🎮 Learning games and sites · 💻 Coding · 🎓 Courses and learning platforms
Tynker
By Tynker (Neuron Fuel), owned by CodeHS since 2025. Visit Tynker
Desk research from the maker's own pages. Not yet tried by us. Checked 2026-10-24.
A paid coding platform for kids that starts with picture blocks for pre-readers and moves through block coding to Python and JavaScript. Children work through game-like courses, build games, make Minecraft mods and skins, and can take a placement test to start at the right level. Family plans cover up to three children. Tynker was sold in Byju's bankruptcy and bought by CodeHS in 2025, which says it is keeping the brand.
Our take: A reasonable paid pick for families who want a guided, game-like path from age 5 to Python; budget-minded families can get much of the same from free Scratch and Code.org.
| Ages it suits | about 5-18 (grades K-12) |
|---|---|
| What its terms say about age | Collects personal information from children under 13 only when a parent has signed the child up, or when the school or teacher has agreed to get parental consent. Under-13s should not send personal information without that. (terms) |
| Price | Free, with paid extras. Family plans for up to 3 children (Oct 2026): $54 per quarter, $180 per year, or $468 lifetime, shown as 40% off list prices. Some free starter content. |
| Works on | Web, Chromebook |
| Account | A parent's account |
| Ads | None |
| In-app purchases | Not stated |
| The AI in it | No AI described on the pages we read. |
What's good
- Clear path from picture blocks to real languages
- Minecraft and game projects keep kids interested
- One plan covers three kids
- Clear student privacy policy
Watch for
- Subscription; lifetime plan is a big upfront cost
- Ownership changed after Byju's bankruptcy
- Shared projects become public to anyone with the link
- Uses Hotjar session analytics on its sites
Data and privacy
No behavioral advertising to students and no sale of personal data; it uses Google Analytics and Hotjar on its websites. Messages between students and teachers are among the data collected for school users. Read the privacy policy.
Does it work?
The maker's own claims only (used by one in three U.S. K-8 schools, 100 million kids). No independent outcome study found.
In the Big Index
- On the list 16 AI coding tools and AI-assisted coding for kids and teens
- On the list 19 best coding games for kids
- On the list 23 best free sites for kids to learn coding
- Tynker
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Where these facts come from
- https://www.tynker.com/
- https://www.tynker.com/parents/pricing/
- https://www.tynker.com/terms/
- https://www.tynker.com/privacy/student
- https://www.tynker.com/kids-online-safety
- https://codehs.com/blog/codehs-acquires-tynker-to-expand-k-8-computer-science-learning-opportunities
Prices, terms and features change. Nobody paid to be listed, nothing here is an affiliate link, and Peabody never rates itself. Where we and the maker disagree, the maker's own pages are the ones to trust.