Brickit alternative for kids: a free app for your own bricks

How they compare

From each app’s App Store listing on November 4, 2026. Prices and features change, so check before you pay.

When Brickit is the better pick

• You have a big mixed bin and no plan. Brickit shows you what the whole pile can make, and that’s fun in itself.
• You want help finding a part. It highlights the piece in the photo of your pile. Tumbly Blocks doesn’t do this.
• You want to catalog your collection. Brickit keeps track of what you own.
• You’re outside the US and want an Android app. Brickit has one. Tumbly’s Android app is on Google Play in the US only so far; elsewhere Tumbly Blocks runs in the browser.

It’s also the established choice, on the App Store since 2019 with more than 22,000 ratings.

When Tumbly Blocks is the better pick

• Your kid has already decided. “A fire truck” gets a fire truck, not a list of other things the pile could be.
• You have a small pile. It designs from what the camera sees, even a few bricks.
• Your kid is little. A build is sized for their age, from ages 2 to 13. A voice reads each step, so a kid who can’t read can follow along.
• You have DUPLO® or wooden blocks. It works with LEGO® bricks, DUPLO® big bricks and plain wooden blocks.
• You want them to finish. The camera checks each step, and every step turns in 3D.
• You want to keep it. A finished build comes with a picture book, an animation, a 3D print file and an LDraw file.

The trade-off: a new design takes a minute or two to make, because it’s designed for your bricks rather than picked from a catalog.

Other apps people try

• LEGO® Builder is the official free app. It’s the one for a set you bought, with 3D steps you can turn. It doesn’t work from a loose pile.
• Brick Scanner: Detect & Build names your pieces from a photo and suggests sets to make.
• No app at all: what to build with LEGO® bricks has free picture instructions by age, for plain bricks most bins have.