Comparison

Scout Elf® Ideas vs Elf Studio

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

Head to head
About

Scout Elf® Ideas

This app provides daily photo inspiration and creative ideas for Scout Elves during the Christmas season. Discover crafts, clothes, and instructions to recreate scenes and enhance your holiday traditions. Get alerts from the North Pole to prepare for elf arrivals and departures.

Highlights
  • Daily photo feed with inspiration
  • Idea Spinner for random suggestions
  • Filterable ideas and photos
  • Materials and instructions included
  • North Pole alerts for preparation
  • Elf arrival and departure notifications
  • Kids Mode with North Pole activities
Features
Read full description

AN OFFICIAL, AWARD-WINNING ELF ON THE SHELF® APP Scout Elves always match the unique personalities of their families! Some are playful and creative, while others are sporty and adventurous. This app offers fun daily photos to inspire every Scout Elf during the Christmas season. Discover fun ideas for spending time with your family along with pictures of Scout Elves that come with materials and instructions. From quick and easy ideas to creative and complex ones, this app has them all! You can find links to printable crafts and Scout Elf clothes to enhance certain designs. Filter to find tons of different ideas for your Scout Elf and get special daily reminder alerts from the North Pole. Find fun ideas for the Scout Elves and get into the holiday spirit with The Elf on the Shelf® Ideas! The Elf on the Shelf® Ideas App Features: DAILY PHOTO FEED — During the holidays, receive new daily photos from the North Pole for your family and every Scout Elf to enjoy. — Click on each for more details along with a list of materials and instructions! IDEA SPINNER — Not sure what you are looking for? Check out the new feature: Scout Elf Idea Spinner! — Tap the spin button for a fun random Scout Elf Idea! FILTER PHOTOS AND IDEAS — Santa wants to make sure you can find the right inspiration for your Scout Elf. — Use the filter to narrow down what photos display on the feed. — Feel inspired and help your Scout Elf decorate scenes! MATERIALS, INSTRUCTIONS AND MORE! — Not only were these elves captured in action, they also helped us put together a list of what your Scout Elf might need! — Recreate each photo and the Scout Elf challenges by spending time with your family. — Look at pictures and enjoy making fun arts and crafts with your Scout Elves! NORTH POLE ALERTS — Santa wants to make sure his favorite helpers have everything they need to be creative! — Check the special daily alerts from Santa so your family can remember to prepare your home. ELF ARRIVAL + DEPARTURES — Receive alerts from the North Pole before the Scout Elves depart for their annual visits and when it’s time to return to the North Pole. — Make sure your home is ready for the elves and know when they have to return to the North Pole to help Santa get ready for next year. FAREWELL MESSAGE — Santa likes to teach the Scout Elves to be polite and courteous! — Keep an eye out for a special farewell letter from your Scout Elf, thanking you for all the fun they've shared with your family. Find fun ideas and pictures of the Scout Elves before they visit your home for Christmas. Make sure your home is ready for tons of fun this holiday season with The Elf on the Shelf® Ideas App! KIDS MODE —Toggle over to the Kids experience! Your little one can be directed to Santa's North Pole, our official website with games, activities, videos and more! Download now to find holiday ideas for the scout elves! — Don't forget to RATE THIS APP! Santa wants to make sure families everywhere have access to this great inspiration for Scout Elves.

About

Elf Studio

Create magical videos and photos of Santa and his elves visiting your home using augmented reality. Place characters in any environment, customize their appearance and animations, and record your own festive scenes.

Highlights
  • Add Santa Claus and elves
  • Unlimited elves and recording time
  • Create custom elves with Elf Workshop
  • Customize elf outfits and accessories
  • Elves with walking and dancing animations
  • Pre-plan or perform animations
  • Customize lighting, shadows, and camera filters
Features
Read full description

Welcome to Elf Studio! The latest technological marvel to come from the Software Elves here at the North Pole Command Center (Creators of Speak to Santa)! Elf Studio gives you the tools create video or photographic proof of Santa & his elves visiting your house! Using the power of Augmented Reality, you can now place elves & Santa Claus into any environment (as long as it's flat)! After setting your elves down, start recording! It's that simple! Your elves can dance, skip, run, stumble, breakdance, jump, moonwalk and even perform the Thriller dance! Check out these features: - Add Santa Claus as well as his elves to your scenes! - No limit to number of elves that can be placed in a scene, 1, 10, 100, it's up to you! - No recording limits, record for 10 minutes if you want! - Take pictures of your elves as well as recording them on film! - Create your own elves with the Elf Workshop! Thousands of different elf creations are possible! - Completely customise your elf outfits with up to 60 different colours! - Now with Elf Glasses! Add some funky sunglasses, or some nice reading glasses to your elf creations! - Walking elves! Place down some candy canes and your elf will follow them! Endless possibilities when combined with other elves! With tons of different walking animations to choose from! - Standing elves! Place down elves that can perform an action, or just idle with over 200 animations to choose from! - Dancing elves! Place down elves that can perform one of over 50 different dances! From breakdancing to Gangnam Style! - Intuitive system to either preplan animations with candy cane waypoints before recording starts, or perform an animation once recording has already started! - Customise lighting and shadows! Make your elves blend into any environment by changing the lighting direction, lighting colour and brightness! - Camera filters! Its so simple! Scan an environment like a living room, garden, bedroom! Add some elves, set up your lighting and shadows, hit record! Once recording choose more animations to play! Made by the software elves here at the North Pole Command Center!

