Comparison

Claro ScanPen vs Lese

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

Head to head
About

Claro ScanPen

This app allows you to take a photo of printed text and have it read aloud to you instantly. It uses OCR technology to convert images to text and supports multiple languages. It's ideal for students, professionals, and anyone needing auditory access to printed materials, even without an internet connection.

Highlights
  • Photo capture of printed text
  • Selectable text for audio playback
  • Instant human-quality voice output
  • Offline functionality
  • Multi-language support
  • OCR technology
  • Copy and share text
Features
Read full description

Need to listen to printed text spoken aloud - at school, in a test or exam, at work or at home? Use Claro ScanPen to photo your printed text document, letter, test paper - then select the text with your finger (or stylus), and hear it spoken straight back to you. Instantly! No internet connection required. Claro ScanPen advances reading aloud support. It gives access to printed text materials and documents for all, in a wide range of languages. Using your iPhone, iPod Touch or iPad, simply: • Take a photo of the text or select a photo of the text document from your camera roll. • Highlight with your finger or stylus which section of text you want to hear spoken to you. • Listen as Claro ScanPen instantly reads the text back to you using a human quality voice in a language of your choice. With your finger (or stylus) you can highlight all of the text, word by word or line by line. Tap anywhere to stop the speech. Claro ScanPen can also be used with the built in iOS VoiceOver accessibility feature, allowing low vision and blind users to access text. Claro ScanPen has no access to the internet or any reference material, so is perfect to use as a computer reader under exam and test conditions, helping students who cannot read text very well (e.g. students with dyslexia) to listen to the exam test paper questions and information. It can also be used for quickly converting class handout materials, printed presentations, instructions, books - in fact anything containing printed texts. Great for independent access and learning. Claro ScanPen uses the latest premium Optical Character Recognition (OCR) technology to convert your picture into text and uses iOS system voices to read the text back to you. The OCR in Claro ScanPen fully supports the recognition of text in the following languages: • English • Danish • Dutch • French • German • Italian • Norwegian • Portuguese • Spanish • Swedish Simply select the voice that matches the language of your text to hear it read back correctly. Higher-quality Nuance Expressive and Acapela voices are available to purchase in-app. Claro ScanPen is a great addition to the popular Claro Reading and Writing support apps ClaroSpeak and ClaroPDF. Claro ScanPen does not require internet access to function. Explore using the Apple iOS Guided Access feature to lock the iPad, iPod Touch or iPhone into a single app, for more secure and controlled usage. Tap iOS Settings > General > Accessibility > Guided Access to set up Guided Access. Selected text can be copied to the clipboard by enabling the advanced setting in iOS Settings. A share button can be enabled in advanced settings in iOS Settings. This lets you export your image to other apps, email and other destinations. Now supports drag and drop of the scanned text, to apps that support text, such as Notes. Requires iOS 11 and an iPad that supports multi-tasking. *** Minimum camera spec: 2MP *** If you require any product support please email us at support@clarosoftware.com. We cannot respond to any support requests made via the App Store review channel, so please email us first.

About

Lese

This app helps early readers practice reading syllables and short words using made-up words. It uses speech recognition to provide feedback on pronunciation, enabling independent and effective reading practice. The difficulty can be adjusted based on the child's learning progress.

Highlights
  • Syllable and word reading practice
  • Speech recognition for pronunciation feedback
  • Customizable learning difficulty
  • Uses pseudowords for focused practice
  • Color-coded syllable highlighting
  • Adjustable word length
Features
Read full description

