Reading Eggs Alternatives: Free and Paid Phonics Apps Compared

Reading Eggs is a well-made reading program built on phonics, with separate programs from age 2 to 13, and maths through Mathseeds. It has no ads, runs in a browser as well as on tablets, and offers a 30-day free trial. On the US App Store it costs $9.99 a month or $69.99 a year, or $13.99 a month with Mathseeds. There is no free tier: after the trial, it needs a subscription.

If you're looking for something free, or just different, these are the alternatives that also teach reading through phonics, compared fairly. This page is written by the dad who makes Tiny Hands Learn: Reading, which is free, so read it knowing that.

The short version

Details are from each app's own website and its US App Store and Google Play pages, checked on 1 November 2026. Prices change and vary by country.

Free alternatives

Teach Your Monster to Read comes from the Usborne Foundation, a charity, and was built with the University of Roehampton. It's completely free on computers; the apps cost $8.99 once, and the company has said new app users will move to a subscription, while the web version stays free. Its first stage covers 31 letter-sound combinations and blending short words.

Starfall is a nonprofit with a learn-to-read program that is free for every child, in a browser with no sign-in. It teaches systematic phonics starting with short words like cat and sit.

Khan Academy Kids includes phonics and reading in a free, broad curriculum for ages 2 to 8.

Duolingo ABC teaches letters, phonics and sight words for free, with no ads. The Android app is still updated; the iPhone version hasn't been updated since 2023.

Where Tiny Hands fits

Tiny Hands Learn: Reading is free for every family, for good: no subscription and no ads, kept going by donations, because we believe every child, wherever they're born and whatever their family can afford, deserves an early start on reading.

It teaches the way schools do: every letter by its sound, in the usual phonics order (s, a, t, p first), then blending, writing and little stories. Bubba the whale says everything out loud, so children as young as two can start before they can read a word, a few minutes at a time. It runs in any browser on a tablet, phone or computer. A grown-up makes a free account first, so each child's progress is kept.

It's smaller than Reading Eggs, which has years of content and a maths program. If your child is beyond the first steps of reading, Reading Eggs or Starfall's membership go further.

Paid alternatives

Hooked on Phonics is one of the longest-running names in phonics, with more than 1,000 lessons and over 100 ebooks, on phones and tablets only. It's a subscription after a 7-day trial.

HOMER has a step-by-step phonics program designed by experts, plus maths and social-emotional activities, at $9.99 a month or $59.99 a year after a 30-day trial.

What to look for in any reading app

• Systematic phonics: sounds first, in a planned order, then blending. All of the apps above do this.
• Clean sounds: /m/, not "muh". Our guide on how to teach letter sounds explains why it matters.
• Short sessions that end on their own.
• Real books too. No app replaces reading together every day.

Which should you pick?

• You like Reading Eggs and the price is fine: keep it; it's thorough.
• You want it free: Teach Your Monster to Read on a computer, Starfall, or Tiny Hands Learn: Reading.
• Your child is two or three: look for voice-led apps with nothing to read: Tiny Hands Learn or Khan Academy Kids.
• You want reading and maths together: Khan Academy Kids (free) or Reading Eggs with Mathseeds.

Our reading apps compared page has every option side by side, and our guide on how to teach your child to read and write at home covers the steps without a screen.