login into iPad with same details
  • Sound is not coming on mobile
  • Sound stopped working
  • Complaints to the company not answered
  • Design is so complicated
  • Asks to put code continuously
  • Learning is limited
  • Slow app
  • No access to support
  • My toddler loves it!!
  • Not worth it
  • Restore doesn’t work after changing iPad
  • Crashes after new update
  • Not opening after the latest update
  • Charged me for the app and won’t let me download
  • Full version does not work
  • When i trace the alphabet, the left hand side of the screen puts me back to the previous alphabet instead of progressing

Requested features

2 requests
  • Add a number section for learning
  • More languages in the future

Squiggle Studio

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

6 purchases

Shoonya Kids

Subscriptions5
  • Monthly Subscription7 Days trial$5.991 Month
  • Monthly Subscription$7.991 Month
  • Quarterly Subscription$19.993 Months
Show 2 more
  • Annual Subscription7 Days trial$57.991 Year
  • Annual Subscription$57.991 Year
One-time1
  • Complete Alphabet Pack$3.99
1 purchases

Squiggle Studio

Subscriptions1
  • Squiggle Studio Pro$2.991 Month

Questions

Is Shoonya Kids free?
Shoonya Kids is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Squiggle Studio free?
Squiggle Studio is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Shoonya Kids or Squiggle Studio?
Squiggle Studio is rated higher. Shoonya Kids averages 4.2 out of 5 from 97 ratings, while Squiggle Studio averages 5.0 from 3 ratings.
Do Shoonya Kids or Squiggle Studio have ads?
Neither Shoonya Kids nor Squiggle Studio shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Shoonya Kids or Squiggle Studio?
Shoonya Kids ships an update every 3 weeks, and Squiggle Studio every 4 days. Most recently, Shoonya Kids was updated on October 24, 2026 and Squiggle Studio on October 22, 2026.

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