Cuemath vs Kumon vs Brighterly: Which One Is Better in 2026?
reviewed by Jo-ann Caballes
Updated on December 27, 2025
There are many programs available to improve your kid’s math learning, and well-known options include Kumon, Cuemath, and Brighterly, each offering a different approach to math education.
In this article, I use my tutoring experience and findings to compare these platforms based on their learning methods, pricing models, and suitability for different age groups, helping you decide which option fits your child’s needs best in 2026.
Key points
- Brighterly is an online reading and math tutoring platform offering highly qualified tutors and tangible results
- Cuemath offers tutoring to kids of all ages, from kindergarten to 12th grade with its
- Kumon offers both math and reading tutoring under a worksheet-based, unique methodology.
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Kumon vs Cuemath vs Brighterly: Which one is better?
The main difference between Kumon, Cuemath, and Brighterly lies in their approach to tutoring, progress tracking, and customer ratings. While Brighterly offers top-rated 1:1 personalized tutoring, Kumon relies more on worksheets as a teaching method. Is Cuemath better than Kumon and Brighterly? They are different: in Cuemath, students work 1:1 or in groups with a tutor who teaches by “cues” rather than answers.
You can see more details on the differences between these platforms in the table below.
Brighterly |
Kumon |
Cuemath |
|
| Company type | School-supplemental K-12 tutoring platform | After-school math and reading program | Online math tutoring platform |
| Subjects offered | Math, reading, and writing | Math and reading | Math |
| Mode of learning | Personalized live online tutoring | Worksheet-based self-education | Cue-based math tutoring |
| Free trial | Yes, in the form of a free demo lesson | Yes, in the form of an initial consultation | Yes, in the form of a free demo class |
| Trustpilot rating | 4.4 | 4.1 | 4.9 |
Note: Brighterly is a highly rated personalized math tutoring platform with high customer ratings, measurable outcomes, and regular progress reports.
What kind of progress tracking do Brighterly, Cuemath, and Kumon offer for students?
Brighterly tutors remain in constant communication with parents and deliver regular reports on their progress. In their turn, Kumon provides a monthly progress report titled Kumon Progress History Graph, and Cuemath delivers all the stats to parents with the app.
Here are the details of how each progress tracking system works, based on Brighterly, Cuemath and Kumon reviews from users:
- Brighterly: In addition to regular monthly report updates, parents can request tutor feedback after each learning session to see the exact subjects covered, current student performance, and suggestions for improvement.
- Kumon: Stores reports on the web-based myKumon Portal and in the “Study Records” tab in the app, where parents can access helpful charts, the number of completed worksheets, and overall student performance.
- Cuemath: Via the dedicated Cuemath parent app, it’s possible to get reports on kids’ learning gaps and goals, see their performance in terms of accuracy and fluency, and track their engagement with the studies.
Notwithstanding the chosen reporting tool, each platform makes it possible to see how your child performs and choose what to work on in the following sessions.
Cuemath vs Kumon vs Brighterly cost
| Pricing | Free offerings | |
Brighterly cost |
From $17.3 per lesson | Demo lesson Math and reading diagnostic tests Math and reading worksheets |
Cuemath fees per month |
From $20 per lesson | Demo lesson Math puzzles |
Kumon cost |
From $17.5 to $25 per lesson (exact price depends on the center location) |
Free initial consultation Free diagnostic test |
What is Brighterly?
Brighterly math and reading platform is a school-supplemental K-12 learning platform. It offers 1:1 personalized tutoring under a curriculum that is fully aligned with the US state standards.
To create a custom program, reading and math tutors first assess students’ current knowledge to ensure each lesson is tailored to their needs. Then, they build a plan and involve various methods (including gamified techniques) to focus on areas where students need the most support.
How the Brighterly math tutoring platform is different to Cuemath or Kumon
Highly qualified, vetted tutors
Brighterly thoroughly vets all its math and reading tutors to hire only the best, most qualified educators for your kids. Parents and children alike report learning fast through Brighterly’s online math and reading tutoring 1:1 sessions. Brighterly tutor reviews continually highlight tutors’ expertise, patience and ability to make math engaging.
