LittleActivity vs Outschool
A marketplace of live online classes taught by independent teachers, for ages 3 to 18, priced per class.
Last updated: 23 August 2026
Outschool sells the one thing software cannot substitute: a human being teaching your child in real time, on almost any subject imaginable. It is priced per class and scheduled, and it keeps no homeschool records. LittleActivity is the always-available, self-paced, recorded side of a homeschool — and the two combine unusually well.
Which one is right for you
Choose Outschool if
A subject that needs a human, a niche interest nothing else covers, or a child who needs to see other children.
Choose LittleActivity if
The daily spine — the planned week, the practice, the printables and the paperwork.
What each one actually is
What is Outschool?
Also known as: Out School, outschool.com
Outschool is a marketplace of live online classes taught by independent teachers, for ages 3 to 18, priced per class.
Related: Live online classes · 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
Outschool 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 | Outschool | LittleActivity |
|---|---|---|
| Usable free, with no accountCan a parent open it and use real content without signing up? | Browsing is free; classes are paid | Yes |
| Card required to startA card taken up front turns a trial into an opt-out subscription. | No | No |
| Price published on their own siteA price you have to reach checkout to see is a price you cannot compare. | Per class, shown on each listing | Yes |
| Charged per childDecides whether a second or third child doubles the bill. | Yes | 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 | Outschool | LittleActivity |
|---|---|---|
| Grade rangeThe span the vendor claims on its own site. | Ages 3 to 18 | Pre-K to Grade 10 |
| SubjectsWhat is actually taught, not what is mentioned. | Almost anything — a marketplace of independent teachers | 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. | Yes | Yes |
| Grade 6 and aboveThe point most early-learning products stop. | Yes | Yes |
| Standards alignment publishedMatters for reporting in most US states. | Varies by teacher | Yes |
How it teaches
Whether it decides what happens today, or hands you a catalogue.
| Feature | Outschool | 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. | Within a course; not across your week | Yes |
| Per-subject placementA child ahead in reading and behind in maths is the normal case. | No | Yes |
| Video instructionA person explaining, rather than a screen of practice items. | Yes | No |
| Live human teachingScheduled classes with a real teacher. | Yes | No |
Off the screen
What is left on the days the tablet is not the answer.
| Feature | Outschool | LittleActivity |
|---|---|---|
| Printable worksheetsReal PDFs, not a web page you send to a printer. | Varies by teacher | 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 | Outschool | 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 Outschool does better, and what we do instead
Outschool against LittleActivity
Pros
- Live human teaching, which no self-paced product substitutes for
- An enormous range of niche subjects — an interest exists, someone teaches it
- Small-group social contact, which matters for a homeschooled child
- Teachers with real subject expertise, chosen by the family rather than assigned
- Classes for ages up to 18, past our Grade 10 ceiling
Cons
- Available any hour, with nothing to schedule
- One family price rather than a fee per class per child
- A planned school day across six strands with an off-screen task for each
- Attendance, report cards, portfolio and transcript that build themselves
- Thousands of free printables, wall charts, games and lessons at no cost
The left column is what Outschool 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 Outschool’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 Outschool if…
Your child needs a teacher, or a subject nothing else covers. Outschool is the answer to both and we are not.
Move to LittleActivity if…
Per-class fees are what your homeschool budget is going on, and the daily spine is still missing.
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 Outschool 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 Outschool does better and names who should stay with it — judge the page on whether those sections are real.
LittleActivity vs Outschool: common questions
Is LittleActivity an alternative to Outschool?
Not really — it is the other half. Outschool sells live human teaching by the class; we supply the self-paced daily spine, the printables and the records. Families who use both typically run our week and book Outschool for one or two subjects that benefit from a teacher.
Does LittleActivity have live classes?
No. There are no scheduled classes and no live teacher. Everything is self-paced and available at any hour, which suits some families and does not suit others.
Which costs less for a full homeschool?
Outschool is priced per class per child, so a full curriculum assembled from classes adds up quickly. Ours is one family price with a free core. Outschool's per-class model is better when you want two subjects rather than twelve.
Can Outschool classes go on a homeschool transcript?
Outschool does not produce a transcript; parents record classes themselves. Our Grade 9–10 transcript builds from work completed in the system, and the day plan lets you mark a subject as covered externally so an Outschool course still shows up in the week.
Should I choose LittleActivity or Outschool?
Choose Outschool if: A subject that needs a human, a niche interest nothing else covers, or a child who needs to see other children. Choose LittleActivity if: The daily spine — the planned week, the practice, the printables and the paperwork. 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 Outschool cost compared with LittleActivity?
We have not been able to read Outschool'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 Outschool are usually comparing its neighbours too.
- 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.
- LittleActivity vs IXLAdaptive practice with a continuous diagnostic across maths, English, science, social studies and Spanish.
- LittleActivity vs SplashLearnGame-led maths and early reading practice, free for teachers and sold to families.
- LittleActivity vs ProdigyA role-playing game wrapped around curriculum-aligned maths and English practice, free to play with an optional paid membership.