A comparison written by one of the two
Letters & Devotion vs Sonlight
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.
What Sonlight is
Sonlight is a literature-based Christian homeschool curriculum for preschool through 12th grade, built around reading real books aloud together rather than working through textbooks or watching video lessons. A grade-level package arrives as a large box: History, Bible and literature woven into one strand, day-by-day Instructor Guides that script the year for the parent, and separate materials for language arts, spelling, science and math. It has been doing this since 1990, has a large and devoted community of families, and backs every package with a six-month, full-refund guarantee, which is a real thing to have earned over more than three decades.
The pricing difference that actually decides it
Sonlight is a one-time purchase, not a subscription, and it prices by grade level rather than by household. Checked on sonlight.com on 2026-09-09, a full-year All-Subjects Package at the 20-percent package is a large box of real books and it is priced accordingly: it is the most expensive option on this page by a wide margin, and Sonlight does not hide that. Their site lists the current figure per grade and it moves with their sales, so check it there rather than here. The History, Bible and literature strand can sometimes be shared by children of different ages studying together, but math, language arts and spelling are bought again for each child, so a family with two or three children in different grades is very likely paying several times that figure for one school year.
Letters & Devotion 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 Sonlight's current pricing on their own site →When Sonlight is the better choice
- Your family holds a recent, literal creation and wants a science curriculum built from that starting point. Sonlight's own upper-level science is founded on creation-based publishers, and that is a real and defensible choice for a Christian family to make. Table & Testament teaches an old earth and common ancestry instead, and a family that wants the former should buy the former.
- You want the experience of reading real books aloud together as the center of school, not a website or an AI tutor. Sonlight is built entirely around that: History, Bible and literature taught through actual books rather than a screen. Letters & Devotion has no read-aloud component at all.
- You want, or are prepared for, heavy daily involvement in the teaching itself. Sonlight says plainly that its programs run around two hours a day of a parent's time in the elementary and middle years, and that time is treated as the point, not a cost to minimize. Letters & Devotion is built the opposite way, for a parent who needs the teaching itself handled.
- You want a three-decade track record and a real money-back guarantee to lean on. Sonlight offers a full refund up to six months in. Letters & Devotion launched recently and offers 30 days free instead, and if a longer trial matters more to you than the price, that is a fair reason to choose them.
Where Letters & Devotion is different
An old earth and common ancestry, taught as the evidence has it
Sonlight presents multiple Christian views on origins, and its own upper-level science curriculum is built on creation-based publishers teaching a recent, literal creation. Table & Testament teaches an old earth and common ancestry throughout its science courses, the way scientists teach it, and says plainly that faithful Christians read Genesis 1 differently. Both are real positions held by real Christians; a family should pick the curriculum that teaches what it wants its children taught, and this is the question worth checking first.
One price a month, not a box bought again every year
Letters & Devotion is $29 a month for every child in the household, $348 a year, with the first 30 days free. There is no annual repurchase, no per-grade package and no separate charge for math or language arts.
A teacher that works the lesson with the child
Clara sits inside every lesson and responds to the actual wrong answer a child gives, in conversation, without a parent scripting or delivering it. That is a different design from an Instructor's Guide the parent reads and teaches from, and it is built for a parent who cannot give two hours a day.
The whole curriculum readable before you buy anything
All 84 courses are open in full with no account, no card and nothing to purchase: every unit, every skill, every objective, in teaching order. You can read the entire course before deciding, rather than buying a box and finding out.
Start 30 days free
Or read all 84 courses first and compare the actual sequences. That door needs nothing from you at all.
Look inside all 84 courses firstEvery unit, every skill, every objective. No account, no card.or start now
Questions parents ask
Is Letters & Devotion cheaper than Sonlight?
For most families, considerably, and the gap widens with every child. Letters & Devotion is $29 a month for every child in the household, $348 a year no matter how many children you have. A Sonlight All-Subjects Package is bought per child per grade, as a one-time purchase repeated each year, so a family with three children in three grades buys three packages. Their current prices are on sonlight.com and change with their sales, so read them there and do the arithmetic for your own family.
Does Letters & Devotion teach the same view of creation as Sonlight?
No, and this is likely the most important difference on this page. Sonlight presents multiple views but its own upper-level science is built on creation-based publishers teaching a recent, literal creation. Letters & Devotion teaches an old earth and common ancestry, as the evidence has it, and says so plainly rather than around it. Christians differ here in good faith, and a family should choose the curriculum that teaches what they actually want their children taught.
Which one is accredited?
Neither. Sonlight is a curriculum provider, not a school, and does not pursue accreditation; Letters & Devotion is the same. In both cases the parent is the school of record.
Other comparisons
Why there is no price for Sonlight 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.