Last updated 2026-08-26. We are the team behind TernQuest, so read this as a product team's honest field notes rather than a neutral review site. We rank ourselves on the same criteria as everyone else, and we are not first.

How did we rank these ten apps?

We scored each app on five things a parent actually feels: (1) cost for a realistic family (two kids, one year, paid annually where an annual plan exists), (2) ads and upsells shown to the child, (3) grade coverage inside K–5, (4) subjects covered, and (5) whether the app can explain a wrong answer (adaptive re-sequencing, hints, or a real tutor). Every price below was checked on the vendor's public page or App Store listing during the week of 2026-08-26; the sources are listed at the end.

One-liner to keep: "The best learning app is the one your kid reaches for on a Tuesday without being asked." Nothing below matters if the app sits unopened.

The comparison table (2 kids, 1 year)

App Cost, 2 kids/yr Ads? Free tier? Grades Subjects AI tutor?
Khan Academy Kids $0 No Fully free PreK–2 Reading, math, SEL, logic No
HOMER $79.99 (up to 4 kids) No 30-day trial only Ages 2–8 (PreK–2) Reading, math, SEL, thinking No
Reading Eggs (+Mathseeds) $99.99 (up to 4 kids) No 30-day trial only Ages 2–13 (PreK–6) Reading, math No
TernQuest $159.90 (up to 4 kids) No Yes, 1 child PK–5 Reading, math, logic/coding/science games Yes (Pip, hints only)
ABCmouse $179.88 (up to 3 kids) No 30-day trial only Ages 2–8 (PreK–2) Reading, math, science, art, music No
Prodigy Math $117.90–$237.90 (per child) In-game membership prompts Yes (base game) 1–8 Math (English is a separate game) No
IXL $119.40+ (single subject; 2nd child unverified) No No PreK–12 Math, ELA, science, social studies, Spanish No
SplashLearn ~$70–$90 (App Store range; profiles unverified) No Limited free PreK–5 Math, reading No
Epic ~$96–$168 (App Store range) No Limited free (Epic Basic) Ages 2–12 Reading library only No
Duolingo ABC $0 No Fully free Ages 3–8 (PreK–1) Early reading only No
Adventure Academy ~$60–$80 (App Store range) No Trial only 2–5 Reading, math, science, social studies No

Cost math is shown per app below. "Per-child" apps (Prodigy, IXL) get expensive fast; "per-family" apps (HOMER, Reading Eggs, TernQuest, ABCmouse) flatten the cost as you add kids.

1. Khan Academy Kids — best overall for PreK–2

Direct answer: If your child is under 8, start here. It is genuinely free, has no ads, no subscription, and covers reading, math and social-emotional learning with a warm, low-pressure design. The only reason it is not the answer for every family is that it stops at 2nd grade.

  • Cost: $0. Khan's page says "100% free — forever" with "No ads, no subscriptions."
  • Choose something else instead when your child is in grade 3–5 (no content), when you want a written weekly progress report, or when you want a tutor that responds to a stuck kid in real time.

2. HOMER — best value for early readers

Direct answer: HOMER is the cheapest paid family plan on this list at $79.99/yr for up to four profiles, with a strong reading pathway and no ads. It is the right pick for a house with two or three kids aged 2–8.

  • Cost math: $79.99 ÷ 2 kids = $40.00 per child per year; with 4 kids, $20 each.
  • Choose something else instead if your oldest is past 2nd grade, if you want math depth beyond "building blocks," or if you want Common Core standard-by-standard reporting.

3. Reading Eggs + Mathseeds — best for a long runway (ages 2–13)

Direct answer: Reading Eggs is the safest single subscription if you want one app to last from preschool through early middle school. It is $99.99/yr for up to four children and pairs reading (Eggs) with math (Mathseeds).

  • Cost math: $99.99 ÷ 2 = $50.00 per child per year.
  • Choose something else instead if your child finds the lesson-then-quiz format repetitive, or if you want a game-first experience rather than a lesson-first one.

4. TernQuest — best if you want an AI tutor and a no-ads free tier for K–5

Direct answer: TernQuest turns reading and math into 100+ games plus 99 narrated picture books, aligned to California Common Core PK–5, with Pip, an AI tutor that gives hints and visual scaffolds but never hands over the answer. Free to start for one child; the Family Pass is $15.99/mo or $159.90/yr for four children.

