A transparent family and school guide · 2026
Best spelling apps for UK primary schools and families
In short: No single spelling app is best for every child or school. Parents should choose by the learning job. Teachers should also compare list setup, classroom controls, progress information and the price at their actual school roll. This guide compares six current options without pretending they do the same thing.
Prices checked 28 August 2026. Check the provider before buying.
The short answer
Six spelling apps, six different strengths
Start with the row that describes your real problem. A child who only needs this week’s words does not automatically need a full spelling scheme, and a child who needs explicit teaching will not get it from quiz practice alone.
| App | Strongest fit | Home price | School price |
|---|---|---|---|
| Spellito | Free practice plus low-cost class lists and pupil progress | Basic practice: free. Family Pass: £9 per family per year for up to five children. No automatic renewal. | Class Licence: £59 per class per year. Whole school: £1 per pupil per year, £99 minimum. Both last 12 months with no automatic renewal. |
| SpellCast | Adaptive, game-led practice with calm accessibility defaults | Family access: £19.99 per year for up to four children, after a 14-day trial. A monthly option is also available. | £399 per school per year for unlimited pupils and teachers; one class can start free. |
| Squeebles Spelling Connect | Custom lists, recorded audio and an iPhone or iPad reward game | The UK App Store lists a family subscription for up to four children at £29.99 per year. | Guide price: £400 per year for up to 100 pupils or £750 per year for up to 300 pupils. Bespoke quotes are available. |
| Spelling Shed | A structured scheme, games and links between home and school | Its official UK pricing page lists Parent Yearly at £66.50 for five child licences. | £4.23 per pupil per year plus VAT for 36–199 pupils, with lower per-pupil bands for larger schools. |
| DoodleSpell | An adaptive pathway bundled with wider English practice | The UK app listing gives £69.99 per year for one child or £119.99 per year for a family DoodleEnglish plan. | DoodleEnglish with DoodleSpell costs £6 per pupil per year; a minimum subscription applies. |
| Sir Linkalot | Visual and verbal memory links for difficult spellings | The official site lists personal use at £6.99 per month or £49.99 per year. | The official site lists £3–£5 per pupil per year, with discounts available. |
Look beyond the headline
What each app is actually for
Option 1
Spellito
Best for: Free practice plus low-cost class lists and pupil progress
Children from Reception to Year 6 hear a British voice, spell and retry missed words without an account. A private teacher dashboard can send weekly words electronically to a whole class, a group or one pupil, tailor individual pupil lists and show word-level progress.
Current home price: Basic practice: free. Family Pass: £9 per family per year for up to five children. No automatic renewal.
Current school price: Class Licence: £59 per class per year. Whole school: £1 per pupil per year, £99 minimum. Both last 12 months with no automatic renewal.
Check the fit: Best fit when a parent wants to start immediately or a teacher wants to replace printed-and-cut lists, personalise the words each pupil receives and see which spellings need another turn. It is practice and progress support, not a complete teaching scheme.
Spellito teacher and school informationOption 2
SpellCast
Best for: Adaptive, game-led practice with calm accessibility defaults
A UK primary spelling app covering Reception to Year 6, narrated words and example sentences, custom lists, repeated missed words, a parent dashboard and optional school access. Timers and pupil leaderboards are not the default.
Current home price: Family access: £19.99 per year for up to four children, after a 14-day trial. A monthly option is also available.
Current school price: £399 per school per year for unlimited pupils and teachers; one class can start free.
Check the fit: Useful when adaptive return practice, game rewards and calmer default settings matter. The family subscription renews automatically unless the adult cancels it.
SpellCast official product and pricingOption 3
Squeebles Spelling Connect
Best for: Custom lists, recorded audio and an iPhone or iPad reward game
A connected spelling app with UK curriculum lists, custom words, optional recorded adult audio, child accounts, assignments, rewards and progress information.
Current home price: The UK App Store lists a family subscription for up to four children at £29.99 per year.
Current school price: Guide price: £400 per year for up to 100 pupils or £750 per year for up to 300 pupils. Bespoke quotes are available.
Check the fit: Useful when custom voice recordings and a larger reward system matter. A subscription and child account are needed beyond demo mode.
Squeebles official pricingOption 4
Spelling Shed
Best for: A structured scheme, games and links between home and school
A teacher-built spelling scheme with weekly lists, web games, assignments, multiplayer Hive games, tracking and separate home, teacher and school products.
Current home price: Its official UK pricing page lists Parent Yearly at £66.50 for five child licences.
Current school price: £4.23 per pupil per year plus VAT for 36–199 pupils, with lower per-pupil bands for larger schools.
Check the fit: A stronger fit when the school already uses Spelling Shed or the family wants its full scheme and game ecosystem, rather than a lightweight practice tool.
Spelling Shed official pricingOption 5
DoodleSpell
Best for: An adaptive pathway bundled with wider English practice
DoodleSpell sits inside DoodleEnglish Premium and adapts practice around a child's work. It includes a parent or teacher dashboard and forms part of a wider English product.
Current home price: The UK app listing gives £69.99 per year for one child or £119.99 per year for a family DoodleEnglish plan.
Current school price: DoodleEnglish with DoodleSpell costs £6 per pupil per year; a minimum subscription applies.
Check the fit: Consider it when you want spelling alongside grammar and comprehension. Compare the bundle price with how much of the wider English product your child will use.
Doodle subscription helpOption 6
Sir Linkalot
Best for: Visual and verbal memory links for difficult spellings
A mnemonic-led app using memorable links for spelling, homophones, rules, punctuation, grammar, word history and word parts.
