LittleActivity vs Epic
A digital library of children's books, audiobooks and read-alouds for under-13s, free for teachers in class and sold to families.
Last updated: 23 August 2026
Epic is a library, and a genuinely large one — tens of thousands of real, licensed children's books, which is not something we have or claim. It does not teach reading, plan a day or keep records. Epic and LittleActivity are complements far more often than they are alternatives.
Which one is right for you
Choose Epic if
A child who can already read and wants books, or a classroom that wants a licensed library on tablets.
Choose LittleActivity if
A family that needs reading taught and the rest of the day planned, with printables and records.
What each one actually is
What is Epic?
Also known as: Epic!, Epic Books, getepic.com, Epic Kids
Epic is a digital library of children's books, audiobooks and read-alouds for under-13s, free for teachers in class and sold to families.
Related: Reading and phonics · K-12 education · Homeschool resources
What is LittleActivity?
Also known as: Little Activity, littleactivity.com
LittleActivity is a free educational platform for children from Pre-K to Grade 10, combining sequenced lessons in ten subjects, thousands of printable worksheets, games, and a homeschool system whose attendance, report cards, portfolio and transcript build themselves from the work a child actually completes.
Related: Homeschool curriculum · Printable worksheets · K-12 education · Common Core Standards
Epic vs LittleActivity, feature by feature
Twenty-four features in five groups. A dash means we have not established that row from their own public pages — it is not a “no”, and we would rather show the gap than guess at it.
Getting started and cost
What it takes to see the thing before you pay for it.
| Feature | Epic | LittleActivity |
|---|---|---|
| Usable free, with no accountCan a parent open it and use real content without signing up? | No | Yes |
| Card required to startA card taken up front turns a trial into an opt-out subscription. | Yes | No |
| Price published on their own siteA price you have to reach checkout to see is a price you cannot compare. | Not established | Yes |
| Charged per childDecides whether a second or third child doubles the bill. | No | No |
| Adverts shown to childrenIncluding house ads and upsell interstitials mid-activity. | No | No |
What it covers
How far it goes before your child ages out of it.
| Feature | Epic | LittleActivity |
|---|---|---|
| Grade rangeThe span the vendor claims on its own site. | Roughly ages 2 to 12 | Pre-K to Grade 10 |
| SubjectsWhat is actually taught, not what is mentioned. | Reading — a book library, plus some non-fiction and videos | Maths, reading, writing, science, social studies, art, music, coding, languages, critical thinking, money |
| Real Pre-K contentActivities a child who cannot yet read can do alone. | Read-alouds and picture books | Yes |
| Grade 6 and aboveThe point most early-learning products stop. | No | Yes |
| Standards alignment publishedMatters for reporting in most US states. | No | Yes |
How it teaches
Whether it decides what happens today, or hands you a catalogue.
| Feature | Epic | LittleActivity |
|---|---|---|
| Plans the school day for youThe difference between a curriculum and a content library. | No | Yes |
| Sequenced, not browse-it-yourselfLessons that build on each other in a fixed order. | No | Yes |
| Per-subject placementA child ahead in reading and behind in maths is the normal case. | Reading-level matching | Yes |
| Video instructionA person explaining, rather than a screen of practice items. | No | No |
| Live human teachingScheduled classes with a real teacher. | No | No |
Off the screen
What is left on the days the tablet is not the answer.
| Feature | Epic | LittleActivity |
|---|---|---|
| Printable worksheetsReal PDFs, not a web page you send to a printer. | No | 5,947 free PDFs |
| Off-screen work for every school dayAn authored task per day, not an occasional printable. | No | 2,160 authored days |
| Printable wall chartsReference material for the wall behind the desk. | No | 600 wall charts |
| A full day can run on paperFor a broken tablet, a car journey, or a screen-time limit. | No | Yes |
Records and classroom
The paperwork, and whether it writes itself.
| Feature | Epic | LittleActivity |
|---|---|---|
| Attendance logRequired by law in a number of US states. | No | Yes |
| Report cardsGenerated from work done, not typed by a parent. | No | Yes |
| Portfolio of workFor states that require an annual review. | No | Yes |
| High-school transcriptThe document a college admissions office asks for. | No | Yes |
| Run a class with no student accountsNo roster upload, no email address per child. | No | Yes |
What Epic does better, and what we do instead
Epic against LittleActivity
Pros
- Tens of thousands of licensed books from real publishers — actual children's literature, not generated passages
- Audiobooks and read-alouds that carry a pre-reader through a real story
- Free for teachers to use with a class during school hours
- A recommendation engine that reliably finds the next book a child will finish
- Reading-level filtering that matches a child to books they can actually manage
Cons
- We teach reading — phonics, sight words, fluency and comprehension in a sequenced track from Pre-K to Grade 10
- Printable phonics and comprehension worksheets with matched question sets
- Every other subject as well as reading
- A planned day and an authored off-screen task for each day
- Records: attendance, report cards, portfolio, transcript
The left column is what Epic is genuinely better at. The right column is not a list of their faults — it is what we do that they do not attempt. A product is allowed to not do something.
