ABCmouse Alternatives: Free and Cheaper Learning Apps Compared

ABCmouse is a big, well-made learning program: more than 13,000 activities across reading, maths, science, art and music for ages 2 to 8, with no third-party ads. Its makers say it is used in 650,000 US classrooms. Many families love it.

It's also a subscription: $14.99 a month or $79.99 a year on its website, and subscriptions add up when you already pay for several. If you're wondering what else is out there, maybe something free, this page compares the alternatives fairly. It's written by the dad who makes Tiny Hands, which is free, so read it knowing that.

One thing first, because many parents don't know it: ABCmouse has a free Basic tier. It gives up to 10 activities a day for one child, needs no account and no payment details, and plays in a browser. If your child only needs a little each day, that may be enough.

The short version

Details are from each app's own website and its US App Store and Google Play pages, checked on 1 November 2026. Prices change and vary by country.

Free alternatives with a full curriculum

Khan Academy Kids is the obvious one. It's free, run by a nonprofit, with more than 5,000 activities in reading, maths, social-emotional skills and logic for ages 2 to 8. It's an app (phones, tablets and Chromebooks) and asks for a parent's email at setup. Our Khan Academy Kids alternatives page compares it in detail.

Starfall is a nonprofit too, online since 2002. Its learn-to-read program is free for every child, in a browser with no sign-in; a $35-a-year membership unlocks maths and more.

PBS KIDS Games has more than 280 free games with PBS characters, and needs no account.

Where Tiny Hands fits

Tiny Hands Learn is free for every family, for good: no subscription, kept going by donations, because we believe every child, wherever they're born and whatever their family can afford, deserves the same start. It runs in any browser.

It's far smaller than ABCmouse. Today it is one program, reading and writing, for ages 2 to 7: Bubba the whale teaches every letter by its sound, then blending, writing and little stories, all said out loud, so children who can't read yet can play on their own. Numbers, music and money are on the way. A grown-up makes a free account first, so each child's progress is kept. Our free games need no account.

Paid alternatives

Reading Eggs focuses on reading through phonics, with Mathseeds for maths. It's $9.99 a month or $69.99 a year on the US App Store, with a 30-day free trial, and runs in a browser as well as on tablets.

HOMER has a step-by-step phonics program plus maths and social-emotional activities, at $9.99 a month or $59.99 a year after a 30-day trial.

Lingokids covers maths, reading, science and English. Basic is free for 10 games a day; Plus costs $13.49 a month or $161.88 a year on its website, often discounted in the app. See our Lingokids alternatives.

Which should you pick?

• You want one big curriculum, and paying is fine: ABCmouse Premium is hard to beat for size. Try the 30-day trial.
• You want a full curriculum for free: Khan Academy Kids.
• Only a little each day: ABCmouse Basic, Lingokids Basic, or PBS KIDS.
• Mostly reading: Starfall, Reading Eggs, or Tiny Hands Learn: Reading. Our reading apps compared page has them side by side.
• Nothing to install: ABCmouse, Starfall, PBS KIDS, Reading Eggs and Tiny Hands all run in a browser.

Our guide to free educational apps with no ads lists every free option in one place.