  • Cost math: $159.90 ÷ 2 = $79.95 per child per year; with 4 kids, $39.98 each. Annual pricing is 10× monthly, i.e. two months free.
  • Where it wins: no ads, kid sessions carry no analytics, magic-link login (no password for grown-ups), parent weekly reports, a daily time limit and a bedtime cutoff, and teacher classrooms with join codes, assignments and class analytics.
  • Honest limitations: TernQuest launched in August 2026, so there is no long third-party track record yet. It covers English and math only (science, coding and music appear as arcade games, not as a curriculum). It is a web app — no native iOS/Android app yet. It is PK–5 only, aligned to US Common Core (California), and Pip is a text/voice hint tutor, not a human tutor. Browse the full map at ternquest.com/play/curriculum and read about the name at why the arctic tern.
  • Choose something else instead if you need science or Spanish curriculum, if your child is in 6th grade or above, or if you want a decade of independent reviews before you subscribe.

5. ABCmouse — best all-subject breadth for ages 2–8

Direct answer: ABCmouse is the most complete "school in a box" for preschool through 2nd grade, with reading, math, science, art and music, 13,000+ activities and up to three child profiles. It costs $14.99/mo after a 30-day free trial, and there is no annual price on the public homepage.

  • Cost math: $14.99 × 12 = $179.88/yr; ÷ 2 kids = $89.94 per child per year. That is the highest per-family cost on this list once you pass one child.
  • Choose something else instead if your child is in grade 3+ (Age of Learning sells Adventure Academy for that), if you want to cap the bill with an annual plan, or if you want a tutor rather than a reward-ticket loop. See our ABCmouse alternatives guide.

6. Prodigy Math — best free math game, with a catch

Direct answer: Prodigy's base RPG is free and a lot of grades 1–5 kids love it. The catch is that memberships are sold per child and marketed inside the game, so parents feel pressure from their kids rather than from the app.

  • Cost math (per child, billed annually): Core $58.95, Plus $88.95, Ultra $118.95. For two kids on Core: $58.95 × 2 = $117.90/yr; on Ultra: $237.90/yr. Prodigy advertises 25% off when buying for multiple children, which would lower those figures.
  • Choose something else instead if you want reading in the same app, if in-game membership prompts bother you, or if you want practice that is not battle-based. Our Prodigy alternatives post goes deeper.

7. IXL — best for skill-by-skill drill and diagnostics

Direct answer: IXL is the most exhaustive practice bank (20,000+ skills, PreK–12) and its diagnostic is excellent for pinpointing gaps. It is a worksheet engine at heart, so younger kids often need a parent beside them.

  • Cost: $9.95/mo single subject, $15.95/mo math + ELA combo, $19.95/mo core subjects. Single subject: $9.95 × 12 = $119.40/yr for one child. The public pricing page did not show an annual plan or the surcharge for a second child, so treat the 2-kid figure as unverified.
  • Choose something else instead for a K–1 child, or for any child who shuts down at a red "wrong" marker.

8. SplashLearn — best game-based math + reading for PreK–5

Direct answer: SplashLearn covers exactly the K–5 band in math and reading with a games-first design and a limited free mode. Pricing on the public website could not be read this week; the App Store shows membership at $7.99–$11.99/mo and $69.99–$89.99/yr.

  • Cost math (App Store yearly, top of range): $89.99/yr; whether that covers one or several profiles was not visible, so we do not divide it.
  • Choose something else instead if you want narrated books, a tutor, or transparent public pricing.

9. Epic — best digital library, not a curriculum

Direct answer: Epic is a large reading library for ages 2–12 and pairs well with any app above. It is not a curriculum and does not teach math, so it belongs alongside a learning app rather than instead of one.

  • Cost: App Store lists monthly options from $7.99 to $13.99; the plans page could not be fetched, so the annual price is unverified. At $9.99/mo that is $119.88/yr.
  • Choose something else instead if you want a single subscription that also teaches math; TernQuest's 99 narrated picture books and Reading Eggs' library both come bundled with math.

10. Duolingo ABC — best free phonics starter

Direct answer: Duolingo ABC is free, ad-free, and has no in-app purchases; it is a tight phonics-and-early-reading app for ages 3–8. It does one thing well and stops.

  • Cost: $0.
  • Choose something else instead once your child is reading simple sentences, or if you want any math at all.

Honorable mention: Adventure Academy (grades 2–5)

Age of Learning's follow-on to ABCmouse. The website blocked our fetch this week; the US App Store lists $9.99–$12.99/mo and $59.99–$79.99/yr. Worth a look if your family already likes the ABCmouse style and your child has aged out of it.

