# Monster Phonics vs Chess Max Academy

The clearest difference is price: Chess Max Academy at Free against Monster Phonics's $2.99. Chess Max Academy also leads on update cadence (every 3 weeks vs every 9 months) and review sentiment (100% vs 73%). On rating, ratings volume, ads and in-app purchases there is nothing between them.

Chess Max Academy is free to download; Monster Phonics costs $2.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 5.0 for Monster Phonics against 5.0 for Chess Max Academy. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 1 and 2 respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 73% of Monster Phonics's written reviews are positive against 100% of Chess Max Academy's.

Monster Phonics ships an update every 9 months, Chess Max Academy every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 29, 2026 and October 19, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | Monster Phonics | Chess Max Academy |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | $2.99 | **Free** |
| Rating | [5.0 (1 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/monster-phonics/id892665116/reviews) | [5.0 (2 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/chess-max-academy/id1621009770/reviews) |
| Number of ratings | 1 | **2** |
| Positive reviews | 72.7% of reviews | **100.0% of reviews** |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Ads | No | No |
| Update frequency | Every 9 months | **Every 3 weeks** |
| Monetization | Paid | **Free** |
| Size | 784 MB | 86 MB |
| Requires iOS | 13.0 | **12.0** |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Age rating | +4 | 4+ |
| Developer | [Ingrid Connors](https://appshunter.io/developer/892665119) | [Chess Max Nexus Inc](https://appshunter.io/developer/1621009772) |

## What reviewers say

### Monster Phonics

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/monster-phonics/id892665116)

This app uses a multi-sensory approach with character phoneme cues and color coding to teach reading and spelling of high-frequency words. It aims to accelerate learning progress for young children by simplifying "tricky" words.

**Highlights:** Multi-sensory phonics learning, Character phoneme cues, Color coding for sounds, Teaches first 100 high-frequency words, Supports reading and spelling, Handwriting and letter formation

**Features:** macOS Compatibility

**In-app purchases:** none


### Chess Max Academy

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/chess-max-academy/id1621009770)

Learn chess through interactive courses and activities. Engage with explanations, puzzles, and practice games to improve your skills. Designed for various learning levels, it makes understanding chess concepts easy and fun.

**Highlights:** Interactive chess courses, Activity-based learning, Explanation activities, Capture activities, Puzzle and tactics solving, Multiple-choice quizzes, Play against computer

**Features:** macOS Compatibility

**In-app purchases:** none


## Frequently asked questions

### Is Monster Phonics free?

Monster Phonics costs $2.99, with no in-app purchases.

### Is Chess Max Academy free?

Chess Max Academy is free to download, with no in-app purchases.

### Which has better reviews, Monster Phonics or Chess Max Academy?

Monster Phonics and Chess Max Academy are both rated 5.0 out of 5 on the App Store, from 1 and 2 ratings respectively.

### Do Monster Phonics or Chess Max Academy have ads?

Neither Monster Phonics nor Chess Max Academy shows ads.

### Which is updated more often, Monster Phonics or Chess Max Academy?

Monster Phonics ships an update every 9 months, and Chess Max Academy every 3 weeks. Most recently, Monster Phonics was updated on October 29, 2026 and Chess Max Academy on October 19, 2026.

---

*Compared by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/) from daily US App Store data. Review summaries are generated from verbatim App Store reviews.*