A comparison written by one of the two

Clareza Academy vs K12 (Stride)

We make one of these, so read this the way you would read any comparison written by a seller. What we can do is be specific about our own product, accurate about the shape of theirs, and honest about where they are the better answer. Their current price is on their site, not on this page, and the reason is at the bottom.

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What K12 (Stride) is

K12, from Stride, powers online public schools in many states, usually tuition free for residents, plus private online school options. A student enrolled in a K12-powered public school is a public school student: there are certified teachers, live online classes, a set schedule and state testing. Availability depends on your state.

The pricing difference that actually decides it

Their public school programs are usually free to residents of states where they operate. Private options are paid. Check their site for your state.

Clareza is $29 a month for every child in the household, month to month, with no per-child seats and no course limits. That is $348 a year whether you have one child or four, or $290 a year on the annual plan. The first 30 days are free, a card is taken and nothing is charged until day 30, and cancelling before then costs nothing.

The comparison to run is the same either way: monthly price, times the number of children, times twelve.

Check K12 (Stride)'s current pricing on their own site →

When K12 (Stride) is the better choice

  • You want a school, free, with real teachers. In many states a K12-powered public school costs nothing and includes certified teachers and live classes. Clareza has no live human teachers.
  • You want the school to handle records, testing and the diploma. An enrolled public school student gets all of that. With Clareza you are homeschooling, and those are yours.
  • Your child does best with a fixed timetable and live class times.

Where Clareza is different

You stay the one in charge

Clareza is a curriculum, not a school. You choose the grade for each subject, the pace and the days, and you handle your state's homeschool rules. See /homeschool-curriculum/online-school-vs-homeschool-curriculum.

No set class times

Lessons happen whenever suits your family, at the pace your child needs, and you can add a course from another grade for any subject.

A teacher that explains the mistake

Clara, the teacher built into every lesson, reads the answer your child gave and responds to it. A child who answers 136 to 304 minus 178 is told which column went wrong and walked through that column. She is an AI and can be wrong, which is why you can read her conversations from the parent side for 30 days.

One price for the household

$29 a month covers every child in the family and all 71 courses, with no per-child seats and no different rate for high school.

Start 30 days free

Or read all 71 courses first and compare the actual sequences. That door needs nothing from you at all.

Look inside all 71 courses firstEvery unit, every skill, every objective. No account, no card.

or start now

What grade(s)? (optional)

Free for 30 days. We take a card now and charge nothing until then. $29 a month after that, for every child in the family. Cancel anytime in a couple of taps. Cancel before day 30 and you pay nothing at all.

Before your child starts: what we collect and why

We collect only what it takes to teach your child: the first name and sign-in you choose, their answers and progress, and their chat with Clara (written by Anthropic's AI, read aloud by OpenAI). Nobody trains AI on it or sells it, and you can see or delete it any time. You create your child's account yourself. Paying by card is how you give consent.

Read what we collect and why

Your consent is needed before we collect anything from your child, and we collect nothing without it. You create your child's account yourself; they never sign up alone.

  • What we collect from your child: the first name and sign-in you choose, their answers, time on lessons and progress, and their chat with Clara. Used to run the lessons, build their transcript and show you how they are doing.
  • Who else handles it: Anthropic (an AI company) receives the chat text and the lesson, with your child's first name but no last name or account details, to write Clara's replies. That is how Clara works, so it is part of the service. If you switch on answering out loud for a child, their voice is turned into text on our own server and then discarded; it is never sent to another company. OpenAI turns lesson text and Clara's replies (which can include your child's first name) into the read-aloud voice. Our email provider sends you reports about your child. Nobody trains AI on your child's data, and nobody sells it.
  • Your rights: see everything collected from your child, have it deleted, or stop further collection at any time, from your account or by emailingour support address. If you refuse the AI sharing above, Clara cannot teach, so the service cannot run. Chats are deleted after 30 days.
  • Safety: if your child writes something suggesting they may be hurt or in danger, we email you and Clareza's owner the same day.

Paying by card is how you give consent. Full details, including how long we keep each thing: Privacy Policy (version 2026-10-05).

By continuing you agree to the Terms and Privacy Policy.

Rather see it first? Try a full lesson free

Questions parents ask

Is K12 homeschooling?

Enrolling in a K12-powered public school is public school at home, not homeschooling under your state's homeschool rules. Using Clareza is homeschooling: you are in charge.

Why pay for Clareza when K12 is free?

Families choose Clareza when they want to set the pace, the grade and the days themselves, without a school schedule. If a free school with live teachers is what you want, K12 or a similar program is the better fit.

Is Clareza accredited?

No, and it does not issue a diploma. It logs hours and gives you a printable transcript for your own records. More at /homeschool-curriculum/is-online-homeschool-curriculum-accredited.

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Why there is no price for K12 (Stride) on this page

We checked in September 2026 and the sources contradicted each other, including the companies' own pages against the review sites. Publishing a competitor's price that turns out to be wrong is unfair to them and useless to you, and any figure here would be out of date within a month anyway. Ours is above, because it is ours and we can stand behind it. Theirs is one click away, on their site, where it is current.