BrainPOP vs Labster

BrainPOP offers animated educational movies and learning activities for students, with products for grades K–3, grades 3–8, middle school science and English language development. Activities include vocabulary practice, quizzes, challenges and creative responses such as drawing. Family subscriptions include BrainPOP Jr. for K–3 at $119 a year, BrainPOP for grades 3–8 at $129 a year, and a K–8 Combo at $159 a year; each lists two child profiles. Teacher classroom licenses range from BrainPOP ELL at $210 a year to BrainPOP for grades 3–8+ at $330 a year. The listed classroom licenses provide front-of-class access; the Jr. and 3–8+ licenses omit student accounts and progress tracking. School and district subscriptions add student, administrative and integration features, with prices by quote. BrainPOP supports Clever, ClassLink/OneRoster API, Google SSO and LTI, and lists Google Workspace and Schoology among supported tools. A school can use only one SSO integration at a time. Family access is available on the website and through BrainPOP and BrainPOP Jr. iOS apps.

Labster provides interactive virtual lab assignments for teaching science concepts and practicing laboratory techniques. Its catalog includes more than 300 simulations across STEM subjects. Learners follow guided scenarios, repeat work at their own pace, and receive immediate feedback. Instructors can use automatic grading, customizable quizzes, and a modular assignment builder. A course mapping tool helps match simulations to a syllabus, and listed LMS integrations include Canvas, Google Classroom, Blackboard, Moodle, Schoology, and D2L Brightspace.

Simulations run in supported browsers on Windows and Mac computers. Some are available on iPads and Chromebooks through the Labster app; smartphones, including iPhones and Android phones, are not supported for playing them. Purchases are available to instructors, faculty, and administrators at educational institutions. A free trial is offered, but there is no free plan. Pricing is on request; institutional or department engagements typically begin at $5,000 a year, billed annually, with final pricing dependent on the solution and implementation requirements.