Current home price: The official site lists personal use at £6.99 per month or £49.99 per year.
Current school price: The official site lists £3–£5 per pupil per year, with discounts available.
Check the fit: Worth trying when a child responds well to memorable stories, pictures and links. Check that its method complements the phonics language used by school.
Sir Linkalot official pricing
Test the staff workflow before the invoice
Buying for a class or whole school?
Do not choose from a feature list alone. Ask one teacher to send a real weekly list, open the progress view and identify the next useful action. Spellito publishes fictional working demos so a teacher or head teacher can inspect that workflow before paying.
See the evidence a teacher gets
Scan a fictional whole class, open one pupil and inspect the exact curriculum words that need another turn. No real child data is used in the public demo.
Explore the teacher dashboardTry the weekly-list handover
Select a group or individual pupils, choose curriculum words, add a custom spelling and review the exact list before it is sent electronically.
Try the weekly-list demoSpellito costs £59 per class per year, or £1 per pupil per year for a whole school with a £99 minimum. Both last 12 months and have no automatic renewal. See the teacher offer and buy.
Before entering card details
A five-check trial before you pay
The useful test is not whether the demo looks exciting. It is whether the product improves one real spelling session for the child and removes work for the adult.
- 1
Test the exact learning job
Decide whether the child needs curriculum words, this week's school list, a complete teaching sequence, released SATs practice or a memory strategy. One app rarely leads every category.
- 2
Try one real school list
Use five words the child genuinely has to learn. Check whether adding them, hearing them and correcting them is easier than the current routine.
- 3
Watch the correction
A useful app should let the child compare a wrong attempt with the correct spelling and bring the missed word back. Celebration alone does not teach the changed part.
- 4
Check the adult workload
Count the steps needed to add a list, choose the right child and see what needs another turn. If setup takes longer than the practice it replaces, the app will probably be abandoned.
- 5
Read the privacy and renewal terms
Check what child information is required, whether there are adverts, how to delete data, when a trial converts to payment and whether the subscription renews automatically.
Free first, paid when useful
When basic practice is enough, and when paying helps
Stay free for straightforward practice
If the child needs a short Year 1 to Year 6 curriculum session, a released SATs word set or a retry of missed words, Spellito’s basic ten-word practice is free. You do not need to enter a child’s name, make an account or pay.
Pay for a repeated extra need
A paid product can make sense for custom school lists, several child profiles, saved progress, a complete scheme or a method that clicks for your child. Spellito Family Pass is £9 per family per year for up to five children. No automatic renewal: an adult pays again only if another year is still useful.
Four non-negotiables
What a useful spelling app should make clear
What the child hears
Clear pronunciation and a sentence that fixes the intended word and meaning.
What happens after an error
A calm correction, comparison and another attempt after a useful gap.
What data is required
A readable privacy explanation, proportionate child data and a working deletion route.
How it fits school
UK terminology, the right curriculum context and room for the exact words being taught.
Parent and teacher questions
UK spelling app FAQ
What is the best spelling app for a UK primary school?
There is no universal winner. A school should test its own weekly words with one class, time the teacher setup, check what happens after a pupil makes an error and inspect the resulting progress view. Compare the complete annual cost at the school's actual roll, whether the product is a full teaching scheme or a practice layer, and how child data is handled before committing.
What is the best spelling app for kids in the UK?
No single spelling app is best for every child. Spellito is a strong free choice for quick UK curriculum and released SATs practice; SpellCast suits adaptive game-led practice with calm defaults; Squeebles suits custom recorded audio and rewards; Spelling Shed suits a structured school-linked scheme; DoodleSpell suits adaptive wider-English practice; and Sir Linkalot suits mnemonic memory links. Try the app against the child's actual school words before paying.
Is there a free spelling app for UK primary children?
Yes. Spellito's basic ten-word practice is free, unlimited and works in a web browser from Reception to Year 6. It does not require a child's name, account or payment. Some other products offer a demo, trial or limited free access; check their current terms before starting.
Should a spelling app follow the UK National Curriculum?
It should match the country and school context your child is learning in. For England, check that the app distinguishes statutory word lists, spelling patterns and released SATs material rather than presenting one giant list as the whole curriculum.
Can an app replace spelling teaching at school?
No. An app can provide pronunciation, retrieval practice, correction and progress information. It cannot replace a teacher's explanation of phonics, word structure, meaning and how a spelling transfers into independent writing.
Is a paid spelling app worth it?
Pay when the extra feature solves a repeated problem: custom school lists, several child profiles, saved progress, a structured scheme or a particular teaching approach. Free basic practice is enough when the child simply needs short curriculum-word recall and retry sessions.
Does Spellito renew automatically?
No. Spellito Family Pass costs £9 per family per year, lasts 12 months and has no automatic renewal. Nothing is charged again unless an adult deliberately buys another year.
Clear annual pricing
Start free. Pay only when the family extras help.
A child can practise ten built-in words without entering their name, making an account or paying. Family Pass is the optional complete home product.
Basic practice
FREE
No child name or account needed
- Ten-word curriculum practice
- Hear each word in a sentence
- Clear correction and another try
Complete home tools
£9
per family per year
- Up to five child profiles
- Buddies, hints and private progress
- School lists, SATs papers and cross-device sync
12 months. No automatic renewal.
Product features and prices can change. This guide was checked against provider pages on 28 August 2026 and is not financial, educational or diagnostic advice. Trade marks belong to their respective owners.