Comparison

Meet the Alphablocks! vs Jolly Phonics Pro

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

Head to head
About

Meet the Alphablocks!

Explore the alphabet and letter sounds with interactive characters. Children can tap to bring each character to life, hear their letter sounds, and sing along to catchy songs. This app uses proven phonics methods to help young learners develop reading skills.

Highlights
  • Interactive alphabet characters
  • Learn letter sounds
  • Sing along to songs
  • Phonics-based learning
  • Letter name mode
Features
Read full description

Meet the Alphablocks, get to know your alphabet and letter sounds and sing along to the Alphablocks song. Alphablocks is the hit TV show that’s helping millions of children learn to read the fun way. (British English). As seen on Cbeebies. HOW TO PLAY It couldn’t be simpler: tap to bring each Alphablock to life and hear them sing their letter sound and a line from the Alphablocks song. Every Alphablock is designed to help your child remember their letters and letter sounds, so A says a! when an apple falls on her head, and so on. LETTER SOUNDS AND NAMES Listen to the Alphablocks singing their letter sounds, then change to Letter Name mode and have fun learning all the letter names too. FULL OF GOOD PHONICS Alphablocks uses best-practice phonics as taught in UK schools. It’s also part of a whole reading system that can give your child a boost in key phonics skills. Watch Alphablocks on CBeebies and find out more at www.alphablocks.tv. READY FOR MORE? If you enjoy this app, try ALPHABLOCKS LETTER FUN and really get to know the Alphablocks and the alphabet. Letter Fun has four minigames for each Alphablock (more than 100 total) to help your child master their letters and sounds, and they can sing along to the whole Alphablocks letter song.

About

Jolly Phonics Pro

This interactive app helps children develop reading and writing skills through a science-based phonics approach. It features engaging songs, actions, and games to make learning fun and effective for home or classroom use.

Highlights
  • Learn all 42 letter sounds
  • Animated letter formation for handwriting
  • Interactive flashcards and wordbanks
  • Progress tracking and assessments
  • Songs and actions for multisensory learning
Features
Read full description

Teach Your Child to Read and Write with Jolly Phonics! Unlock your child’s reading and writing potential with the literacy app trusted by parents and teachers worldwide. Aligned with the Science of Reading, this interactive app makes learning to read and write fun and engaging, and is ideal for home or classroom use! Jolly Phonics focuses on direct, explicit instruction of phonemic awareness and phonics for both reading (decoding) and writing (encoding). Scientific research has consistently shown phonemic awareness to be essential for building strong reading and writing skills. 
 Why Choose Jolly Phonics? • Proven Success: Used in schools globally for over 30 years – with proven literacy outcomes. • Science-Based Approach: Aligned with the Science of Reading to ensure kids build effective foundational reading skills. • Engaging & Multi-Sensory: Songs, actions and interactive games bring phonics learning to life! Key Features That Make Learning Easy and Fun: • Explore All 42 Letter Sounds: Free audio and songs to help kids learn every sound. • Animated Letter Formation: Develop strong handwriting skills with step-by-step visual animations. • Interactive Learning Tools: Flashcards, wordbanks and action images to enhance and support every lesson. • 7 Educational Games (paid version): Turn reading and writing practice into play with fun phonics games that reinforce kids’ learning. • Progress Tracking: Built-in assessments to monitor children’s progress and celebrate achievements. Who Is It For? This literacy app is ideal for parents, teachers and kids looking for a structured, fun and proven approach to learning to read and write. Start Your Kid’s Phonics Journey Today! Join the millions of families and educators who have embraced the Jolly Phonics programme of learning for confident readers and writers. Whether at home or in the classroom, this app makes literacy learning simple, effective and enjoyable! Download now and see how Jolly Phonics can transform your child’s literacy learning! 
 What's New in This Version?

Screenshots

Meet the Alphablocks!4 screens
Jolly Phonics Pro4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Meet the Alphablocks! at Free against Jolly Phonics Pro's $49.99. Meet the Alphablocks! also leads on review sentiment (75% vs 34%) and iOS requirement (13.0 vs 15.0). Jolly Phonics Pro's advantage is update cadence (every 3 months vs every 11 months). On rating, ratings volume, ads and in-app purchases 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