If you wonder what is better than Cuemath or Kumon, Brighterly can be the answer, as this rigorous vetting process includes mock lessons to ensure tutors can adequately support children and handle any difficult behavior.
Comprehensive math and reading program
The Brighterly reading and math program covers all the critical concepts kids need to know for their grade. The adaptive curriculum for both programs is fully aligned with the U.S. state standards to help their school learning.
If you’re choosing between Cuemath or Kumon or Brighterly, note that personalized lessons from Brighterly allow kids to improve on the arithmetic concepts and develop the reading comprehension skills they’re struggling with most.
A range of free resources
As well as one-on-one tutoring, Brighterly offers a range of free resources to aid pupils’ learning. These include:
- Free Brighterly math worksheets created by highly qualified tutors, where kids discover topics by problem solving and participating in engaging math games.
- Reading worksheets that help with improving reading accuracy, fluency, and comprehension.
- Free math tests and reading tests that simulate real-life school exam questions.
Note: Brighterly’s free diagnostic math tests and reading tests identify kids’ strengths and weaknesses, ensuring the tutoring is personalized to their exact needs. You can take it anytime!
How much does Brighterly cost?
- Learning Membership 1-month plan: From $20.7 per lesson.
- Learning Membership 3-month plan: From $20.2 per lesson.
- Learning Membership 6-month plan: From $19.4 per lesson.
- Learning Membership 12-month plan: From $17.3 per lesson.
The longer your booked package is and the more lessons you choose a week, the more cost-effective it is. Plans are available for 1, 3, 6, and 12 months, and their prices are considered if you take 3 classes per week.
What is Cuemath and how does it work?
Cuemath is a math tutoring platform offering 1:1 and small group sessions where teachers, instead of giving direct answers, give students “cues” to train their critical thinking abilities. The Cuemath Way philosophy is aimed at achieving Big Delta, or exceptional math results. To make it happen, tutors work on reducing math anxiety, building a strong math foundation, and helping kids succeed at exams and with complex math concepts.
As for Cuemath vs Kumon, they seem to strive for the same goals but with different tools.
Cuemath features
- Live math tutoring for grades K-12
- Parent app available to track progress
- Productive struggle as an inevitable part of the math learning process
Cuemath pros and cons
Benefits of Cuemath |
Disadvantages of Cuemath |
|
✅ Interactive online lessons for kids from kindergarten to 12th grade ✅ Tailored learning for each pupil ✅ Accessible online |
❌ Slow responses to customer service queries ❌ Needs a solid and consistent Internet connection
|
Cuemath price
Cuemath pricing ranges from $20 to $32 per lesson. This depends on the length of the contract you sign up to, your child’s grade, and the number of lessons you choose per week.
Below you can see the Cuemath price for high schoolers.
What is Kumon and how does it work?
Kumon positions itself as an after-school program that helps kids improve their math and reading skills with dedicated worksheets. Tutors in Kumon offline centers support this small-step, daily approach, yet the main focus of the program is teaching kids self-confidence and self-reliance.
Kumon features
- Tutoring for both English and math
- Huge network of offline centers all over the world
- Assignment-based learning
Kumon benefits and disadvantages
Benefits of Kumon |
What are the disadvantages of Kumon? |
|
✅ Supporting kids across multiple subjects ✅ Mix of online and in-person work with a small group of peers ✅ Continual assessments and assignments |
❌ Assessment center may be inaccessible to some parents ❌ Parents are responsible for children completing their assignments ❌ Target times can be tight for children struggling with math or English |
Kumon tutoring prices
Kumon cost varies based on the center location and the number of subjects learned. Generally, you can expect to pay around $160 to $180 per month for a single subject — although, depending on the state, the exact price can start from $120 and reach up to $400.
Also, note that the Kumon price also includes a one-off registration fee of $60-$80 and a one-off material fee of $20-$30. To get the exact prices, you should contact the Kumon center of your choice directly.
Brighterly vs Cuemath vs Kumon: Which one is better in 2026?
