Finding a maths app for school with no ads or in-app purchases
How schools can recognise a maths app with no advertising, no in-app purchases and no sharing of children’s data, with checkpoints for choosing one.
In short: A maths app for school should show no advertising, offer no purchases in the children’s area, use no trackers and not pass children’s data to third parties for their own purposes. You can check this in the privacy policy, in the data processing agreement and by trying out the children’s area. Mazio Maths shows no advertising, offers no in-app purchases or paid extras for children and uses no trackers. The school pays for a licence, and Mazio Maths is free for teachers.
Many learning apps are funded through advertising, extra purchases or subscriptions aimed at families. That does not suit lessons. This article gives teachers and school leaders checkpoints for reviewing a maths app before using it, and then shows how Mazio Maths handles these points. We are the provider of Mazio Maths. As of November 2026.
Why advertising and purchases do not belong in a school app
In Germany, the data protection supervisory authorities have stated this clearly for learning platforms: the principle of purpose limitation applies, and in particular it must be ensured that the data of children, teachers and parents is not used for advertising purposes (guidance of the German Data Protection Conference on online learning platforms, 2018). There is also an educational side. Purchase offers in the children’s area can put families under pressure, and rewards that can be extended for money can distract from learning. Some teachers also view points and star systems without purchases critically, for example because children restart an exercise so as not to lose points (reader comments on a report on the German site news4teachers of 15 January 2026). Whether you want such elements is an educational decision for your school.
Checkpoints for choosing an app
| Checkpoint | Where to look | Signs of a problem |
|---|---|---|
| Advertising | Try out the children’s area, privacy policy | Ads, references to other products, advertising partners in the privacy policy |
| Purchases | Children’s area, app store listing | “In-app purchases” label, shop, extra content for money |
| Reward currency | Children’s area | Coins or points that can be extended for money |
| Tracking | Privacy policy, cookie notice | Analytics services, advertising cookies, fonts and scripts loaded from third parties |
| Data sharing | Privacy policy, data processing agreement | Use of data for the provider’s own purposes, sale, AI training |
| External links | Children’s area | Links from the app to other websites or social networks |
| Children’s accounts | Login | Children’s email addresses or contact details are required |
Ask the provider for the data processing agreement before the children use the app. It should state that the provider processes the data only on the school’s behalf. A detailed list is in the data protection checklist for maths apps (in German).
A note on “free”: an app that is free for children can still be funded through purchases by families or through school licences. That is legitimate. Simply ask what the family or the school is paying for, and whether the children’s area stays free of purchase offers.
How Mazio Maths handles advertising, purchases and data
What Mazio Maths does not include. No advertising, no in-app purchases, no paid extras for children, no chat between users, no consent requests to children, no trackers and no links from the pupil area to outside websites. This is set out in the data protection agreement that the school concludes with Mazio Maths.
Who pays. Mazio Maths is free for teachers. For use with the children, the school obtains a class licence or a school licence for each school year. There is nothing to buy in the children’s area. Using it with a class is currently available to schools in Germany. If your school is in another country, registration records your interest. Schools can request a quote.
What happens to the data. Children’s data is not sold, not used for advertising and not used to train AI. Mazio Maths does not process the data for its own purposes such as advertising, analytics or profiling. Mazio Maths stores and processes children’s personal data exclusively in Germany. The learning assistant receives only the task and the answer, without the access code, and processes them in EU data centres. There are no analytics cookies and no tracking. Mazio Maths serves fonts and program libraries itself.
How children log in. Each child logs in with their own eight-character access code or their access card. Children’s names and email addresses are not needed. The teacher uses “Print cards” to print the cards as an A4 sheet to cut out.
How children interact. If the duel is switched on for the class, two children from the same class solve the same tasks. Children see only the result of their own duel, and other players only under an animal pseudonym. There are no leaderboards. The teacher switches the duel on and off for their classes.
An example from a school. Parents ask a head teacher whether anything can be bought in the grade 2 maths app. The head teacher opens the data protection checklist for schools (in German), which gives the relevant passage in the data protection agreement for each answer, and gives the parents the parent letter from the documents. At the parents’ evening, the teacher uses “Open & play” to show a unit as the children see it.
Next step. Create an account via register for free and look at the children’s area yourself. All documents for review by the school leadership and the data protection officer are in the data protection checklist for schools.
Frequently asked questions
Is there a maths app for primary school with no advertising and no in-app purchases?
Yes. Mazio Maths shows no advertising and offers no in-app purchases or paid extras for children. The school pays for a licence, and Mazio Maths is free for teachers. Other providers also do without advertising, so check the children’s area and the privacy policy in each case.
Is there a learning app for the class without a subscription?
Mazio Maths offers fixed terms. The school licenses Mazio Maths per school year, as a class licence or a school licence, and requests a quote for this. Mazio Maths is free for teachers, and there are no purchases in the children’s area.
How can I recognise tracking in a learning app?
Look in the privacy policy for analytics services and advertising cookies, and ask the provider whether fonts and scripts are loaded from third-party servers. The data processing agreement should list all service providers with their location.