# Acellus vs Canvas Parent

Acellus and Canvas Parent both sit at 4.5 stars, but that hides the real split: 36% of Acellus's written reviews are positive against 9% of Canvas Parent's. Acellus also leads on iOS requirement (16.4 vs 18.0). Canvas Parent's advantage is update cadence (monthly vs every 3 months) and ratings volume (112K vs 32K). On price, rating, ads and in-app purchases there is nothing between them.

Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.5 for Acellus against 4.4 for Canvas Parent. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 32K and 112K respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 36% of Acellus's written reviews are positive against 9% of Canvas Parent's.

Acellus ships an update every 3 months, Canvas Parent monthly. Both last shipped on October 20, 2026.

## The numbers

| Metric | Acellus | Canvas Parent |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | **[4.5 (32K ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/acellus/id1050216640/reviews)** | [4.4 (112K ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/canvas-parent/id1097996698/reviews) |
| Number of ratings | 32K | **112K** |
| Positive reviews | **35.8% of reviews** | 9.0% of reviews |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Ads | No | No |
| Update frequency | Every 3 months | **Monthly** |
| Monetization | Free | Free |
| Size | 7 MB | 172 MB |
| Requires iOS | **16.4** | 18.0 |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | [GoldKey Security Corporation](https://appshunter.io/developer/481443211) | [Instructure Inc.](https://appshunter.io/developer/418441198) |

## What reviewers say

### Acellus

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/acellus/id1050216640)

This online learning system offers a dynamic and interactive educational experience for K-12 students. It uses short video lessons and practice problems to assess understanding, with personalized instruction and real-time progress monitoring available.

**Highlights:** Self-paced learning, Personalized instruction, Live progress monitoring, Automatic record-keeping, Data-driven instruction, Comprehensive K-12 curriculum

**In-app purchases:** none

**What reviewers like**

- 👍 Easy to navigate classes
- 👍 Engaging and interactive lessons
- 👍 Flexible and self-paced learning
- 👍 Helpful and fun teachers
- 👍 Ability to track progress and compete with friends

**What reviewers complain about**

- 🐛 Occasional crashes and freezes
- 🐛 Incorrect answers marked as wrong
- 🐛 Lessons not always aligned with assessments
- 🐛 Boring or gimmicky teaching styles in some courses
- 🐛 Lack of live teacher interaction and support

**Reported bugs**

- Videos randomly restarting or freezing
- Incorrect grading of written assignments
- Inability to review past lessons and videos
- Courses not properly syncing progress across devices

**Requested features**

- Add subtitles or transcripts for videos
- Allow skipping of videos if content is already understood
- Improve mobile app usability and stability
- Provide more hands-on and interactive learning experiences
- Offer more personalized learning paths and feedback


### Canvas Parent

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/canvas-parent/id1097996698)

This app allows parents and guardians to monitor their child's academic progress, communicate with teachers, and receive important updates. It helps families stay involved in their student's education by tracking grades, assignments, and feedback.

**Highlights:** Message teachers directly, View grades and assignments, Receive real-time notifications, See teacher feedback, Use calendar view for upcoming tasks

**Features:** macOS Compatibility, Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases:** none

**What reviewers like**

- 🚀 Convenient for tracking assignments and grades
- 👍 Allows communication with teachers
- 🤖 Useful for remote/virtual learning

**What reviewers complain about**

- 🐛 Buggy and unreliable
- 🤯 Confusing and not user-friendly
- 🔍 Lack of visibility into student work and progress
- 🔀 Inconsistent implementation across teachers and schools
- 🤖 Struggles with remote/virtual learning needs

**Reported bugs**

- Frequent log-out issues
- Inability to access account or find school
- Delayed or inaccurate display of assignment statuses and grades
- Calendar view and other key features not functioning as expected

**Requested features**

- Ability to view submitted assignments and teacher feedback
- Better organization and sorting of assignments by due date
- Improved communication and coordination between parents, students, and teachers
- More consistent and intuitive user experience across the platform


## Frequently asked questions

### Is Acellus free?

Acellus is free to download, with no in-app purchases.

### Is Canvas Parent free?

Canvas Parent is free to download, with no in-app purchases.

### Which has better reviews, Acellus or Canvas Parent?

Acellus is rated higher. Acellus averages 4.5 out of 5 from 32K ratings, while Canvas Parent averages 4.4 from 112K ratings.

### Do Acellus or Canvas Parent have ads?

Neither Acellus nor Canvas Parent shows ads.

### Which is updated more often, Acellus or Canvas Parent?

Acellus ships an update every 3 months, and Canvas Parent monthly. Most recently, Acellus was updated on October 20, 2026 and Canvas Parent on October 20, 2026.

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*Compared by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/) from daily US App Store data. Review summaries are generated from verbatim App Store reviews.*