Is Giant the same app as "Giant: Kids Star in Your Story"?

Yes. As of October 2026 the App Store calls it "Giant: Imagination Adventures", after a redesign that shipped on October 1 and 2, 2026. Google Play still lists it as "Giant - Loved by Kids".

Can kids talk to AI characters in Giant?

Yes. Giant's characters hold live voice conversations with children, and a Parent Portal shows conversations that were flagged. Branchlings has no chat with AI characters.

Is Giant cheaper than Branchlings?

Monthly, both start at $9.99. Yearly, Giant's App Store listing shows $59.99 and $79.99 plans, and Branchlings Basic is $109.99. Giant also sells star packs, from $2.99, and gives free stars daily.

Does Branchlings use my child's photo?

Only if you choose to. You can design your child's character or describe them in your own words, or a grown-up can paint them from a photo, which is only used to check it's safe and paint the character, and is deleted within 7 days. Giant makes a cartoon avatar from a parent's photo and says it deletes the photo once the avatar is made.

Which is better for a three-year-old?

It depends what you want the screen time to be. Giant is labelled for ages 0–5 and is full of voices, shows and play. Branchlings for a three-year-old is a picture book you read together, with two simple choices and little prompts to talk about. Try our free sample story for ages 3–4 and see.

Story app guides and comparisons

Branchlings vs Giant (2026): a playground of AI characters, or a storybook your child steers

Giant is the most ambitious kids' AI app around, well funded and well reviewed. It's also a different kind of thing: a place to talk with characters, watch shows and play with friends. Branchlings does one thing, storybooks your child steers. Here's the honest comparison, from the people who make the alternative.

The short answer

Both let a child star in stories where they make choices. Giant (now called Giant: Imagination Adventures on the App Store) wraps that in much more: live voice calls with AI characters, personalized animated episodes, creations from drawings, and playing with friends, on iPhone, iPad and Android. Branchlings is just storybooks: painted pages written for your child's age, read together or aloud, where your child picks what happens at every fork or adds their own idea.

Pick Giant if: you want variety (shows, voice chat with characters, drawing, friends), you're on Android, or you want an app with an independent COPPA Safe Harbor certification.
Pick Branchlings if: you want reading time rather than screen play: real storybook pages, read-along words, stories written for your child's age, deep grown-up controls, and no chatting with AI characters.

Branchlings vs Giant at a glance
Compared	Branchlings	Giant
Price	$9.99/month or $109.99/year for about 5 stories a month, and more on bigger plans; no free trial	$9.99/month; yearly plans listed at $59.99 and $79.99; star packs from $2.99; free daily stars
What your child does	Reads and steers painted storybooks	Talks with AI characters, watches personalized episodes, plays interactive stories, makes things with friends
Choices in the story	At every fork: painted choices, or their own idea	Yes: interactive stories where children make choices
Your child in the story	Design them (skin tone, hair, glasses and more) or describe them	A cartoon avatar made from a parent's photo (the photo is deleted once the avatar is made)
Talking with AI characters	None: no chat of any kind	Yes: live voice calls with AI characters, with flagged chats shown in a Parent Portal
Friends and sharing	Nothing public, no friends list	A friends list, adventures together, and sharing creations
Reading	Written for each reader's age, from babies to about 12, with words lighting up as they're read	Voiced stories and episodes; App Store label: made for ages 0–5
Where it runs	iPhone and iPad, in the US; Android coming soon	iPhone, iPad and Android
Children's privacy	A grown-up agrees before anything about a child is kept; never used to train AI; no ads	COPPA Safe Harbor certified by PRIVO; no ads

The real difference: a playground, or a storybook

Giant is a lot of things in one app. Your child can call a character and talk out loud, watch an animated episode they star in, play an interactive story with choices, turn a drawing into a world, and do some of it with friends. It's lively, and kids clearly love it.

Branchlings is one thing on purpose: a storybook. Painted pages, words written for your child's age, read together or aloud, and a fork every so often where your child decides what happens, or types their own idea with a grown-up. Then it winds down, especially at bedtime.

What Giant is genuinely better at

It does more. Voice conversations with characters, animated episodes, drawings that turn into worlds, and playing with friends. If you want one app for lots of kinds of play, Giant is it.

It's on Android. Giant runs on iPhone, iPad and Android. Branchlings is iPhone and iPad only, with Android coming.

Its yearly plan costs less. Both start at $9.99 a month, but Giant's App Store listing shows yearly plans at $59.99 and $79.99, against our $109.99. (Giant also sells stars, which pay for episodes, chats and story chapters, and gives some free every day.)

It has an independent children's privacy certification. Giant is in PRIVO's COPPA Safe Harbor program. Branchlings doesn't have a certification like that yet, and we'd rather say so than let you assume.

What Branchlings is genuinely better at

It's reading time. Every story is pages of words and paintings, written for your child's age and reading level, from first stories a grown-up reads aloud to longer chapter adventures for 12-year-olds. Words light up as they're read, and there's a dyslexia-friendly font.

No chatting with AI. We decided children shouldn't have open conversations with AI characters, so there are none. The only thing your child says to Branchlings is an idea at a fork, typed in with a grown-up and checked for safety before the story uses it.

Nothing social. No friends list, no sharing, nothing public. What your child makes stays on your family's shelf.

Grown-ups decide the story's edges. Words and topics to leave out of every story, how exciting stories get, a "My idea!" switch for each child, and a bedtime mode that winds down to goodnight with nothing starting on its own.

A note on price

Both apps pair a subscription with a currency. Giant's plan unlocks its characters, episodes and stories with a monthly allowance of stars, and sells more. Branchlings plans give your family story credits every month (a usual story uses about 3), and subscribers can add credit packs. Month to month the price is the same. By the year, Giant is cheaper. (In October 2026, one App Store reviewer called needing both a subscription and stars a "double paywall", and Giant's CEO replied that the company is working on how the two fit together.)

Questions

Is Giant the same app as "Giant: Kids Star in Your Story"?: Yes. As of October 2026 the App Store calls it "Giant: Imagination Adventures", after a redesign that shipped on October 1 and 2, 2026. Google Play still lists it as "Giant - Loved by Kids".
Can kids talk to AI characters in Giant?: Yes. Giant's characters hold live voice conversations with children, and a Parent Portal shows conversations that were flagged. Branchlings has no chat with AI characters.
Is Giant cheaper than Branchlings?: Monthly, both start at $9.99. Yearly, Giant's App Store listing shows $59.99 and $79.99 plans, and Branchlings Basic is $109.99. Giant also sells star packs, from $2.99, and gives free stars daily.
Does Branchlings use my child's photo?: Only if you choose to. You can design your child's character or describe them in your own words, or a grown-up can paint them from a photo, which is only used to check it's safe and paint the character, and is deleted within 7 days. Giant makes a cartoon avatar from a parent's photo and says it deletes the photo once the avatar is made.
Which is better for a three-year-old?: It depends what you want the screen time to be. Giant is labelled for ages 0–5 and is full of voices, shows and play. Branchlings for a three-year-old is a picture book you read together, with two simple choices and little prompts to talk about. Try our free sample story for ages 3–4 and see.

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.

Coming soon to the App Store Android coming soon

Giant pricing and features checked 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.