To get the exact answer to the real value of each platform for parents and kids, I’ve checked Cuemath vs Kumon vs Brighterly reviews. You can find the results of my research in this section.
Brighterly reviews: Why do users prefer Brighterly?
Parents prefer Brighterly because of their tutors. Teachers on the platform are giving all their knowledge and skills to get to know their pupils and help them grow. By keeping them engaged and working through their challenges, Brighterly’s tutors have a strong track record of noticeably improving children’s basic and advanced math skills.
Here is a Trustpilot review that perfectly illustrates this argument:
Also, there are many Trustpilot reviews on the helpful customer service, which is also a sign of the great educational service the platform delivers. You can see it in the positive reviews and in the way the company representatives react to the critical feedback.
All in all, it’s evident that compared to Kumon vs Cuemath, Brighterly tries its best to deliver highly customized and top-notch service to kids of any grade level, learning style, and needs. Their method doesn’t require being self-sufficient or striving for excellence — Brighterly tutors are ready to help everyone.
Cuemath reviews
Cuemath has a stunning 4.9 satisfaction score on Trustpilot, with parents and students speaking about the depth of Cuemath’s teaching and highlighting that it offers a more comprehensive curriculum than the US classroom:
If so, is Cuemath trustworthy? When it comes to Reddit, the platform has mixed reviews, with users claiming that the teaching method can be too rigid for young students:
Why Brighterly is a better choice than Cuemath
If you’re wondering why do parents switch from Kumon to Cuemath or Brighterly, my guess is that this happens due to a mismatch of learning goals. As Cuemath is exclusively math-centric and excellence-oriented, I’ll recommend paying attention to Brighterly if your goals are not that rigid and you want a reading tutor too. In my experience, Brighterly tutors are more friendly to younger students and children with special needs.
Kumon reviews
Kumon has several profiles on Trustpilot and branches in different locations, thus it’s hard to find unified user feedback on their services. Still, when it comes to Kumon UK, parents on Trustpilot show great satisfaction with the teaching method and the education services they get:
When it comes to Reddit, I’ve found many students of Kumon sharing their experiences with the platform. While some of them report their satisfaction with their books, others say that the method was not suitable for their learning needs and made them dislike the subject:
Why Brighterly is a better choice than Kumon
When it comes to Kumon vs Brighterly, I haven’t found any reports claiming that Brighterly made students dislike math or reading. While the Kumon worksheet-based method is an excellent choice for independent, self-disciplined learners who believe that practice makes perfect and need daily drills to achieve their goals, Brighterly tutors help kids in a more relaxed atmosphere. Kids there enjoy games, learn under individualized plans, and get total teacher attention.
Cuemath vs Kumon vs Brighterly on Reddit & Trustpilot
Based on the user feedback, each platform has its own target audience that it serves best. While Cuemath is a great educational platform for high schoolers seeking top-notch supplemental math education, Kumon offers worksheets as a way to become a great math learner and reader through daily practice. If you wonder about Cuemath vs Kumon — which one is better in 2026, both are great for kids who seek these goals and cause mixed feelings in those who have alternative visions of school education.
In this regard, Brighterly has the most balanced approach to learning math and reading, serving both students who strive for excellence and kids with unique learning goals.
Conclusion: Which is better – Brighterly, Cuemath or Kumon?
To sum up this Brighterly, Kumon and Cuemath overview, each platform has a range of advantages that make them great learning resources for your children.
Thus, when choosing between Cuemath and Kumon and Brighterly, consider the following:
- If you care about English and math tutoring, try Kumon. Its worksheet-based education is a great choice to develop self-sufficient math and reading skills.
- If you search for math tutoring for your high schooler, try Cuemath. Their method is especially helpful for exam prep.
- If you care about the qualifications of your tutors, a personalized approach, and tangible improvements in your kid’s learning, the best choice is Brighterly.
You can immediately check how Brighterly works — just book free lesson now!
Comparing other platforms
If you still want to explore other platforms similar to Cuemath vs Kumon vs Brighterly, check out our articles comparing a range of other tutoring and education services.
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