Free Educational Apps for Kids With No Ads: The Honest List
By Mauro Ferrante · Updated · 5 min read
"Free" in a kids' app store often means free to download, then ads, a paywall after three levels, or a trial that quietly turns into a subscription. A young child can't tell an ad from the game, and parents shouldn't have to read the small print to find out.
So here is the short list of learning apps and sites for ages 2 to 8 that are genuinely free, with no ads and nothing to buy, plus the free tiers of paid apps that are worth knowing. It's written by the dad who makes Tiny Hands, which is on the list, so read it knowing that.
Free, no ads, nothing to buy
| What it teaches | Account | In a browser | Ages | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Khan Academy Kids | Reading, phonics, maths, social-emotional skills, logic | Parent email at setup | No, apps only (also Chromebooks) | 2 to 8 |
| Tiny Hands Learn | Reading and writing now; numbers, music and money on the way | Free grown-up account | Yes | 2 to 7 |
| Tiny Hands Play | Twenty games: first keyboard play, shapes, counting, memory, music, spelling, mental maths | None | Yes | 1 to 10 |
| Starfall (learn to read) | Phonics and early reading | None for the free part | Yes | Pre-K to grade 5 |
| PBS KIDS Games | Maths, reading, science, with PBS characters, in English and Spanish | None | Yes | 2 to 8 |
| Teach Your Monster to Read (on a computer) | Phonics through an adventure game | Free account | Yes | 3 to 6 |
| Duolingo ABC | Letters, phonics, sight words | Optional | No, apps only | About 3 to 7 |
Details are from each app's own website and its US App Store and Google Play pages, checked on 1 November 2026. PBS KIDS has no ads in its app; its website may show sponsor messages, as public television does.
Khan Academy Kids is the biggest of these: a nonprofit with more than 5,000 activities. If you only try one, try it. Starfall and Teach Your Monster to Read are both run by nonprofits or charities and are strong on phonics. PBS KIDS is broad and needs no account. Duolingo ABC is still updated on Android; its iPhone app hasn't been updated since 2023.
Free tiers of paid apps
These are subscriptions, but their free tiers are real and have no ads:
- ABCmouse Basic: up to 10 activities a day for one child, no account, no payment details, in a browser too. Premium is $14.99 a month or $79.99 a year. See ABCmouse alternatives.
- Lingokids Basic: 10 games a day for one child, with a parent email. Plus is $13.49 a month or $161.88 a year on its website. See Lingokids alternatives.
- Starfall membership: the learn-to-read part is free; $35 a year unlocks maths and more.
Free, but with ads
Some of the most downloaded kids' apps are free because they show ads. Baby Panda World and BabyBus Kids are labelled "Contains ads" on both app stores, and their App Store privacy labels list third-party advertising. For the youngest children especially, check the store page before you download. Our Pok Pok alternatives page has more on where the ads are.
Why Tiny Hands is free
We believe every child, wherever they're born and whatever their family can afford, deserves the same head start: reading early, and the things school rarely teaches, like music, money and understanding their feelings. So everything on Tiny Hands is free, for good. No ads, no subscription, nothing to buy; it's kept going by donations from families who want to help.
Free is only one barrier. Many of the best learning apps only install on a phone or a tablet, and not every family has a tablet. Tiny Hands runs in any web browser, so a child can learn on the laptop or desktop computer a family already has, or on one at the library or at school, on a big screen with nothing to install. To truly level the playing field, we want to remove every barrier we can.
Today that means Tiny Hands Learn: Reading for ages 2 to 7, twenty free games, a calm-down with Lulu on Tiny Hands Feel and movement breaks with Momo on Tiny Hands Move. Numbers, music and money are on the way. The games need no account; Learn asks a grown-up to make a free account first, so each child's progress is kept.
How to choose
- One app for everything: Khan Academy Kids.
- Reading first: Starfall, Teach Your Monster to Read or Tiny Hands Learn. Our reading apps compared page has them side by side.
- Nothing to install, no account: PBS KIDS, Starfall's free part, or the Tiny Hands games.
- Only a laptop or desktop computer: Starfall, PBS KIDS, Teach Your Monster to Read, ABCmouse Basic or Tiny Hands, all in a browser.
- A two-year-old: voice-led apps with nothing to read: Khan Academy Kids, Tiny Hands Learn, or our free toddler games.
Free doesn't mean unlimited. A few minutes a day, ideally together, is plenty at this age. Our guide to screen time for toddlers explains how to keep it short and useful.
All our comparisons
- Khan Academy Kids alternatives
- ABCmouse alternatives
- Lingokids alternatives
- Reading Eggs alternatives
- Reading apps for kids compared
- Pok Pok alternatives
- Tiny Fingers alternative
Sources
- Khan Academy — Khan Academy Kids
- Starfall — Learn to Read and Ways to join
- PBS KIDS — Privacy policy
- Teach Your Monster — Teach Your Monster to Read
- Duolingo ABC — Google Play listing
- ABCmouse help — ABCmouse Basic
- Lingokids help — Basic and Plus prices