ScratchJr vs Open Roberta Mobile
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
Read full descriptionHide full description
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.
Open Roberta Mobile
Visually program robots and microcontrollers using a drag-and-drop interface. Wirelessly transfer your creations to compatible hardware like LEGO Education WeDo 2.0 via Bluetooth. Explore a gallery of shared programs and access live coding help.
- Visual programming language (NEPO®)
- Robot and microcontroller control
- Wireless Bluetooth transfer
- Program sharing gallery
- Live coding help
- Multi-language support
Read full descriptionHide full description
Code and play – welcome to the Open Roberta Lab, where you bring robots and microcontrollers to life. By “dragging and dropping” the visual programming language NEPO® you can quickly and playfully create programs for different systems, e.g. the LEGO® Education WeDo 2.0. The “Open Roberta mobile” app enables you to transfer your NEPO programs to the WeDo 2.0 wirelessly via Bluetooth – no matter whether you are using a smartphone or a tablet. Open Roberta comes with many extras • One programming language for many robots • Gallery for sharing programs • Live help for a quick introduction to coding • Source view • Various languages for users worldwide • And many more
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: ScratchJr at 3.9 against Open Roberta Mobile's 1.7. ScratchJr also leads on ratings volume (1.8K vs 3). Open Roberta Mobile's advantage is update cadence (every 2 days vs every 6 months) and iOS requirement (9.3 vs 11.0). 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
Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
ScratchJr holds the better App Store score, 3.9 against 1.7. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: ScratchJr has 1.8K ratings behind it against 3, so its average is the more settled of the two.
ScratchJr ships an update every 6 months, Open Roberta Mobile every 2 days. The most recent releases landed on October 2, 2026 and June 3, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | ScratchJr | Open Roberta Mobile |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 3.9 (1.8K ratings) — better | 1.7 (3 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 66.8% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 1.8K — better | 3 |
| Update frequency | Every 6 months | Every 2 days — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 11.0 | 9.3 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 51 MB | 14 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Scratch Foundation, Inc. | Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft zur Forderung der angewandten Forschung eingetragener Verein |
Customer experience
ScratchJr
Open Roberta Mobile
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
Open Roberta Mobile
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
ScratchJr
No in-app purchases
Open Roberta Mobile
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is ScratchJr free?
Is Open Roberta Mobile free?
Which has better reviews, ScratchJr or Open Roberta Mobile?
Do ScratchJr or Open Roberta Mobile have ads?
Which is updated more often, ScratchJr or Open Roberta Mobile?
Other comparisons
