How Much Does Mathnasium Cost Compared to Thinkster Math?

Caroline Mukisa March 20, 2018

Last Updated on July 11, 2024 by user

When seeking your child’s ideal math tutoring program, nothing less than the best will do. With so many options to consider, weighing your choices can be challenging. You need to know whether the program is available online or in person, assess the curriculum, understand the homework level, and look at the program’s resources.

Of course, you’ll want to calculate the tuition, too.

Find out how much math tutoring programs such as Mathnasium cost compared to Thinkster Math, compare the program offerings, and decide which tutoring program is right for your child.

What is Mathnasium, and how much does it cost?

Mathnasium is a center-based math learning program. Students attend sessions at a local center where they work through worksheets and are supported by a tutor. Mathnasium is a good option for families who want a program that offers center-based, small-group learning. Students work through the worksheets only during the sessions. They don’t take the worksheets home and are not assigned homework.

Mathnasium was started over 15 years ago and is based on a program developed by a US teacher who wanted to help children understand math without the focus on rote memorization and repetitive exercises. Although center-based, like programs such as Kumon, their focus on understanding math and using in-center tutors to teach their program makes it a good choice for families looking for a local math program with additional support.

Mathnasium offers online access (Mathnasium@home) for those unable to get to the center a couple of times a week.

Mathnasium costs around $200-$300+ per month. Pricing varies by program and center location, so you will need to check with your local franchise for more.

What is Thinkster Math, and how much does it cost?

Thinkster Math is a digital, online program. Students are assigned worksheets and meet online for one-to-one coaching sessions where they can work on school homework, test prep, or Thinkster’s worksheets. Thinkster Math is a great program for families who don’t want to attend a center and want a program that offers unlimited worksheets their children can work on to improve their math skills throughout the week.

Thinkster Math started in the US by 2 ex-Kumon Math parents and a group of math teachers. They wanted to help their own children develop their math skills with work that would support their children’s school work. They also wanted to use the latest technology to deliver this work and make it accessible to more families. The Thinkster Math program is based on the US curriculum and Singapore Math. Worksheets are also offered to support international curricula, such as topics taught and tested in the UK and Australia.

Thinkster Math students complete as many or as few digital worksheets as their schedule permits. They can also meet their tutor online for shared whiteboard sessions.

Thinkster Math costs $141 – $295 monthly for plans offering one-on-one live math tutoring. They also have plans starting at $45/month that offer support and guidance from a coach, who will speak with parents during monthly conference calls.

Comparing Thinkster Math and Mathnasium

Thinkster Math and Mathnasium both offer a personalized approach to helping children improve their math skills.

In the sections below, we’ll examine the similarities and differences between Mathnasium and Thinkster Math’s subscription plans and student and parent experience.

Subscription Plans – Thinkster Math vs. Mathnasium

Both Thinkster Math and Mathnasium provide each new student with a skills assessment to identify gaps in their math knowledge. A personalized study plan is then developed to fill those gaps and extend the student’s math knowledge.

Mathnasium families pay a registration fee in addition to the monthly subscription fees. There is no registration fee for the Thinkster Math program, only the monthly subscription fees. For both programs, parents pay monthly and can cancel at any time. There are no long-term contracts, but discounts are available on both programs for paying for multiple months.

Mathnasium typically costs more than Thinkster Math. This can be explained by the fact that Mathnasium students attend a physical location, so a large part of the higher fees for attending a franchise center could possibly be due to the rental and maintenance of the tutoring space.

Worksheets – Thinkster Math vs. Mathnasium

Mathnasium and Thinkster Math curricula are both based on the school math curriculum. They both offer work that helps with school homework and test prep and include word and logic problems to expose students to various questions for each topic.

Mathnasium students complete worksheets only while at the Mathnasium study center. They don’t take the worksheets home, and they receive no homework. Thinkster Math offers unlimited worksheets that students can complete at any time.

Many students are accustomed to working with digital resources at school. Mathnasium uses paper-based worksheets, allowing students to write their work and solutions directly on them.

