Children’s Learning Apps Compared
Sixteen apps, four questions a parent actually asks: what does it cost, does it show advertising, does my child need an account, and does it work on a plane. Every figure below was read on the company’s own site, with the date it was checked.
5 of the 16 publish no price anywhere public. That is recorded as “Not published” rather than filled in with a number from a review site, because a wrong price is worse than a blank one. 7 are free outright.
The full table
Scroll sideways on a phone to see every column.
| App | Best for | Ages | Price | Free tier | Ads | Account | Offline |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Learning App for Kids | Free bilingual lessons with nothing locked | 3 to 10 | Free | Everything | None | Not required | Yes |
| Khan Academy Kids | Free all round early learning from a non profit | 2 to 8 | Free | Everything | None | Required | Partial |
| ABCmouse | A guided step by step curriculum path | 2 to 8 | $14.99 a month or $45.00 a year | 10 activities a day | None | Required | Not published |
| Starfall | Sequential phonics and early reading | Pre-K to Grade 5 | $35.00 a year home membership | Part of the Learn to Read program | None | Required for full access | Not published |
| Duolingo ABC | Free phonics in short bites | 3 to 8 | Free | Everything | None | Not required | Yes |
| PBS KIDS Games | Learning games built around characters children already know | 2 to 8 | Free | Everything | None | Not required | Partial |
| Prodigy Math | Maths practice disguised as a role playing game | Grades 1 to 8 | $58.95 a year Core, $88.95 Plus, $118.95 Ultra | All maths and English curriculum content | None | Required | Not published |
| ScratchJr | A first taste of coding before a child can read fluently | 5 to 7 | Free | Everything | None | Not required | Yes |
| Scratch | Block coding with room to grow into real projects | 8 and up | Free | Everything | None | Not required | Yes |
| Code.org | A free structured computing course | Grades K to 12 | Free | Everything | None | Not required | Not published |
| Tynker | A guided coding path from blocks to text | 5 to 18 | $15 a month billed yearly | None | Not stated | Required | Not published |
| Teach Your Monster | Systematic early phonics as a game | 3 to 6 | Not published | Free to play on the web | Not stated | Required | Partial |
| Epic! | A very large children's book library | 2 to 12 | Not published | Free for educators, plus a trial for families | None | Required | Partial |
| Reading Eggs | Structured phonics with reporting for parents | 2 to 13 | Not published | 30 day free trial | Not stated | Required | Not published |
| Lingokids | English through play, plus life skills | 2 to 8 | Not published | Free download, limited content | None | Required | Partial |
| SplashLearn | Adaptive maths and reading practice | Pre-K to Grade 5 | Not published | Free for teachers | Not stated | Required | Not published |
What each one is good at, and where it falls short
Every app here is worth someone’s time. None of them is worth everyone’s. The limitation listed is the one most likely to matter to a parent choosing today, and the first entry carries one too.
- Learning App for KidsFree · Ages 3 to 10
Subjects: English, Maths, Science, Urdu, Islamic Studies, General Knowledge, Art, Health, Pakistan Studies
Worth knowing: It stops at Grade 5, and the library is 236 lessons rather than the several thousand activities the largest paid platforms carry.
Checked on the company’s own site, 2026-09-18.
- Khan Academy KidsFree · Ages 2 to 8
Subjects: Reading, language, maths, social and emotional learning
Worth knowing: It ends at about age 8, and there is no Grade 3 to 5 material to move on to inside the app.
Checked on the company’s own site, 2026-09-18.
- ABCmouse$14.99 a month or $45.00 a year · Ages 2 to 8
Subjects: Reading, maths, science, art, music
Worth knowing: The annual price is $45 only when you sign up on the web. Through an app store it renews at $59.99.
Checked on the company’s own site, 2026-08-28.
- Starfall$35.00 a year home membership · Ages Pre-K to Grade 5
Subjects: Reading, phonics, maths
Worth knowing: The free portion is genuinely useful but much of the later material sits behind the membership.
Checked on the company’s own site, 2026-09-18.
- Duolingo ABCFree · Ages 3 to 8
Subjects: Phonics, reading, tracing
Worth knowing: It is reading only. There is no maths, science or anything else alongside it.
Checked on the company’s own site, 2026-09-18.
- PBS KIDS GamesFree · Ages 2 to 8
Subjects: Literacy, maths, science, social skills
Worth knowing: It is a collection of games rather than a sequence, so there is no obvious order to work through.
Checked on the company’s own site, 2026-09-18.
- Prodigy Math$58.95 a year Core, $88.95 Plus, $118.95 Ultra · Ages Grades 1 to 8
Subjects: Maths, English
Worth knowing: The game rewards, not the maths, are what a membership buys, and children notice the difference.
Checked on the company’s own site, 2026-09-18.
- ScratchJrFree · Ages 5 to 7
Subjects: Coding
Worth knowing: Children outgrow it at about seven and have to move to full Scratch, which is a real jump.
Checked on the company’s own site, 2026-09-18.
- ScratchFree · Ages 8 and up
Subjects: Coding
Worth knowing: It teaches by exploration rather than by lesson, so some children need a course alongside it.