Mit der Lese-App können Leseanfänger das Lesen von Silben und kurzen Wörtern mit Hilfe von Pseudowörtern üben. Die App erkennt mit Hilfe von Spracherkennung in der Regel, ob korrekt vorgelesen wurde und gibt eine entsprechende Rückmeldung. Dadurch wird selbstständiges, effektives Leseüben ermöglicht. Die App kann auf den Lernstand des Kindes hin angepasst werden: Es können sowohl die bereits bekannten Buchstaben ausgewählt werden, wie auch die Darstellung und Länge der Pseudowörter eingestellt werden. Gerade bei noch wenigen erlernten Buchstaben ist die Auswahl an "echten" Wörtern sehr gering und wird schnell von den Kindern auswendig gelernt (z.B. Lama, Mama, Momo, ...). Deshalb werden hier Pseudowörter genutzt, die bei jedem Wort ein genaues Lesen der Silben erfordern. Mit dieser App bekommen die Kinder eine Möglichkeit, das Lesen von Silben (farbig markiert) und kurzen Wörtern mit Spaß zu üben. Die App bietet nicht nur die Wörter auf dem Bildschirm an, sondern erkennt mit Hilfe der integrierten Spracherkennung auch meist, ob das Pseudowort richtig erlesen wurde. Falls die Leseerkennung nicht funktioniert hat (was leider manchmal vorkommt), wird das Wort dem Kind nochmal laut vorgelesen und ein neues Wort angezeigt. Kinder lesen gerne Pseudowörter und lieben den Klang der Quatschwörter. Die App ist ein einfaches, schnörkelloses Werkzeug um Leseanfängern eine motivierende und spaßige Übungsmöglichkeiten zu bieten. Bei der App geht es rein um die Automatisierung des Leseprozesses durch das Synthetisieren von Buchstaben als Grundlage für flüssiges Lesen. Nicht geübt wird mit dieser App das sinnentnehmende Lesen, eben weil Pseudowörter verwendet werden. Das sinnentnehmende Lesen von Wörtern und kurzen Sätzen wäre eine gute Fortsetzungsübung, wenn das Erlesen der Pseudowörter weitgehend flüssig automatisiert ist.

Screenshots

Claro ScanPen4 screens
Lese4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Lese at $1.99 against Claro ScanPen's $9.99. Lese also leads on in-app purchases (none vs 11) and review sentiment (43% vs 24%). Claro ScanPen's advantage is iOS requirement (13.0 vs 15.0). On 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Claro ScanPen costs $9.99 and Lese $1.99 up front. Claro ScanPen sells 11 one-off in-app purchases. Lese asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Claro ScanPen ships an update every 2 months, Lese every 3 months. The most recent releases landed on September 22, 2026 and September 21, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
Claro ScanPen versus Lese: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterClaro ScanPenLese
Price$9.99$1.99 — better
Rating4.2 (147 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews23.5% of reviews42.9% of reviews — better
Number of ratings147 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 2 months — betterEvery 3 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases — betterPaid
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS13.0 — better15.0
Further details — not scored
Size136 MB9 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperClaro Software LimitedChristian Urff

Customer experience

Claro ScanPen

All ratings147 ratings
Positive79.6%
Neutral4.1%
Negative16.3%
Written reviews17 reviews
Positive23.5%
Neutral17.6%
Negative58.8%

Lese

Written reviews7 reviews
Positive42.9%
Neutral0.0%
Negative57.1%

In-app purchases

11 purchases

Claro ScanPen

One-time11
  • Allison$1.99
  • Ava$1.99
  • Samantha$1.99
Show 8 more
  • Tom$1.99
  • Susan$1.99
  • Heather$1.99
  • Ryan$1.99
  • Micah$1.99
  • Rod$1.99
  • Tyler$1.99
  • Will$1.99
None

Lese

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Claro ScanPen free?
Claro ScanPen costs $9.99, and also offers in-app purchases.
Is Lese free?
Lese costs $1.99, with no in-app purchases.
Do Claro ScanPen or Lese have ads?
Neither Claro ScanPen nor Lese shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Claro ScanPen or Lese?
Claro ScanPen ships an update every 2 months, and Lese every 3 months. Most recently, Claro ScanPen was updated on September 22, 2026 and Lese on September 21, 2026.

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