Comparison

Khan Academy Kids vs Learn to Read

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Khan Academy Kids

This educational app offers over 5,000 games, books, and activities for children aged 2-8. It covers reading, math, phonics, and more, with engaging characters and content aligned with educational standards. The app is completely free and designed to foster a love of learning.

Highlights
  • Reading and math games
  • Phonics lessons
  • Interactive storybooks
  • Over 5,000 activities
  • Standards-aligned curriculum
  • Offline access
Currently charting
Read full description

Make screen time more meaningful with Khan Academy Kids—the award-winning, educational app for kids ages 2–8. Packed with fun, standards-aligned reading games, math games, phonics lessons, and interactive storybooks, the app has helped over 21 million preschool and elementary students learn at home, at school, and on the go. Join Kodi the Bear and friends on exciting educational adventures that spark curiosity, build confidence, and inspire a lifelong love of learning. PLAY-BASED READING, MATH & MORE: From ABC games and phonics practice to counting, addition, and shapes, kids can explore over 5,000 educational games and activities with Kodi’s friends: • Ollo the Elephant – phonics and letter sounds • Reya the Red Panda – storytime and writing • Peck the Hummingbird – numbers and counting • Sandy the Dingo – puzzles, memory, and problem-solving AWARDS AND RECOGNITION: With more than 180,000 5-star reviews, Khan Academy Kids has won the hearts of families and educators worldwide. • “Best kids app EVER” • “It’s 100% free and my kids learn so much!” • “If you’re looking for a HIGH quality app for your kids, this is it!” Recognition includes: • Common Sense Media – Top Rated Educational App • Children’s Technology Review – Editor’s Choice • Parents’ Choice – Gold Award Winner • Apple App Store – Editor’s Choice A LIBRARY OF STORYBOOKS AND VIDEOS: • Discover hundreds of kids’ books and videos for preschool, kindergarten and early elementary. • Explore animals, dinosaurs, science, and more with non-fiction books from National Geographic and Bellwether Media. • Choose “Read To Me” for read-aloud storybooks in English or Spanish. • Dance and sing-along with videos from Super Simple Songs! FROM PRESCHOOL TO 2ND GRADE: Khan Academy Kids grows with your child, from age 2 through 8 and beyond: • Preschool learning games build foundational reading, math, and life skills. • Kindergarten activities cover phonics, sight words, writing, and early math. • 1st and 2nd grade lessons strengthen reading comprehension, problem-solving, and confidence. SAFE, TRUSTED, AND ALWAYS FREE: Created in partnership with the Stanford Graduate School of Education by education experts, aligned with Head Start and Common Core Standards, COPPA-compliant, and 100% free—no ads, no subscriptions. Khan Academy is a nonprofit with the mission to provide a free, world-class education for anyone, anywhere. LEARN ANYWHERE—AT HOME, AT SCHOOL, EVEN OFFLINE: • At home: Khan Academy Kids is the perfect learning app for families at home. From sleepy mornings to road trips, kids and families love learning with Khan Kids. For homeschool: Families that homeschool also enjoy our standards-aligned, educational kids games and lessons for kids. • At school: In-app Teacher Tools help preschool and elementary school teachers create assignments, track student progress, and make the most of small-group and whole-group learning. • On the go: No wifi? No problem! Download books and games for learning on the go. Perfect for car trips, waiting rooms, or cozy mornings at home. START YOUR LEARNING ADVENTURE TODAY Download Khan Academy Kids and watch your child discover, play, and grow. JOIN OUR COMMUNITIES FOR FAMILIES AND TEACHERS Follow @khankids on Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube. KHAN ACADEMY: Khan Academy is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization with the mission to provide a free, world-class education to anyone, anywhere. Khan Academy Kids was created by early learning experts from Duck Duck Moose who created 22 preschool games and won 22 Parents’ Choice Awards, 19 Children’s Technology Review Awards and a KAPi award for Best Children’s App. Khan Academy Kids is 100% free with no ads or subscriptions.

About

Learn to Read

This app offers a guided, co-play experience for parents and children aged 3-8 to learn reading skills. It uses research-backed phonics lessons, interactive storybooks, videos, and games to build foundational reading abilities.

Highlights
  • 99 step-by-step phonics lessons
  • 67 interactive digital storybooks
  • 42 educational videos
  • 3 expert-designed reading games
  • Printable offline activities
  • Family subscription with 3 profiles
  • Ad-free experience
Features
Read full description

Teach your child how to read! Ages 3-8. Reading.com is a fun, co-play experience designed by education experts for you to teach your child to read — with the love, care, and joy only a parent and child can share. RESEARCH-BACKED No cape? No problem. Our program gives you supercharged superparent powers! Reading.com’s research-backed, phonics-based lessons are fully scripted so they don’t require any special training or knowledge for you to become the most powerful teacher your child will ever have. FROM LETTER RECOGNITION TO CONFIDENT READING As your child masters more letters, sounds, and words, they'll unlock a playful world of reading activities including interactive storybooks, videos, digital games, and printable activities. THE MOST MEANINGFUL (TEAM)WORK OF YOUR LIFE Each lesson takes just 15 - 20 minutes to complete and they’re designed for you and your child to go at your own pace. Lessons cover letters, letter blends, long vowel sounds, and digraphs, taking your child from basic alphabetic knowledge to reading at a late 1st grade level. This is the easiest head start you’ll ever give your child! KEY FEATURES - 120 step-by-step phonics lessons for a grownup & child to do together - 84 interactive, decodable, digital storybooks - 42 videos featuring letters, letter sounds, and an exclusive alphabet song - 5 expertly-designed reading games for independent play that practice skills in: letter recognition, letter-phoneme correlation, beginning sounds, vocabulary, letter-writing, spelling - Access to printable games & activities for fun offline reinforcement - One subscription for the whole family with up to 3 profiles - Ad-free Download the app today, help your child learn to read and join other parents raising readers! Privacy Policy: https://www.reading.com/privacy-policy/ Terms and Conditions: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