Checked on the company’s own site, 2026-09-18.
- Code.orgFree · Ages Grades K to 12
Subjects: Computer science, coding
Worth knowing: It is written for classrooms first, so a parent using it at home is working around a teacher dashboard.
Checked on the company’s own site, 2026-09-18.
- Tynker$15 a month billed yearly · Ages 5 to 18
Subjects: Coding, game design, robotics
Worth knowing: It is one of the more expensive options here, and the free tier is very limited.
Checked on the company’s own site, 2026-09-18.
- Teach Your MonsterPrice not published · Ages 3 to 6
Subjects: Reading, phonics, numbers
Worth knowing: The web version is free, the mobile apps are not, and the site does not publish the app price.
Checked on the company’s own site, 2026-09-18.
- Epic!Price not published · Ages 2 to 12
Subjects: Reading
Worth knowing: No price appears on the public site, so you find out what it costs after starting a sign up.
Checked on the company’s own site, 2026-09-18.
- Reading EggsPrice not published · Ages 2 to 13
Subjects: Reading, phonics, maths
Worth knowing: The price is not shown before registration, and the trial asks for details up front.
Checked on the company’s own site, 2026-09-18.
- LingokidsPrice not published · Ages 2 to 8
Subjects: English, life skills, early maths
Worth knowing: The site advertises no ads clearly but does not publish a subscription price anywhere on it.
Checked on the company’s own site, 2026-09-18.
- SplashLearnPrice not published · Ages Pre-K to Grade 5
Subjects: Maths, reading
Worth knowing: Pricing is behind a sign up flow rather than on a public page.
Checked on the company’s own site, 2026-09-18.
How to read this table
- A free tier is not the same as a free app. ABCmouse caps its free tier at ten activities a day, and Prodigy makes the curriculum free while charging for the game rewards around it. Read the free tier column next to the price column, never on its own.
- Ads and account are separate questions. An app can be completely ad free and still require a login, an email address and a child's date of birth before anything opens.
- Offline matters more than it looks. A car journey, a school with weak wifi and a shared home connection all turn an online only app into nothing at all.
- Not published is a finding, not a gap in our research. Six of these companies show no price until you have started a sign up, which is a reasonable thing for a parent to know before they start one.
Head to head comparisons
- SplashLearn vs ABCmouse: Price, Range and Teaching StyleOne publishes its prices and one does not. What that asymmetry means, plus how adaptive practice and a fixed reward path suit different children.
- What Kids Learning Apps Actually Cost in 2026A plain price comparison of the main children's learning apps, what each gives away free, and the three things that decide what you really pay.
- ABCmouse vs Khan Academy Kids: An Honest ComparisonOne costs $14.99 a month, the other is free forever. A guided path against an open library, and which of the two your particular child needs.
- Learning App for Kids vs Taleemabad: Which Free SNC App Is Right for Your Child?An honest comparison of Learning App for Kids and Taleemabad on curriculum, access, language, AI tutoring and format, so you can pick the right free SNC-aligned app for your child.
- Learning App for Kids vs Osmo: An Osmo Alternative Free of Hardware CostsAn Osmo alternative free of hardware costs: how Learning App for Kids compares to Osmo on price, devices, ages and what each one actually teaches.
- Learning App for Kids vs Khan Academy Kids: Which Is Better for Young Learners?An honest comparison of Learning App for Kids and Khan Academy Kids: price, ages, languages, AI tutoring and curriculum, so you can pick the right free app for your child.
- Learning App for Kids vs Duolingo ABC: Best Way to Teach Kids to Read?Learning App for Kids vs Duolingo ABC compared feature by feature on reading, price, ages, AI tutoring and curriculum, so you can pick the right free app to teach your child to read.
- Learning App for Kids vs ABCmouse: An Honest Parent ComparisonAn honest little scholars vs abcmouse comparison on price, ages, billing, curriculum and AI tutoring, so you can pick the right learning app for your child.
Where our own lessons sit in this list
Learning App for Kids is free, carries no advertising and opens without an account, and it is the only entry here that teaches in English and Urdu across nine subjects. It is also the smallest library on the page and it stops at Grade 5. If your child is eleven, one of the others is the better answer, and this table is here to help you find it.
Full write ups
- Learning App for Kids vs Khan Academy Kids: Which Is Better for Young Learners?An honest comparison of Learning App for Kids and Khan Academy Kids: price, ages, languages, AI tutoring and curriculum, so you can pick the right free app for your child.
- How Much Does ABCmouse Cost in 2026?ABCmouse costs $14.99 a month or $45.00 a year, and there is a free tier. A plain breakdown of every plan, the renewal trap, and the free alternatives worth testing first.
- Learning App for Kids vs Duolingo ABC: Best Way to Teach Kids to Read?Learning App for Kids vs Duolingo ABC compared feature by feature on reading, price, ages, AI tutoring and curriculum, so you can pick the right free app to teach your child to read.
- Is Prodigy Math Free? What You Get Without PayingProdigy's maths and English content is free to play. Here is exactly what a paid membership adds, what it costs, and when it is worth it.