Story app guides and comparisons
Branchlings vs Oscar Stories (2026): cheaper, on more devices and languages, or a story your child steers
Oscar Stories is one of the best-known AI bedtime story apps, and it costs less than Branchlings. It writes a personalized story for your child in one go. Branchlings writes one your child steers. Here's the honest comparison, from the people who make the alternative.
| Compared | Branchlings | Oscar Stories |
|---|---|---|
| Price | From $9.99/month (about 5 stories); free sample stories, no free trial | $4.99/month or $39.99/year on iPhone ($49/year on the web, with a 7-day trial); coin packs; first stories free |
| How the story goes | It branches: your child picks what happens at every fork, or types their own idea | You choose the setup (characters, place, moral) before it's written; then it reads straight through |
| Starring your child | Design them (skin tone, hair, glasses and more) or describe them; add family, friends, pets | Name, age, interests and looks; family and friends as side characters |
| Pictures | Every page painted, in lots of styles; each character painted once and used as the model | Illustrated stories, plus animated story videos |
| Read aloud | An AI storyteller voice, with each word lighting up (always included at bedtime), or your own recorded voice on Plus and Pro | Audiobook narration, with a choice of voices on the web |
| Languages | English | About ten, including Spanish, French, German and Japanese |
| Where it runs | iPhone and iPad, in the US; Android coming soon | iPhone, iPad, Android and web, with one account across all of them |
| Bedtime | A bedtime mode: calm stories, read aloud, that wind down to goodnight | Built as bedtime stories throughout |
| Ads and AI training | No ads; never used to train AI | No ads (its FAQ); says it doesn't train models on your data |
The real difference is when the choices happen
Both apps let you shape the story. In Oscar Stories, you make the choices up front: who's in it, where it happens, what it should teach. Then Oscar writes the story and you read it. In Branchlings, the story stops at each fork and your child decides what happens next, with painted choices or their own idea. The story is written as they go.
That one difference explains most of the rest. A story made as it goes takes more painting, which is why Branchlings costs more and works in credits.
What Oscar Stories is genuinely better at
It costs less. $4.99 a month on iPhone against our $9.99, and it lets you buy stories with coins instead of subscribing. Your first stories are free, too. We don't have a free trial.
It's on more devices. iPhone, iPad, Android and the web, with your subscription following you. Branchlings is iPhone and iPad only for now.
It speaks more languages. About ten, against our one. If your family reads in Spanish, German or Japanese, that settles it.
It has extras we don't. Animated story videos and story worlds borrowed from classics like Alice in Wonderland and the Jungle Book.
What Branchlings is genuinely better at
Your child steers the story. At every fork they pick from painted choices, two for the littlest listeners and more as they grow, or tap "My idea!" and type their own, with a grown-up. The story map shows the path they took and the ones they didn't.
Every page is painted, with the same characters. Each character is painted once and that painting is the model for every page. Keep the characters your child loves and bring them back for the next chapter.
Grown-up controls go deep. A PIN, words and topics to leave out of every story, how exciting stories get, a switch for "My idea!" for each child, and a bedtime mode that winds down to goodnight with nothing starting on its own.
A note on price
Oscar's iPhone price is $4.99 a month or $39.99 a year. Its web price is $49 a year with a 7-day free trial. Branchlings starts at $9.99 a month for about five stories (a usual story uses about 3 credits), with sample stories free to read. If the price matters most, Oscar is the better deal, and we'd rather you knew that.
Questions
- Is Oscar Stories cheaper than Branchlings?
- Yes. Oscar Stories is $4.99 a month or $39.99 a year on iPhone, and your first stories are free. Branchlings starts at $9.99 a month, with free sample stories and no free trial.
- Does Oscar Stories let my child choose what happens?
- You choose the characters, place and moral before the story is written. As of October 2026 we couldn't find choices during the story itself. In Branchlings, choosing what happens at each fork is the whole point.
- Is Oscar Stories on Android?
- Yes, on Android and the web as well as iPhone and iPad. Branchlings is on iPhone and iPad, and Android is coming soon.
- Which works in other languages?
- Oscar Stories, which writes in about ten languages. Branchlings is English only for now.
- 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.
Oscar Stories 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.