On this page
- When is Khan Academy not enough?
- Can you get more out of Khan Academy first?
- Which alternatives are worth considering?
- IXL: more practice, closer to school
- Zearn: a free, visual alternative
- Prodigy: for children who need a game
- Beast Academy Online: for advanced children
- Synthesis Tutor: for young children
- Live tutoring: when your child needs a person
- How do you choose?
Short answer
Khan Academy is a free nonprofit with strong video lessons and practice, so look for an alternative only when something specific is missing. For more practice and closer links to school topics, IXL costs $9.95 to $19.95 a month for a US family. For a free visual approach, try Zearn. For a reluctant child, Prodigy's math game is free. For advanced children, Beast Academy Online starts at $100 a year. For a child who needs a person to explain, live tutoring is the step up.
Key takeaways
- Khan Academy is free; switch only when something specific is missing.
- IXL adds more practice and grade-by-grade skills for $9.95 to $19.95 a month.
- Zearn is free and visual; Prodigy's math game is free with paid extras.
- Children who stay stuck need a person to teach, not another app.
An alternative to consider: TaleemSquare
- Format
- Live one-to-one math lessons online
- Price
- From $85 a month for 2 classes a week (about $10.63 a class)
- Fees and contract
- No registration fee, no contract, cancel any month
- First step
- Free 45-minute assessment, then a 4-class money-back promise
How we wrote this
TaleemSquare offers live one-to-one tutoring, so we compete with some options on this list, and we include ourselves where we fit. Prices come from each provider's own page, listed at the end and checked in October 2026.
Khan Academy is hard to beat on value. It is a nonprofit, its lessons and practice are free, and it covers math from early grades through calculus. Its AI assistant, Khanmigo, costs parents and learners $4 a month or $44 a year. So the question is rarely "what is better?" It is "what is my child not getting from it?"
When is Khan Academy not enough?
Families usually look elsewhere for one of five reasons:
- The child does not use it. Self-directed learning needs self-motivation, or a parent who sets and checks goals.
- Not enough practice. Some children need many more repetitions to make a skill stick.
- It feels dry. Videos and exercises do not hold every child's attention.
- The child is young. Early learners need more visual, hands-on, voice-led activities.
- The child is stuck. Videos explain one way; some children need a person to explain it another way.
Can you get more out of Khan Academy first?
Often, yes. Before you pay for anything, try a month with more structure:
- Choose the course for your child's grade and use the unit tests to find gaps.
- Set a small daily target, such as 20 minutes or two skills, at a fixed time.
- Sit with your child for the first few sessions, then check progress once a week.
- Note any skill your child gets wrong for more than a week. That list tells you whether the next step is a different app or a person to teach.
If the routine works, you may not need an alternative at all.
Which alternatives are worth considering?
| Option | Format | Price | Best when |
|---|---|---|---|
| IXL | Skill-by-skill practice with a diagnostic | $9.95 to $19.95 a month per family | Your child needs more practice tied to school topics |
| Zearn | Visual lessons and practice, K to 8 | Free | You want a different free approach |
| Prodigy | Math game, grades 1 to 8 | Free; memberships from $58.95 a year | Your child resists screen lessons |
| Beast Academy Online | Challenging lessons and puzzles, ages 6 to 13 | From $100 a year | Your child is advanced |
| Synthesis Tutor | AI voice-guided app, about K to grade 5 | $45 a month listed | Your child is young and pre-reading |
| TaleemSquare | Live one-to-one tutoring | From $85 a month | Your child needs a person to teach |
IXL: more practice, closer to school
IXL gives children far more practice questions than Khan Academy, organized by grade and topic, with a SmartScore that rises with correct answers. Its diagnostic suggests what to work on next. It costs $9.95 a month for one subject, or $79 a year. See IXL vs Kumon and IXL alternatives for its limits.
Zearn: a free, visual alternative
Zearn is a nonprofit K to 8 platform that teaches with pictures, visual models and real-life examples, and it is free for families. If Khan Academy's videos are not landing, Zearn's step-by-step visual lessons offer a different way in at no cost.
Prodigy: for children who need a game
Prodigy turns math practice into a fantasy game for grades 1 to 8. The math content is free, and memberships from $58.95 a year add extras. It works for children who will not sit through lessons, but it is lighter on explanation, so pair it with something that teaches.
Beast Academy Online: for advanced children
Beast Academy, from Art of Problem Solving, is a challenging elementary curriculum with comic-style lessons and puzzle-like problems for ages about 6 to 13, starting at $100 a year. It suits children who find grade-level math easy and want to think harder.
Synthesis Tutor: for young children
Synthesis Tutor is an AI app with a voice-guided tutor and on-screen manipulatives, aimed at roughly kindergarten to grade 5. It suits pre-readers who struggle with text and video. Synthesis listed $45 a month in October 2026. See our Synthesis Tutor review.
Live tutoring: when your child needs a person
If your child watches the video, tries the exercise and is still lost, the issue is understanding. A tutor can find the exact gap, explain it in several ways and check understanding in real time. TaleemSquare offers 45-minute online math tutoring lessons from $85 a month for two a week, and many families keep Khan Academy for practice between lessons.
How do you choose?
- If the problem is motivation, add structure first: a daily goal and a weekly check.
- If the problem is format, try Zearn or Prodigy for free.
- If the problem is challenge, try Beast Academy.
- If the problem is understanding, book a free 45-minute math assessment with a tutor.
Sources
- 1.Khan Academy blog, Did you know Khan Academy is a nonprofit? Nonprofit status and free access. Checked Oct 2026.
- 2.Khanmigo pricing $4 a month or $44 a year for parents and learners. Checked Oct 2026.
- 3.IXL, Family membership pricing US prices, subjects, diagnostic. Checked Oct 2026.
- 4.Prodigy, Math memberships Free math content and membership prices. Checked Oct 2026.
- 5.Beast Academy Online Ages and starting price. Checked Oct 2026.
- 6.Zearn Math Free K to 8 math platform from a nonprofit. Checked Oct 2026.
Written and fact-checked by the TaleemSquare Editorial Team
We research every figure against the provider's own pages or independent sources, list them above, and update posts when prices or policies change. See our editorial process and teaching method.
