Head-to-head
Epic vs Bedtime Stories
Epic
70
Winner
Epic
Bedtime Stories
55
Epic offers a vast library and educational content, but its subscription model causes significant user frustration, while Bedtime Stories provides interactive content but struggles with technical issues and a limited free offering.
Full reviews: Epic · Bedtime Stories
Epic boasts a large collection of books and educational videos, highly praised by children and parents for its content, but faces widespread criticism for its subscription model and billing issues. Bedtime Stories offers interactive stories and learning games, appreciated by toddlers, but is plagued by technical glitches, limited free content, and subscription management problems.
Head to head
Epic Epic is highly praised for its extensive library of books for various age groups, including popular series like Cat Ninja and Wings of Fire, and also offers science videos and read-along options R5R9R11R14. Users appreciate the educational value and variety, with some even requesting more badges and specific book series R14.
Bedtime Stories Bedtime Stories offers interactive stories and learning games, with options to read or sing stories, which many parents find engaging for their toddlers . However, some users note that the number of free stories is very limited, and the quality of writing in some stories is questioned due to grammatical errors R73.
Epic Many users find Epic easy to use once subscribed, with features like reading books and account management working well R2R8. However, a significant number of users report issues with signing in, creating accounts, or accessing content even after subscribing, sometimes getting stuck in loops or being told they don't have an account R3R7.
Bedtime Stories Bedtime Stories is generally considered easy for children to use, with interactive elements and read-aloud options . However, some users experience the app taking over the entire screen, making it difficult to minimize or exit . There are also complaints about frequent prompts to upgrade even with a subscription and constant requests for reviews .
Epic Epic is widely criticized for its subscription-based model, with many users feeling misled as they expect it to be free R1R7R10R13. The cost is perceived as high, with some mentioning an $84.99 yearly price R31. The distinction between free school access and paid home access causes frustration .
Bedtime Stories Bedtime Stories also faces strong criticism for its pricing. Users complain about having to pay for most stories, even after downloading the free app R61R72R73R78. There are multiple reports of users being charged for subscriptions (e.g., $29.99 or $30 for a yearly plan) but still not gaining access to content R70R76R82R91.
Epic Epic's customer support is mentioned negatively in one instance, with a user reporting double charges and Epic support directing them to Apple instead of resolving the issue directly R25.
Bedtime Stories Bedtime Stories has mixed reviews for its support. One user praised their great customer service for responding quickly and correcting an issue R84. However, other users reported emailing support without a reply, or receiving unhelpful advice that didn't resolve access issues R82. There are also significant complaints about inability to cancel subscriptions through the app or iTunes R111.
Pick Epic if
You are looking for a vast digital library with educational content and videos for children, and you are willing to pay for a subscription, especially if your child uses it at school R5R9R17R23.
Pick Bedtime Stories if
You want interactive stories and learning games for toddlers, and you are comfortable with potential technical glitches and subscription management challenges .
Evidence note: Epic has a significantly larger number of reviews, leading to more detailed feedback across all dimensions. Both apps have a strong negative skew in recent reviews, primarily due to pricing and technical issues, which contrasts with their higher lifetime ratings. The free-vs-paid asymmetry is very pronounced for both, as many negative reviews stem from users expecting free access or encountering problems after paying.
Frequently asked
Is Epic truly free?
What kind of content does Epic offer?
Are there issues with Bedtime Stories subscriptions?
What reviewers actually said
Built only from these 120 real reviews (foreign ones translated). Superscripts jump to the quote here. Apple has no per-review links, so [ref] opens that app's reviews on the App Store.
- [R5] Epic Epic epic: This is amazing I definitely recommend if your children like to read but not on books
- [R9] Epic The adds are stupid: If a kid likes reading, but doesn’t want her 15 minutes of reading, they like reading count that for their 15 minutes a day they’re gonna read naturally don’t force them to read for certain amount of time when you know they’re already gonna read they like reading other than that great app ninja cats great series sorry I mean cat ninja
- [R11] Epic The pictures of my dream: Perfect and amazing
- [R14] Epic Great but needs more badges: When I first got all the badges, I only had three more left I really want more badges. I still give five star reading because your app is amazing. I love it.
