Plusy vs XtraMath: which is right for your child?

Pick XtraMath if you want a free, short daily routine for math facts, or if the teacher assigns it. Pick Plusy if the timer upsets your child, or if you want wrong answers explained and written column methods practiced as well as facts.

10 minute read · Updated October 9, 2026

Plusy is our app, so read this with that in mind. XtraMath is free and widely used in schools, and this page says where it is the better choice. Everything about XtraMath below is as listed on its own site and help pages on 5 October 2026.

At a glance

What is the difference between Plusy and XtraMath?

XtraMath does one job: it builds fast recall of basic math facts through short, timed daily sessions, and it is free. Plusy practices the same facts without a clock in its rounds, explains mistakes, and carries on into written methods such as carrying, borrowing, long multiplication and long division.

XtraMath's help pages describe sessions of about 10 minutes, meant to be done once a day. A new student starts with a placement quiz spread over the first few sessions, and each day begins with a short progress quiz. The program uses spaced repetition and moves a child on when facts are mastered.

XtraMath is clear about its scope. Its help centre says it builds fluency and does not teach the strategies or concepts behind an operation. It assumes the teaching happens in class, and it supplies the repetition.

Plusy has five roads: addition, subtraction, times tables, division and fractions. Each road is a row of worlds, and each world ends in a test. Fractions go up to mixed numbers, with no multiplying or dividing fractions, and there are no decimals or geometry. How roads and worlds work.

Is XtraMath free?

Yes. XtraMath's Standard plan is $0, and its pricing page describes it as genuinely free, with no trial period and no credit card. An optional Family Pro plan is $6 a year with three children included and $2 a year for each additional child, as listed on its site on 5 October 2026.

The Standard plan includes the practice itself and automated reports. Family Pro adds priority technical support and unlimited student programs, and the pricing page lists further reports as coming soon. For a family that only wants the daily routine, the free plan is the whole product.

Plusy is free to start too, with a different limit. Every road, world and game is open on a free account. A round uses one heart, wrong answers cost nothing extra, and hearts come back on their own over time and with a new day. Tests, replays and the matching game use no heart. How hearts work.

Can you turn off the timer in XtraMath?

Not fully. XtraMath's help centre says the timer cannot be turned off, because the program is built on timed practice. A parent, a teacher or the student can hide the timer from the screen, and response time is still tracked in the background. The help centre also describes a longer, 12-second threshold for early learners.

For plenty of children the timer is fine, and some enjoy trying to beat it. XtraMath also has a help page for a student who is struggling, which suggests reducing time pressure. If your child's teacher assigns XtraMath and the clock is the problem, those two settings are the first thing to try.

Some parents report, in reviews on Common Sense Media, that the timed format makes their child anxious and that the drills feel repetitive. The same review credits XtraMath with being free and with building fluency in all four operations, and it notes that children can see their progress in charts.

Does Plusy have a timer?

Plusy's rounds and tests have no clock: your child can take as long as they need on every question. One game is timed, and it is optional. The Speed run asks how many facts your child can answer in 60 seconds, and it is started from the Games tab, never as part of the road.

The speed run opens on a road only after your child has passed a test on that road, and it asks only facts from worlds they have already passed. A wrong answer empties the box and the same fact stays. A child who never opens it loses nothing: the road, the tests and the lists do not need it. The games.

One more place time is used: the first placement round notes how quickly answers come, to choose where each road starts. No clock is shown, and it happens once.

What does each app do after a wrong answer?

XtraMath shows the correct answer, as its help pages describe, and brings facts back through spaced repetition. Plusy shows the answer, adds one line on what went wrong when it recognizes the slip, gives a trick to remember, and asks the missed question again once later in the same round.

An explanation of why an answer was wrong is not listed on XtraMath's site, which fits its stated purpose of fluency practice. In Plusy, a child who answers 7 × 8 with 15 is told it looks like they added, and gets a trick for that fact. The same fact always comes with the same trick.

Which is better for times tables?

For speed on facts a child already understands, XtraMath is an established, free routine. For learning a table in the first place, Plusy is gentler: one table at a time from 1 to 12, each fact as multiple choice before it is typed, the whole fact spoken aloud after every answer, and no clock.

Does either app go beyond math facts?

Plusy does. After the facts come two-digit, three-digit and four-digit addition and subtraction, long multiplication and long division, set out in columns the way they are written on paper. XtraMath's site describes fact fluency in the four operations. Written column methods are not listed on the pages we read.

On a column question your child fills in one box per digit, with carry and borrow boxes above. Hint and Show me help with one step at a time and hand the question back. After a wrong answer, Plusy names the slip in your child's own working, such as a carried 1 that was not added. See column questions and hints and steps.

What does each cost over a year?

XtraMath costs $0 on the Standard plan, or $6 a year for Family Pro with three children included, as listed on its site on 5 October 2026. Plusy costs $0, or $29 once to remove the heart limit, with no renewal. For a family that pays nothing, both are free.

On price alone XtraMath wins, and by a wide margin for a family with several children: one Plusy account holds one child, so each child needs an account of their own. Plusy's payment is called Unlock Plusy. It opens no extra content, removes the heart limit, and gives up to 50 worksheet scans and 50 AI lists a month. What the unlock gives.

What XtraMath does better

• It is free, and cheaper even when paid. $0, or $6 a year for three children, against $29 once for one child in Plusy.
• It is a known routine. About 10 minutes a day, the same shape every day, with nothing to decide.
• It is built for recall speed. If the goal is answering facts instantly, timed practice is exactly what XtraMath is designed for.
• Teachers assign it. Its pricing page lists teacher and school plans, and class sign-in tools. Plusy has no classes and no teacher dashboard.
• It reports progress. Automated reports are part of the free plan. Plusy's grown-ups area shows one line naming the kind of mistake your child is practicing, and no report.
• Several children fit on one family account. A Plusy account holds one child.

What Plusy does better

• No clock in rounds or tests. The one timed game is optional.
• Mistakes are explained. What went wrong, a trick, and the question back before the round ends.
• It goes past the facts. Carrying, borrowing, long multiplication and long division, in columns, with help one step at a time.
• It practices the homework itself. Scan, type or describe the worksheet, and set a countdown to the test. See make a list.
• More variety in a round. Multiple choice, typing and fill the gap are mixed, with a matching board and other games beside the road.
• Facts are spoken. After each answer to a basic fact, the whole fact is said aloud.

Who should pick which?

• The teacher assigns XtraMath: XtraMath, with the timer hidden if it bothers your child.
• You want a free daily habit and your child is calm under a clock: XtraMath.
• You have several children and want one account: XtraMath.
• Your child already knows the facts and needs them faster: XtraMath, or Plusy's speed run.
• The timer leaves your child upset or guessing: Plusy.
• Your child is still learning the tables and needs to see why an answer was wrong: Plusy.
• The homework has moved on to carrying, borrowing or long division: Plusy.
• You want to practice the exact questions for Friday's test: Plusy.

Can you use both?

Yes. They do different halves of the same job. Plusy can be where a table is learned and mistakes are sorted out, with no clock. XtraMath can follow as the short daily routine that makes those facts fast. If school assigns XtraMath, Plusy fits beside it for homework lists and written methods.

Plusy is free to start in any browser: Start free. For other options, including more free ones, see our guide to math apps for kids and Plusy vs Times Tables Rock Stars.

Plusy is not affiliated with XtraMath. Product names belong to their owners. Prices and features were checked on 5 October 2026 and change, so check each app's own site before you decide.

Questions

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