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Overview

Top Hat provides a comprehensive platform for personalizing course content and enhancing student engagement. The process of syncing large gradebooks can occasionally be slow; nonetheless, its powerful tools for creating interactive assignments and tracking real-time comprehension provide invaluable insights for improving learning outcomes.

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Overall Rating

Based on 5 users reviews

3.8

Rating Distribution

Positive

80%

Neutral

20%

Negative

0%

Starting Price
Custom

Top Hat Specifications

Activity Dashboard

Asynchronous Learning

Activity Tracking

Access Controls/Permissions

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What Is Top Hat?

Top Hat is an active learning platform designed for higher education institutions to combat student disengagement. The software enables educators to transform traditional lectures into dynamic, two-way conversations through the use of interactive polls, quizzes, and discussions. It centralizes key classroom functions by consolidating student response systems, assessment tools, and customizable digital course materials into one cohesive ecosystem. This approach complements existing learning management system (LMS) platforms, making it a comprehensive tool for modern pedagogy.

Top Hat Pricing

The Top Hat cost ranges in the following subscription packages:

For Students:

  • 1 Term (4 months): $33
  • 1 Year (12 months): $53
  • 4 Years (48 months): $96

Institutions Plan: Custom pricing

Request a personalized Top Hat pricing quote for your business.

Disclaimer: The pricing is subject to change.

Top Hat Integrations

The software supports integration with multiple platforms, such as:

Watch a free Top Hat demo to learn more about its integration arrangements.

Who Is Top Hat For?

Top Hat is ideal for educators, students, and administrators within the higher education sector.

Is Top Hat Right For You?

Top Hat is the ideal solution for educators seeking to enhance, not replace, their existing LMS with a powerful student engagement layer. Its standout ability to foster active learning through real-time interaction sets it apart. This focus on pedagogical impact was recognized when it was named the 2025 Courseware Solution Provider of the Year. Trusted by over 750 North American institutions, the platform is a scalable and secure choice for improving student outcomes and transforming the classroom experience.

Still not sure about Top Hat? Contact our support team at (661) 384-7070 for further guidance.

Top Hat Features

This feature provides educators with actionable data on student attendance, participation, and assessment results. The centralized gradebook enables instructors to track comprehension in real-time, identify at-risk students, and adjust their teaching methods to enhance learning outcomes for the entire class.

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Top Hat empowers educators to create or customize interactive digital textbooks and course materials. This tool streamlines the seamless integration of multimedia, case studies, and embedded questions, providing a dynamic and up-to-date alternative to static, expensive physical textbooks.

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The feature saves valuable administrative time with automated attendance tracking. Using a secure 4-digit code and optional geolocation technology, instructors can easily verify student presence in any classroom setting. Attendance data is captured instantly and integrated directly into the course gradebook for analysis and evaluation.

See How It Works

This software enables educators to engage students directly during lectures with a variety of polling and quizzing options. With 14 different question types and auto-grading functionality, it provides students with immediate feedback. It helps instructors gauge class-wide understanding of key concepts on the fly.

See How It Works

Top Hat software supports flexible and secure assessments to protect academic integrity during online and in-person testing. Educators can create assignments with various question types, monitor student activity, and provide immediate feedback to students. At the same time, students can complete the work on their own devices seamlessly.

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Pros And Cons of Top Hat

Pros

  • Effective for tracking attendance

  • Seamless integration with major LMS platforms

  • Boosts in-class student engagement

Cons

  • Geolocation attendance can be inaccurate

  • Occasional quiz response submission lag

Top Hat Reviews

Total 5 reviews

3.8

All reviews are from verified customers

Rating Distribution

5

Stars

20%

4

Stars

60%

3

Stars

0%

2

Stars

20%

1

Stars

0%

Share your experience

JS

Jonnah S.

Small Business, 11-50 employees

4.0
September 2023

Useful Peer Review feature

Pros

Nothing difficult about it right from the start. Onboarding was smooth for me. I've been relying on it for over 2 years now to help students grasp concepts and assess their knowledge through quizzes. The peer review feature has become one of my go-to features especially since it syncs with Canvas and streamlines my grading process.

Cons

The only thing that bothers me is the price point. It's a bit expensive compared to alternatives like clicker.

Rating Distribution

Ease of use

9

Value for money

7

Customer Support

10

Functionality

9

VS

Vee S.

Mid Market, 101-500 employees

5.0
February 2023

Awesome Tool packed with features

Pros

Really simple to join sessions with the class code they give you. The free version comes packed with features that let you actually participate instead of just sitting there. What I like most is how it tracks your progress over time. You can see if your getting better or worse each class which definitely makes you more accountable for your own learning.

Cons

One and only issue I've noticed is that refreshing can be pretty slow sometimes so there's a delay when trying to get the most current information on screen.

Rating Distribution

Ease of use

9

Value for money

9

Customer Support

10

Functionality

9

EP

Eric P.

Mid Market, 101-500 employees

2.0
November 2021

Not Suitable for Math-Heavy Courses

Pros

The gradebook works really well for me. Assigning questions to students who missed class is easy and saves time.

Cons

Top Hat software has a frustrating bug with math questions. Whenever I try to create problems involving mathematics, I get an error saying "Answers cannot contain commas." I've reported this issue to support but they told me fixing it isn't a priority. This makes the platform pretty much useless for anyone teaching math-heavy courses.

Rating Distribution

Ease of use

6

Value for money

3

Customer Support

2

Functionality

5

Frequently Asked Questions

Top Hat integrates with Canvas, Blackboard, D2L Brightspace, Moodle, and Sakai.

Top Hat is primarily available in English.

The typical users of Top Hat features are educators, administrators, and students across the higher education sector.

Top Hat offers support via chat, form submission, FAQs, and a support center.

The Top Hat price ranges across for student plans of 1 Term (4 months) at $33, 1 Year (12 months) at $53, and 4 Years (48 months) at $96, as well as a custom quote for institutional plans. Request a personalized Top Hat pricing quote for your business.

Yes, Top Hat offers a mobile app for both Android and iOS devices.

Yes, Top Hat offers an API.