ScratchJr vs Bugs and Beyond
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
ScratchJr
This app allows young children to create their own interactive stories and games by snapping together graphical programming blocks. It fosters problem-solving, creative expression, and develops early numeracy and literacy skills in a fun, motivating context.
- Program interactive stories
- Create games
- Snap-together programming blocks
- Develop problem-solving skills
- Foster creative expression
- Learn coding fundamentals
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With ScratchJr, young children (ages 5-7) learn important new skills as they program their own interactive stories and games. By snapping together graphical programming blocks, children can make characters move, jump, dance, and sing. In the process, children learn to solve problems, design projects, and express themselves creatively on the computer. They also use math and language in a meaningful and motivating context, supporting the development of early-childhood numeracy and literacy. With ScratchJr, children don’t just learn to code, they code to learn. ScratchJr was inspired by the popular Scratch programming language (http://scratch.mit.edu), used by millions of people (ages 8 and up) around the world. The ScratchJr interface and programming language were redesigned to make them appropriate for younger children’s cognitive, personal, social, and emotional development. ScratchJr is a collaboration between the Lifelong Kindergarten research group at the MIT Media Lab, the Developmental Technologies research group at Tufts University, and the Playful Invention Company. The ScratchJr project has received generous financial support from the National Science Foundation (NSF DRL-1118664), Scratch Foundation, LEGO Foundation, and British Telecommunications. If you enjoy using this free app, please consider making a donation to the Scratch Foundation (www.scratchfoundation.org), a nonprofit organization that provides ongoing support for ScratchJr. We appreciate donations of all sizes, large and small.
Bugs and Beyond
Explore a world of learning with over 18 interactive 3D games and activities designed to entertain and educate young children. Develop essential skills like logic, memory, and programming through engaging gameplay and fun challenges.
- Over 18 3D activities and games
- Develops logic, memory, and programming skills
- Designed for ages 4-6
- Parental gate for settings
- Apple Pencil support
- Profiles for multiple children
- High-quality graphics and music
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Bugs and Beyond is the newest and first fully 3D app in the award winning Bugs and Buttons series. With over 18 activities and games, this app is packed with hours of curious activities to explore and entertain. Play a board game with whimsically animated characters. Program a robot to navigate its way to a battery. Explore and seek your way through a beetle safari, but don’t forget to feed the cat today! Skills: Colors Hand-eye coordination Letters Logic Memory Numbers Physics Pincer using Apple Pencil Programming/coding Sequencing And more... Highlights: Designed for ages (4-6) but every child is different NO In-Apps / NO third-party advertising Parental gate for settings and non-playable content Visual instructions that demonstrate game play Advanced haptics (iPhone only) for fun vibration effects Apple Pencil support Intelligent leveling in most games Profiles to support multi-child scores and achievements Lots of achievements to earn High quality graphics for next generation visuals Lots of beautiful and fun music Humorous interactions, surprises, and sound effects Data Policy: This app does NOT collect any data. All saved scores, achievements, profiles, and other data elements are private to your device and associated platform account. We want and appreciate your feedback! Email: support@littlebitstudio.com Facebook: littlebitstudio Instagram: @littlebitstudio Twitter: @lilbitstudio
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: ScratchJr at Free against Bugs and Beyond's $0.99. ScratchJr also leads on ratings volume (1.9K vs 7) and iOS requirement (11.0 vs 16.0). Bugs and Beyond's advantage is rating (5.0 vs 3.9) and review sentiment (100% vs 67%). On ads, in-app purchases 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
ScratchJr is free to download; Bugs and Beyond costs $0.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
Bugs and Beyond holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 3.9. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: ScratchJr has 1.9K ratings behind it against 7, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 67% of ScratchJr's written reviews are positive against 100% of Bugs and Beyond's.
ScratchJr ships an update every 6 months, Bugs and Beyond every 3 months. The most recent releases landed on November 6, 2026 and November 2, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | ScratchJr | Bugs and Beyond |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free — better | $0.99 |
| Rating | 3.9 (1.9K ratings) | 5.0 (7 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 66.9% of reviews | 100.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 1.9K — better | 7 |
| Update frequency | Every 6 months | Every 3 months — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free — better | Paid |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 11.0 — better | 16.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 51 MB | 227 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Scratch Foundation, Inc. | Little Bit Studio, LLC |
Customer experience
ScratchJr
Bugs and Beyond
Bugs and requests
ScratchJr
Reported bugs
4 issues- Freezing and crashing issues
- Incorrect character movements and positioning
- Saving and loading problems
- Microphone and recording bugs
Requested features
5 requests- Add more frames/scenes per project
- Improve drawing/editing tools
- Expand color and customization options
- Enhance audio features and sound library
- Integrate with the full Scratch platform
Bugs and Beyond
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
ScratchJr
No in-app purchases
Bugs and Beyond
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is ScratchJr free?
Is Bugs and Beyond free?
Which has better reviews, ScratchJr or Bugs and Beyond?
Do ScratchJr or Bugs and Beyond have ads?
Which is updated more often, ScratchJr or Bugs and Beyond?
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