Screenshots

Khan Academy Kids4 screens
Learn to Read4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Khan Academy Kids at none against Learn to Read's 18. Khan Academy Kids also leads on iOS requirement (12.0 vs 15.0). Learn to Read's advantage is update cadence (every 5 days vs every 5 weeks) and chart position (#14 vs #89). On price, rating, review sentiment and ratings volume there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Learn to Read sells 9 in-app purchases, starting at $12.49 per month. Khan Academy Kids asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.8 for Khan Academy Kids against 4.7 for Learn to Read. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 129K and 71K respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 79% of Khan Academy Kids's written reviews are positive against 81% of Learn to Read's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Khan Academy Kids ships an update every 5 weeks, Learn to Read every 5 days. Both last shipped on September 24, 2026.

Scorecard5 real differences · 6 level
Khan Academy Kids versus Learn to Read: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterKhan Academy KidsLearn to Read
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.8 (129K ratings) — better4.7 (71K ratings)
Positive reviews78.9% of reviews81.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings129K — better71K
Update frequencyEvery 5 weeksEvery 5 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree — betterFree with in-app purchases
Best chart rank#89#14 — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS12.0 — better15.0
Further details — not scored
Size198 MB252 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperKhan AcademyTeaching.com

Customer experience

Khan Academy Kids

All ratings129,109 ratings
Positive95.2%
Neutral1.8%
Negative2.9%
Written reviews1,615 reviews
Positive78.9%
Neutral5.8%
Negative15.3%

Learn to Read

All ratings70,642 ratings
Positive92.7%
Neutral3.3%
Negative4.1%
Written reviews704 reviews
Positive81.0%
Neutral3.7%
Negative15.3%

User reviews

Khan Academy Kids

From 129K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Engaging and educational content
  • 👍 Intuitive and user-friendly interface
  • 🔒 100% ad-free and safe for kids
  • 💡 Personalized learning experience
  • 🎨 Cute and visually appealing characters

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Occasional bugs and crashes
  • 🔍 Difficulty finding specific content
  • 🕰️ Slow loading times on some devices
  • 🙇‍♀️ Repetitive activities for advanced learners

Learn to Read

From 71K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Engaging and fun for kids
  • 🚀 Effective at teaching reading skills
  • 💡 Structured, step-by-step approach
  • 👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Promotes parent-child bonding
  • 🎨 Colorful and visually appealing

Room to improve

  • 🤑 Expensive subscription model
  • 🐢 Slow progression for more advanced learners
  • 🤖 Lack of flexibility to customize or skip lessons
  • 🤔 Placement assessment not accurate for all levels
  • 🤯 Frustrating when app crashes or logs out

Bugs and requests

Khan Academy Kids

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Password reset issues
  • Incompatibility with older devices
  • Inconsistent instructions and feedback

Requested features

4 requests
  • Ability to customize difficulty levels
  • More advanced content for older kids
  • Offline mode for learning on the go
  • Parent-controlled settings and progress tracking

Learn to Read

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Occasional app crashes or freezes
  • User data loss after app updates
  • Inability to redeem promo codes

Requested features

5 requests
  • Option to learn cursive writing
  • More independent practice games and activities
  • Ability to jump to appropriate lesson level
  • Support for multiple languages or accents
  • Printable resources like flashcards or worksheets

In-app purchases

None

Khan Academy Kids

No in-app purchases

9 purchases

Learn to Read

Subscriptions9
  • Learn to Read (Monthly)7 Days trial5 variants$12.491 Month
  • Learn to Read (Monthly)2 variants$12.491 Month
  • Monthly (With Free Trial)$12.491 Month
Show 6 more
  • Monthly Subscription$12.491 Month
  • Learn to Read (Monthly)7 Days trial$12.991 Month
  • Learn to Read (Monthly)7 Days trial$14.991 Month
  • Learn to Read (Monthly)7 Days trial$17.991 Month
  • Learn to Read (Yearly)7 Days trial$66.991 Year
  • Learn to Read (Yearly)7 Days trial2 variants$74.991 Year

Questions

Is Khan Academy Kids free?
Khan Academy Kids is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Learn to Read free?
Learn to Read is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Khan Academy Kids or Learn to Read?
Khan Academy Kids is rated higher. Khan Academy Kids averages 4.8 out of 5 from 129K ratings, while Learn to Read averages 4.7 from 71K ratings.
Do Khan Academy Kids or Learn to Read have ads?
Neither Khan Academy Kids nor Learn to Read shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Khan Academy Kids or Learn to Read?
Khan Academy Kids ships an update every 5 weeks, and Learn to Read every 5 days. Most recently, Khan Academy Kids was updated on September 24, 2026 and Learn to Read on September 24, 2026.
Which is more popular, Khan Academy Kids or Learn to Read?
Khan Academy Kids currently peaks at #89 in the App Store charts, and Learn to Read at #14. Chart position reflects recent download velocity rather than total install base.

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