Phonics Inventory vs iCalc Champions
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Phonics Inventory
This digital tool assesses reading fluency and foundational skills for students in grades 3-12+. It measures decoding, sight word recognition, and letter recognition quickly and efficiently. The assessment can be used for universal screening, intervention placement, and progress monitoring.
- Measures decoding and sight word fluency
- Assesses letter recognition
- Tracks reading progress
- Universal screening
- Intervention placement
- Administered on iPads
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Phonics Inventory™ (formerly known as Scholastic Phonics Inventory) remains the same digital assessment tool that measures decoding and sight word reading fluency in fewer than 10 minutes. PI can be used as a universal screener, or placement into a Tier II or III intervention, as well as a progress monitoring tool. NOW our customers can administer PI on iPads to assess foundational reading skills for grades 3 - 12+. With PI, students' accuracy and fluency are measured in less than 10 minutes: 1. Practice tests measure touchscreen speed/ability. 2. Letter recognition assess students' recognition of lower-case letters. 3. Sight word recognition measure students' knowledge of high-frequency sight-words. 4. Non-Word decoding tests assess students' decoding skills. PI is: - A VALIDATED measure of decoding and sight word fluency - fast and scaleable - perfect for RTI PI for iPad is available to all System 44 Next Generation customers.
iCalc Champions
This educational app adapts to your math skill level, increasing problem difficulty as you improve. It offers contextually relevant video explanations for any problem you find challenging.
- Adaptive difficulty levels
- Video explanations for problems
- Arithmetic practice
- Geometry practice
- Progressive skill challenge
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Math Champions was made with learning in mind and adapts to your level for each topic. As your skill in each topic increases, so do the difficulty of the problems. Math Champions will continue to challenge you as you grow. If you don't know how to do a problem, that's okay! Math Champions provides contextually relevant videos for every problem.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: iCalc Champions at 4.9 against Phonics Inventory's 3.0. iCalc Champions also leads on update cadence (every 4 days vs every 4 months) and ratings volume (12 vs 1). Phonics Inventory's advantage is iOS requirement (10.0 vs 14.0). 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.
iCalc Champions holds the better App Store score, 4.9 against 3.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: iCalc Champions has 12 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two.
Phonics Inventory ships an update every 4 months, iCalc Champions every 4 days. The most recent releases landed on October 4, 2026 and October 7, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Phonics Inventory | iCalc Champions |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 3.0 (1 ratings) | 4.9 (12 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | — | 100.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 1 | 12 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 4 months | Every 4 days — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Devices | iPad | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 10.0 — better | 14.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 28 MB | 14 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Houghton Mifflin Harcourt | Jake Elrod |
Customer experience
Phonics Inventory
iCalc Champions
In-app purchases
Phonics Inventory
No in-app purchases
iCalc Champions
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Phonics Inventory free?
Is iCalc Champions free?
Which has better reviews, Phonics Inventory or iCalc Champions?
Do Phonics Inventory or iCalc Champions have ads?
Which is updated more often, Phonics Inventory or iCalc Champions?
Other comparisons
