Best Homeschool Typing Programs Right Now (2026) — and What to Use While You Wait
So The Good and the Beautiful pulled their typing course.
If you went to buy it and hit a dead end, that’s why — they discontinued the print and PDF versions on May 22, and the online replacement isn’t out until sometime this summer. No firm date.
Which is fine, eventually. It just doesn’t help the kid at your table right now who’s finally ready to figure out where the keys are.
I went back through the options recently — I make a typing app, so this is partly my job — and the plain truth is most typing programs are fine. A kid who sits down a few times a week will learn to type on almost any of them. So it’s less “which one is best” and more “which one fits the way your family already runs.” A few things I’d think about:
- A course, or just practice? Some teach finger placement from scratch. Others assume your kid already knows the keys and just push their speed. Two different jobs.
- Free or paid? Typing is the one corner of homeschooling where free actually holds up. When you do pay, you’re paying for no ads, a way to see how they’re doing, and a tighter lesson order.
- Typing on its own, or typing plus the five other things you’re already keeping track of?
- If your kid works alone — does it throw ads at them, or track them?
Here’s what I’d point a friend to, free options included. And I’ll be straight about where my own app makes sense and where you’re better off with something else.
Free, and actually good
Typing.com is the one most people land on first, and for good reason — it’s a full course, not a watered-down demo, and a lot of schools run on it. The catch is ads on the free version, and it feels a bit like school software instead of something warm. Still hard to beat for free. (Homeschool blogger Nicki Truesdell points her readers here too.)
TypeRacer isn’t a course — it’s a game where kids race to type real passages, sometimes against other people. It’s for the kid who already knows the keys and wants to get faster. It’s the kind of thing they’ll do “one more race” on five times in a row. Use it next to something structured, not as the whole plan.
TypingClub is another full free course with a paid upgrade if you want it. Worth trying alongside Typing.com — run both for a week and keep whichever one your kid fights you on less.
When it’s worth paying
You’re not paying for better typing. Free teaches typing fine. You’re paying for no ads, a dashboard so you can see what’s actually happening, and a course that’s sequenced tightly.
Typesy is the value pick if you want a real ad-free course for the whole family. Last I checked (mid-2026) it ran about $67 for up to four kids or $97 for up to ten — and here’s the part that catches people off guard: it’s a five-year purchase, not a yearly bill. Spread over five years, that’s under fifteen bucks a year for everybody. Ad-free, parent dashboard, and it folds in some vocabulary and spelling. (Check the current price on their site — these things move.)
TypeKids is the story one. Pirate theme, 30 lessons, the kid follows the narrative and half-forgets they’re drilling home row. It’s a Cathy Duffy Top Pick, which carries weight if that’s a name you trust. Around $89.95 a license last I saw, with family discounts. The one honest knock reviewers make: the lessons are locked in order, so a kid who already types still has to march through the early ones.
Typing Instructor is the budget paid option — roughly $14.95 for three months or $29.95 for the year. Adventure-style practice, been around forever.
The all-in-one option — and where it’s overkill
Here’s where my own thing fits, and I’ll be straight about it.
Spellwright is the typing app inside Hearth — and the word that matters is inside. It’s not a standalone typing program. It’s one of four practice apps in a single family subscription ($29.99 a year covers everyone): typing, math facts, reading, and US geography, all behind one parent dashboard, no ads, and we don’t sell or harvest anything about your kid.
So — when it makes sense, and when it doesn’t.
If you want typing handled and math facts and reading practice in one place, for one price, with progress you can actually see — that’s the whole reason it exists. One login instead of four browser tabs. For a family running a few kids through a few subjects, that’s the difference between “we did our practice” and “wait, did anyone do typing this week?”
If you only want typing and nothing else? Don’t buy Hearth for it. Grab Typing.com for free, or Typesy for cheap. I’d rather say that out loud than have you pay for three apps you won’t open.
The typing itself is 25 quests across five themed “schools” — home row on up through numbers and punctuation, difficulty nudging up as they go. There’s a 7-day free trial, no card, so you can watch your kid use it for a week before you decide anything.
If you’re a TGATB family bridging the gap
Short version, by situation:
- Want free and good? Typing.com for the course, TypeRacer for speed.
- Want one cheap, ad-free thing for all your kids for years? Typesy.
- Kid needs a story to stay in the chair? TypeKids.
- Want typing folded in with math and reading? Hearth — there’s a free week to try it.
- Planning to just wait for TGATB’s online version? Totally reasonable. Run Typing.com free in the meantime so your kid doesn’t lose the muscle memory.
The one wrong move is overthinking it. Typing rewards starting a lot more than it rewards picking the perfect program. The best one is whichever your kid will actually sit down and open a few times a week.
Hearth is a $29.99-a-year practice platform a homeschool family built for homeschool families — typing, math facts, reading, and geography, with a parent dashboard you can actually read. See where Spellwright fits in your week — free trial, no card.