Comparison

AlphaTopics vs F

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

Head to head
About

AlphaTopics

This app aids communication for individuals with unclear speech by providing tools to convey messages faster. It offers letter boards, customizable topic boards, and a whiteboard for writing or drawing, helping to improve listener understanding and expressiveness.

Highlights
  • Letter board with alphabetical or frequency order
  • Customizable topic boards with voice output
  • Whiteboard for writing and drawing
  • Adjustable settings for various impairments
  • Export custom boards for printing or sharing
  • Built-in scanning and guided access support
Read full description

Sometimes just giving a hint or context is all your listener needs to understand you. The first letter or two. The general topic. AlphaTopics is the perfect AAC app for people whose natural speech is not always clear. Stop wasting time navigating to the right word or typing it out. Get your point across faster by touching just the first few letters of the words you say. Give your listener context by starting the conversation with the topic. Write it out with your finger or draw a picture. Don’t let overly complicated apps slow you down. Tactus Therapy, a trusted name in speech therapy apps, brings you a new take on a classic communication tool. AlphaTopics includes 3 AAC communication boards loaded with features: 1) Letter Board - 26 letters in alphabetical order or 2 variations of frequency order - 10 single digits allow you to express any number - Vowels highlighted and aligned for faster navigation - Natural or automated speech reads out the name of each letter or number - Yes, no, question, smiley, space, and backspace buttons for prosody and function 2) Topic Board - Fully customizable text you can re-order - Voice output with adjustable speech rate - Two sizes of grid to display 12 or 24 topics - Pre-filled with functional topics for adults 3) Whiteboard - Write or draw on the screen - 6 colors and 4 widths - Export to Photos or e-mail When used together, alphabet and topic boards have been scientifically shown to make the speech of people with motor speech disorders far more understandable. Combined with the whiteboard, these tools help people with aphasia express themselves more clearly with self-cueing and strategy use. Stroke, traumatic brain injury, cerebral palsy, Parkinson’s disease, ALS, and motor neuron disease are all conditions that can impair speech production. Pointing to the first letter in each word not only gives the listener more information about the word, it also encourages the speaker to slow down and separate words, actually making the words clearer! Using alphabet supplementation, studies show intelligibility of sentences improves 25% on average. Pointing to the topic before speaking narrows the range of possibilities for the listener, giving context. Studies show using a topic cue improves word understanding by an average of 28%. Topics can also be used by people with aphasia, a language disorder, to help pinpoint the intended message. Additional Features: *Adjustable settings for visual, physical, language, and cognitive impairments *Works with built-in scanning and guided access *4 color schemes *Pick which board comes up when you start the app *Export any board you've customized to print or share "People whose speech is hard to understand often just want to provide extra clues to their listener and don’t require all the features of a comprehensive AAC app. It’s terrific that we now have an app that provides this level of support on a mobile platform.” - Lois Turner, SLP & AAC specialist Visit tactustherapy.com for more information on how to use this app, the evidence to support this form of AAC, and a day-by-day account of how this app was made.

About

F

This tool offers a standardized cognitive screening through 14 functional tasks. It integrates real-life distractions to assess cognitive abilities and performance breakdowns in various domains. Clinicians can observe clients performing tasks from simple to complex.

Highlights
  • 14 functional tasks
  • Real-life distractions integration
  • Cognitive domain assessment
  • Functional performance reporting
  • Clinician observation tool
  • Money management tasks
  • Medication management tasks
Features
Read full description

The Functional Standardized Touchscreen Assessment of Cognition (FSTAC) is the first of it's kind in cognitive screening tools. FSTAC provides 14 functional tasks for a person to complete and then provides a report on functional & cognitive performance. One of the features that makes FSTAC so valuable is the integration of real life distractions, such as text messages, phone messages and noise. These distractions in the setting of a cognitively complex task provide the perfect setting to assess a person's cognitive abilities and breakdowns. Clinicians can now observe their clients performing functional tasks that range from simple to complex utilizing current technology. Cognitive domains include: General Knowledge Functional math Auditory & Visual attention Auditory & Visual Short term memory Working memory Language/Reading Language Auditory Comprehension Visual/Spatial Executive Function (Flexibility, Org, Prob solving) Insight/Awareness of performance Functional tasks include: Money ID/Valuation Medication management Safety Cash management: paying and making change Grocery shopping - Organization, planning Story listen and recall Bill pay over phone Appointment rescheduling Handling normal distractions Recalling tasks to do in a day Video demonstration can be found at https://youtu.be/ilVHjECm9o4

Screenshots

AlphaTopics4 screens

Verdict

The call

AlphaTopics and F both sit at 4.3 stars, but that hides the real split: 86% of F's written reviews are positive against 40% of AlphaTopics's. F also leads on update cadence (every 4 months vs every 11 months). AlphaTopics's advantage is price ($9.99 vs $149.99) and ratings volume (46 vs 8). On rating, 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

AlphaTopics costs $9.99 and F $149.99 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 — 4.3 for AlphaTopics against 4.4 for F. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: AlphaTopics has 46 ratings behind it against 8, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 40% of AlphaTopics's written reviews are positive against 86% of F's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

AlphaTopics ships an update every 11 months, F every 4 months. The most recent releases landed on November 3, 2026 and November 1, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 4 level
AlphaTopics versus F: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterAlphaTopicsF
Price$9.99 — better$149.99
Rating4.3 (46 ratings)4.4 (8 ratings) — better
Positive reviews40.0% of reviews85.7% of reviews — better
Number of ratings46 — better8
Update frequencyEvery 11 monthsEvery 4 months — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationPaidPaid
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPad
Requires iOS9.0 — better15.6
Further details — not scored
Size7 MB54 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperTactus Therapy Solutions Ltd.Cognitive Innovations LLC

Customer experience

AlphaTopics

All ratings46 ratings
Positive82.6%
Neutral10.9%
Negative6.5%
Written reviews5 reviews
Positive40.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative60.0%

F

All ratings7 ratings
Positive85.7%
Neutral14.3%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews7 reviews
Positive85.7%
Neutral14.3%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

None

AlphaTopics

No in-app purchases

None

F

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is AlphaTopics free?
AlphaTopics costs $9.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is F free?
F costs $149.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, AlphaTopics or F?
F is rated higher. AlphaTopics averages 4.3 out of 5 from 46 ratings, while F averages 4.4 from 8 ratings.
Do AlphaTopics or F have ads?
Neither AlphaTopics nor F shows ads.
Which is updated more often, AlphaTopics or F?
AlphaTopics ships an update every 11 months, and F every 4 months. Most recently, AlphaTopics was updated on November 3, 2026 and F on November 1, 2026.

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