Brilliant vs Liminal
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Brilliant
Master math and computer science through interactive, visual lessons. This app focuses on active problem-solving and personalized practice to build critical thinking and STEM skills. Ideal for students and lifelong learners seeking to deepen their understanding and confidence.
- Interactive problem-solving lessons
- Personalized practice sets
- Visual explanations of concepts
- Expert-crafted STEM courses
- Real-time feedback
- Builds critical thinking skills
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Brilliant is a superintelligent tutor for math and coding. Our team of experts from MIT and Harvard has built a world-class personalized learning system. For students from grade 5 to college and beyond – you work through problems with a tutor that sees where you’re stuck, can sketch right on your screen, asks the right questions, and guides you to real a-ha moments. Forget memorizing formulas. Brilliant is designed to build real understanding and help you excel. It’s there when you need it, adapts to how you think, and makes learning feel like a fun challenge instead of a chore. Master everything from foundational math and algebra to college-level calculus, Python, computer science, AI, neural networks, algorithms, data analysis, physics, and more. Join over 10 million people using Brilliant to reach their learning goals. WHY BRILLIANT WORKS - One-on-one learning for all Private tutoring is the most effective way to learn, but it’s expensive, hard to schedule, and out of reach for most families. Brilliant’s tutor works with you one-on-one, every single day, for a fraction of the cost. No scheduling. No waiting. Just learning. - Like someone sitting next to you Brilliant’s tutor can see what’s on your screen and react in real time, from highlighting parts of a problem to creating visualizations that bring hard concepts to life. - Expert-crafted curriculum Every course is crafted by our team of human experts from top institutions around the world. And with new and updated courses added every month, there’s always something new to explore. - Learning that adapts to you Brilliant’s tutor personalizes your experience in real time, adjusting to your skill level, filling gaps before they become problems, and helping you build confidence as you go. - Build true problem-solving skills Brilliant doesn’t give you answers. It guides you through problems and to your own a-ha moments. So while you’re learning, you’re also building critical thinking and analytical skills – and having fun. WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING “Koji doesn’t judge. It feels like talking to the most patient teacher.” — Alan “Going through a lesson with Koji is more active, interactive, and guided than traditional learning.” — Lory “She read the problem out loud and figured it out on her own — ‘Oh! I know! Never mind, Mom, I got it!’ I'm seeing those breakthroughs more often.” — Arianne Send feedback to ios@brilliant.org. LIKE US: https://facebook.com/brilliantorg FOLLOW US: https://x.com/brilliantorg Privacy Policy: https://brilliant.org/privacy_policy/ Terms of Use: https://brilliant.org/terms-of-use/
Liminal
Explore Western philosophy with a comprehensive, self-paced curriculum. Access lessons, philosopher profiles, key terms, and quizzes offline. Learn at your own pace with audio narration and interactive features.
- Comprehensive 4-year philosophy curriculum
- 104 lessons and 48 philosopher profiles
- Searchable glossary of 82 key terms
- Interactive quizzes with explanations
- Spaced-repetition flashcards
- On-device audio narration
- Offline access, no network required
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Explore Western philosophy through 104 lessons arranged into 23 courses and four year-groupings. Start with philosophical questions and ancient thinkers, then move through medieval, early modern, modern and contemporary thought. Study at your own pace. START WITH 10 FREE LESSONS The first 10 lessons are free. One optional, non-subscription in-app purchase unlocks the remaining 94. The reference and practice features below are available without that purchase. FOLLOW A STRUCTURED PATH Year 1: Foundations and ancient philosophy. Year 2: Medieval and early modern philosophy, including a course on Islamic and Jewish thinkers. Year 3: Modern philosophy, from Kant to pragmatism. Year 4: Contemporary philosophy, including language, mind, ethics, political philosophy and science. READ, QUESTION AND REVIEW - 48 philosopher profiles and an 82-term glossary. - 23 practice quizzes with 319 questions and answer explanations. - 16 thought experiments and 10 branches to explore. - Spaced review of glossary terms. - Search across lessons, courses, profiles and glossary entries. - Bookmarks, personal notes and study-progress views. - Lesson read-aloud using your device's system voice. - Home Screen widgets for a daily philosophical idea, term and thinker. STUDY INTERPRETATIONS WITH REFERENCES Dedicated source cards, daily ideas and profile passages present Liminal's original paraphrases with citations. They are interpretations for study, not verbatim translations of the cited works. READ WITHOUT A CONNECTION Lesson and reference text is bundled for offline reading, subject to the lesson unlock. Buying, restoring, checking changed purchase access and opening external links may require a connection. Narration uses the voices available on your device.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is ads: Liminal at none against Brilliant's shown. Liminal also leads on monetization model (free vs free with in-app purchases) and review sentiment (100% vs 79%). Brilliant's advantage is ratings volume (33K vs 5) and chart position (#65 vs unranked). On price, rating, update cadence and in-app purchases 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
Both are free to download. Brilliant sells 10 in-app purchases, starting at $19.99 per month and Liminal sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.7 for Brilliant against 4.8 for Liminal. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Brilliant has 33K ratings behind it against 5, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 79% of Brilliant's written reviews are positive against 100% of Liminal's.
Brilliant ships an update weekly, Liminal every 11 days. The most recent releases landed on November 4, 2026 and October 31, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Brilliant | Liminal |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.7 (33K ratings) | 4.8 (5 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 78.9% of reviews | 100.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 33K — better | 5 |
| Update frequency | Weekly — better | Every 11 days |
| Ads | Yes | No — better |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free — better |
| Best chart rank | #65 — better | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 17.0 | 17.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 104 MB | 5 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 9+ |
| Developer | Brilliant.org | OMAR DANIEL GRAZIANO |
Customer experience
Brilliant
Liminal
Bugs and requests
Brilliant
Reported bugs
4 issues- Progress not saving correctly
- Explanations not loading properly
- Home page not loading
- Difficulty cancelling subscription
Requested features
6 requests- Dark mode option
- Offline mode
- Spaced repetition practice
- Ability to bookmark/save difficult problems
- More detailed explanations
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- More courses in other scientific fields
Liminal
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Brilliant
- Brilliant Premium - Personal stats & exclusive problems$19.991 Month
- Brilliant Premium: Fun, challenging problems in math and science by experts$24.991 Month
- Brilliant Premium$24.991 Month
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- Brilliant Premium with Tutor$30.001 Month
- Brilliant Premium: Fun, challenging problems in math and science by experts$119.991 Year
- Brilliant Premium$127.991 Year
- Brilliant Premium7 Days trial$127.991 Year
- Brilliant Premium: Fun, challenging problems in math and science by experts$149.991 Year
- Brilliant Premium7 Days trial$149.991 Year
- Brilliant Premium with Tutor7 Days trial$191.991 Year
Liminal
- Liminal Full Access$9.99









