ACE Math PACEs vs CTCMath
The sharpest difference is screen time: ACE Math PACEs is fully offline, CTCMath is fully digital. Five more separate them, which puts real distance between the two.
At a glance
ACE Math PACEs
Grades 1-12
CTCMath
Grades K-12
Owners report it suits
Struggling learnersMath-anxious parentsBoth are reported to suit Independent workers and Multi-age families.
Skip to who fitsWhere they differ
| Attribute | ACE Math PACEs | CTCMath |
|---|---|---|
Rigor
?How demanding the material is versus grade level. Where a program lands on the 1 to 5 scale:
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Parent involvement
?How much the parent is present and teaching. Where a program lands on the 1 to 5 scale:
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Prep load
?How much the parent prepares before a lesson. Where a program lands on the 1 to 5 scale:
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Screen time
?How much daily work is on a device. Where a program lands on the 1 to 5 scale:
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| Faith content | Integrated | None |
| Format | Workbook | Online |
| Best for Tags show where owners consistently report a good fit. They are not exclusions. | Independent workersMulti-age families | Struggling learnersIndependent workersMulti-age familiesMath-anxious parents |
| Method | TraditionalTraditional textbook | TraditionalVideo-led/self-pacedAdaptive online |
| Grades | 1-12 | K-12 |
Solid tags are unique to that program. Muted tags are carried by both.
Where they match
- Independenceboth mostly independent
- Time commitmentboth 25 to 40 min
- Approachboth Mastery
- Used asboth Spine
How each one plays by grade
ACE Math PACEs
Grades 1-12
ACE moves slowly with heavy drill in the primary grades, and the difficulty curve rises quickly after elementary, where self-teaching of math gets harder.
CTCMath
Grades K-12
The K to 2 levels run thin on paper practice, and owners add a handwriting or manipulative supplement there. Elementary is well attested by long-term users. The high school levels have almost no independent owner reports, and the publisher itself used to recommend CTCMath as a supplement rather than a spine past grade 6.
Cost
| Cost item | ACE Math PACEs | CTCMath |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $40-50/grade | $129-150/yr single, $149-199/yr family (discounted) |
| Consumable | Yes | No |
| Per child / year | ~$40-50 | ~$130-150 one child, ~$40-50 in a family plan |
What parents report
ACE Math PACEs
Consistently praised
- Bite-sized PACEs are easy to manage across kids
- Fosters independent work habits
- Open and go with no prep
- Some kids gain confidence
- Inexpensive per grade
Reported as challenges
- Math is widely called its weakest subject
- Concepts under-explained, errors reported in the keys
- Heavy rote and fill-in-the-blank, light on thinking
- Often runs about a grade behind
CTCMath
Consistently praised
- Short, no-fluff video lessons
- Very affordable for big families
- Access to every grade at once
- Printable worksheets and worked solutions
- Detailed parent reports
Reported as challenges
- Thin on word problems and mixed practice
- No built-in review, so parents build their own rotation
- Answers are mostly multiple choice
- No bound textbook
Who ACE Math PACEs fits
An inexpensive, independent, scripture-integrated workbook system for families who can supervise or supplement the math. Families wanting strong conceptual instruction, on-grade rigor, or a program a child can self-teach won't find it here.
Read the full ACE Math PACEs entry Check price Accelerated Christian EducationWho CTCMath fits
Best when somebody else needs to teach the math: large families juggling several grade levels, or a parent whose own math anxiety makes lessons tense. A mathy kid who needs problem-solving depth, or a young hands-on learner who still needs manipulatives, won't get enough here.
Read the full CTCMath entry Check price CTCMathSome links on this site are affiliate links. If you buy through them we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. It never changes how a curriculum is described or scored.
Still deciding?
ACE Math PACEs compared with
CTCMath compared with
See all 12 CTCMath comparisonsDescriptions aggregate what homeschool parents consistently report across public community sources together with each publisher's own materials. Prices and editions change over time. Both entries last reviewed July 2026.