Pricing
We have not been able to read Epic’s current pricing from their live pages, so we are not going to quote it — see their own page. Ours is on our pricing page, before you sign up for anything.
Stay with Epic if…
You want books. Epic is a library and we are not one — the two things do different jobs.
Move to LittleActivity if…
You thought Epic would teach your child to read. It is a library, and that is a different product.
The one structural difference
Most families run a content product, a separate planner, and a spreadsheet for records, and nothing in that stack is the system of record. LittleActivity is one system: the same work that teaches your child produces the attendance, the report card, the portfolio and the transcript, and every school day has an authored off-screen task so a broken tablet does not end the day.
In numbers: 5,947 free printable PDFs and 2,160 authored off-screen school days, both counted from the catalogues themselves and checked in our build rather than written by hand.
How this comparison was made
- Their claims are theirs. Grade range, subjects and product shape are taken from what Epic says about itself on its own public pages, linked above.
- Prices are gated. A price appears only with the date a person read it on the vendor’s own page. Most pricing pages in this market render client-side and cannot be checked automatically, so most of these comparisons quote no price at all rather than repeat one that may be a year old.
- Our numbers are generated. Printable, poster and school-day counts come from the catalogues they describe and are verified in our build, so a marketing round number cannot creep in.
- A dash is not a cross. Where we have not established a row, the table shows a dash. We do not score a competitor down for something we did not check.
- We are not neutral. This page is written by one of the two products. That is why it leads with what Epic does better and names who should stay with it — judge the page on whether those sections are real.
LittleActivity vs Epic: common questions
Does Epic teach children to read?
No — Epic is a library. It gives a child books at their level and gets out of the way, which is genuinely valuable for a child who can already decode. Teaching the decoding is a different job: LittleActivity's reading track runs phonics, sight words, fluency and comprehension in sequence from Pre-K to Grade 10.
Should I use Epic and LittleActivity together?
That is the combination we would suggest. Epic supplies real books; we supply the instruction, the printables, the other subjects and the records. Neither replaces the other well.
Does LittleActivity have books to read?
We have thousands of bedtime stories and authored reading passages with comprehension questions, which is not the same as a licensed library of published children's literature. If your child wants actual books by real authors, Epic has them and we do not.
Is either free?
Epic is free for teachers to use with a class during school hours, and a paid subscription at home. LittleActivity's reading lessons, printables and stories are free with no account at all, at home or in a classroom.
Should I choose LittleActivity or Epic?
Choose Epic if: A child who can already read and wants books, or a classroom that wants a licensed library on tablets. Choose LittleActivity if: A family that needs reading taught and the rest of the day planned, with printables and records. Both are real answers — the deciding question is usually whether you want one subject or one tool done well, or the whole school day planned, printed and recorded.
How much does Epic cost compared with LittleActivity?
We have not been able to read Epic's current pricing from their live pages and check it, so we do not quote a figure — see their own site for it. LittleActivity's price is published on our pricing page before you sign up, it is one family price rather than a charge per child, and the games, printables and lessons are free with no account.
Other comparisons
Same category first — people comparing Epic are usually comparing its neighbours too.
- LittleActivity vs Reading EggsA structured online phonics and reading programme for ages 2 to 13, with a matching maths product.
- LittleActivity vs Raz-KidsLevelled digital readers with recorded fluency checks, sold to schools and teachers by Learning A-Z.
- LittleActivity vs Hooked on PhonicsA phonics programme for ages 3 to 8, sold as an app with an optional box of physical books and workbooks.
- LittleActivity vs Time4LearningA full online curriculum with automated grading and parent reporting, running Preschool to Grade 12.
- LittleActivity vs Power HomeschoolVideo-led courses with automated grading, run by the Acellus organisation and priced per student per month.
- LittleActivity vs Acellus AcademyAn accredited online private school delivering video courses, with enrolment, grading and an official transcript.
- LittleActivity vs MiAcademyAn online curriculum for Kindergarten to Grade 8 with a moderated social element and a reward economy.
- LittleActivity vs Homeschool PlanetA homeschool planner and record keeper that wraps around whatever curriculum you already use.