Meet the Alphablocks! is free to download; Jolly Phonics Pro costs $49.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.4 for Meet the Alphablocks! against 4.5 for Jolly Phonics Pro. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 335 and 232 respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 75% of Meet the Alphablocks!'s written reviews are positive against 34% of Jolly Phonics Pro's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Meet the Alphablocks! ships an update every 11 months, Jolly Phonics Pro every 3 months. The most recent releases landed on October 24, 2026 and October 27, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
Meet the Alphablocks! versus Jolly Phonics Pro: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterMeet the Alphablocks!Jolly Phonics Pro
PriceFree — better$49.99
Rating4.4 (335 ratings)4.5 (232 ratings) — better
Positive reviews75.4% of reviews — better34.0% of reviews
Number of ratings335 — better232
Update frequencyEvery 11 monthsEvery 3 months — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFreeFree
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac — better
Requires iOS13.0 — better15.0
Further details — not scored
Size212 MB227 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperBlue-ZooJolly Learning

Customer experience

Meet the Alphablocks!

All ratings334 ratings
Positive85.9%
Neutral3.6%
Negative10.5%
Written reviews142 reviews
Positive75.4%
Neutral8.5%
Negative16.2%

Jolly Phonics Pro

All ratings232 ratings
Positive90.1%
Neutral3.0%
Negative6.9%
Written reviews50 reviews
Positive34.0%
Neutral14.0%
Negative52.0%

User reviews

Meet the Alphablocks!

From 335 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Fun and engaging
  • 🚀 Great for learning letters and sounds
  • 💡 Helpful for speech therapy
  • 🎨 Colorful and visually appealing

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Crashes and glitches
  • 🤔 Lack of mini-games or interactive features
  • 🤷‍♀️ Confusing instructions for accessing content
  • 😕 Disappointing for those expecting more features

Jolly Phonics Pro

From 232 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Great for learning phonics
  • 👍 Helps children learn letters and words
  • 👍 Addictive yet educational
  • 👍 Good for non-native English speakers
  • 👍 Interactive and fun

Room to improve

  • 🐛 App crashes frequently
  • 🐛 No sound for some letters/words
  • 🐛 Paid version offers no added value over free
  • 🐛 Expensive for limited content
  • 🐛 Poor implementation and glitches

Bugs and requests

Meet the Alphablocks!

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • App crashes when tapping on certain letters
  • Some visual glitches with character animations
  • Subscription/purchase issues for full app access
  • Compatibility problems on older devices

Requested features

4 requests
  • Add more mini-games and interactive elements
  • Improve stability and reduce crashes
  • Provide clearer instructions on accessing all content
  • Expand the app to include more advanced learning activities

Jolly Phonics Pro

Reported bugs

18 issues
  • App crashes after purchase
  • App shows blank page
  • App has no sound
  • Sounds stop working after a few games
  • Some sounds are missing (e.g., 'oa', 'ue', 'ow')
Show 13 more
  • App freezes when repeatedly playing a sound
  • Flashcards are not working
  • Letter sounds get stuck and screen freezes
  • Print letters not showing up correctly
  • Formation part shows cursive writing even when print is selected
  • Blending activities have issues with two-letter sounds
  • Finger tracing has multiple issues
  • App not working with some pronunciations (e.g., 'oa')
  • Sound clip for 'ee' in 'coffee' is the same as 'e' in 'egg'
  • No audible soft 'g' sound in 'ng' section
  • App not allowing restore after purchase
  • App not working with iOS version 11.0 or later
  • Mouse appears then app switches off

Requested features

8 requests
  • Add more phonic groups
  • Allow tapping stories to be read aloud
  • Option to choose different speaking speeds
  • Add interactive word bank
  • Support for family sharing
Show 3 more
  • Add more words to the app
  • Include sound for story and action parts
  • Ability to mix phonic songs and create own words

In-app purchases

None

Meet the Alphablocks!

No in-app purchases

None

Jolly Phonics Pro

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Meet the Alphablocks! free?
Meet the Alphablocks! is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Jolly Phonics Pro free?
Jolly Phonics Pro costs $49.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Meet the Alphablocks! or Jolly Phonics Pro?
Jolly Phonics Pro is rated higher. Meet the Alphablocks! averages 4.4 out of 5 from 335 ratings, while Jolly Phonics Pro averages 4.5 from 232 ratings.
Do Meet the Alphablocks! or Jolly Phonics Pro have ads?
Neither Meet the Alphablocks! nor Jolly Phonics Pro shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Meet the Alphablocks! or Jolly Phonics Pro?
Meet the Alphablocks! ships an update every 11 months, and Jolly Phonics Pro every 3 months. Most recently, Meet the Alphablocks! was updated on October 24, 2026 and Jolly Phonics Pro on October 27, 2026.

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