Comparison

Starfall It's Fun to Read vs SplashLearn

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

Head to head
About

Starfall It's Fun to Read

This app offers a free selection of reading activities designed to teach foundational reading skills. It features interactive games, stories, and creative exercises that make learning to read enjoyable for young children. The app requires no internet connection and can model fluent reading with an optional AutoRead feature.

Highlights
  • Interactive reading games
  • Creative activities
  • Poetry and tongue twisters
  • Riddle solving
  • Optional AutoRead feature
  • Offline access
Features
Read full description

Starfall® Fun to Read is the third step of Starfall’s Learn to Read phonics sequence, which teaches the foundational skills for learning to read. Step 1: ABCs Step 2: Learn to Read Step 3: It’s Fun to Read Step 4: I’m Reading! With a basic understanding of letter-sound relationships from ABCs and Learn to Read steps, children are ready to explore a variety of genres and topics that will expand their vocabulary, comprehension, and world knowledge. In Starfall Fun to Read, children can learn about famous artists, experiment with mixing colors, discover the lives of famous musicians, and engage with literary forms like poetry, tongue twisters, and riddles. By connecting these interactive experiences with written words, young readers build the confidence and curiosity necessary to become lifelong learners. Travel-ready. No internet connection required. Find Starfall It’s Fun to Read, along with 700+ additional activities and counting across reading, math, music, and more in the Starfall app. The Starfall website and applications are program services of Starfall Education Foundation, a 501(c)(3) publicly supported nonprofit organization. Starfall® and Starfall.com® are registered trademarks in the US, the European Union, and various other countries. Copyright © 2002–2026 by Starfall Education. All rights reserved. Starfall apps are inclusively designed to support all children, including English Language Learners (ELLs). Starfall also provides an Enhanced Accessible Index for children with visual, hearing, or mobility impairments. For more information, please contact Customer Service at (+1) 303-417-6414.

About

SplashLearn

This app allows parents to monitor their child's real-time progress in a math learning program. Receive instant notifications about achievements and areas needing improvement, track daily activity, and view overall scores to support their child's educational journey.

Highlights
  • Real-time progress monitoring
  • Instant achievement notifications
  • Track weak areas
  • View last week's progress
  • Overall math score tracking
  • Daily activity timeline
Read full description

SplashLearn Parent Connect App is a companion app for parents of children subscribed to the SplashLearn Program. Parents can see how their child is doing in real-time, and get instant notifications about the child's achievements and/or weak areas. SplashLearn is a fun and engaging math practice program which is used by over 30M kids to improve their math learning. *Features in this app* - Instant notifications on mastery of skills - Last week's progress - Overall Math Score and improvement in the grade - Track trouble spots to take corrective actions in real-time - See child's daily math activity using our activity timeline Unlike most math programs, SplashLearn provides ways to stay connected easily with their child's progress. Try our SplashLearn Parent Connect App and stay on top of your child's math learning. *Privacy Policy* Your privacy is paramount to us. We will never disclose your personal information to independent third parties or combine it with any other personal information collected from your child. We encourage you to read our privacy policy here (https://www.spalshlearn.com/privacy) and write to us if you have any questions. *Terms of Use* You can read up our terms of use here (https://www.splashlearn.com/terms-of-use)

Screenshots

Starfall It's Fun to Read4 screens
SplashLearn4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Starfall It's Fun to Read at 70% against SplashLearn's 20%. Starfall It's Fun to Read also leads on rating (4.4 vs 2.7) and in-app purchases (none vs 3). SplashLearn's advantage is update cadence (every 2 months vs every 21 months). On price, 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. SplashLearn sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $7.99 per month. Starfall It's Fun to Read asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Starfall It's Fun to Read holds the better App Store score, 4.4 against 2.7. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 49 and 72 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 70% of Starfall It's Fun to Read's written reviews are positive against 20% of SplashLearn's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Starfall It's Fun to Read ships an update every 21 months, SplashLearn every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on September 23, 2026 and September 22, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
Starfall It's Fun to Read versus SplashLearn: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterStarfall It's Fun to ReadSplashLearn
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.4 (49 ratings) — better2.7 (72 ratings)
Positive reviews70.0% of reviews — better19.6% of reviews
Number of ratings4972 — better
Update frequencyEvery 21 monthsEvery 2 months — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree — betterFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPod
Requires iOS15.0 — better15.5
Further details — not scored
Size74 MB117 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperStarfall Education FoundationStudyPad, Inc.

