Khan Academy started in 2008 when Sal Khan began tutoring his cousin remotely and posting short math videos on YouTube. Those videos went viral, and what began as a family favor turned into one of the most influential educational nonprofits in the world. The organization’s mission is simple: provide a free, world-class education for anyone, anywhere.
The platform covers a wide range of subjects — from early math and reading for kids through AP courses, SAT prep, and college-level material. Each topic is broken into bite-sized lessons with practice exercises that adapt to the learner’s level. The mastery-based learning system encourages students to fully understand a concept before moving on.
Khan Academy is entirely free, with no ads and no subscriptions. It’s funded by donations from organizations like the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Google, and individual supporters. This model has allowed the platform to reach over 150 million registered users across 190 countries, with content translated into dozens of languages.
In recent years, Khan Academy has expanded into AI-powered tutoring with Khanmigo, a GPT-based assistant that helps students work through problems step by step. The platform is also widely used by teachers in K-12 classrooms to assign practice work and track student progress through its teacher dashboard tools.
