10 Teacher-Tested Maths Apps That Support Every Learner

Maths captivates some pupils, but for many others, especially those with dyscalculia, ADHD, autism or maths anxiety, the subject can feel abstract, overwhelming or hard to stay with when it gets difficult. Visualising a possible solution is harder for some learners, and the motivation to keep going when answers feel out of reach is thinner.

Modern maths tools can make the subject more accessible and more engaging. Online graphing calculators turn functions into something a pupil can see and manipulate. Virtual manipulatives like number cubes, fraction bars and spinners bring concrete thinking onto a screen. Game-based platforms turn fact practice into something a child chooses to keep playing.

Below are ten digital tools worth knowing, from a story-driven arithmetic adventure for ages 5 to 10 right through to secondary graphing. Each entry notes who it suits best, so you can match the tool to the pupil in front of you.

1. MathHero

Best for: ages 5 to 10 (K-4), arithmetic fluency, pupils who dislike maths or need motivation to practise

Platforms: iPhone, iPad, Mac (Apple M1 or later), Android, Windows via Google Play Games

MathHero is a story-driven maths game where solving addition, subtraction, multiplication and division facts is how the child plays. Each correct answer moves the adventure forward: it fires at a monster, speeds up a race car, frees a friend from a cage or waters the greenhouse. There are no video lessons. MathHero teaches arithmetic the way the skill is actually built, through structured, repeated practice folded into an unfolding story.

What sets it apart for mixed classrooms and SEN families is the depth of parent and adult controls. Each child profile keeps its own settings, so an adult can:

• Turn each operation on or off (addition, subtraction, multiplication, division)
• Pick individual times tables, for example only ×7 and ×9
• Choose the number range: within 10, 20, 100 or 1000
• Set difficulty to Easy, Medium or Hard (Easy gives more time per problem)
• Choose typed answers or multiple choice
• Pause any time

Parents of children with ADHD, autism or dyscalculia often describe MathHero as the first maths app their child willingly chooses to open. The Easy mode slows the pace. Multiple choice lowers the demand of typing an answer. Short levels of a few minutes each suit shorter attention spans. There is no chat, no multiplayer, no ads and no account to create.

Starting point matters: MathHero begins at first addition within 10. If a pupil is not yet confident with number recognition or counting, use a counting-focused app first and come back when they are ready to add. The game covers addition, subtraction, times tables (×1 to ×12) and division. It does not teach fractions, geometry or equations.

MathHero works fully offline after download, with multiple child profiles and 27 languages. It is rated 4.7 on Google Play (48.2K reviews) and 4.6 on the App Store (12K ratings), with Google Play’s Teacher Approved status. Free at 5 levels a day per child profile, with no ads and no locked levels. A subscription with a 7-day free trial removes the daily cap.

For focused times tables work, MathHero’s free multiplication games also run in a browser, covering every fact from 1 × 1 to 12 × 12 with no download or account. Learn more about the full app at MathHero.

2. IXL

Best for: K-12 standards-aligned practice, independent work

Platforms: web, iOS, Android

IXL offers a vast library of standards-aligned maths activities, from pre-K through calculus, combining short video lessons with practice problems. The Geometry section alone covers around 300 different skills, from arc length and tangent lines to inscribed angles.

As a pupil completes problems, questions adapt to their skill level, becoming simpler or harder to support self-paced work. The platform suits independent practice and individualised instruction, with progress reports and real-time analytics for the teacher.

One note on grading: IXL’s SmartScore algorithm deducts points when a question is wrong and asks for more problems to recover. For lower-confidence pupils or those with maths anxiety, that pressure can backfire. Some teachers switch to number correct, or another measure, as the grade of record instead.

3. Desmos

Best for: secondary pupils, visualising functions and transformations

Platforms: web, iOS, Android

Desmos is best known for its interactive 2D graphing calculator, where pupils plot multiple functions on a coordinate plane and add sliders to see how changing variables reshapes the graph. It also offers a scientific calculator, a 3D graphing calculator for multivariable calculus and a geometry interface for plotting and manipulating shapes and angles.

For first lessons on functions, pupils can experiment with transformations: a slider on a quadratic shows how changing each coefficient moves the curve in real time. Desmos Classroom adds ready-made activities, including warm-up questions where pupils enter an answer, see classmates’ responses in a box plot and revise their own before explaining their reasoning. For pupils who think visually, that live feedback is often the moment the idea lands.

