Everything Math Academy does well, from kindergarten up.
Math Academy runs a genuinely strong mastery engine, at the same $49 a month, starting at 4th grade and with no free trial. Level Up covers all of K to 8 and shows you your child’s report inside the first 7 days.
Level Up meets all twelve. Math Academy meets four, and is partway on five.
Twelve things to check in any K-8 math program
| What decides whether it works | Level Up | Math Academy |
|---|---|---|
| Try it before you paySee the whole thing, and your child’s report, while you can still change your mind | Every plan opens with 7 days free, then stays refundable in full for 30 days after the first charge.You read the report, and watch the first skills clear, with the decision still open. | In their own words: “We do not offer a free trial.” The adaptive placement runs only after you have paid. |
| Names the missing skillsTells you which specific skills are missing | The report names them, one by one, in plain language. A grade level is not a diagnosis: the children we assess are missing about 200 specific skills on average. | Its placement reports a level and a mastery score per topic, and flags foundational gaps from earlier material.That is useful, but it is a picture by area rather than a skill-by-skill list of what is missing. |
| Goes back to earlier gradesGoes back to earlier grades on its own when the gap is older | When your child keeps getting stuck on a skill, practice steps back to the earlier skill it builds on.A 5th grader stuck on fractions is often missing a piece of 3rd grade. The assessment finds those earlier skills and puts them on your child’s board, with no “remedial” label, and during practice Level Up opens the earlier skill with a worked example and works on that foundation first. | Yes, and this is one of the things Math Academy genuinely does well. |
| Proven, not counted | A skill clears only when your child has solved the harder versions too, consistently. Proven, not counted, so it does not come undone in November. | Yes. Mastery is a real gate here, and this is the closest any program on this page gets to how Level Up works. |
| Progress never taken away | Progress only moves forward. A wrong answer is information about what to practice next, never a penalty, and missing a day costs nothing. | Mastery is retained, but a failed review can send a topic back into the queue. |
| Brings skills back before they fade | Everything not revisited is forgotten. Level Up resurfaces a skill on the day it is most likely to slip, and stretches the gap wider as it gets solid. | Yes, and it is a core part of how the system is built. Math Academy is strong here. |
| No points, streaks, leaderboards | None of it. No leaderboards, no points, no comparison with other children. The only comparison is to where your child was last week. | No. Math Academy is deliberately plain, and it is better for it. |
| A goal and a reward at homeA goal your child chose, and a reward that means something at home | You and your child agree a Quest: a size, from about two weeks to a school-year milestone, and a real reward you both name.Level Up sizes the target from what your child can actually reach, progress counts only skills genuinely mastered, and you both sign it. | Nothing of the kind, and deliberately so. Math Academy expects the material to be its own motivation, which genuinely works for a certain kind of student. |
| Covers all of K-8 | Every Common Core standard from kindergarten through 8th grade, and one subscription covers the whole range. | No. The earliest course Math Academy offers is 4th Grade Math, so there is nothing at all for K through 3. |
| Works without you beside them | Yes. The next session is already built from the last one, so there is nothing for you to set up, choose or supervise. | Mostly, though the material is demanding enough that younger students often want an adult nearby. |
| See every problem attemptedYou can see every problem your child attempted | Every problem attempted, solved or not, how long each one took, and what was mastered this week against last. Evidence of learning, not minutes logged. | Clear reporting on what has been learned and reviewed, by topic.Math Academy documents the placement report in detail but says little about what a parent can watch day to day. |
| A dose you can sustain | About 30 minutes a day, five days a week, for one monthly price no matter how much your child uses it. | Built for daily work, and it measures the load in XP rather than minutes. The material is demanding, and keeping a younger child at it for a whole school year asks a lot. |
| Level Up is ahead on eight of the twelve, level on four (goes back to earlier grades, proven, not counted, brings skills back before they fade and no points, streaks, leaderboards). | ||
What each one costs
A month of Level Up costs about what one hour of private tutoring does.
Level Up$49 / monthThe first 7 days are free, assessment and report included.
Math Academy$49 / monthPer student, from 4th grade upwards only, and with no free trial.
How the free trial works
- 7 days free. A card is collected at signup and nothing is charged that day.
- The assessment and your child’s report both happen inside those 7 days.
- When the trial ends the plan starts at $49 a month, $196 every 6 months, or $294 a year, unless you cancel first.
- $29 a month for each additional child ($116 every 6 months, $174 a year). One trial covers every child on the account.
- 30-day money-back guarantee on your first charge, on any plan.
See the report before you pay
This is what you get on day one, before any charge.
The assessment happens inside the 7 free days. When it finishes, a report like this is built for your child. This one is real, with the child’s name changed.
Scrolls inside the frame. The full report opens below.
From Level Up families
Math became much less of a struggle.
Level Up parentThey want to do math almost every day because they want to make progress toward their quest rewards. I can see that they are learning and becoming more confident, but also that doing math has become much less of a struggle. For me, that’s probably the biggest thing.
LauraMother of a fourth and an eighth grader, American International School
Straight answer
Math Academy may be better if your child...
- Your child is older, already strong at math, and heading into accelerated or competition work.
- Your child needs to cover high-school and university-level material.
Otherwise, Level Up is ahead of Math Academy on 8 of the 12 areas that help kids become proficient in math, and level on the four Math Academy meets.
Ready when you areFind the gap today.