ArielleOrganic Search & Marketing @ PipUpdated June 2026
9 min read
AlphaTest is one of the newest names in 11+ practice, and new can be great. But its pricing is only revealed after sign-up and it has almost no public track record yet, so most parents sensibly want to know what else is out there. Here are seven proven alternatives, compared honestly, with prices checked this month.
Short on time? The quick verdict:
Cheapest trusted name: Bond Online at £65 a year, from Oxford University Press.
Best free option: Pip - unlimited daily practice in all four subjects costs nothing, and Pro mocks are £59 a year.
Biggest engine (and biggest bill): Atom Learning, £383.90 to £671.90 a year billed annually.
Full transparency: Pip is our own app, and it appears in this list. Everything we say about every tool here, including ours, is factual, sourced and checked this month, and we tell you exactly who each alternative suits better than us. That is the only way a comparison like this is worth your time.
First, what to know about AlphaTest
AlphaTest (alphatest.co.uk) is an AI-led adaptive practice platform covering all four 11+ subjects, with a free diagnostic assessment and a clean, modern feel. It is operated by Algomix Limited, a company incorporated in September 2025, which makes the product less than a year old as we write this.
Two things follow from that newness, and they are observations rather than criticisms. First, we could not find published pricing anywhere on the site; plans are revealed inside sign-up. Second, there is currently no independent review footprint: no Trustpilot profile, and no meaningful discussion on Mumsnet or the Eleven Plus Exams forum (checked June 2026). A young product can still be excellent, but with a one-shot exam many families prefer tools with longer track records, published prices, or both. One small accuracy note for your research: AlphaTest's marketing references CEM as a current grammar-school board, but CEM left paper-based grammar testing in 2023 and rebranded to Cambridge Insight in April 2025; nearly all grammar regions now use GL.
1Bond Online
Best budget all-rounder from a trusted nameBond Online
PriceBasic £7.50 a month or £65 a year (new-subscriber prices from February 2026). The genuinely adaptive experience costs much more: Premium from £20.66 a month (£247.92 a year) and the ISEB-endorsed Premium Plus from £28.99 a month (£347.92 a year), both powered by CENTURY's AI.
FreeFree sample quizzes and a free mock on the Try It page. Trial references a card upfront, so diary the cancel date.
Subjects & boardsEnglish, Maths, VR and NVR in the GL style; the ISEB-endorsed Premium Plus tier covers pre-tests.
PlatformWeb only
ReviewsTrustpilot 2.2/5, but from only 11 reviews, so treat it as anecdotal either way.
Watch outThe basic platform feels dated, true adaptivity is paywalled behind the pricier CENTURY tiers, and the Trustpilot is thin (2.2/5 from only 11 reviews), with recurring login and billing complaints.
Bond is the obvious first stop if AlphaTest's unpublished pricing makes you hesitate: £65 a year, an Oxford University Press pedigree stretching back to 1964, and free sample quizzes you can try in two minutes on the Try It page. The trade-off is a platform that feels its age and a tiny-but-rough Trustpilot. As steady, structured drilling backed by the famous books, it remains the benchmark the others get measured against.
2Pip: 11+ PracticeOUR APP
Best free tier, and the best value ProInside Pip: the Non-Verbal Reasoning skill tree with the 3D Lab (Pro), a 3D nets-and-cubes question, and the Number codes game.
PriceFree for unlimited daily practice. Pip Pro is £7.99 a month or £59 a year (about £4.92 a month) with a 7-day free trial.
What free gets youUnlimited adaptive questions across Maths, English, VR and NVR, five question formats, instant explanations, streaks and leagues, multiple child profiles, no ads, no sign-up, zero data collection. Plus the free printable papers, vocabulary flashcards and the grammar-school catchment checker on this site.
What Pro addsFull timed mock papers in all four subjects with instant marking, answer review and topic breakdowns, the Word Quest vocabulary booster, and 3D and spatial Non-Verbal Reasoning practice.
Subjects & boardsAll four 11+ subjects in the standard GL-style multiple-choice formats, generated fresh daily so children never memorise a fixed bank.
PlatformiOS and Android (App Store and Google Play), plus free practice and printables in any browser.
