Comparison

BrainPOP vs Acellus

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

Head to head
About

BrainPOP

This app offers award-winning animated educational videos, interactive activities, and quizzes designed by educators. It aims to transform passive screen time into active, enriched learning experiences for children in grades 3-8 across all subjects.

Highlights
  • Animated educational movies
  • Interactive activities
  • Quizzes
  • Content for grades 3-8
  • All subjects covered
  • Research-backed learning platform
Read full description

Access BrainPOP’s award-winning animated movies, activities and quizzes made by educators and replace your kids’ passive screen time with active, enriched learning. Start your free trial today to access content for grades 3-8 across all subjects. BrainPOP is a research-backed learning platform created by educators that know how kids learn best, and perfect for age-appropriate, independent learning. Start watching, learning, playing and growing with us! Terms of Use: https://www.brainpop.com/about/terms_of_use/ Privacy Policy: https://www.brainpop.com/about/privacy_policy/ User Agreement: https://www.brainpop.com/about/user_agreement/

About

Acellus

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
Read full description

Every student learns differently. Acellus meets them where they are — with personalized, video-based K-12 instruction used by over one million students across every U.S. state. Short video lessons introduce each concept, followed by practice problems that adapt to how your student is progressing. The result: a dynamic learning experience built around the individual, not the classroom average. Learn at Their Own Pace Students work independently through concepts, with personalized instruction that helps them truly master each one before moving on. Stay in the Loop Monitor your student's progress in real time from any device. Scores, hours worked, and course progress are automatically compiled into printable reports. Always Improving Student responses are continuously analyzed and used to refine course content — so courses get more effective over time, updated daily. A Complete K-12 Curriculum Acellus covers all core subjects K-12, plus Advanced Placement (AP), Exceptional Education, Career & Technical Education, and Exam Preparation — over 470 courses in total. Learning That Goes Anywhere At school, at home, or on the go — Acellus picks up exactly where your student left off, on any device with an internet connection. Give your student the personalized education they deserve. Download Acellus today.

Screenshots

BrainPOP4 screens
Acellus4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: BrainPOP at 93% against Acellus's 36%. BrainPOP also leads on rating (4.7 vs 4.5). Acellus's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 5). On price, ratings volume, update cadence and ads 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. BrainPOP sells 5 in-app purchases, starting at $3.99 per month. Acellus asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

BrainPOP holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 4.5. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 34K and 32K respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 93% of BrainPOP's written reviews are positive against 36% of Acellus's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

BrainPOP ships an update every 2 months, Acellus every 3 months. Both last shipped on October 14, 2026.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
BrainPOP versus Acellus: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterBrainPOPAcellus
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.7 (34K ratings) — better4.5 (32K ratings)
Positive reviews92.7% of reviews — better35.9% of reviews
Number of ratings34K — better32K
Update frequencyEvery 2 months — betterEvery 3 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS15.0 — better16.4
Further details — not scored
Size25 MB7 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperBrainPOP®GoldKey Security Corporation

Customer experience

BrainPOP

All ratings34,241 ratings
Positive93.5%
Neutral2.9%
Negative3.6%
Written reviews1,055 reviews
Positive92.7%
Neutral2.4%
Negative4.9%

Acellus

All ratings31,649 ratings
Positive87.6%
Neutral3.2%
Negative9.2%
Written reviews516 reviews
Positive35.9%
Neutral15.3%
Negative48.8%

User reviews

BrainPOP

From 34K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Fun and educational
  • 🚀 Helpful for learning
  • 👍 Great for kids
  • 👍 Funny and entertaining
  • 👍 Informative videos

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Occasional crashes
  • 💰 Expensive subscription
  • 💰 Limited free content
  • 🙄 Biased or one-sided content
  • 🙄 Lacks detail in some topics

Acellus

From 32K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 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

Room to improve

  • 🐛 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

Bugs and requests

BrainPOP

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Login issues
  • Playback problems
  • Syncing issues across devices

Requested features

5 requests
  • More topics and content
  • Lower subscription cost
  • Better organization of content
  • More character diversity
  • Support for older devices

Acellus

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • 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

5 requests
  • 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

In-app purchases

5 purchases

BrainPOP

Subscriptions5
  • BrainPOP Explorer Subscription$3.991 Month
  • BrainPOP Full Access14 Days trial$15.991 Month
  • BrainPOP Combo Monthly14 Days trial$19.991 Month
Show 2 more
  • BrainPOP Full Access Yearly14 Days trial$129.991 Year
  • BrainPOP Combo Yearly14 Days trial$159.991 Year
None

Acellus

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is BrainPOP free?
BrainPOP is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Acellus free?
Acellus is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, BrainPOP or Acellus?
BrainPOP is rated higher. BrainPOP averages 4.7 out of 5 from 34K ratings, while Acellus averages 4.5 from 32K ratings.
Do BrainPOP or Acellus have ads?
Neither BrainPOP nor Acellus shows ads.
Which is updated more often, BrainPOP or Acellus?
BrainPOP ships an update every 2 months, and Acellus every 3 months. Most recently, BrainPOP was updated on October 14, 2026 and Acellus on October 14, 2026.

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