Customer experience

Starfall It's Fun to Read

All ratings49 ratings
Positive81.6%
Neutral6.1%
Negative12.2%
Written reviews10 reviews
Positive70.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative30.0%

SplashLearn

All ratings72 ratings
Positive36.1%
Neutral9.7%
Negative54.2%
Written reviews51 reviews
Positive19.6%
Neutral15.7%
Negative64.7%

Bugs and requests

Starfall It's Fun to Read

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

SplashLearn

Reported bugs

49 issues
  • Updated version does not sync progress
  • App does not show any information or has a never-ending loading screen
  • Subscription continues after cancellation
  • App is not updating progress
  • Shows zero activity and zero progress
Show 44 more
  • No way to log out or reset the app
  • Subscription is difficult to cancel
  • App is very buggy and renders useless
  • Problems switching between children and subjects
  • Activity not updating, cannot check kids' work
  • App constantly freezes and closes
  • No notice on renewal
  • App is buggy and doesn't sync correctly
  • Accurate count for activities completed changes randomly
  • Does not show the full screen
  • App allows password reset but not app usage
  • App is a scam
  • App is not tracking child's time on the app
  • Report shows no time played despite child using app
  • App is incorrect, shows no activity when lessons are completed
  • App does not update, progress reports inaccurate
  • Math work not showing up on progress reports
  • App is useless, does not sync with actual app
  • No response to help requests
  • App does not match pictures and reports incomplete data
  • Work does not register on parent app
  • App is not updating/syncing information
  • Syncing date is incorrect
  • Children's advancement not being updated
  • Parent app loading incorrect information or not loading information
  • No support or email to resolve issues
  • App is slow to update
  • Shows child has done nothing on parent app
  • Subscription did not connect to login after update
  • No resolution after multiple attempts and emails to support
  • App version too low
  • Customer service is the worst
  • No way of canceling subscription
  • Fundamental tracking/sync issue
  • No response from the team
  • App won't sync since February
  • No updates visible
  • No info on how to resolve sync issues
  • No customer service
  • Games lock up iPad
  • Parent app stopped working/synching
  • Notifications of no practice while child is using app
  • Cannot login with Gmail
  • Forced to use different email

Requested features

6 requests
  • Ability to print or save reports as PDF
  • Easier way to scroll back to view past lessons
  • More quality games, fewer buggy ones
  • Fix app crashing when reviewing reports
  • Ability to reset account password
Show 1 more
  • Fix login issues with Google email

In-app purchases

None

Starfall It's Fun to Read

No in-app purchases

3 purchases

SplashLearn

Subscriptions3
  • Splash Math7 Days trial$7.991 Month
  • Splash Math7 Days trial$23.993 Months
  • Splash Math7 Days trial$59.991 Year

Questions

Is Starfall It's Fun to Read free?
Starfall It's Fun to Read is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is SplashLearn free?
SplashLearn is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Starfall It's Fun to Read or SplashLearn?
Starfall It's Fun to Read is rated higher. Starfall It's Fun to Read averages 4.4 out of 5 from 49 ratings, while SplashLearn averages 2.7 from 72 ratings.
Do Starfall It's Fun to Read or SplashLearn have ads?
Neither Starfall It's Fun to Read nor SplashLearn shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Starfall It's Fun to Read or SplashLearn?
Starfall It's Fun to Read ships an update every 21 months, and SplashLearn every 2 months. Most recently, Starfall It's Fun to Read was updated on September 23, 2026 and SplashLearn on September 22, 2026.

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