Education · head to head
Brilliant vs Elevate
Elevate
Education
Cognitive skills training app from Elevate Labs covering reading, writing, maths and speaking games
- From
- Free
- Rated
- -
The short version
- Each has a real cost: Brilliant requires active daily engagement to maintain learning streaks, which can feel gamified; Elevate the free tier limits daily games enough that the personalised programme the app is designed around is effectively a paid-only feature.
- They diverge on capability: Brilliant covers Interactive lessons, Elevate covers Daily game sets.
- Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which Brilliant and Elevate actually diverge.
Identical on both: starting price (Free), free tier (Yes), user rating (Not yet rated), category (Education).
What each one covers
Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.
Only in Brilliant
- Interactive lessons
- Problem-solving
- Daily challenges
- Guided paths
- Offline access
- Mobile learning
- Mobile apps
- Web support
Only in Elevate
- Daily game sets
- Personalised training plan
- Reading and comprehension drills
- Maths and estimation games
- Writing and proofreading games
Both cover
- Progress tracking
What people use each for
The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.
Brilliant
- Math learningnot Elevate
- Science educationnot Elevate
- Programming basicsnot Elevate
- Problem-solving skillsnot Elevate
Elevate
- An adult wanting short daily practice on workplace writing and proofreading skillsnot Brilliant
- Someone preparing for a maths or verbal reasoning assessment who wants low-stakes daily drillsnot Brilliant
- A user comparing Elevate against Lumosity on whether they want practical skills or abstract cognitive gamesnot Brilliant
- A buyer wanting to sample the format on the limited free tier before committing to a subscriptionnot Brilliant
Where each one falls short
Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.
Brilliant
- Requires active daily engagement to maintain learning streaks, which can feel gamified
- Premium subscription needed for full course access; basic free tier is limited
- Focuses only on STEM subjects; no humanities or social sciences
- Interactive nature requires more time commitment than passive video learning
Elevate
- The free tier limits daily games enough that the personalised programme the app is designed around is effectively a paid-only feature.
- As with the brain training category generally, evidence that improved performance on Elevate specific games transfers to broader real-world cognitive or task performance is weaker than marketing framing implies.
- The annual subscription auto-renews and, as with most mobile subscriptions, must be cancelled through app store settings rather than inside the app itself.
- Game variety within each skill category is finite, and long-term daily users report the exercises becoming repetitive after extended use.
- It does not replace structured instruction for skills like reading comprehension or maths where a genuine foundational gap exists; it is practice and drilling rather than teaching from first principles.
Pricing, plan by plan
Brilliant
Free- Premium Monthly$24.99/month
- Access to all 90+ courses
- No ads
- Premium Annual$150/year
- Access to all 90+ courses
- No ads
Elevate
Free- Elevate Pro$9.99/month
- Free tier gives a limited number of games per day
- Pro unlocks the full game library and personalised training plan
- Annual Pro plans typically run $44.99 to $59.99, cheaper per month than monthly billing
Which should you pick?
Choose Brilliant if
- You need interactive lessons.
- You want to start without paying.
- You work on Web, iOS, Android.
- You also want problem-solving.
Choose Elevate if
- You need daily game sets.
- You want to start without paying.
- You work on iOS, Android.
- You also want personalised training plan.
Questions people ask
- Is Brilliant or Elevate better?
- Neither clearly leads. Brilliant starts at Free and Elevate at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
- Which is cheaper, Brilliant or Elevate?
- Brilliant starts at Free and Elevate at Free.
- Does Brilliant or Elevate run on more platforms?
- Brilliant runs on Web, iOS, Android. Elevate runs on iOS, Android.
- Can I use Brilliant for free?
- Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
- What is Brilliant best used for?
- Brilliant is most often used for math learning, science education, programming basics, problem-solving skills. Of those, math learning and science education are not what Elevate is typically brought in for.
- What can Brilliant do that Elevate cannot?
- Brilliant covers Interactive lessons, Problem-solving, Daily challenges, Guided paths. Elevate covers Daily game sets, Personalised training plan, Reading and comprehension drills, Maths and estimation games. Both handle Progress tracking.
Answered from the vendors’ own pages
Brilliant: Does Brilliant offer offline learning?
Yes. The Brilliant mobile app allows users to download lessons and learn without internet connection.
SourceElevate: Is Elevate free?
A limited number of games per day are free. The full library, personalised training plan and progress tracking require Elevate Pro.
Brilliant: Is there a free tier for Brilliant?
Yes. Brilliant offers a free basic tier with access to some courses. K-12 teachers and their students can qualify for free Premium access.
SourceElevate: Does Elevate improve real-world cognitive ability?
It reliably improves performance on the specific games practised. Evidence that this transfers broadly to real-world cognitive or task performance is limited, consistent with the brain training category generally.
Brilliant: What subject areas does Brilliant cover?
Brilliant covers over 90 courses across mathematics, computer science, physics, chemistry, and data science, taught by experts from MIT, Harvard, Google, and Microsoft.
SourceElevate: How is Elevate different from Lumosity?
Elevate focuses on practical skills such as reading, writing and workplace maths, while Lumosity is built around broader abstract memory, attention and reasoning games.
Brilliant: How does Brilliant's teaching approach differ from video lectures?
Brilliant emphasizes active learning through interactive problem-solving rather than passive video watching, similar to Duolingo's gamified approach.
SourceRelated pages
Other head to heads
- Brilliant vs Codecademy
- Brilliant vs Khan Academy
- Brilliant vs Labster
- Brilliant vs DataCamp
- Brilliant vs Miro Education
- Brilliant vs Babbel
- Brilliant vs Rosetta Stone
- Brilliant vs Simply Piano
- Brilliant vs Duolingo
- Brilliant vs Lumosity
- Brilliant vs Photomath
- Brilliant vs MasterClass
- Brilliant vs UltraCamp
- Brilliant vs Aeries Student Information System
- Brilliant vs Articulate 360
- Brilliant vs CampMinder
- Brilliant vs Clever
- Brilliant vs Flip
- Brilliant vs Anki
- Brilliant vs Busuu
- Brilliant vs Memrise
- Brilliant vs PictureThis
- Brilliant vs Skoolur
- Brilliant vs Blackboard
- Brilliant vs Replit AI Agent
- Brilliant vs Wooclap
- Brilliant vs Yousician
- Brilliant vs Wakelet
- Brilliant vs YuJa
- Brilliant vs Flowkey
- Brilliant vs GoGuardian
- Elevate vs Codecademy
- Elevate vs Khan Academy
- Elevate vs Labster
- Elevate vs DataCamp
- Elevate vs Miro Education
- Elevate vs Babbel
- Elevate vs Rosetta Stone
- Elevate vs Simply Piano
- Elevate vs Duolingo
- Elevate vs Lumosity
- Elevate vs Photomath
- Elevate vs MasterClass
- Elevate vs UltraCamp
- Elevate vs Aeries Student Information System
- Elevate vs Articulate 360
- Elevate vs CampMinder
- Elevate vs Clever
- Elevate vs Flip
- Elevate vs Anki
- Elevate vs Busuu
- Elevate vs Memrise
- Elevate vs PictureThis
- Elevate vs Skoolur
- Elevate vs Blackboard
- Elevate vs Replit AI Agent
- Elevate vs Wooclap
- Elevate vs Yousician
- Elevate vs Wakelet
- Elevate vs YuJa
- Elevate vs Flowkey
- Elevate vs GoGuardian