The short version
| App | Best for | Price | Devices |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mathspace | Free step-by-step practice | Free learner account | iPad app and web |
| Atomi | Video lessons for every high school topic | $59.99 a month or $470 a year | Web app |
| Edrolo | A full Victorian Curriculum course | $150 per year level, or $400 for Years 7 to 10 | Browser |
| StudyPug | Short video lessons with practice | Varies by plan | iPhone, Android, web |
| Mathletics | Younger secondary students who like games | Not published | iPhone, Android, web |
| IXL | Lots of skills practice by year level | From $15.95 | iPhone, web |
| Maths Pathway Homeschool | Homeschooling families | $29 a month or $299 a year | Web |
| Tuterly | Fixing the questions your child gets wrong | $8.99 a week or $29.99 a month | iPhone, Android coming soon |
| Photomath | Checking working on one problem | Free, Plus from $14.99 | iPhone, Android |
| Khan Academy | Free videos and practice (US curriculum) | Free | iPhone, Android, web |
We checked each app on its own website or app store listing. Prices change, so confirm at checkout. Tuterly is our app: we’ve said plainly what it does and doesn’t do, and tried to be as fair to the others as we’d want them to be to us.
What actually makes a maths app help
It matches their class
Year-level topics from the Australian Curriculum, so practice lines up with this term’s tests. A US-curriculum app often won’t.
It makes them do the work
An answer on its own doesn’t stick. The method needs explaining, and then your child needs to do fresh questions without help.
It works on what they get wrong
Most marks are lost on a handful of skills. Practice that keeps coming back to those beats working through a whole course.
How Tuterly is different
Tuterly is our app, made by the educators at Bayside Academics, a Melbourne tutoring business, for Years 7 to 10 maths. Several apps here follow the Australian Curriculum. What’s different is where Tuterly starts: with the questions your child got wrong.
- Snap the question they got wrongFrom homework or a marked school test, or upload the whole test and the questions marked wrong are picked out.
- A detailed worked solutionEvery step written out and explained, hidden at first so they can try again before looking.
- More questions on what they don’t understandFresh questions on the same skill, genuinely different, not just new numbers, each one checked a second time before your child sees it.
- Until it’s masteredQuestions keep coming back until they get them right on their own. “Fix my mistakes” drills the ones still to fix.
Built around the Australian Curriculum
Every topic for Years 7 to 10, including 10A, following the Victorian Curriculum 2.0 and Australian Curriculum v9.
Topic tests and study notes
A test on any topic in their year before a school assessment, and study notes on a whole topic or just the parts they find hard.
Free practice exams too
On this website: a practice exam builder and a free test on every topic, with answers.
Good to know: Tuterly covers Years 7 to 10 maths only, not primary, VCE or other subjects. It’s coming soon on iPhone, with Android soon after. $8.99 a week or $29.99 a month, with a 7-day free trial on the monthly plan.
Each app, reviewed
Mathspace
An adaptive practice platform with step-by-step feedback: students write each line of working and get help at the step where they go wrong. Families can sign up for a free learner account. Mathspace says its content is mapped to the Australian Curriculum and to state curricula for Years 3 to 12, and it publishes Year 7 to 10 textbooks for the Victorian Curriculum 2.0.
Good to know: It runs in a web browser and has an iPad app. We couldn't find an Android app.
Atomi
Built around short videos, interactive lessons and quizzes, mostly for high school, with separate Years 7 to 10 maths courses for each state, including Victoria. There's a free trial with no time limit, with some lessons locked.
Good to know: At $59.99 a month or $470 a year per student, it's the most expensive self-study option here, and yearly plans can only be cancelled at the end of the year. The "app" is a web app you install from your browser.
Edrolo
Best known for VCE, Edrolo also sells Years 7 to 10 maths courses: video lessons, worked examples and practice questions, with versions for the Victorian Curriculum, Australian Curriculum 9.0 and NSW. It costs $150 per year level, or $400 for the Years 7 to 10 bundle, for 12 months' access.
Good to know: It runs in a browser, with a laptop and Chrome recommended. We didn't find a phone app.
StudyPug
Short video lessons, practice problems and a photo search, from Foundation to university, and it says it's aligned to the Australian Curriculum. A family plan covers up to five children.
Good to know: The prices on its website and in the App Store didn't match when we checked, so look at the price at checkout.
Mathletics
A gamified practice platform for ages 5 to 16, with home subscriptions billed monthly or yearly. It says it's aligned with the Australian and state curricula.
Good to know: Home prices aren't on a public page, and the 14-day trial needs a credit card. It suits younger secondary students more than Years 9 and 10.
IXL
A very large bank of skills practice questions from preschool to Year 12, with its alignment to the Australian Curriculum version 9.0 listed by year level. Family memberships start from $15.95.
Good to know: It's mainly practice questions rather than teaching.
Maths Pathway Homeschool
Starts with a diagnostic test and builds a personalised path through video and worksheet modules for Years 1 to 10. It costs $29 a month or $299 a year per child, with a two-week free trial.
Good to know: It's marketed to homeschooling families. Schools buy Maths Pathway separately.
Photomath
Now owned by Google, Photomath solves a problem your child photographs and shows the steps, from primary maths to calculus. The step-by-step explanations are in the free version.
Good to know: It explains one problem at a time and doesn't follow a year-level course or curriculum. It's easy to use it to get answers rather than learn the method, so it works best for checking working after an honest attempt.
Khan Academy
Free, from a non-profit, with videos and practice questions across all of school maths.
Good to know: Its courses follow the US curriculum. We didn't find alignment to the Australian or Victorian Curriculum, so topics and order won't always match your child's class.
Two that didn’t make the list
Education Perfect is widely used in Victorian schools, but families can no longer buy it: its home subscription ended in April 2024. If your child’s school uses it, ask the school for a login. MathDingo is a low-cost Australian practice app ($49.99 a year), but it goes up to Year 9 only.
Want a person rather than an app? See our Cluey Learning review and our guide to tutoring costs.
How to choose
- If your child needs the topic taught again, a video course like Atomi or Edrolo fills that gap.
- If they understand it in class but lose marks in tests, more lessons usually won’t fix it. Practice on the questions they got wrong will. That’s what Tuterly is built for, and Mathspace’s free step-by-step practice helps too.
- If budget is tight, Mathspace and Khan Academy are free, and our worksheets and topic tests are free for every Year 7 to 10 topic.
- If they’re stuck and losing confidence, a tutor, online or in person, may be worth more than any app.
Whatever you choose, check it covers your child’s year level and state, and use the free trial for a real week of homework before you pay.
Tuterly isn’t affiliated with Mathspace, Atomi, Edrolo, StudyPug, Mathletics, IXL, Maths Pathway, Photomath, Google, Khan Academy, Education Perfect, MathDingo or Cluey Learning. All names are trademarks of their owners.