Avaz AAC vs Shape Coding Lite
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Avaz AAC
This app empowers individuals with speech difficulties to communicate freely. It aids language development by presenting core words and allows users to form sentences and express themselves with over 40,000 pictures and high-quality voices. Customizable themes and effortless backup options enhance the user experience.
- Symbol-based communication
- Text-to-speech functionality
- Customizable themes
- Automatic vocabulary backup
- Research-based language development
- High-quality voices
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Avaz AAC is an assistive communication app that empowers children & adults with Autism, Cerebral Palsy, Down Syndrome, Aphasia, Apraxia, and individuals with speech difficulties to communicate freely and build meaningful relationships. “My daughter has nearly mastered navigation, so much so that one day she brought it to me to show me she wanted Taco Bell for lunch. This made me cry. My child had a voice for the first time. Thank you for being the one to give my daughter that "voice". - Amy Kinderman Designed to aid language development, by presenting core words, which make up 80% of everyday speech, in a research-based order. This enables users to progress from using 1-2 word phrases to forming complete sentences. Avaz, a fully AAC text-to-speech app with over 40,000 pictures(Symbolstix) and a range of high-quality voices, enables users to form sentences and express themselves with ease quickly. Avaz is a customizable AAC app that empowers users to express themselves authentically and build meaningful connections! Effortless Backup and Themes Enjoy the convenience of auto backup for worry-free vocabulary progress. Simply choose how often you want your vocabulary progress backed up with our auto-backup interval selection option. Never lose your progress again! We understand our users have different preferences for cloud storage, so we made it easy to back up your vocabulary to your preferred platform, including popular ones like Google Drive. Explore our visual themes - Classic Light, Classic Dark (with high contrast), and Outer Space (a dark mode). Our default dark mode has been beneficial for adult users and those using Avaz with eye-tracking devices. Try Avaz AAC's free 14-day trial without adding credit card details! Make in-app purchases and choose from our affordable monthly, yearly, and lifetime subscription plans to keep benefiting from the amazing features. Now available in English US, English UK, Français, Dansk, Svenska, Magyar, Føroyskt is fully compatible with iPads and iPhones. If you’re new to AAC, don’t worry! Visit www.avazapp.com for beginner-friendly articles to help you get started. Connect with our passionate Avaz community on Facebook and other social media platforms. We are always happy to hear from you. For any assistance, please write to us at support@avazapp.com Note: Avaz AAC - Lifetime Edition is available for a one-time purchase and offers a 50% discount with VPP for 20+ licenses. Terms of Use - https://www.avazapp.com/terms-of-use/ Privacy Policy - https://www.avazapp.com/privacy-policy/
Shape Coding Lite
This app uses a visual coding system to help children and young people with language disorders improve sentence structure and grammar. It employs colors, arrows, lines, and shapes to represent word classes, tense, and sentence structure, aiding in understanding and producing English sentences.
- Visual coding system for grammar
- Color-coded word classes
- Arrow indicators for tense
- Line indicators for plurality
- Shape indicators for syntax
- Text-to-speech functionality
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SHAPE CODING® Lite is a free demonstration version of the full SHAPE CODING® app. This is designed for teachers and speech and language therapists / pathologists to use with children and young people who are having difficulties producing and understanding English sentence structure and grammar. As with the full SHAPE CODING® app, it uses the SHAPE CODING® system which has been shown in several research projects to help children and young people with language disorders increase the length and complexity of sentences they can understand and use and improve the accuracy of their sentence production. The SHAPE CODING® Lite app has less functionality and flexibility than the full SHAPE CODING® app but can be used to form simple sentences. The SHAPE CODING® system uses a visual coding system to show the rules for how words are put together in sentences, to develop the child’s understanding of spoken and written grammar and to develop their ability to use grammar successfully to express themselves. The system includes use of colours (word classes), arrows (tense and aspect) , lines (singular and plural) and shapes (syntactic structure). These are all included in the app (although not all are enabled in the Lite version), but the professional controlling the app can choose which features display for the student, so that it is personalised to their current levels and targets. Settings are preserved for the student between uses. The Lite app allows only a single teacher and student, but the full version can have multiple teachers and students. The SHAPE CODING® Lite app is equipped with a basic set of words which can be inserted into those shapes which are enabled to make simple sentences. A much wider range of shape options are enabled in the full version than the Lite version, so more grammatical rules can be taught and more complex sentences created. The app uses text-to-speech, so that students who struggle to read can also use the app. This app assumes a certain degree of familiarity with the SHAPE CODING system. For more information see www.shapecoding.com. Training on how to use the SHAPE CODING(R) system is available from https://training.moorhouseinstitute.co.uk/. For a demonstration of the features of the full version of the app (some of which are also enabled in the Lite version), see: https://shapecoding.com/demo-videos/, and for Frequently Asked Questions see: https://shapecoding.com/app-info/faqs/ Follow us on Twitter @ShapeCoding, Facebook @ShapeCoding and Instagram @shape_coding or if you have any problems or feedback, please contact us at training@moorhouseschool.co.uk Please review our privacy policy https://shapecoding.com/privacy-policy-apple/
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: Avaz AAC at 60% against Shape Coding Lite's 0%. Avaz AAC also leads on rating (4.1 vs 2.0) and ratings volume (316 vs 1). Shape Coding Lite's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 5) and iOS requirement (12.0 vs 14.0). On price, update cadence, 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
Both are free to download. Avaz AAC sells 4 in-app purchases, starting at $9.99 per month. Shape Coding Lite asks for nothing beyond the download.
Avaz AAC holds the better App Store score, 4.1 against 2.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Avaz AAC has 316 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 60% of Avaz AAC's written reviews are positive against 0% of Shape Coding Lite's.
Avaz AAC ships an update every 4 months, Shape Coding Lite every 7 months. The most recent releases landed on November 1, 2026 and October 24, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Avaz AAC | Shape Coding Lite |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.1 (316 ratings) — better | 2.0 (1 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 60.2% of reviews — better | 0.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 316 — better | 1 |
| Update frequency | Every 4 months — better | Every 7 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 14.0 | 12.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 169 MB | 357 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Avaz, Inc. | Moor House School & College |
Customer experience
Avaz AAC
Shape Coding Lite
Bugs and requests
Avaz AAC
Reported bugs
11 issues- App crashes when typing or entering letters
- Screen freezes when searching for pictures
- Voice functionality stops working randomly
- Audio not playing despite correct volume settings
- App loses voice after several uses
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- Backup import puts boards into single folder instead of original structure
- Screen rotation issues with keyboard
- App takes long time to load on tablets
- Sentence word order incorrect with screen reader (words with icons read last)
- Internet connection error during subscription
- Slow customer support response times
Requested features
10 requests- Free or significantly reduced pricing for disabled users
- Longer free trial period (20+ days suggested)
- Ability to save and reuse phrases
- Online two-way communication capability
- Video and user-created image support
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- Vertical orientation option for small hands
- Extended gender identity options beyond binary
- Automatic phrase copying without premium
- Lifetime membership after extended subscription period
- Picture upload and backup/restore functionality
Shape Coding Lite
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Avaz AAC
- Avaz Auto Renewing Subscription$9.991 Month
- Avaz Yearly Subscription$99.991 Year
- Lifetime Subscription2 variants$199.99
- Lifetime Subscription$299.99
Shape Coding Lite
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Avaz AAC free?
Is Shape Coding Lite free?
Which has better reviews, Avaz AAC or Shape Coding Lite?
Do Avaz AAC or Shape Coding Lite have ads?
Which is updated more often, Avaz AAC or Shape Coding Lite?
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