The best reading app for early readers (2026): learning to read, and wanting to
Full disclosure: we make one of these apps, and it isn't the one that will teach your child to read. Learning to read and wanting to read are two different jobs. Here's the best app for each, including the ones that aren't ours.
| App | Best for | Price | Does it teach reading? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Khan Academy Kids | learning to read for free, ages 2 to 8 | Free, with no ads or subscriptions | Yes: a phonics path from letter sounds to vowel teams |
| Teach Your Monster to Read | a phonics game, from first sounds to first books | Free in a computer's web browser; the app is $8.99 once (a subscription is coming) | Yes: systematic phonics, in three stages |
| Reading Eggs | a complete learn-to-read program, with lots of books | $9.99/month or $69.99/year in the App Store; with math, $13.99/month or $99.99/year | Yes: lessons in phonics, vocabulary, fluency and comprehension |
| Branchlings (ours) | reading practice they'll want to do | From $9.99/month; sample stories free to read, no free trial | No: it's practice, written at their level |
| Epic | a big library of real books at their level | $13.99/month or $84.99/year; 7-day free trial | No: it's a library, searchable by reading level |
Learning to read, and practicing
Most reading experts agree that children learn to read best when they're taught letter sounds and how to blend them, in order, step by step: phonics. That's what school does, and what the first three apps on this list do at home.
Then comes practice, lots of it, with stories a child wants to finish. That's where a library of leveled books, or a story starring them, earns its place. Neither replaces phonics.
1. Khan Academy Kids
- Best for
- learning to read for free, ages 2 to 8
- Price
- Free, with no ads or subscriptions
- Does it teach reading?
- Yes: a phonics path from letter sounds to vowel teams
Completely free from the nonprofit Khan Academy, with no ads or subscriptions. Its reading path goes from letter sounds to simple words, short and long vowels and sight words, then blends and vowel teams in first grade, with about 300 books read aloud. A small randomized trial found pre-literacy gains in four- and five-year-olds.
The catch: it stops at about age 8, the book library is small, and most of it needs the internet.
2. Teach Your Monster to Read
- Best for
- a phonics game, from first sounds to first books
- Price
- Free in a computer's web browser; the app is $8.99 once (a subscription is coming)
- Does it teach reading?
- Yes: systematic phonics, in three stages
Your child teaches their own monster to read, learning letter sounds, tricky words and then little books across three stages, made with academics at the University of Roehampton by a children's charity. It's free in a web browser on a computer, with no ads.
The catch: it's made in the UK, and some US children find the British voices hard to follow. It's for ages 3 to 6, and the app ($8.99 once) is moving to a subscription later in 2026, when the web version stays free.
3. Reading Eggs
- Best for
- a complete learn-to-read program, with lots of books
- Price
- $9.99/month or $69.99/year in the App Store; with math, $13.99/month or $99.99/year
- Does it teach reading?
- Yes: lessons in phonics, vocabulary, fluency and comprehension
Hundreds of lessons from first sounds to comprehension, across four programs for ages 2 to 13, plus 4,000+ books with a quiz on each and a parent dashboard. One plan covers up to four children, and its website has a 30-day free trial (a card is needed). Its maker holds a kidSAFE+ COPPA seal.
The catch: it needs the internet, it's heavy on games and rewards, and some older children find parts of it too young.
4. Branchlings ours
- Best for
- reading practice they'll want to do
- Price
- From $9.99/month; sample stories free to read, no free trial
- Does it teach reading?
- No: it's practice, written at their level
This is ours. Branchlings writes each story for your child's age, starring them, and at every fork they decide what happens, which is a very good reason to read the next page. When the storyteller voice reads a story, the words light up as it goes; sevens and eights can read on their own or listen. Tap any word to hear it.
What it won't do: teach phonics, use decodable text, or track reading levels. Use it alongside one of the apps above, not instead. It's from $9.99 a month, with no free trial.
5. Epic
- Best for
- a big library of real books at their level
- Price
- $13.99/month or $84.99/year; 7-day free trial
- Does it teach reading?
- No: it's a library, searchable by reading level
40,000+ published books, searchable by AR, Lexile, F&P and other levels, with quizzes on many books, a reading log, and professional narration on its Read-to-Me books.
The catch: it's $13.99 a month or $84.99 a year, and it doesn't teach phonics step by step.
Our pick
To teach reading: Khan Academy Kids if you want free, Reading Eggs if you want the most complete program, Teach Your Monster to Read if your child loves a game.
For practice: Epic for lots of real books, or Branchlings if your child would rather read a story they're in, and decide what happens next.
What we'd do today
- Ask your child's teacher which phonics program school uses, and pick an app that fits.
- Ten minutes of reading together a day beats an hour once a week.
- Let them read the choices in a sample story out loud, and pick.
Questions
- Does Branchlings teach kids to read?
- No. Branchlings is reading practice: stories written at your child's level, starring them, with words that light up when the storyteller voice reads them. To learn to read, children need phonics taught step by step, which Khan Academy Kids, Teach Your Monster to Read and Reading Eggs do.
- What's the best free app for learning to read?
- Khan Academy Kids is completely free. Teach Your Monster to Read is free in a web browser on a computer.
- Are AI-written stories good for early readers?
- They can be good practice if they're written for the child's level and checked for safety. They aren't decodable books, which only use the letter sounds a child has learned so far. For that, use your school's phonics books or a program like Reading Eggs.
- Is Branchlings free?
- Branchlings is free to download, with in-app purchases. You can read the sample stories before you choose a plan. Painting your character and new stories come with a plan, from $9.99 a month. See pricing.
Try Branchlings
Your child dreams up the story and picks what happens at every fork, and Branchlings writes and paints it. Free to download, with in-app purchases. You can read the sample stories before you choose a plan. Painting your character and new stories come with a plan. Plans start at $9.99 a month, and there's no free trial. For iPhone and iPad in the US.
We checked prices and features for every app here in October 2026. Apps change fast, so double-check on each app's own site before you buy. Names of other apps are trademarks of their owners and are used here only to identify them; we're not connected with any of them.