PlusyPlusy vs Times Tables Rock Stars: which one fits your child?
Pick Times Tables Rock Stars if your child's school uses it, you want the lowest yearly price and leaderboards get your child playing. Pick Plusy if you also need addition, subtraction, long multiplication and long division, or help after a wrong answer, with no timer unless your child chooses the speed run.
A note on fairness: Plusy is our app. Times Tables Rock Stars is a long-running British times tables platform that does several things Plusy does not, and this page says so. What we say about it was read on its own site on 5 October 2026. We did not test it with children.
What is the difference between Plusy and Times Tables Rock Stars?
Times Tables Rock Stars is built for times tables: quick multiplication and division questions, a rock band theme, leaderboards and live multiplayer games. Plusy is arithmetic practice for ages 6 to 12 across addition, subtraction, times tables and division, up to written column methods, with an explanation after a wrong answer and lists made from your child's own homework.
So the two overlap on one thing, the times tables and their division facts, and differ on almost everything around it. Times Tables Rock Stars goes deep on speed and on playing with others. Plusy goes wider across the four operations and slower on each mistake.
How do Plusy and Times Tables Rock Stars compare at a glance?
At a glance, Times Tables Rock Stars costs less per year and covers up to three children, with timed games and leaderboards for multiplication and division facts. Plusy costs more as a single payment for one child, covers all four operations up to long division, and teaches after a miss. The table sets them side by side.
| Plusy | Times Tables Rock Stars | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | Arithmetic and fractions practice on five roads, plus lists from your child's own homework | A times tables platform with a rock band theme, as described on its site |
| Ages | 6 to 12 | 6 and upwards, as listed on its site |
| What it covers | Addition, subtraction, times tables to 12 and division, up to four-digit sums, long multiplication and long division, and fractions up to mixed numbers. No decimals | Multiplication and division facts, as listed on its site |
| How practice feels | Short rounds of multiple choice, typing and fill the gap. No countdown, except in the optional 60-second speed run | Timed question games, single player and live multiplayer, with a leaderboard. The timer can be hidden and one mode has no timer, as listed on its site |
| Your child's own homework | Type the questions, scan a worksheet or describe a list, and Plusy turns it into practice | Not listed on its site |
| After a wrong answer | The answer, a line on what went wrong when Plusy recognises the slip, a trick, and the question comes back later in the round | Not listed on its families page |
| Price for a family | Free to start. $29 once (US dollars, web price) to remove the heart limit, for one account, which holds one child | £7.20 a year including VAT (UK pounds, web price) for up to 3 child accounts and 2 adult accounts, as listed on its site on 5 October 2026 |
| Ads | None | None, and no in-game purchases or chat, as listed on its site |
| Where it runs | Any modern browser on a phone, tablet or computer. An iPhone and iPad app is on the way. No Android app | Website, plus apps on the App Store, Google Play and the Amazon Appstore, as listed on its site |
What does Times Tables Rock Stars do better than Plusy?
Times Tables Rock Stars does four things better than Plusy: it costs less each year, one plan covers up to three children, it has leaderboards and live multiplayer games, and it is already in a great many schools. If any of those is the thing your family needs, it is the stronger choice.
- The price. Its family plan is £7.20 a year including VAT, as listed on its families page on 5 October 2026. That is one of the lowest prices we found for a paid math app. It lists a full refund within the first 30 days if you are not happy.
- More than one child. That one plan includes up to three child accounts and two adult accounts. A Plusy account holds one child, and the Plusy unlock belongs to one account.
- Playing with others. Children move up a leaderboard from a starting rank to the top one, earn coins for a rock avatar and can play live multiplayer games. Plusy has no leaderboards, no multiplayer and nothing to collect.
- It is in schools. Its site says it is used in over 15,000 primary and secondary schools worldwide. If your child's class plays it, the names on the leaderboard are friends, and that is a real reason to practice.
- Stats for grown-ups. Its families page lists progress stats and data to find gaps. In Plusy the grown-ups area shows a single line naming the kind of mistake your child is practising, and there are no reports.
- Android and Amazon tablets. It lists apps for both. Plusy has no Android app today, though it runs in the browser on those devices.
If your child's school already uses Times Tables Rock Stars, ask the teacher whether your child has a school login before you pay for a family plan.
What does Plusy do better than Times Tables Rock Stars?
Plusy does better when the work is wider than the tables or when your child needs to know why an answer was wrong. Plusy covers addition, subtraction and written column methods as well as the tables, explains a miss, brings the question back, and builds practice from this week's homework sheet.
- All four operations, and fractions. Plusy has five roads: addition, subtraction, times tables, division and fractions. The first four run from adding to 5 up to four-digit sums, two-digit times two-digit multiplication and division by two digits. See roads and worlds.
- Written methods. Bigger questions are set out in columns the way they are written on paper, with carry and borrow boxes and one answer box per digit. See column questions.
- Help after a wrong answer. Outside a test, Plusy shows the answer, says what went wrong when it recognises the slip (for example that the child added instead of multiplying) and gives a trick for that fact. On a column question it names the slip in the child's own working in one sentence. More in wrong answers.
- A hint that does not hand over the answer. On column questions, Hint asks about one step. Show me fills that step in, then gives the question back. See hints and steps.
- No clock by default. Rounds and tests in Plusy have no countdown. The one timed game is the speed run, 60 seconds, which your child picks from the Games tab.
