Comparison

Number Frames, by MLC vs Schoolwork

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

Head to head
About

Number Frames, by MLC

This app provides virtual number frames to help elementary students visualize and manipulate numbers up to one hundred. It supports counting, comparing, and computing, aiding the transition from one-by-one counting to more efficient strategies. Custom frames can be created for advanced visualization of factors and fractions.

Highlights
  • Standard and custom number frames
  • Variety of counters and colors
  • 5s grid for grouping emphasis
  • Resizable covers for problem modeling
  • Drawing and annotation tools
  • Math text and writing tools
  • Shareable work via image or code
Features
Read full description

Number Frames help students structure numbers to five, ten, twenty, and one hundred. Students use the frames to count, represent, compare, and compute with numbers in a particular range. The frames allow students see quantities as equal groups of other quantities and in relation to benchmark quantities. This helps primary students move away from one-by-one counting toward more efficient ways of counting and computing. As students advance, custom frames can be constructed to help visualize factors, products, fractional parts and more. These virtual versions of number frames are open-ended educational tools, ideal for elementary classrooms and other learning environments that use iPads. Number frames are a key model used in Bridges in Mathematics, second edition. Online preview available at: www.mathlearningcenter.org/bridges FEATURES: • Use standard 5-, 10-, 20-, and 100-frames, or create custom frames up to 12 x 12. • Choose from a variety of counters and colors. Drag single counters — or stacks of 5 and 10 — into frames or on to the workspace. • Apply a 5s grid to frames to emphasize every 5th line and reinforce grouping by five. • Hide and reveal counters 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 Number Line resources and other apps, visit: www.mathlearningcenter.org/apps LEARN MORE To learn about Bridges in Mathematics, an elementary curriculum that employs visual models like number line, visit: www.mathlearningcenter.org/bridges/overview ABOUT US This resource is brought to you by The Math Learning Center, a nonprofit organization dedicated to K-12 education since 1976. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 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: www.clarity-innovations.com

About

Schoolwork

This app helps educators manage assignments, assessments, and class announcements, streamlining communication and tracking student progress. It allows for personalized instruction by providing insights into individual student performance and areas needing support or challenge.

Highlights
  • Create and send assessments
  • Assign homework and study reminders
  • Track student progress and performance
  • Collaborate with students
  • Provide real-time feedback
  • Assign specific app activities
  • Personalize instruction
Read full description

Schoolwork is an iPad app that helps teachers save time, identify trends, and maximize each student’s potential. Using Schoolwork, teachers can create and send assessments, assignments, class announcements, or study reminders. With Schoolwork, teachers can send any document or file as a classroom assessment. They can review and score student work, and analyze student performance per item. For assignments, teachers can easily share materials, send students to a specific activity in an app, collaborate with students, and view student progress. Teachers can see analytics, insights, and progress information on how students performed, making it easier to individualize instruction based on student needs. Students get one central place to see assessments, assignments, announcements, submit work, and view their own progress. Keep students focused and organized • Students have one place to go to see their assessments, assignments, and announcements • Students can see what is due this week, across all their classes • In Pages, Keynote, and Numbers, and other supported apps, students can submit homework right from within the app Collaborate and give real-time feedback • Easily collaborate with individual students or with the entire class in just a few taps • Add comments to students’ work while they’re working on an assignment, or after completing an assessment • Easily review and score assessments with or without points • Use Apple Pencil or your finger to mark up documents, assessments, PDFs, photos, and more Assign specific activities within an app • With apps optimized for Schoolwork, you can review an app’s list of assignable activities, then easily send one or more to a class or student • With a single tap, students are brought directly to the assigned activity within the app • For activities you assign in Schoolwork, you’ll be able to view student progress, including quiz scores, points earned, and time spent Personalize instruction • See a holistic view of a student’s progress, including submitted work and progress in apps, all in one place • Use student progress to find students who might need an extra challenge, or extra support • On assessments, use item-level data to identify trends and inform instructional next steps Get started easily • Your existing classes in Apple School Manager automatically show in Schoolwork • Easily create new classes yourself right from within Schoolwork Privacy In order for teachers to view student progress or activities they assign in Schoolwork, schools are required to enable the Student Progress feature in Apple School Manager. Student progress is only reported for teacher-assigned activities that students complete while using a school-provided Managed Apple Account. All student progress data is encrypted in transit and at rest. If a school does not opt in, teachers and students can still use Schoolwork without this feature. In order to provide and improve Schoolwork, Apple collects non-personally identifiable data about how users interact with the app.

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Number Frames, by MLC at 89% against Schoolwork's 18%. Number Frames, by MLC also leads on rating (4.0 vs 3.4) and iOS requirement (15.4 vs 18.2). Schoolwork's advantage is update cadence (every 3 months vs every 13 months) and ratings volume (68 vs 7). 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. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Number Frames, by MLC holds the better App Store score, 4.0 against 3.4. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Schoolwork has 68 ratings behind it against 7, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 89% of Number Frames, by MLC's written reviews are positive against 18% of Schoolwork's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Number Frames, by MLC ships an update every 13 months, Schoolwork every 3 months. The most recent releases landed on October 3, 2026 and September 23, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
Number Frames, by MLC versus Schoolwork: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterNumber Frames, by MLCSchoolwork
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.0 (7 ratings) — better3.4 (68 ratings)
Positive reviews88.9% of reviews — better17.6% of reviews
Number of ratings768 — better
Update frequencyEvery 13 monthsEvery 3 months — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFreeFree
DevicesiPadiPad
Requires iOS15.4 — better18.2
Further details — not scored
Size12 MB167 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperThe Math Learning CenterApple

Customer experience

Number Frames, by MLC

All ratings7 ratings
Positive71.4%
Neutral0.0%
Negative28.6%
Written reviews9 reviews
Positive88.9%
Neutral0.0%
Negative11.1%

Schoolwork

All ratings68 ratings
Positive58.8%
Neutral2.9%
Negative38.2%
Written reviews91 reviews
Positive17.6%
Neutral16.5%
Negative65.9%

In-app purchases

None

Number Frames, by MLC

No in-app purchases

None

Schoolwork

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Number Frames, by MLC free?
Number Frames, by MLC is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Schoolwork free?
Schoolwork is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Number Frames, by MLC or Schoolwork?
Number Frames, by MLC is rated higher. Number Frames, by MLC averages 4.0 out of 5 from 7 ratings, while Schoolwork averages 3.4 from 68 ratings.
Do Number Frames, by MLC or Schoolwork have ads?
Neither Number Frames, by MLC nor Schoolwork shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Number Frames, by MLC or Schoolwork?
Number Frames, by MLC ships an update every 13 months, and Schoolwork every 3 months. Most recently, Number Frames, by MLC was updated on October 3, 2026 and Schoolwork on September 23, 2026.

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