Education · alternatives
Alternatives to Brilliant
23 education tools sit alongside Brilliant in this directory. Below is what separates each from Brilliant on the figures we hold, price, model, tier count and rating, and a direct comparison for every one.
- Alternatives listed
- 23
- With a free tier
- 20
- Cheaper to start
- 2
- Brilliant starts at
- Free, then $13.49/month
Why people look past Brilliant
Nothing on the record flags a reason to move. Brilliant has a free tier, and starts at $13.49/month against a category median of $49/month. People still switch over fit and workflow, and those are not things a catalogue entry can measure, which is what the comparisons below are for.
What each alternative does differently
Ordered by the aggregated rating on each catalogue entry. Differences are drawn from price, pricing model, tier count and rating, the fields the category listing carries. For a feature-level difference, follow the head-to-head link on each card: those pages read both full records.
Free world-class education for anyone, anywhere
- 1 tier to Brilliant's 2.
Learn to code interactively for free
- 3 tiers to Brilliant's 2.
Interactive computing across all programming languages
Priced and rated the same as Brilliant on the figures we hold. The difference, if there is one, is in the feature records.
Vocabulary and spaced repetition language app built around video clips of native speakers
- 1 tier to Brilliant's 2.
Camera based maths solver that shows step by step working, owned by Google since 2022
- 1 tier to Brilliant's 2.
Piano-only learning app from JoyTunes using microphone listening, no MIDI keyboard required
- Starts $106.5 a year dearer, at $119.99/year.
Every Brilliant alternative at a glance
A dash means the catalogue entry carries no figure, not that the answer is nothing.
| Tool | Entry price | Model | Tiers | Head to head |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brilliant (this page) | Free, then $13.49/month | - | 2 | |
| Khan AcademyFree STEM learning platform with video lessons and practice problems, though less interactive than Brilliant | Free | Free | 1 | vs Brilliant |
| CodecademyInteractive coding and computer science education platform with hands-on lessons | Free | Freemium | 3 | vs Brilliant |
| JupyterOpen-source data science and math computation platform used for interactive learning and experimentation | Free | - | - | vs Brilliant |
| Memrise | Free | Free with a Pro subscription | 1 | vs Brilliant |
| Photomath | Free | Free with a Plus subscription | 1 | vs Brilliant |
| Simply Piano | Free, then $119.99/year | Per user per year or month | 2 | vs Brilliant |
| Elevate | Free | Free with a Pro subscription | 1 | vs Brilliant |
| Seek by iNaturalist | Free | Free, no ads and no in-app purchases | 1 | vs Brilliant |
| Merlin Bird ID | Free | Free, no ads and no in-app purchases | 1 | vs Brilliant |
| Stellarium | Free | Open source, no licence fee | 1 | vs Brilliant |
| Flowkey | Free, then $119.99/year | Per user per year or month | 2 | vs Brilliant |
| Lumosity | Free | Free with a subscription | 1 | vs Brilliant |
| Sky Guide | Free | Free download with Plus and Pro subscription upgrades | 3 | vs Brilliant |
| Busuu | Free | Free with a Premium subscription | 1 | vs Brilliant |
| Pl@ntNet | Free | Free, no ads and no in-app purchases | 1 | vs Brilliant |
| Star Walk 2 | Free | Freemium, low-cost ad-free subscription upgrade | 2 | vs Brilliant |
| Yousician | Free, then $9.99/month | Per user per month or year | 2 | vs Brilliant |
| Melodics | Free, then $9.99/month | Per user per month or year | 2 | vs Brilliant |
| eBird | Free | Free, no ads and no in-app purchases | 1 | vs Brilliant |
| Anki | Free | Open source, no licence fee except a paid iOS app | 1 | vs Brilliant |
| PictureThis | On request | Per year, sold via a short free trial that auto-renews | 1 | vs Brilliant |
| SkySafari | On request | One-time purchase per tier | 3 | vs Brilliant |
| Jackrabbit Class | $49/month | Per month by student count | 6 | vs Brilliant |
Ratings are aggregated from third-party sources and imported with each catalogue entry; Softwr hosts no reviews of these products. How each figure is used is set out on the Brilliant badges page.
Cheaper ways to solve the same problem
Free to start (20)
These publish a tier that costs nothing, so they can be evaluated before any money changes hands.
- Khan Academy , Free
- Codecademy , Free
- Jupyter , Free
- Memrise , Free
- Photomath , Free
- Simply Piano , Free, then $119.99/year
- Elevate , Free
- Seek by iNaturalist , Free
What you would be giving up
Brilliant is most often brought in for math learning, science education, programming basics, problem-solving skills. Anything replacing it has to cover the ones you actually depend on, and a cheaper tool that misses one of them is not cheaper.
Two things this page cannot settle. It compares on price, model, tier count and rating, because those are the fields the category listing carries, feature-level differences need both full records, which is what the head-to-head pages load. And the ratings are third-party aggregates imported with each entry rather than reviews written here, so a 0.2 difference between two tools is noise rather than a finding.
If Brilliant is broadly right and the question is cost, the Brilliant pricing breakdown covers every tier and what each one adds. If you want the whole field rather than a shortlist, the Education category lists everything the directory holds, and best education tools ranks them.
Brilliant runs on web, ios, android. Platform coverage is not carried on the category listing for the alternatives, so it is one more thing to check on each head-to-head page rather than here.
Questions about Brilliant alternatives
- What are the main alternatives to Brilliant?
- 23 other education tools are listed in this directory, led by Khan Academy, Codecademy, Jupyter, Memrise. They are ordered by the aggregated rating on each catalogue entry, not by any Softwr ranking.
- What is the best free alternative to Brilliant?
- 20 of the alternatives listed here can be used without paying: Khan Academy, Codecademy, Jupyter, Memrise, Photomath.
- Is there a cheaper alternative to Brilliant?
- Yes. 2 of the alternatives below start under Brilliant's $13.49/month: Yousician at Free, then $9.99/month, Melodics at Free, then $9.99/month.
- Is there a reason to switch away from Brilliant?
- Nothing in the data flags one. Brilliant has a free tier, and starts at $13.49/month against a category median of $49/month. Fit and workflow are the usual reasons to move, and those are not things this record can measure.
- What would I give up by switching from Brilliant?
- Brilliant is most often brought in for math learning, science education, programming basics, problem-solving skills. Anything you replace it with has to cover the ones you actually rely on, the side-by-side comparisons linked from each alternative below put the two feature records against each other.
- Is there an open-source alternative to Brilliant?
- None of the education tools listed here are recorded as open source. That is what the licence field on each entry says, and the field is not always filled in, so it is worth checking directly for any tool you are serious about.
- How were these Brilliant alternatives chosen?
- They are the tools filed in the same category, Education, ordered by the aggregated rating on each entry. There is no editorial shortlist, and nothing on this page is paid: no sponsored placement runs on alternatives pages and the order cannot be bought. Softwr has not used these products.
- Where can I compare Brilliant against one of these directly?
- Every alternative below has a side-by-side page against Brilliant covering price, platforms, features and what each one is used for. Those pages read the full record for both products rather than the summary shown here.
- Does this list cover every education tool?
- No. It covers what this directory holds in the Education category, 23 tools beside Brilliant. The category page lists the rest of the catalogue as it grows.