Spelly vs Squeebles: Which Spelling App Should You Choose? (2026)

Last updated: September 2026 · Written by the Spelly team

Quick answer: Squeebles Spelling Connect is a long-established UK spelling app built around a parent or teacher recording their own voice for each word, with homework assignments and school accounts. Spelly scans your child's printed worksheet into practice, plays every word through five game modes in 14 languages, and has a free tier plus a one-time price. If you want to record your own voice, or you are a school setting homework, Squeebles fits better. If you want to photograph Friday's list and start in seconds, or you want to play for free, Spelly fits better.

A note on fairness: Spelly is our app. Squeebles has been in British primary schools for over a decade and does several things we do not, which this comparison says plainly. Details verified from Squeebles' own site in September 2026.

At a glance

Where Squeebles wins (honestly)

You can record your own voice for every word. This is Squeebles' best feature and Spelly has no equivalent. A parent or teacher records themselves saying each word, and the child hears that familiar voice during practice. Squeebles also has audio already recorded for over 8,500 words if you would rather not. For a young child, or one who needs a specific accent or a particular pronunciation, a real human voice they know is worth a great deal. Spelly reads every word with a natural AI voice instead, which is instant and consistent, but it is not your voice. One caveat from Squeebles' own site: recording is not available in the web browser, so you need the iOS or Android app to record.

Proper homework assignments for schools. Squeebles school accounts let several teachers each be assigned to their own classes and set assignments, with the children's results coming back. Spelly's teacher story is deliberately lighter: you share one link or a QR code and children practise with no accounts, no emails and nothing collected from them. That is simpler to run and better for privacy, but it is not a homework system with a gradebook. If you want to set spelling homework and track who did it, Squeebles is built for that and Spelly is not.

A large, levelled list library. Over 160 spelling lists split into four levels by spelling ability. Spelly has more than 70 topic lists, but they are organised by subject rather than by level.

A long track record. Squeebles has been used in British primary schools for years. That kind of history matters if you want something teachers already recognise.

Where Spelly is the better choice

You can photograph the worksheet. Spelly scans a photo of the printed or handwritten list that came home in the schoolbag and turns it into practice in seconds. In Squeebles you type each word in yourself, and if you want your own audio you also record each one. On a Thursday evening, that is the difference between one photo and fifteen typed words.

There is a free tier that actually plays. Squeebles Spelling Connect has no free version, only a 7-day trial; after that it stops. Spelly is free to play and stays free: the whole game, every mode and the ready-made lists. Free play runs on hearts, which come back over time and again each new day.

Pay once instead of every year. Spelly's unlock is a single $29 payment with no subscription. Squeebles is £29.99 a year for a family, or £2.99 a month. For one year the two are close. Over a child's primary school years the difference compounds, and Squeebles stops working when you stop paying.

Five game modes for every word. Spelly runs each word through Matching, Multiple Choice, Fill the Gap, Build It and Type It, getting harder as the child gets it right, and a missed word comes back in an easier game before the round ends. Squeebles has practice plus word searches and a reward mini-game, but not a graded ladder per word.

Fourteen practice languages. Spelly practises in English, Spanish, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Russian, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Arabic, Hebrew, Thai and Burmese, with every word spoken and meanings available in another language. Squeebles lets you build a list in any language using accented characters, but you supply the audio yourself.

It works in a browser with nothing to install, and as free apps on the App Store and Google Play with the same account.

A note on the original Squeebles Spelling Test app

If you remember Squeebles as a £4.99 one-off purchase, that was the original Squeebles Spelling Test app. Squeebles withdrew it from sale in September 2024. Existing owners can keep using it where it is already installed, but the company has said its spelling-share feature is being phased out, with the aim of shutting it down by the end of the 2025-26 school year. Spelling Connect, the subscription app compared above, is its replacement. If you are searching for the old one-off app, it is no longer available to buy.

Which should you choose?

• You want your child to hear your voice, or a specific accent: Squeebles.
• You are a school setting spelling homework and tracking it: Squeebles.
• You want to photograph the list that came home: Spelly.
• You want to try it properly without paying: Spelly. Squeebles has a 7-day trial and no free tier.
• You would rather pay once than subscribe every year: Spelly.
• Your child practises in a language other than English: Spelly, which speaks all 14.
• You are a teacher who wants the class practising in one tap with no student accounts: Spelly's share link.
• You want a large library of lists arranged by level: Squeebles.

The honest summary: Squeebles is the stronger choice for a school running spelling homework, and for any family who wants a real recorded voice. Spelly is the stronger choice for a parent who wants this week's list turned into practice with a photo, in a game that is free to play and costs at most a single payment.

Frequently asked questions

Is Squeebles free? Squeebles Spelling Connect is not free. It offers a 7-day trial, then a family subscription of £2.99 a month or £29.99 a year for up to four children. School plans start at £25 a month for a single class. Spelly has a free tier that does not expire, alongside a one-time $29 unlock.

Can Squeebles scan a spelling worksheet? No. Squeebles lists are typed in by a parent or teacher, and you can record your own audio for each word. Spelly can scan a photo of a printed or handwritten worksheet and pull the words out of it.

Can Spelly use my own voice for the words? No. Spelly speaks every word with a natural AI voice in the practice language. If hearing a parent's or teacher's own recorded voice matters to you, that is Squeebles' strength and the clearest reason to choose it.

Which is better for a school or a class? For setting and tracking spelling homework, Squeebles, which has school accounts, multiple teachers per class and assignments. For getting a whole class practising immediately with no student accounts and no data collected from children, Spelly's shared link or QR code.

Which costs less? For one year they are close: £29.99 for a Squeebles family plan against $29 once for Spelly. After the first year Spelly costs nothing more, while Squeebles renews annually and stops working if you cancel.

What happened to the old Squeebles Spelling Test app? It was withdrawn from sale in September 2024. Owners can keep using installed copies, but its sharing feature is being retired, with the end of the 2025-26 school year given as the target. Spelling Connect is the current app.

How we compared them

We compared both apps on price and pricing model, free access, how a word list gets in, audio, practice formats, language support, school and teacher features, and platforms, using Squeebles' own website and pricing page as the source, verified in September 2026. Spelly is our product. We have stated where Squeebles is the better choice as plainly as where Spelly is, and Squeebles' prices are quoted in pounds because that is how Squeebles publishes them.

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Last updated: September 2026.