- [R2] Epic Epic Is the best: It works fine need a Google accounts and it read,s books
- [R3] Epic Amazing but one thing.: I love epic and they have great books for younger and older kids but one thing when you sign in you have to get a subscription. I had signed up and agreed with terms and stuff but yet it still told me it would only show previews of the books, even though I already got the subscription I keep doing it but it still does the same thing. It might be just me either way if it is
- [R7] Epic Epic is NOT epic at all!: Epic is NOT epic at all! It doesn’t work when you try to get an account, try to get the “epic family” and it doesn’t let you read any books! It only lets you read five/5 pages of a book and then never lets you read anything else! I only had this app for about 30 seconds before it wouldn’t let me read anymore! 5 words: DO NOT GET THIS APP!
- [R8] Epic Epic: 👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍: No worries I’m subscribed now!
- [R6] Epic Good but something: Good but I HATE WHILE I WAS READING I got interrupted by blah blah bah I don’t wanna talk about it
- [R1] Epic Not free: Subscription based. Only get book previews free. Be careful signing up it’s sneaky about subscribing.
- [R10] Epic BLUH: So bad im a amazing reader reader but when I got this app I deleted it because you,have to pay to use the app thats why i gave i star
- [R13] Epic Dumb epic: Every single thing costed money
- [R25] Epic Double charges: My kid genuinely loves Epic for the read-along books and craft videos, so I wanted this to work. But the billing has been a constant headache. For months I was charged twice for the same monthly subscription. Every time I caught it, I had to go request a refund through Apple myself. Epic support just pointed me back to Apple instead of fixing anything on their end. I finally bough
- [R82] Bedtime Stories not working: i have a year subscription, but i couldnt access the stories. Email them and they didnt replied, able to get a response from fb messenger and they told me to restore purchase and it still didnt work. i have pay for something that i didnt get, very frustrating.
- [R84] Bedtime Stories Great customer service!: Our 2 year old daughter loves the content. We had an issue with the app and they responded right away and corrected the issue. Our daughter was very happy. Thank you!
- [R111] Bedtime Stories You cannot cancel subscription under iTunes and setting: First off, I do not even know how I was charged $30 for the yearly plan when all we have viewed are literally the seven “free stories” . I went to my settings in the iTunes on my phone and all it states is that my subscription will be renewed in June for $30 . NO OPTION TO CANCEL ! The only Option it gives me on my phone is to view th
- [R31] Epic I hate it: Why dose it cost so much it cost 84.99$ so much money.
- [R17] Epic Lots of books that you can read: I like epic it is a cool reading app
- [R23] Epic Epic: It’s very fun. It’s great place for kids to start reading. It’s educational. They’re always making new books. That’s why I think this should be 555 stars.
- [R70] Bedtime Stories Charged me 29.99$ for nothing: This app charged me 29.99$ but the stories are still not available. Total scam.
- [R76] Bedtime Stories Awesome app: Love this app. Wonderful for kids my daughter really loves it. One problem I have is that sometimes I am not able to open some of the stories that I am paying for. I feel so bad when my daughter is trying to open them and it’s staying that I’m not subscribed. I called apple to make sure that I am paying for it and it was confirmed. Even them was having difficulty helping me to get the
- [R91] Bedtime Stories Paid Subscription & No Access: I paid for a full year subscription which let me view all the stories at the time I paid. Once I closed the app and opened the next night it’s saying I need to purchase even though my subscriptions say I’m paid up until January of 2025!! How is that possible??
- [R61] Bedtime Stories Wrest game ever: I don’t like this game because it’s not fun and it’s just so boring to play and I don’t like it because it’s not good it makes you pay for it but no one wants to pay for it because it’s not worth playing because you can’t afford it because it’s so much 💵💰 more money than you think it is because it’s not a good game and it’s just a bad game
- [R72] Bedtime Stories Good overall: Hate the fact that you have to pay to read baby books 😐
- [R73] Bedtime Stories Horrible please read: Worst game in the world it only has like seven bucks unlocked and the other are locked. Like, what kind of game is that the worst and plus if I couldn’t even judge this, I wouldn’t even give it a zero that’s why I didn’t even rate it because I would give it a zero but I guess since you can’t give it a zero I would give it a one and plus I thought it was a kid friendly game. T
- [R78] Bedtime Stories It’s ok: Don’t like that you have to pay to have more books
Synthesized from 120 recent App Store reviews · updated July 2026 · View on the App Store