4. Edpuzzle

Best for: flipped learning, embedding comprehension checks in video

Platforms: web

If you have ever wanted to tailor a YouTube video to a specific class, Edpuzzle is the tool. Teachers can take existing videos and embed questions that pop up at chosen moments, record their own lessons, or pull from a library of standards-aligned video content.

A teacher can pick, for instance, a video on exponents and insert custom practice problems through it. Hundreds of free, peer-customised maths lessons span every grade level, from the different kinds of triangles to factoring trinomials. For SEN pupils, embedded pauses mean the video adjusts to attention rather than running past it, and the questions give teachers an early signal of where to reteach.

5. Blooket

Best for: motivation, in-lesson review, friendly competition

Platforms: web

Blooket turns a set of maths questions into a multiplayer game room. Teachers choose or generate a question set and invite pupils to join. Game modes include Crypto Hack, where correct answers let pupils “hack” and steal points from others, and Café, where answers serve customers and unlock kitchen upgrades. Other modes run solo.

Teachers see how pupils did on each question, which helps pinpoint gaps. Pupils who switch off during traditional review tend to stay with Blooket longer, and the quick feedback loop supports fluency on topics like fractions and times tables.

6. DeltaMath

Best for: Years 7-13, differentiated problem sets

Platforms: web

DeltaMath is popular with secondary teachers for distributing problem sets, as homework or inside the lesson, that ask pupils to plot points, fill in tables and work with graphs interactively. It makes some complex concepts easier to see: watching that the area under the curve after a u-substitution matches the area under the original curve, for example, can shift how pupils understand integration.

Teachers can set the same problems for everyone or differentiate using preexisting or custom problems. Pupils get detailed explanations on what they got right or wrong, and teachers see reporting on progress, time spent and which skills need more practice.

7. Polypad

Best for: digital manipulatives at primary and lower secondary

Platforms: web

Manipulatives help children build concrete models of abstract ideas, which is why primary classrooms rely on them. Polypad offers an expansive digital collection: number cubes, fraction bars, dice, spinners, a balance scale where pupils drag weights from one side to the other, digital rulers and protractors, and draggable logic gates like “and” and “or” that introduce early coding ideas.

The visual, interactive nature of Polypad helps pupils reach the lightbulb moment on topics that struggle to stick on paper, like unfolding 3D solids into 2D nets.

8. Prodigy

Best for: ages 6 to 14, fantasy-themed maths adventure

Platforms: web, iOS, Android

Prodigy is a fantasy-themed multiplayer world where pupils answer standards-aligned problems to catch friendly creatures, cast spells and progress through quests. It covers over 1,500 skills from 1st to 8th grade (roughly Year 2 to Year 9), and the problems can adapt to the pupil or be set by the teacher.

The platform reports back on pupil progress and comprehension of skills like measurement or mixed operations, which can inform the next lesson. For pupils who respond to a wider game world and multiplayer elements, Prodigy is a strong motivator. MathHero (above) is the closer fit for the focused K-4 arithmetic path; Prodigy stretches further into the curriculum and leans heavier on the game world.

9. Pear Deck

Best for: interactive lesson delivery, formative check in the moment

Platforms: web, Google Slides, PowerPoint add-on

Pear Deck lets teachers build interactive slides, from scratch or from templates, and embed maths questions throughout. Pupils answer on their own devices by annotating or clicking the right multiple-choice option. Real-time responses give teachers detailed insight into understanding while the lesson is still happening, which supports immediate reteaching and planning the next session.

A newer lesson-building feature takes a prompt and a grade level and produces a rough-draft presentation with practice questions in under a minute, ready to edit. Pear Practice offers gamified activities across K-12 maths, and Pear Assessment supports differentiated problem sets with individual and class-level feedback.

10. Reflex

Best for: ages 5 to 11, basic fact fluency

Platforms: web

Reflex is a game-based platform aimed at building fluency in addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. During short animated missions, pupils solve problems like 6 × 3 or 18 ÷ 2 to steer a boat across a river or help a ninja climb a mountain. Sessions are deliberately short, so focus holds, and problems get harder as fluency grows, which supports number sense alongside quick recall.

Picking the right tool

The right maths app depends on the pupil, the stage and the goal. For arithmetic fluency with a child ages 5 to 10 who needs a reason to practise, MathHero is the strongest pick on this list. For visualising functions at secondary level, Desmos. For standards-aligned individual practice across the curriculum, IXL. Try two or three with your class or child, then keep the one your learners open on their own.