Honesty cornerPip is newer than the big names, so it does not have years of Trustpilot history yet. That is the full list of caveats.
Where AlphaTest asks you to sign up to see prices, Pip's everyday practice simply costs nothing: unlimited adaptive questions in all four subjects, every day, with no ads, no account and zero data collection (it is built for Google Play's Designed for Families programme). The Non-Verbal Reasoning engine is the bit parents notice first - every figure is generated and machine-verified to have exactly one defensible answer, including the 3D and spatial types most apps skip. When you want exam rehearsal, Pro adds full timed mocks, Word Quest and spatial NVR for less than a single hour of tutoring per year.
ReviewsTrustpilot around 4.4/5 from 1,300+ reviews. Praise for support and results; recurring complaints about price and cancellation friction.
Watch outIt is the most expensive mainstream option by far, and some parents report the real exam felt harder than Atom's questions.
Atom is the category's data giant, and if budget is no object it earns its place: a 90,000+ question bank, adaptive plans that map to your exact target schools, and unlimited mocks on the top tier. Just go in clear-eyed: mock tests require Exam Prep Plus at £671.90 a year billed annually, there is no mobile app, and its Trustpilot praise sits alongside recurring cancellation complaints. Try the 5-day trial during a school week, not a holiday, so you see the weekly plan working.
🆓 TRY THIS TODAY
Reasoning practice that feels like a game
This is the Number codes game, one of dozens of skills inside Pip: crack which digit stands for which letter, then earn XP for speed. Word Quest does the same for vocabulary, the biggest single lever in verbal reasoning, and the 3D Lab (Pro) lets children spin real solids with a finger. Start with the free flashcards on this site, then let the app take over the daily reps.
Price£9.50 a month rolling, or fixed terms: £40 for 6 months (+1 free) and £70 for 12 months (+3 free).
Free7-day full-access trial plus demo tests without payment details.
Subjects & boardsEnglish, Maths, VR, NVR for ages 7 to 11; board-agnostic with GL and CEM-style coverage.
PlatformWeb only
ReviewsNo meaningful Trustpilot footprint; long-standing quiet reputation on parent forums.
Watch outThe interface is plain and there is little gamification, so self-motivated children get the most from it.
BOFA's test-teach-retest loop is the quiet achiever here: every wrong answer is retested later until it sticks, which is exactly the spaced repetition most children need and most platforms skip. At £70 for 15 months it is one of the cheapest credible adaptive options. The interface will not win design awards, and there are no streaks or leagues, so it suits children who do not need gamification to sit down.
5CGP 11+ Online
Best books-plus-online combo on a budgetCGP 11+ Online
Price£7.50 a month or £60 a year (checked on CGP's page this month). Books £6.95 to £16.95, most with free Online Editions.
FreeGenuinely useful free layer: free online 10-minute tests and free downloadable practice papers in all four subjects.
Subjects & boardsAll four subjects, GL-focused, with the famous book range behind it.
PlatformWeb (plus the books)
ReviewsNo product-specific Trustpilot; CGP's book reputation speaks for itself.
Watch outNot adaptive, and there is no mock-exam service or deep analytics - it is honest drilling, not a coach.
CGP's online product is the budget pick with the best free layer: free 10-minute tests and free papers in all four subjects before you spend a penny, then £60 a year if you want unlimited practice. It pairs naturally with the books most families already own. What you do not get is adaptivity, mocks or analytics - CGP is a very good drill, not a coach.
6Exam Papers Plus (+ Pretest Plus)
Best school-specific practice papersExam Papers Plus (+ Pretest Plus)
PricePay per pack: typical 11+ packs £20 to £30 with 2-year access; school and region bundles run to £85+ (Kent) and beyond. Sister site Pretest Plus sells ISEB, CAT4 and Cambridge Select online tests in bundles (the 15-test ISEB bundle saves £257).
FreeSample content only.
Subjects & boardsGL, CEM-style, ISEB, CSSE and named-school packs, with video solutions on many products.
PlatformDownloadable PDFs + online tests via Pretest Plus
ReviewsTrustpilot 4.9/5 from about 1,560 reviews - the strongest score in the category.
