Beast Academy vs Math Mammoth
The sharpest difference is format: Beast Academy is Textbook, Math Mammoth is Workbook. Five more separate them, which puts real distance between the two.
At a glance
Beast Academy
Grades 1-5
Owners report it suits
Advanced/giftedMath Mammoth
Grades 1-8
Owners report it suits
Independent workersMulti-age familiesMath-anxious parentsWhere they differ
| Attribute | Beast Academy | Math Mammoth |
|---|---|---|
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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Time commitment
?How long a daily lesson takes the child. Where a program lands on the 1 to 5 scale:
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| Format | Textbook | Workbook |
| Best for Tags show where owners consistently report a good fit. They are not exclusions. | Advanced/gifted | Independent workersMulti-age familiesMath-anxious parents |
| Method | Problem-solving/Socratic | TraditionalConcrete-Pictorial-Abstract |
| Grades | 1-5 | 1-8 |
Solid tags are unique to that program. Muted tags are carried by both.
Where they match
- Independenceboth semi-independent
- Faith contentboth None
- Approachboth Mastery
- Used asboth Spine
How each one plays by grade
Math Mammoth runs 3 grades further than Beast Academy. If you want one program to carry the subject for the long haul, plan on leaving Beast Academy around grade 5 and choosing again.
Beast Academy
Grades 1-5
Level 1 combines the guide and practice into one book. Owners and the publisher both flag the shapes chapter in 3A as a wall worth skipping and returning to. After Level 5 students move to AoPS Prealgebra, usually around ages 11 to 13.
Math Mammoth
Grades 1-8
Independence is gated by reading, not by math. Grades 1 and 2 are parent-led in practice despite the text being written to the student, and owners are blunt that the self-teaching framing oversells it for weak readers. Grade 4 is a difficulty spike. Grade 7 is a standalone pre-algebra course and grade 8 covers only part of Algebra 1, so families bridge to a different publisher for high school.
Cost
| Cost item | Beast Academy | Math Mammoth |
|---|---|---|
| Price | ~$99/yr online, ~$135/level print | $42.50/grade digital, $225 for grades 1-8 |
| Consumable | Partial | Partial |
| Per child / year | ~$99 online, ~$135 print | ~$42, or ~$28 buying the full bundle |
What parents report
Beast Academy
Consistently praised
- Problems that force real thinking
- Comics kids reread for fun
- Builds visible perseverance
- Guide books reuse across siblings
- Clean handoff into AoPS Prealgebra
Reported as challenges
- Overwhelms kids working at grade level
- Reading load sits above the math level
- Standard algorithms never get taught
- Less independent than parents expect
Math Mammoth
Consistently praised
- About forty dollars a grade
- Kids read the lesson and go
- Visual models explain the why
- Reprint pages for every sibling
- No teacher manual to manage
Reported as challenges
- Pages look busy and text heavy
- Too many problems per page, so parents curate
- Light on built-in review compared to spiral programs
- Stops at grade 8 with no high school path
Who Beast Academy fits
Made for mathematically strong kids who read well and enjoy being stuck on a puzzle for fifteen minutes, often the ones headed toward competition math later. Kids working at grade level, kids with math anxiety, and kids who need the steps demonstrated first tend to bounce off it hard.
Read the full Beast Academy entry Check price Art of Problem SolvingWho Math Mammoth fits
Fits budget-minded families with several kids, parents who want math off their plate without a screen, and fluent readers who can absorb a written explanation and get to work. Families who want video instruction, scripted teaching, or a program that carries them through high school won't find it here, and neither will anyone whose child isn't reading well yet.
Read the full Math Mammoth entry Check price Math MammothSome 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?
Beast Academy compared with
Descriptions 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.