The best Arabic learning apps for kids: an honest comparison

Search the App Store for an Arabic app for your child and you'll find dozens, most of them with bright screenshots and similar promises. It's hard to tell them apart before you've downloaded a few. This guide tries to save you some of that time.

A note before we start: we make one of these apps, Fanfoon, so we're not neutral. To keep this fair, the apps are listed in alphabetical order, not ranked, and everything we say about each one comes from its App Store page or its own website. We've left out prices (they change, and differ by country) and star ratings. Check those on the store page before you buy.

What to look for in an Arabic app for kids

1. The right age

A two-year-old and a seven-year-old need very different apps. Toddlers need apps that work with no reading at all: big buttons, spoken instructions, and letters they can hear and tap. Children of 4 to 6 are ready for tracing, short vowels and first words. From about 6, reading real sentences and stories matters more. Apps in the App Store's Kids category show a "Made for Ages" band (0–5, 6–8 or 9–11) on their store page, which is a quick first check alongside the ages the developer gives.

2. Fusha or dialect

Modern Standard Arabic (fusha) is the Arabic of books, school, the news and, close to it, the Qur'an. Dialects (Egyptian, Levantine, Gulf, Moroccan and others) are what families actually speak at home. Neither is wrong. If your goal is reading, or Arabic school, fusha is the usual choice. If your goal is talking with grandparents, a dialect may matter more. Many apps don't say which they use, so listen to a few words before committing.

3. Audio quality

For young children the voice is the lesson: they copy what they hear. Listen to a handful of letters with the sound on. Are the sounds clear and distinct, especially the tricky pairs like Haa (ح) and Ha (ه), or Saad (ص) and Seen (س)? Some apps use recorded native speakers, some use a computer-generated voice; a good app tells you which.

4. Ads and safety

Ads in children's apps are distracting at best. Apple's rules for apps in its Kids category don't allow third-party advertising, and require a grown-up check (a "parental gate") before purchases and links out of the app. Outside the Kids category, read the description and the "App Privacy" section of the store page to see what's collected.

5. Writing practice

Recognising a letter and writing it are different skills. Look for tracing that follows the real stroke order, right to left, with the dots added at the end. Colouring a letter in is fun, but it isn't the same as learning to write it.

6. Islamic content: built in, optional or none

Some apps are built around the Qur'an and Islamic values; some include duas or stories you can switch on or off; some are purely about the language. None of these is better in itself. Pick the one that matches what your family wants, and check whether you can turn off music if that matters to you.

7. How you pay

Almost every app here is free to download with in-app purchases. What differs is the model: a one-time purchase that unlocks everything, or a subscription (often with a free trial). The store page lists the in-app purchases, so you can see which it is before you download. Subscriptions are worth it for apps that keep adding content; a one-time purchase can be better value for an app that teaches a fixed set of skills.

The apps at a glance

Ages are what each developer states, with the App Store's "Made for Ages" band in brackets where the app is in the Kids category. "Not stated" means we couldn't find it on the store page or the developer's site, not that the feature is missing.

The apps, one by one

AlifBee Kids

An all-in-one app for Muslim families: the Arabic alphabet with letter tracing and pronunciation, vocabulary on more than 50 topics, everyday phrases, and Qur'an memorisation of short surahs, ayah by ayah, with word-by-word audio. Much of the vocabulary comes through an animated series, Arabian Sindbad, plus nasheeds and games. Parents get up to five child profiles, weekly progress reports and a daily screen-time limit. It's ad-free, and you can pay by subscription or with a one-time option. Good for: families who want Arabic and Qur'an in one place.

Amal: Learn Arabic for Kids

Made by Alphazed for ages 3 to 12, Amal takes children step by step from letters (shape and sound) through phonics to first words, simple sentences and early reading, in short daily lessons. It's designed so the app guides the child and parents don't need to speak Arabic themselves. A limited set of lessons is free; a subscription, with a free trial, unlocks the full curriculum. The app itself runs in Arabic. Good for: heritage-language families aiming for reading.

