Lingokids vs PBS KIDS Games

Lingokids is a Playlearning platform for children aged 2 to 8, offering games, songs, videos, lessons and podcasts. It has more than 4,000 activities covering math, reading, phonics, emotional intelligence, responsibility and STEM, including curated material from Disney, NASA, BBC Earth and Oxford University Press. Lingokids says its learning technology adapts to each child's pace and needs. The free Basic plan provides one child profile and ten games per day, but no offline mode or full Progress Center reports. Plus provides unlimited activity access, offline use, activity repetition, a Progress Center for tracking skills and milestones, and up to four child profiles. The app is ad-free and described as a closed ecosystem for children, audited and certified by the kidSAFE Seal Program. Microphone, camera and speech-recognition permissions are optional; Lingokids says related images, video and speech data are not transmitted off the device or collected by the company. It runs on Android, iOS and web. Plus is listed at $13.49 a month or $161.88 a year after a 7-day trial; prices vary by platform, country and active offers.

PBS KIDS Games is a free collection of educational games for children ages 2 to 8. Its app listing describes more than 280 curriculum-based games covering subjects such as math, reading, science, and art, with play available in English and Spanish. The web catalog includes titles such as Stu's Delivery Service, City Island Adventure Game, and Carl's Collections. A Building Games topic includes Marble Run, Toy Maker, and Alma Train Game. PBS KIDS also describes its apps as a way to watch and play its content while away from home. The service is listed for web, Android, iOS, and Windows, and the PBS KIDS Games plan costs nothing. An account is not required to use PBS services, though an account can save progress, settings, or created content. PBS says it does not collect information that directly identifies a child on its own, but may collect information about game activity, videos watched, pages viewed, and links clicked. For accounts, usernames are moderated to discourage personal information and passwords are encrypted. PBS identifies itself as a private nonprofit corporation founded in 1969.