Makers Empire 3D vs Geoboard, by MLC
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Makers Empire 3D
Design and create anything you can imagine in 3D. This app offers tools for both beginners and advanced users, with tutorials and challenges to enhance your skills. Share your creations with a global community and even design mazes to play with friends.
- 3D design with Shaper and Blocker modules
- Interactive tutorials in Training Lab
- Daily Design Challenges and competitions
- Share designs in a global gallery
- Build and play 3D mazes
- Avatar creation
- Level-up system with new tools
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Create whatever you can imagine in 3D. Design solutions to real-world problems. Unlock more features and tools as you level up. Share your 3D designs with 2.2+ million makers in 50 countries. APP FEATURES Learn how to design in 3D with basic, pro and video tutorials in the Training Lab. Create 3D designs using Shaper, a traditional free-form 3D modelling module, or Blocker, a voxel editor. Create a unique avatar to represent you in the Makers Empire world. Share your designs in the Gallery, alongside 100,000+ other new designs every single day, so fellow designers can like and comment on your designs. Test your skills by completing daily Design Challenges and entering monthly Design Thinking competitions. Build and play 3D mazes with your friends in Maze Mania. Level up as you design and unlock new design tools. MAKERS EMPIRE FOR TEACHERS Makers Empire helps primary, elementary and middle school educators cover international Design & Technology curriculum, teach Design Thinking and STEM and embrace maker pedagogy using 3D design and 3D printing. Makers Empire is backed by Macquarie University research, certified by Education Alliance Finland for pedagogical quality, and endorsed by Common Sense Education. Makers Empire’s subscriptions for schools include Makers Empire 3D software, in-app, curriculum-aligned challenge courses, 150+ curriculum-aligned lesson plans, professional development, class management tools, student assessment tools, resources, training, ongoing support and analytics. MAKERS EMPIRE FOR PARENTS & GUARDIANS Encourage your child’s creativity and help them develop important Design Thinking, critical thinking and problem-solving skills with Makers Empire 3D. Makers Empire is certified by the Education Alliance Finland for pedagogical quality, backed by Macquarie University research and endorsed by Common Sense Education.
Geoboard, by MLC
Explore mathematical concepts like perimeter, area, and fractions by stretching virtual bands around pegs to form shapes. This open-ended educational tool is ideal for elementary and middle school learners, offering multiple board types and drawing tools for interactive discovery.
- Create line segments and polygons
- Multiple board types (square, rectangular, circular)
- Shape duplication and transformation
- Fill shapes with transparent color
- Display grid lines with numbering
- Drawing and annotation tools
- Save and share work
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Geoboard is a tool for exploring a variety of mathematical topics introduced in the elementary and middle grades. Learners stretch bands around the pegs to form line segments and polygons and make discoveries about perimeter, area, angles, congruence, fractions, and more. This virtual version of the manipulative is an open-ended educational tool, ideal for elementary classrooms and other learning environments. FEATURES • Create line segments and polygons by stretching bands around the Geoboard’s pegs. • Choose from 8 different band colors. • Fill individual shapes with a transparent color, or use the Fill All button to toggle all the bands between filled and unfilled. • Switch between the standard 25-peg square board, a rectangular board with 150 pegs, or a circular board with 13 pegs. The circular board enables explorations with angles, fractions, and time measurement. • Duplicate shapes then move, rotate, or flip them to explore symmetry and congruency. • Change the color of selected bands. • Display grid lines with or without numbering to more easily calculate area and identify shape locations. •Hide and reveal work with resizable covers to create your own problems and model strategies. • Use the drawing tools to annotate work and show understanding. • Add equations, expressions, and descriptions with the math text and writing tools. • Share your work by saving an image or providing a share code to others. MORE APPS For more Geoboard resources and other apps, visit:www.mathlearningcenter.org/apps LEARN MORE To learn about Bridges in Mathematics, an elementary curriculum that employs visual models such as the geoboard, please visit: www.mathlearningcenter.org/bridges/overview ABOUT US This app is brought to you by The Math Learning Center, a nonprofit organization dedicated to K-12 math education since 1976. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The Geoboard app was made possible by a generous donation from Dr. David Moursund. This app was crafted by Clarity Innovations. We help improve teaching and learning by creating solutions that match promising technologies with the needs of education. Visit us at: www.clarity-innovations.com
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: Makers Empire 3D at 4.5 against Geoboard, by MLC's 3.8. Makers Empire 3D also leads on update cadence (every 2 months vs every 39 months) and ratings volume (394 vs 20). On price, review sentiment, ads and in-app purchases 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. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
Makers Empire 3D holds the better App Store score, 4.5 against 3.8. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Makers Empire 3D has 394 ratings behind it against 20, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 75% of Makers Empire 3D's written reviews are positive against 81% of Geoboard, by MLC's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.
Makers Empire 3D ships an update every 2 months, Geoboard, by MLC every 39 months. The most recent releases landed on November 1, 2026 and October 29, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Makers Empire 3D | Geoboard, by MLC |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.5 (394 ratings) — better | 3.8 (20 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 74.6% of reviews | 81.3% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 394 — better | 20 |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months — better | Every 39 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPad |
| Requires iOS | 13.0 — better | 16.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 435 MB | 5 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Makers Empire Pty Ltd | The Math Learning Center |
Customer experience
Makers Empire 3D
Geoboard, by MLC
Bugs and requests
Makers Empire 3D
Reported bugs
4 issues- Maze maker tool issues
- Disappearing designs and lost progress
- Trouble accessing and using premium features
- Compatibility problems on older devices
Requested features
5 requests- Add more games and activities
- Improve camera controls and navigation
- Implement better sharing and collaboration features
- Add animation and physics capabilities
- Provide more customization options
Geoboard, by MLC
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Makers Empire 3D
No in-app purchases
Geoboard, by MLC
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Makers Empire 3D free?
Is Geoboard, by MLC free?
Which has better reviews, Makers Empire 3D or Geoboard, by MLC?
Do Makers Empire 3D or Geoboard, by MLC have ads?
Which is updated more often, Makers Empire 3D or Geoboard, by MLC?
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