Brilliant vs Canvas Network
Brilliant
brilliant.org
Canvas Network
canvas.netSide by side
| Figure | Brilliant | Canvas Network |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | Free | Free |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Open source | — | Yes |
| Web | Yes | Yes |
| Windows | — | Yes |
| macOS | Yes | Yes |
| Linux | — | Yes |
| iOS | Yes | Yes |
| Android | Yes | Yes |
| API | — | Yes |
| Self-hosted | — | Yes |
| Plans published | 6 | 2 |
| Spec score · MOOC Platforms | 9.4 (#2) | 9.1 (#6) |
| Company legal name | Crunchbase lists the legal name as Brilliant Worldwide, Inc., a private for-profit company. | Crunchbase identifies the maker as Instructure, Inc., an education-technology company acquired by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts. |
| Founded | aVenture lists Brilliant as founded in 2012. | Instructure’s company timeline states it was founded in 2008 and launched Canvas in 2011. |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Headquarters | San Francisco, California, United States | Salt Lake City, Utah, USA |
| Learning format | Learners solve hands-on problems, explore visual models, and receive immediate feedback. | Participants may review materials and complete activities at their convenience, although instructors can schedule optional synchronous activities. |
| Licence | The terms grant only a personal, non-transferable, non-exclusive licence to use downloaded software and prohibit copying or distributing service content, indicating a proprietary service rather than open-source software. | The public Canvas LMS codebase is open source under the GNU AGPLv3 licence. |
| Rating on Apple App Store | 4.7 out of 5 from 33K ratings | 4.7 out of 5 from 2.8 million ratings |
| Rating on Google Play | 4.5 out of 5 from 113K reviews | 4.5 out of 5 from 224,000 reviews |
| Rating on Trustpilot | 4.2 out of 5 from 2,980 reviews | 1.5 out of 5 from 56 reviews |
| Support | The Help Center covers product features, curriculum, pricing, educator use, account management and troubleshooting, with support available at [email protected]. | Course-specific help is provided through instructor materials or discussion forums, with Canvas Guides available for platform questions. |
| System requirements | The Apple listing requires iOS 17 or later, iPadOS 17 or later, or macOS 14 with an Apple M1-or-newer Mac; it also supports visionOS 1 or later. | Instructure recommends current or previous major Chrome, Firefox, Edge or Safari releases, JavaScript and cookies enabled, a computer five years old or newer with at least 1 GB RAM, and at least 512 kbps internet. |
| What it does | Brilliant is an interactive STEM learning service focused on math, coding, data science, science, technology, logic and AI. | Canvas Network is an educator-focused catalog of free, open professional-development courses powered by Canvas LMS. |
Plans
Brilliant
- FreeFree
- Group AnnualPrice not published
- Individual Premium$20 a month
- Individual Premium (annual)$20 a year
- Family Premium$40 a month
- Family Premium (annual)$40 a year
In their own words
Brilliant
Brilliant is an interactive STEM learning service with courses in math, coding, data science, science, technology, and AI. Learners work through problems, explore visual models, and receive immediate feedback. Most courses include Koji, a digital tutor that guides learners through reasoning step by step. Free accounts can access all courses but are limited to two lessons per day in sequence, see occasional ads, and receive only a limited Koji preview. Premium adds unlimited lessons and practice, the option to jump to any lesson, an ad-free experience, and full Koji access. Individual Premium is listed at $20 a year, billed as one payment and renewed annually; Family Premium is $40 a year, also billed as one payment and renewed annually, with six seats included. Eligible K–12 teachers and their students may receive free Premium through an application-reviewed educator program. That program supports Google Classroom roster syncing and lesson sharing. Its reports show lesson completion, time spent, course progress, and completion dates, but not answer-level correctness or formal grades. Brilliant runs on Android, iOS, and web, and lessons require an internet connection and cannot be downloaded.
Canvas Network
Canvas Network offers free professional development courses made by educators for K–12 and higher education educators. Subjects include teaching methods, technology skills for educators, student performance analysis, and leadership. Anyone with an email address can enroll, but learners need a separate Canvas Network account, even if they use another Canvas instance. Materials become available on or after the course start date; courses begin according to U.S. Mountain time. Learners can work through activities at their own pace, though an instructor may invite them to synchronous activities. Instructors or sponsoring institutions may provide completion certificates, but Canvas Network does not issue them. It also does not charge eligible institutions to offer courses. Powered by Canvas LMS, the service is available on the web, Android, iOS, Linux, macOS, and Windows. Its Android and iOS apps support course access, assignment submission, discussions, and grade viewing, though not every Canvas feature is available in the apps. Offline learning is available. Course settings may hide an individual course after it ends.