Akros vs. Prodigy
Real math lessons with no device, not math inside a video game.
Prodigy is a fantasy video game: your child answers math questions to win battles on a tablet, phone or computer, and Common Sense Media says the math can seem like an afterthought. Akros is completely device-free. It teaches each new topic with a printed lesson, reads every step your child writes, and coaches the step where they went wrong.
- Device-free: no screen and no game
- Teaches new math, not just practice
- Every step your child writes gets read and coached
- Nothing for your child to buy
7-day money-back guarantee · Siblings half price · Cancel online anytime
How Akros and Prodigy compare
| Akros | Prodigy | Why it matters for your child | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Device | None: a printed lesson and a pencil | A tablet, phone or computer | Your child learns with no screen and nothing pulling them away. |
| What your child does | Works through a math lesson, start to finish | Plays a fantasy video game, answering questions to win battles | Every minute goes to math. |
| New topics | A printed Concept Lesson for every Math Topic | Hints and short videos inside practice | Children go from about 25% correct to 80% after one lesson. |
| After a wrong answer | The mistake is read, then coached with a hint aimed precisely at the wrong step | The correct answer, then more questions | Your child learns why, and 97% of missed questions get fixed. |
| What you pay for | Lessons, grading and coaching | A membership that unlocks in-game items like pets, gear and coins | Your money goes to learning, not to game items. |
| Selling to your child | Never: there’s nothing to buy in a lesson | Common Sense Media flags “pressure to become a paid user” | Your child focuses on math, not on asking for upgrades. |
| Ages | Kindergarten through Grade 8 | Grades 1 through 8 | Younger children can start today. |
Why Akros is the better choice for your child
No screens and no devices.
Prodigy runs only on a tablet, phone or computer. Akros is completely device-free: every lesson is printed, and your child writes out each step with a pencil. Children get more math problems right when they write out their steps: in a study of Dutch 6th graders who found math hard, answers with written-out steps were right 40% of the time, compared with 19% for answers worked out in their heads. In another study, accuracy rose when children were asked to write out problems they had been doing in their heads. Screens get in the way, too: when Massachusetts moved its state math test from paper to computers, students in grades 3–8 scored lower. Typing slows children down as well: when 108 second and third graders practiced addition facts, they wrote 19.8 correct digits a minute on paper but typed only 12.3 on an iPad keyboard.
Every minute goes to math.
In Prodigy, your child answers math questions to make spells and pets work in battles. Common Sense Media writes that “sometimes it can seem as though the math part of the game is an afterthought” and that “a lot of time can pass between skills questions.” An Akros lesson is all math: about 20 minutes of new learning, review and coaching, with a Trail Guide character to collect when it’s done.
Schools are turning away from screens.
Countries that went furthest with classroom screens are turning back, and American states are following. Sweden, which had required digital tools even in its preschools, has budgeted more than a billion kronor since 2023 to give every student a printed textbook in every subject. And in 2026, Iowa limited digital learning to one hour a day from Kindergarten through Grade 5.
Akros teaches; Prodigy practices.
Common Sense Media calls Prodigy “best suited for practice rather than instruction.” Every Akros topic opens with a printed Concept Lesson: the key rule, a clear explanation, worked examples, and a warning about the most common mistake. On topics that are new to them, children answer about 25% of questions correctly before the lesson and 80% after it: one lesson takes your child from mostly wrong to mostly right.
Akros reads the work, not just the answer.
A game sees only the answer your child taps or types, so it knows your child was wrong but not why. Akros reads every handwritten step and pinpoints where the thinking broke. That step-by-step feedback is what research rewards: when researchers compared computer tutors, those that gave feedback on each step produced more than twice the learning gains of those that checked only the final answer.
Your child fixes each mistake themselves.
Every missed question comes back the next day with new numbers, chosen so the same mistake can’t produce the right answer, and a hint aimed precisely at the step that went wrong. After this coaching, children answer that type of question correctly on a later lesson 97% of the time, with no hints. That’s proof the coaching works: nearly every mistake gets fixed, and your child does the fixing.
Akros never sells to your child.
Prodigy’s math questions are free, and its membership unlocks in-game items like pets, gear and coins. Common Sense Media rates its “products and purchases” at “a lot” and warns of “pressure to become a paid user.” With Akros, you pay for the teaching, grading and coaching, and there is nothing for your child to buy.
Skills stay learned.
Akros tracks every question your child answers and every skill they learn, so it knows exactly when each skill is due for review. Each topic comes back 2 days after it’s taught, then at widening intervals of a week, 2 weeks, a month, and 2 months. Memory research finds that this widening spacing is one of the best defenses against forgetting. Every review uses fresh questions, so your child recalls the method instead of recognizing an old problem. As a result, 85% of fixed mistakes are still answered correctly a week or more later, with no hints.
You see exactly what your child knows.
Your Akros parent dashboard shows the whole map: every skill your child has learned, where Akros is fixing gaps and teaching new concepts, and every graded question beside a photo of your child’s handwritten work. You always know where your child stands and where they need help.
What Akros does for real children
of questions answered correctly on brand-new topics after one Akros lesson, up from about 25% before it
of missed questions fixed: answered correctly on a later lesson, with no hints
of those fixes still answered correctly a week or more later
A tutor’s job for less than one tutoring session a month
Every first payment comes with a 7-day money-back guarantee, and you can cancel online anytime.
Choosing between Akros and Prodigy
Prodigy is free. Why pay for Akros?
Will my child miss the game?
Can my child start in Kindergarten?
Can Akros read messy handwriting?
Sources, checked November 2026. Writing out work: Fagginger Auer et al. (2018) and Hickendorff et al. (2010). Paper vs. computer math tests: Backes and Cowan (2019). Typing vs. writing math facts: Reynolds et al. (2024). Schools and screens: Government of Sweden, The Local (2019) and Iowa Capital Dispatch (May 2026). Feedback on each step: VanLehn (2011). Prodigy gameplay, grades and membership: Prodigy’s parent guide and Prodigy membership. Reviews: Common Sense Media and Common Sense Education. Akros results: real Akros students, as reported on our homepage. Akros is not affiliated with Prodigy.
You’re the coach.
Akros is the math teacher.
Start today, because every lesson builds on the one before: your child’s first lesson shows exactly where they stand, and tomorrow’s is built from it. Siblings are half price, and every first payment comes with a 7-day money-back guarantee.