CTCMath vs Khan Academy
The sharpest difference is approach: CTCMath is Mastery, Khan Academy is Spiral. Two others separate them as well.
At a glance
CTCMath
Grades K-12
Owners report it suits
Struggling learnersMulti-age familiesMath-anxious parentsKhan Academy
Grades K-12
Owners report it suits
Advanced/giftedBoth are reported to suit Independent workers.
Skip to who fitsWhere they differ
| Attribute | CTCMath | Khan Academy |
|---|---|---|
Parent involvement
?How much the parent is present and teaching. Where a program lands on the 1 to 5 scale:
|
|
|
| Approach | Mastery | Spiral |
| Used as | Spine | Spine or supplement |
| Best for Tags show where owners consistently report a good fit. They are not exclusions. | Struggling learnersIndependent workersMulti-age familiesMath-anxious parents | Advanced/giftedIndependent workers |
| Grades | K-12 | K-12 |
Solid tags are unique to that program. Muted tags are carried by both.
Where they match
- Rigorboth on grade
- Prep loadboth minimal
- Screen timeboth fully digital
- Independenceboth mostly independent
- Time commitmentboth 25 to 40 min
- Faith contentboth None
- Formatboth Online
- Methodboth Traditional, Video-led/self-paced, Adaptive online
How each one plays by grade
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.
Khan Academy
Grades K-12
Khan Academy Kids (ages 2-8) is the free early-grades app. The K-8 grade courses work well from about 3rd up, and the 8th-grade course reaches into Algebra 1 and high school geometry.
Cost
| Cost item | CTCMath | Khan Academy |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $129-150/yr single, $149-199/yr family (discounted) | Free |
| Consumable | No | No |
| Per child / year | ~$130-150 one child, ~$40-50 in a family plan | $0 |
What parents report
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
Khan Academy
Consistently praised
- It is completely free
- Videos are short and clear
- Great for catching up or filling gaps
- Bright kids can race ahead
- Sequence runs all the way to calculus
Reported as challenges
- Light on practice and review
- No built-in schedule or pacing
- Early grades move too fast for K-1
- Some kids do not retain without more repetition
Who 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 CTCMathWho Khan Academy fits
Self-motivated kids who learn from video, and families who want a free option either as a full spine or as backup explanations alongside another program. Families who need heavy practice, built-in review, or a done-for-you daily plan should look at a spine like Teaching Textbooks or Math Mammoth and lean on Khan for the videos.
Read the full Khan Academy entry Check price Khan AcademySome 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?
CTCMath compared with
See all 12 CTCMath comparisonsKhan 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.