Education

Should you build your own Brilliant?

Build interactive practice around user-authored math and science lessons

Worth subscribing · the value goes beyond code
Price $30/moEstimated savings $240/yrEstimated time closest consolation build: one sittingCategory EducationCatalog votes 0

A consolation build is possible, but the paid product's decisive value sits outside a solo rebuild. For Brilliant, build interactive practice around user-authored math and science lessons. The hard boundary is expert curriculum, interactive problem library, pedagogy, apps, and content rights, plus content, pedagogy, and network.

ENOriginal research content in English. Original prompt preserved in English.

The complete prompt
Build a closest honest personal substitute for Brilliant in an empty repository.
Use Next.js 15, TypeScript, SQLite, Drizzle ORM, and a service worker for offline use; do not offer alternative stacks.
The core loop is: turn user-authored math and science lessons into a study plan with interactive practice, schedule retrieval practice, and show progress without claiming accredited instruction.
Make the first run work locally with one documented command.
Store all user data locally by default and make export straightforward.
Put secrets in .env, ship .env.example, and never commit credentials.
Import Markdown, text, or user-authored notes and split them into editable learning units.
Create flashcards and short quizzes only after showing the generated items for approval.
Implement a transparent spaced-repetition schedule with due, again, hard, good, and easy actions.
Add goals, study sessions, streak-free progress charts, notes, and weak-topic review.
For language practice, record the learner and compare timing or pronunciation without presenting medical claims.
Support offline use, full export, reset, backup, and deletion of all learning data.
Include clear empty, loading, success, and recoverable error states.
Add input validation, safe filenames, and graceful handling of unavailable APIs.
Write focused tests for the core transformation and one end-to-end happy path.
Create a README with setup, architecture, permissions, data location, and backup steps.
Do not add accounts, billing, telemetry, analytics, or a hosted control plane.
Do not claim to reproduce proprietary data, network liquidity, regulated access, or frontier infrastructure.
Deliberately leave out licensed premium courses.
Deliberately leave out accredited certificates and grading.
Deliberately leave out live tutors, large classrooms, and a learner marketplace.
Finish by running the tests and listing the exact commands used.

The prompt opens pre-filled in your agent. Review it before running. · this prompt is generated from the build plan · improve it via PR

Original prompt preserved in English.

What would building your own look like?

Turn user-authored math and science lessons into a study plan with interactive practice, schedule retrieval practice, and show progress without claiming accredited instruction.

What you will need

Why paying can still make sense

People still pay for Brilliant because the learning loop is buildable, while trusted curriculum, instructors, feedback, credentials, and community are not. The recurring cost buys curriculum quality, assessment validity, content rights, spaced-repetition tuning, speech models, sync, moderation, and support, not just the visible interface.

What you lose

xexpert curriculum, interactive problem library, pedagogy, apps, and content rights

xlicensed course catalog

xexpert curriculum

xhuman feedback

xlarge learner network and certification

Share on X ↗"I just replaced Brilliant ($30/mo) with one prompt"
Free alternatives

Prefer something ready-made?

MoodleHosts authored activities, quizzes and progress, although the actual interactive pedagogy still has to come from you.7.3kAug 2026Open source↗OppiaAuthors branching interactive explorations that respond to wrong answers instead of merely displaying the solution.6.8kAug 2026Open source↗eXeLearningA desktop lesson authoring tool for interactive exercises, games, equations and quizzes, with decidedly public-sector aesthetics.138Aug 2026Open source↗

View all 5 alternatives to Brilliant →· Licença, instalação e limitações em cada alternativa.

Plans and pricing

How much does Brilliant cost?

In your currency · US DollarChecked on 08/12/2026
Monthly billing
$30/mo · per person
Per year
$360/yr
Annual billing
$240/yr33% cheaper than paying monthly
Buy on the official site

You complete the purchase on Brilliant’s site. Vibe Radar does not handle payments.

PlanMonthlyAnnual (per month)What is included
free$0/user$0/userFirst 2 levels of every course; up to 2 lessons/day; sequential progress; occasional ads
premium individual$30/user$20/userUnlimited lessons and all levels across 40+ courses; no ads; jump ahead; Koji tutoring
premium family-$40Up to 6 seats; each member gets a separate Premium account; all 40+ courses
premium group-$11.33/user3–50 seats; starts at 3 seats for $33.99/month equivalent; each extra seat $10.10/month

Free tierFirst 2 levels of every course and up to 2 lessons/day; sequential progress; occasional ads

Billing termsIndividual monthly + annual; Family annual; Group annual only; subscriptions auto-renew

Additional costsGroup plan has a 3-seat minimum; extra seats cost $10.10/month each and a full group cannot add seats mid-term, capacity can be increased at renewal.

verified 2026-08-12 · source ↗

Build or buy

Is it cheaper to build or buy Brilliant?

Adjust the numbers: hours to build, your hourly rate, running costs and the subscription price.

Subscribe
Build it yourself
Horizon
Subscribe$480
Build it yourself$1,760

Over 24 months, subscribing is cheaper.

Starting hours estimated from the analysis (closest consolation build: one sitting). Does not price what you give up (support, integrations, security).

Frequently asked questions
Can I rebuild Brilliant?

Not really. Brilliant’s value is not the code: Recheck price before merge. See the honest breakdown above.

How much does Brilliant cost?

Brilliant costs about $30/mo (Premium Individual, checked 08/12/2026), which is $240 per year.

What do I lose by replacing Brilliant?

Honestly: expert curriculum, interactive problem library, pedagogy, apps, and content rights; licensed course catalog; expert curriculum; human feedback; large learner network and certification. If any of those are load-bearing for you, keep paying.

Is there an open-source alternative to Brilliant?

Yes: Moodle (Hosts authored activities, quizzes and progress, although the actual interactive pedagogy still has to come from you.) Oppia (Authors branching interactive explorations that respond to wrong answers instead of merely displaying the solution.) eXeLearning (A desktop lesson authoring tool for interactive exercises, games, equations and quizzes, with decidedly public-sector aesthetics.) All 5 curated free alternatives are at https://viberadar.si/brilliant/alternatives. The prompt is for when you want it exactly your way.

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