- Your child's own homework. You can type the questions, scan a worksheet or describe a list, and Plusy works out every answer itself. A free account includes one worksheet scan and one AI list a day.
- One payment. Unlock Plusy is $29 once, with no subscription and nothing to renew.
Which is cheaper, Plusy or Times Tables Rock Stars?
Times Tables Rock Stars is cheaper in almost every case. Its family plan is £7.20 a year for up to three children, as listed on its site on 5 October 2026. Plusy is free to start, and the unlock is a single payment of $29 for one account. Four years of the family plan come to £28.80.
The two prices are in different currencies, pounds on one site and US dollars on the other, so the exact gap depends on the exchange rate on the day. The shape is clear all the same: a family with two or three children pays far less with Times Tables Rock Stars, year after year.
Plusy's free account is not a trial. Every road, world and game is open without paying. Free play runs on hearts: a round uses one heart, wrong answers cost nothing extra, and hearts come back on their own over time and with a new day. The unlock removes the heart limit and gives up to 50 worksheet scans and 50 AI lists a month. It opens no extra content. See what are hearts and unlock Plusy.
Is the timer in Times Tables Rock Stars a problem?
It depends on the child. Times Tables Rock Stars is built around answering quickly, and many children enjoy that. Its families page says a child can tap the timer to hide it, and that one game mode has no timer. If speed makes your child freeze, try those two options before you give up on it.
Plusy takes the opposite default. Nothing counts down in a round or a test, a wrong answer is shown in orange with no buzzer, and the missed question comes back once later in the same round. The speed run is there for children who want a race against the clock, and it only asks facts from worlds your child has already passed.
Who should pick which?
Pick by the job. Times Tables Rock Stars is for getting the tables fast, cheaply, alongside classmates. Plusy is for a child who needs the tables and the other three operations, wants to understand a mistake, or has a homework sheet to get through this week. The lists below put it plainly.
Pick Times Tables Rock Stars if
- your child's school uses it and the class plays together
- you want the lowest yearly cost, or you have two or three children
- leaderboards and live games make your child want to practice
- the tables and their division facts are all you need right now
- you need an Android or Amazon app today
Pick Plusy if
- your child also needs addition, subtraction, long multiplication or long division
- your child gets a fact wrong and does not know why
- a timer upsets your child, or a ranking against classmates does
- you want practice made from the worksheet that came home
- you would rather pay once than renew each year
Plusy's limits, plainly: whole-number arithmetic, and fractions up to mixed numbers (no multiplying or dividing fractions). No decimals, money, time or geometry. Ages 6 to 12. One child per account. The app is in 14 languages. It runs in the browser today, an iPhone and iPad app is on the way, and there is no Android app. There is no teacher dashboard, no class and no progress report.
Can you use both Plusy and Times Tables Rock Stars?
Yes, and for many families that is the sensible answer. Times Tables Rock Stars can stay the quick daily game for recall of the tables, especially if school sets it. Plusy can be where your child works through column methods and the homework sheet, and where a mistake gets explained.
A simple split works: a few minutes of tables on the school's platform, then one Plusy round on whatever is hard this week. Plusy is free to start, so you can try that without paying for a second thing. Start free.
How we checked
We read the Times Tables Rock Stars home page and its families page on 5 October 2026 and took its price, ages, platforms and features from there. We did not find its behavior after a wrong answer described on those pages, so we say it is not listed. Facts about Plusy come from the app itself.
Plusy is not affiliated with Times Tables Rock Stars or any other app named here, and the names belong to their owners. Prices and features were checked on 5 October 2026 and change, so check each site before you buy.
Questions
Is Times Tables Rock Stars free?
Not for families, as listed on its site on 5 October 2026. The family plan is £7.20 a year including VAT for up to three child accounts and two adult accounts. A free trial is not listed on its families page, but it lists a full refund within the first 30 days.
Is Plusy free?
Plusy is free to start, and every road, world and game is open on a free account. Free play runs on hearts, which come back on their own over time and with a new day. Unlock Plusy is $29 once, with no subscription, and removes the heart limit.
Does Plusy have leaderboards like Times Tables Rock Stars?
No. Plusy has no leaderboards, rankings, multiplayer games or classes. A child plays alone, with coins, a streak and a daily goal. If competing with classmates is what gets your child practising, Times Tables Rock Stars is the better fit.
Does Times Tables Rock Stars teach long multiplication or long division?
Its site describes it as practice for multiplication and division facts, and written methods are not listed there as of 5 October 2026. Plusy sets out long multiplication and long division in columns, with a hint for the next step.
Is there a times tables app without a timer?
Plusy's rounds and tests have no countdown, and its one timed game, the 60-second speed run, is optional. Times Tables Rock Stars lists a way to hide the timer and a mode with no timer on its families page, so both can be played without a clock.
What age is Times Tables Rock Stars for?
Its site says it suits learners aged 6 and upwards. Plusy is made for ages 6 to 12 and asks the child's age at the start so each road opens at a sensible place.
Can two children share one account?
On Times Tables Rock Stars the family plan includes up to three child accounts, as listed on its site. In Plusy one account holds one child's progress, so a second child needs a second account, and the unlock belongs to the account it was bought for.
Does Plusy work in the UK?
Yes. Plusy runs in any modern browser at plusy.app and its price is in US dollars. A list can be described by year group, such as Year 6. The app is in 14 languages, English among them.