Which app should you pick?

  • One child under 8, zero budget: Khan Academy Kids, then Duolingo ABC for phonics.
  • Two or more kids under 8: HOMER ($40/child/yr) or Reading Eggs ($50/child/yr).
  • K–5 spread across grades, want a tutor and reports, no ads: TernQuest ($79.95/child/yr at 2 kids, free to start with 1).
  • Math-obsessed kid who loves RPGs: Prodigy free, upgrade only if they ask twice.
  • Diagnose gaps for a 3rd–5th grader: IXL single subject.

FAQ

What is the best free learning app for kids in K–5?

Khan Academy Kids is the strongest fully free option for ages 2–8 (PreK–2nd grade) with no ads and no subscription. For grades 3–5 the free options thin out; TernQuest's free tier (1 child, 50+ games, all 99 stories) and Prodigy's free base game are the main no-cost choices.

How much does a kids learning app really cost per year for two children?

Using public 2026 pricing: HOMER $79.99/yr for up to 4 kids, Reading Eggs $99.99/yr for up to 4, TernQuest Family Pass $159.90/yr for up to 4, ABCmouse $179.88/yr (12 × $14.99) for up to 3, and Prodigy charges per child ($58.95–$118.95 each per year).

Which K–5 learning apps have no ads?

Khan Academy Kids, Duolingo ABC, HOMER and TernQuest all state that they show no ads. Prodigy's free game has no third-party ads but does show in-game membership prompts to children.

Do any of these apps include an AI tutor?

TernQuest includes Pip, a kid-safe AI tutor that gives hints and visual scaffolds without revealing answers. Most established apps on this list (ABCmouse, Khan Kids, Reading Eggs, HOMER, Epic) rely on adaptive sequencing rather than a conversational tutor.

Next step

Try TernQuest — free to start, no password. One child, 50+ games and all 99 stories, and Pip is waiting by the first question.

Pricing verified

All figures checked 2026-08-26 unless marked unverified.

  • ABCmouse — "Try FREE for 30 Days! Then just $14.99/mo." and "Up to three child profiles" — https://www.abcmouse.com/ — verified 2026-08-26.
  • Adventure Academy — website fetch blocked; US App Store in-app purchases $9.99/$12.99 monthly, $59.99/$79.99 yearly — https://apps.apple.com/us/app/adventure-academy/id1380452295 — verified 2026-08-26 (website unverified — check adventureacademy.com).
  • Khan Academy Kids — "100% free — forever", "No ads, no subscriptions", ages 2–8 — https://www.khanacademy.org/kids — verified 2026-08-26.
  • Prodigy Math — Core $9.95/mo or $58.95/yr; Plus $14.95/mo or $88.95/yr; Ultra $19.95/mo or $118.95/yr; "25% off … for multiple children" — https://www.prodigygame.com/Memberships/math/ — verified 2026-08-26.
  • IXL — Single subject $9.95/mo, Combo $15.95/mo, Core subjects $19.95/mo — https://www.ixl.com/membership/family/pricing — verified 2026-08-26 (annual and second-child pricing not shown — unverified).
  • SplashLearn — website pricing page returned 404; App Store lists monthly $7.99–$11.99 and yearly $69.99–$89.99 — https://apps.apple.com/us/app/splashlearn-kids-learning-app/id672658828 — verified 2026-08-26 (web price unverified — check splashlearn.com).
  • Reading Eggs — Reading & Math $13.99/mo or $99.99/yr, up to 4 children, 30-day trial — https://readingeggs.com/pricing/ — verified 2026-08-26.
  • HOMER — $12.99/mo or $79.99/yr, up to 4 child profiles, ages 2–8 — https://learnwithhomer.com/ — verified 2026-08-26.
  • Epic — plans page blocked; App Store lists monthly $7.99–$13.99 with a 7-day trial — https://apps.apple.com/us/app/epic-kids-books-reading/id719219382 — verified 2026-08-26 (annual price unverified — check getepic.com/plans).
  • Duolingo ABC — "no ads or in-app purchases", free — https://apps.apple.com/us/app/duolingo-abc-learn-to-read/id1440502568 — verified 2026-08-26.
  • TernQuest — Free $0 (1 child); Family Pass $15.99/mo or $159.90/yr (4 children); Classroom $99/mo or $990/yr (35 students) — https://ternquest.com/ — verified 2026-08-26.