Watch outCosts stack up quickly across packs, and PDFs are not adaptive; this is rehearsal material, not daily practice.
When the goal shifts from daily practice to dress rehearsal, Exam Papers Plus is the specialist: school-specific and region-specific packs (their Kent material is the best-known) with video solutions and a 4.9/5 Trustpilot from about 1,560 reviews. Its sister site Pretest Plus covers ISEB, CAT4 and Cambridge Select online tests. Budget carefully: per-pack pricing stacks up faster than any subscription on this list.
7PiAcademy
Best worked solutions per poundPiAcademy
PriceOne-off 12-month packs rather than subscriptions, e.g. the 11+ SPaG and vocabulary pack at £59; marketing quotes pennies per paper.
FreeA large free hub of past papers with answers.
Subjects & boardsBoard-agnostic paper library: 230+ 11+ maths papers and 100+ English papers, all with step-by-step solutions.
PlatformPDF downloads
ReviewsTrustpilot around 5/5 from roughly 100 reviews (always cite the count: it is a small sample).
Watch outStatic PDFs with no marking or adaptivity, and the perpetual was-price discounts make real prices hard to read.
PiAcademy is for families who believe in working through papers with full solutions next to them: hundreds of 11+ papers where every answer is explained step by step, sold as one-off packs rather than subscriptions. It is unbeatable per pound for worked examples. Just know what it is: static PDFs, no marking, no adaptivity, and take the perpetual "was £196" pricing with a pinch of salt.
Side by side
All prices re-checked on the official sites in June 2026; Trustpilot scores include review counts because a 2.2 from 11 reviews and a 4.9 from 1,560 are not the same kind of evidence.
Tool
Price (checked June 2026)
Free
Platform
Trustpilot
Bond Online
£7.50/mo · Premium £20.66 · Plus £28.99
Sample quizzes + free mock
Web
2.2/5 (11 reviews)
Pip: 11+ Practice
Free · Pro £7.99/mo or £59/yr
Everything daily is free; 7-day Pro trial
iOS & Android apps + web tools
New app - no review history yet
Atom Learning
£39.99 to £69.99/mo (annual saves 20%)
5-day trial, no card; free for Pupil Premium
Web
~4.4/5 (1,300+)
BOFA 11+
£9.50/mo · £70/12mo+3 free
7-day trial + demo tests
Web
No profile
CGP 11+ Online
£7.50/mo · £60/yr
Free 10-minute tests + papers
Web + books
n/a (shop-wide)
Exam Papers Plus
Packs £20 to £30; bundles £85+
Samples
PDF + online (Pretest Plus)
4.9/5 (~1,560)
PiAcademy
One-off packs, e.g. £59
Free past-paper hub
PDF
5/5 (~100)
Start free in the next five minutes
Whichever platform you end up choosing, these three things are free right now and useful with any of them.
📄 Free 24-question NVR paper
Exam-difficulty figures with a full worked answer key. No email, no sign-up, just the PDF.
Pip generates fresh adaptive questions every day, free, with no ads and no account.
Questions parents ask
Is AlphaTest legitimate?+
It appears to be a genuine product from a UK-registered company (Algomix Limited, incorporated September 2025) with a working platform and a free diagnostic. Legitimacy is not the question; track record is. It has no independent reviews yet and unpublished pricing, so trying free alternatives first costs you nothing.
What is the cheapest AlphaTest alternative?+
Pip's daily practice is completely free, and the free layer also includes printable papers in all four subjects. Among paid platforms, CGP 11+ Online (£60 a year) and Bond Online (£65 a year) are the cheapest mainstream subscriptions, with BOFA's £70-for-15-months deal close behind.
Which alternative has the best reviews?+
Exam Papers Plus holds a 4.9/5 Trustpilot from about 1,560 reviews, the strongest in the category. Atom Learning scores around 4.4/5 from 1,300+ reviews. Always read the recent one-star reviews too; billing friction is the most common complaint across platforms.
Do any of these have a real mobile app?+
Most 11+ platforms, including Atom, Bond and BOFA, are web-only. Pip is a native app on iOS and Android, built for the way children actually practise: short sessions on a phone or tablet, offline-friendly, with no account needed.
