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Education · head to head

Elevate vs Lightspeed Systems

Elevate logo

Elevate

Education

Cognitive skills training app from Elevate Labs covering reading, writing, maths and speaking games

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Lightspeed Systems logo

Lightspeed Systems

Education

Filtering, classroom management and student safety monitoring for K-12 device fleets

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Elevate has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: Elevate the free tier limits daily games enough that the personalised programme the app is designed around is effectively a paid-only feature.; Lightspeed Systems no module has published pricing, so districts cannot benchmark a quote without running a formal procurement, and the eventual figure depends heavily on which co-operative contract they buy through.
  • They diverge on capability: Elevate covers Daily game sets, Lightspeed Systems covers Filter.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Elevate and Lightspeed Systems actually diverge.

Attributes where Elevate and Lightspeed Systems differ
AttributeElevateLightspeed Systems
Starting priceFreeOn request
Pricing modelFree with a Pro subscriptionquote
Free tierYesNo
PlatformsiOS, AndroidWeb, iOS, Android, Chrome OS, Windows, macOS

Identical on both: 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 Elevate

  • Daily game sets
  • Personalised training plan
  • Progress tracking
  • Reading and comprehension drills
  • Maths and estimation games
  • Writing and proofreading games

Only in Lightspeed Systems

  • Filter
  • Alert
  • Classroom
  • Insight
  • Signal
  • MDM
  • StopIt
  • Hall Monitor

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Elevate

  • An adult wanting short daily practice on workplace writing and proofreading skillsnot Lightspeed Systems
  • Someone preparing for a maths or verbal reasoning assessment who wants low-stakes daily drillsnot Lightspeed Systems
  • A user comparing Elevate against Lumosity on whether they want practical skills or abstract cognitive gamesnot Lightspeed Systems
  • A buyer wanting to sample the format on the limited free tier before committing to a subscriptionnot Lightspeed Systems

Lightspeed Systems

  • A district with 15,000 take-home Chromebooks that needs filtering to follow the device onto home and public networksnot Elevate
  • A technology director being asked to justify the edtech budget, who can use app usage data to cancel licences nobody opensnot Elevate
  • A school board that has agreed to safety monitoring but has no staff able to respond to alerts at night, and so buys the human review servicenot Elevate
  • A one-to-one iPad rollout wanting device enrolment, filtering and teacher screen control from one vendornot Elevate

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

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.

Lightspeed Systems

  • No module has published pricing, so districts cannot benchmark a quote without running a formal procurement, and the eventual figure depends heavily on which co-operative contract they buy through.
  • Alert detection and the 24/7 human review that makes it actionable are priced separately, so a district that budgets for Alert alone ends up owning the overnight triage burden itself.
  • The agent model means coverage stops at the managed device, and students moving to a personal phone on mobile data are outside filtering and monitoring entirely, which undercuts the compliance claim in the exact scenario administrators worry about.
  • Teacher screen monitoring is frequently deployed without training, and lessons stall while staff learn the interface, so the first term of a Classroom rollout often produces complaints rather than the intended benefit.
  • Buying eight modules from one vendor makes renewal a single high-value negotiation with no partial leverage, and districts locked into a multi-year co-operative contract cannot easily drop a module that underperforms.

Pricing, plan by plan

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

Lightspeed Systems

On request
  • Lightspeed Filter$undefined/year
    • Device-level content filtering on and off network
    • YouTube and social media policy controls
    • Quoted per student device per year
  • Lightspeed Alert$undefined/year
    • Safety signal detection
    • 24/7 human review sold as an additional service
    • Quoted
  • Lightspeed Classroom, Insight, Signal, MDM, StopIt and Hall Monitor$undefined/year
    • Each sold as a separate per-student module
    • Quoted, commonly bundled

Which should you pick?

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.
Elevate review

Choose Lightspeed Systems if

  • You need filter.
  • You work on Web, iOS, Android, Chrome OS, Windows, macOS.
  • You also want alert.
Lightspeed Systems review

Questions people ask

Is Elevate or Lightspeed Systems better?
Neither clearly leads. Elevate starts at Free and Lightspeed Systems at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Elevate or Lightspeed Systems?
Elevate has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Elevate and On request for Lightspeed Systems.
Does Elevate or Lightspeed Systems run on more platforms?
Elevate runs on iOS, Android. Lightspeed Systems runs on Web, iOS, Android, Chrome OS, Windows, macOS.
Can I use Elevate for free?
Yes. Elevate has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Lightspeed Systems starts at On request.
What is Elevate best used for?
Elevate is most often used for an adult wanting short daily practice on workplace writing and proofreading skills, someone preparing for a maths or verbal reasoning assessment who wants low-stakes daily drills, a user comparing elevate against lumosity on whether they want practical skills or abstract cognitive games, a buyer wanting to sample the format on the limited free tier before committing to a subscription. Of those, an adult wanting short daily practice on workplace writing and proofreading skills and someone preparing for a maths or verbal reasoning assessment who wants low-stakes daily drills are not what Lightspeed Systems is typically brought in for.
What can Elevate do that Lightspeed Systems cannot?
Elevate covers Daily game sets, Personalised training plan, Progress tracking, Reading and comprehension drills. Lightspeed Systems covers Filter, Alert, Classroom, Insight.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Elevate: Is Elevate free?

A limited number of games per day are free. The full library, personalised training plan and progress tracking require Elevate Pro.

Lightspeed Systems: How much does Lightspeed Filter cost per student?

Lightspeed does not publish rates. Pricing is quoted per student device per year and varies with district size, module mix and which purchasing co-operative contract you buy through.

Elevate: 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.

Lightspeed Systems: Is 24/7 human alert review included with Alert?

No. Alert provides the detection; the staffed round-the-clock review service is an additional purchase, and it is usually what districts actually need.

Elevate: 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.

Lightspeed Systems: Does filtering work when students are at home?

Yes, the agent runs on the device rather than the network, so policy follows the Chromebook or laptop off site.

Lightspeed Systems: What does Insight actually do for the budget?

It reports which licensed apps are opened and by whom, which districts use to cancel subscriptions with low usage. It also flags whether an app meets named privacy and accessibility standards.

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