# Khan Academy 67 Hacker News commenters recommended Khan Academy and 17 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 12 of 13 months; owners who said how long report a median of 7 years (5 owners). It meets the Hacker Approved badge rule. **Verdict:** Free, clear lessons people use to fill math gaps and supplement school. Critics find the videos slow and repetitive and say results depend on consistent practice. ## Why people recommend it - Free, high-quality learning material (2 comments): "It's helped tons of children by virtue of making solid learning material available for free on the internet" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49416518)) "Khan Academy was free and used to obtain 99th percentile SAT scores." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47489035)) - Clear step-by-step explanations (3 comments): "It helps build up the problem/solution from the ground up and he goes through each step out loud to help a student understand." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49411652)) "the presentation was exceptionally clear, and focused on developing one little piece of a subject at a time" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49411254)) "He really took the time to replicate the manual teaching process of writing on whiteboard." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48164154)) - Fills gaps and supports school (3 comments): "they both found it really helpful to look at Khan Academy / YouTube clips to better understand what I was explaining" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45947792)) "They complemented school and helped me understand things I'd ignored in class" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49416296)) "I have found khan academy to be really good for filling any math gaps" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48803689)) - Helps adults relearn math (3 comments): "Khan Academy is a treasure, and is how I re-learned math in my 20s after not taking it seriously in school." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49411992)) "I've heard of adults going through Khan Academy's math curriculum for fun to refresh their math skills." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45897094)) "I had no access to anyone who could teach me calculus as a kid except Khan Academy" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48160626)) ## What people warn about - Distracting gamification and quizzes (2 comments): "it's that I find it incredibly distracting which means I can't focus as easily on the content" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49412370)) "I found the gamification, quizzes, etc. simply distracting." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49428414)) - Overhyped as a YouTube channel (2 comments): "It was a marketing job around a YouTube channel that purported to be a teaching revolution." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47789679)) "Khan Academy to me is still just a YouTube channel trying very hard to be something more." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47789550)) ## Alternatives hackers recommend - [Coursera](https://hackerapproved.com/p/coursera.md): 26 recommend - [Udemy](https://hackerapproved.com/p/udemy.md): 16 recommend - [MIT OpenCourseWare](https://hackerapproved.com/p/mit-opencourseware.md): 14 recommend - [Brilliant.org](https://hackerapproved.com/p/brilliant-org.md): 12 recommend - [Bloomy](https://hackerapproved.com/p/bloomy.md): 12 recommend ## Where to get it - [Visit the official site](https://www.khanacademy.org/) ## Cite as Hacker Approved, "Khan Academy", https://hackerapproved.com/p/khan-academy/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).