Arabic for Kids – Alphabet

From Studio4Kids, this app is focused on the 28 letters. Each letter has a native-speaker sound, an animal friend, a word, guided tracing and a game. Unusually, you can choose the voice: Modern Standard Arabic (fusha) or Egyptian Arabic. There's a parents' report, several child profiles, no ads, and full access is a one-time purchase rather than a subscription. Good for: a focused alphabet app, or families who want a dialect option.

Fanfoon: Arabic for Kids (ours)

Fanfoon is for ages 2 to 8 and sits in the App Store's Kids category. A fennec fox guides children through all 28 letters, tracing in the right direction, the harakat (fatha, kasra and damma), 60 first words, numbers and colours, across 20+ games and picture stories. Everything is in Arabic and English side by side, for bilingual families. The Arabic is Modern Standard Arabic, and we're open that the voice is made with speech synthesis rather than recorded by a person. Good manners and everyday duas are included and can be switched off. There are no ads; it's free to download, with some games free and a subscription for the rest. What it doesn't do: it stops at first words rather than teaching full reading, has no Qur'an section, and is only on iPhone and iPad. Good for: younger children and bilingual Arabic–English homes.

Gus on the Go: Arabic

Gus the owl teaches nearly 90 Arabic words (animals, food, clothes, numbers, colours, shapes and more) through short lessons and review games, with a native speaker's audio. The developer lists it as Modern Standard Arabic. It's a paid app with no ads, in-app purchases, links or tracking. It hasn't been updated since 2018, so check it runs on your device before buying. Good for: a simple, one-off vocabulary app.

I Read Arabic

From Little Thinking Minds, I Read Arabic is built around reading. The developer describes a library of over 1,000 levelled books from Arab publishers, each read aloud, with vocabulary after each story, games, quizzes, worksheets and a recording feature so children can practise reading aloud. It covers a wide range, ages 4 to 18, with progress tracking and weekly emails for parents. It's a subscription with a free trial. Good for: children who know their letters and need to read more.

Lamsa

Lamsa is a broad early-learning app for toddlers and preschoolers, bilingual in Arabic and English, with what the developer says are over 1,200 games, videos and activities covering letters, numbers, maths, science, music and social-emotional skills. It personalises what each child sees, has progress reports for parents, and Premium adds offline downloads and sign-in on up to five devices. It's less of a dedicated Arabic course and more of an all-round learning app in Arabic. Good for: a general preschool app with Arabic built in.

Learn Arabic Alphabet: Games

From Quran Perfected, this app frames the alphabet as the first step to reading the Qur'an. Its strength is pronunciation: each letter's sound, visuals showing how to make it in the mouth, and recording so children can compare their own voice. There are 14 mini-games (balloons, fishing, memory matching, letter painting and more). It has Muslim characters, nature sounds and deliberately no music, and no ads. The app is in English, and a one-time purchase unlocks all letters and games. Good for: families preparing children for Qur'an reading.

Miraj: Quran for Kids & Games

Miraj is mainly an Islamic library for ages 4 to 9: animated stories of the Prophets, audiobooks, picture books with a narrator, short video khutbahs for kids, and games. Arabic letters and numbers are taught inside its interactive books and mini-games, including tracing. It's ad-free and in English, with a subscription and a free trial. Good for: Islamic stories first, with some Arabic letters along the way.

Which one should you choose?

• For a toddler (2 to 4): look for apps that need no reading, like Fanfoon, Lamsa or Arabic for Kids – Alphabet.
• To learn to read in Arabic: Amal and I Read Arabic go furthest beyond the alphabet.
• For Qur'an preparation: AlifBee Kids and Learn Arabic Alphabet: Games.
• For Islamic stories: Miraj.
• For a dialect option: Arabic for Kids – Alphabet (fusha or Egyptian).
• For Arabic and English together: Fanfoon or Lamsa.
• To pay once: Arabic for Kids – Alphabet, Learn Arabic Alphabet: Games or Gus on the Go.

Most of these apps are free to download, so the best test is your own child: try two or three for a few days and keep the one they ask for. Whichever you choose, an app works best alongside a few minutes of reading and talking together. Our guide to teaching the Arabic alphabet at home, the letter pages and the free worksheets cover the time away from the screen.

Checked against each app's App Store page and website on 2 November 2026. Apps change; if something here is out of date, tell us at our support page and we'll fix it.