Thinkster Math provides digital worksheets through an app, which can be accessed on a computer, laptop, tablet, or phone. Students can write on them using a trackpad, a stylus, or their fingers on a touchscreen.

Thinkster provides instructional video tutorials and a video library for students to watch examples before, during, or after completing a worksheet. Mathnasium math worksheets provide a brief example problem at the start of each subtopic to help students start the math topic.

Student and Parent Experience – Thinkster Math vs Mathnasium Math

The overall quality of the experience for both students and their parents is an important factor in determining a math program’s medium—and long-term success. If the student and/or parent aren’t happy with aspects of the program, either the student will fail to reach their full potential or the family will quit.

Thinkster Math has excellent scores from families on the independent Verified Reviews website,

“5/5 – Thinkster provides excellent math tutorial services. The more my child uses it with my help, the more she gets a better understanding of math concepts. It is very convenient also to use in my home instead of going to a tutorial center, which is more expensive. Thank you Thinkster for your worksheets! Please keep up the great service” – Beena J., 6/15/2017

“Thinkster has been so amazing. The focus is on math but our son has improved in all subjects because he has gained so much confidence from figuring out how to study properly. It’s also so convenient to do the worksheets on an iPad at home and to do the tutoring sessions on our own time rather than the store hours of a tutoring place like Kumon,” – Michelle K., 5/26/2017

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Mathnasium has many positive reviews on the testimonials page of the Mathnasium website:

“Kailee’s confidence has improved tremendously in all her subjects. Mathnasium has not only helped in math, it’s helped in all her subjects. All of Kailee’s grades have improved. She made honor roll for the first time since pre-K this year. Thank you, Mathnasium!”

“Her recent report card, received over the weekend, shows a B- in math now. We’re all smiles around the house. We love everything you and your staff have done for Mimi,” Eileen P., Parent

Let’s examine in more detail how Mathnasium and Thinkster Math compare in terms of the student experience.

At Mathnasium, students are given a booklet of worksheets based on various topics identified in a pretest. Students generally attend a Mathnasium center one or two times a week. There are usually 4 or 5 other students working with each tutor. The tutor spends a few minutes explaining the work and then lets the student start working on that topic while the tutor helps other students. Students can take homework to their Mathnasium sessions. However, all work occurs at the center, and the workbooks are not taken home. The Mathnasium tutors grade the work that the student completes at the in-center tutoring sessions.

In the Thinkster Math program, coaches assign work to students based on pre-tests and skills assessments. They typically assign various topics, and students can tackle them in any order they feel comfortable with. Math Coaches can also add topics to support school work or test prep, and remove and re-add them later if families want to prioritize other topics. Students can complete an unlimited number of digital worksheets at any time.

Thinkster tutors grade and provide feedback every day on a child’s work. This provides Thinkster tutors with a very clear window into understanding how Thinkster students work each day and helps them personalize their student’s work more often and much more effectively each week, leading to significant performance improvements. Thinkster tutors use Active Replay Technology to “playback” the student’s work to see where they paused, made mistakes, or erased their work while completing the worksheet.

Thinkster Parents can monitor their child’s performance improvement by reviewing their child’s progress chart. The Thinkster Parent App allows parents to communicate with their child’s tutor much more easily by texting, emailing, or calling them directly as and when needed. In addition, the parent app provides notifications of the student’s work and shows the grading and feedback provided by the tutor on specific problems.

Regular one-on-one Thinkster whiteboard tutoring sessions can also be scheduled regularly or flexibly.

Summary – Thinkster Math vs. Mathnasium Math

Extra time spent practicing math in a structured way greatly improves a student’s math skills.

Both Mathnasium and Thinkster Math structure their programs with tutor support (one-on-one for Thinkster and small group for Mathnasium).

Mathnasium sets its program at a higher price point due to the costs associated with families attending a physical location. Thinkster Math offers its math program at a more affordable price and includes one-on-one support.

We hope this review of Mathnasium and Thinkster Math has given you an overview of both programs and will help you decide which program will suit you and your family.

Try out our Thinkster math tutor today and see the benefits for yourself. Join throughout the school year or if you are looking to incorporate a summer math program into your child’s routine.