Free vs Paid Learning Apps for Kids: What You Actually Get for the Money
Two free apps beat most paid ones in our test. Here is when paying is worth it.
Khan Academy Kids and Khan Academy are free, nonprofit and ad-free, and between them they cover ages 2 to 18. In our two-week test they outscored several subscriptions. So what does paying buy?
Adaptive practice mapped to school (IXL)
IXL's skills follow each state's standards by grade and its reports tell you which standard is weak. If your child's school uses it, the $79-a-year single-subject plan is the best homework support here.
Systematic phonics (Reading Eggs)
Free apps assume a child can decode; Reading Eggs teaches decoding in order. For ages 4–7 learning to read it produced the fastest visible progress.
Motivation (Prodigy)
Prodigy is free too, but its point is the game. If practice is a battle, it ends the battle — accept that the maths is thinner per minute.
Skip
Anything with ads inside the child view, and anything whose reward shop the child talks about more than the lessons.
» See the full rankings: Best Free Learning Apps for Kids, Best Learning Apps for Kids in 2026 .