Screenshots

Scout Elf® Ideas4 screens
Elf Studio4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Scout Elf® Ideas at none against Elf Studio's 6. Scout Elf® Ideas also leads on review sentiment (65% vs 45%). Elf Studio's advantage is update cadence (every 3 days vs monthly) and iOS requirement (13.0 vs 16.0). On price, rating, ratings volume and ads 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. Elf Studio sells 6 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per month. Scout Elf® Ideas asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.6 for Scout Elf® Ideas against 4.7 for Elf Studio. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 3.6K and 3.7K respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 65% of Scout Elf® Ideas's written reviews are positive against 45% of Elf Studio's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Scout Elf® Ideas ships an update monthly, Elf Studio every 3 days. The most recent releases landed on September 23, 2026 and September 22, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
Scout Elf® Ideas versus Elf Studio: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterScout Elf® IdeasElf Studio
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.6 (3.6K ratings)4.7 (3.7K ratings) — better
Positive reviews65.0% of reviews — better45.5% of reviews
Number of ratings3.6K3.7K — better
Update frequencyMonthlyEvery 3 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree — betterFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS16.013.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size145 MB228 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperThe Elf on the Shelf CCA & B LLC.North Pole Command Centre Limited

Customer experience

Scout Elf® Ideas

All ratings3,610 ratings
Positive89.5%
Neutral5.2%
Negative5.3%
Written reviews157 reviews
Positive65.0%
Neutral10.8%
Negative24.2%

Elf Studio

All ratings3,737 ratings
Positive90.9%
Neutral3.2%
Negative5.9%
Written reviews99 reviews
Positive45.5%
Neutral6.1%
Negative48.5%

User reviews

Scout Elf® Ideas

From 3.6K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🎅 Fun and creative elf ideas
  • 👍 Helpful for keeping Christmas traditions alive
  • 🎨 Inspires family creativity and bonding
  • 🕰️ Useful reminder for elf activities

Room to improve

  • 🔒 Concerns about app access for children
  • 🤔 Some ideas too complex or require extra purchases
  • 🐛 Bugs and glitches with app functionality
  • 🔍 Lack of ability to easily switch between kid and adult modes

Elf Studio

From 3.7K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🎅 Elf-themed game
  • 👍 Fun for kids
  • 💡 Ability to create elf scenes

Room to improve

  • 💰 Many features locked behind paywall
  • 🐛 Glitchy performance
  • 🚫 Limited free functionality

Bugs and requests

Scout Elf® Ideas

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • App crashing or freezing
  • Inability to delete the app
  • Saved favorites/ideas not persisting
  • Videos and images not loading properly

Requested features

4 requests
  • More original and simple elf ideas
  • Ability to save/share custom elf ideas
  • Password protection for adult section
  • Expanded content for international users

Elf Studio

Reported bugs

2 issues
  • Unable to scan surfaces for elf placement
  • Crashes and freezes when trying to use app

Requested features

3 requests
  • More free customization options
  • Ability to save and share created scenes
  • Improved surface detection for elf placement

In-app purchases

None

Scout Elf® Ideas

No in-app purchases

6 purchases

Elf Studio

Subscriptions4
  • Unlock Elf Studio$1.991 Month
  • Elf Studio™ - Monthly$2.991 Month
  • Unlock Elf Studio$3.991 Year
Show 1 more
  • Elf Studio™ - Annual$6.991 Year
One-time2
  • 50+ Elf Dance Animations$0.99
  • Elf Studio - Lifetime Pass$19.99

Questions

Is Scout Elf® Ideas free?
Scout Elf® Ideas is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Elf Studio free?
Elf Studio is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Scout Elf® Ideas or Elf Studio?
Elf Studio is rated higher. Scout Elf® Ideas averages 4.6 out of 5 from 3.6K ratings, while Elf Studio averages 4.7 from 3.7K ratings.
Do Scout Elf® Ideas or Elf Studio have ads?
Neither Scout Elf® Ideas nor Elf Studio shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Scout Elf® Ideas or Elf Studio?
Scout Elf® Ideas ships an update monthly, and Elf Studio every 3 days. Most recently, Scout Elf® Ideas was updated on September 23, 2026 and Elf Studio on September 22, 2026.

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