Comparison

Top Hat vs Brightspace Pulse

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Top Hat

Enhance your learning experience with interactive resources, in-class participation tools, and dynamic digital textbooks. Engage with professors and peers, and test your knowledge with quizzes and polls to improve comprehension and retention.

Highlights
  • Follow lecture slides on your device
  • In-class response system
  • In-app discussions with peers and professors
  • Dynamic, interactive digital textbooks
  • Take polls and quizzes
  • Access graded and non-graded homework
Features
Currently charting
Read full description

Top Hat is the perfect companion app to our comprehensive assessment platform that helps you learn better before, during and after class. Top Hat makes learning fun and engaging (seriously!) and sets you up for success, helping you connect with your professors, your peers and the content you’re learning in and out of the classroom. Here’s what Top Hat offers you: Compelling resources, delivered on your smartphone or laptop: • Follow your prof’s lecture slides on your own device • Contribute in class with an easy-to-use response system that’s always with you • Participate with your profs and peers using in-app discussions Content tailored to your course: • Experience dynamic, interactive textbooks loaded up with images, videos, audio clips and more • Read your digital materials from anywhere and keep them forever Quizzes, tests and polls that improve learning comprehension: • Challenge yourself by taking polls and quizzes on your own devices • Improve your knowledge retention with interactive assessment elements • Check for gaps in your understanding with graded and non-graded homework and short quizzes Thanks for using Top Hat. As you experience the app, we’d love to get your feedback: support@tophat.com or follow us on Instagram, Twitter or Facebook @TopHat

About

Brightspace Pulse

Stay connected with your courses on the go. Visualize upcoming deadlines, manage your time effectively, and receive real-time updates on course activities. Access course content offline and participate in discussions.

Highlights
  • Visualize upcoming dates and deadlines
  • Receive push notifications for course updates
  • Offline access to course content
  • Participate in Activity Feed discussions
  • Seamless browser login to D2L Brightspace
  • Apple Continuity support
Features
Currently charting
Read full description

Stay connected to learning anytime, anywhere with Brightspace Pulse. Brightspace Pulse gives learners and their authorized parents and guardians a convenient way to follow coursework, deadlines, progress, and important updates. Learners can: - Access their course content - View important dates and deadlines across their courses - Manage upcoming and overdue coursework - Receive notifications for Announcements, Grades, Quizzes, Assignments, Activity Feed posts, and more - Access supported course content offline, including video and audio - Participate in Activity Feed discussions - Open Brightspace in a browser to complete additional activities Parents and guardians can: - View upcoming and overdue work, grades, shared Portfolio items, and classroom updates - Receive notifications about quizzes and assignments with upcoming due dates - Follow multiple learners from one account, when supported by their school or organization Features vary by role and by your institution or organization’s Brightspace configuration. An account provided by your school, district, or organization is required. Parent and guardian access must be enabled by the learner’s school or organization. NOTE: iPhone, iPad, and Mac are trademarks of Apple Inc., registered in the United States and other countries.

Screenshots

Top Hat4 screens
Brightspace Pulse4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Brightspace Pulse at 36% against Top Hat's 14%. Brightspace Pulse also leads on rating (4.8 vs 4.6) and ratings volume (263K vs 23K). On price, update cadence, ads and in-app purchases there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Brightspace Pulse holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 4.6. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Brightspace Pulse has 263K ratings behind it against 23K, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 14% of Top Hat's written reviews are positive against 36% of Brightspace Pulse's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Top Hat ships an update fortnightly, Brightspace Pulse every 2 weeks. Both last shipped on September 24, 2026.

Scorecard5 real differences · 6 level
Top Hat versus Brightspace Pulse: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterTop HatBrightspace Pulse
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.6 (23K ratings)4.8 (263K ratings) — better
Positive reviews14.4% of reviews36.1% of reviews — better
Number of ratings23K263K — better
Update frequencyFortnightlyEvery 2 weeks — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFreeFree
Best chart rank#106#31 — better
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS17.015.1 — better
Further details — not scored
Size162 MB50 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperTop Hat MonocleD2L Corporation

Customer experience

Top Hat

All ratings22,776 ratings
Positive92.9%
Neutral3.3%
Negative3.8%
Written reviews195 reviews
Positive14.4%
Neutral8.2%
Negative77.4%

Brightspace Pulse

All ratings263,432 ratings
Positive94.8%
Neutral2.2%
Negative3.0%
Written reviews948 reviews
Positive36.1%
Neutral11.1%
Negative52.8%

User reviews

Top Hat

From 23K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Smooth and intuitive interface
  • 👍 Useful for attendance and in-class quizzes
  • 💡 Potential for interactive learning

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Frequent crashes and bugs
  • 🔋 High battery consumption
  • 💰 Expensive subscription fees
  • 🔒 Privacy concerns with location tracking

Brightspace Pulse

From 263K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Makes taking online courses easier
  • 👍 Easy to access course content
  • 👍 Convenient for studying on the go
  • 🚀 Helpful for staying organized

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Constant log-out issues
  • 🐛 Unreliable notifications and content loading
  • 🔍 Limited functionality compared to website
  • 🔍 Lacks key features like file downloads

Bugs and requests

Top Hat

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Answers not registering correctly
  • Slides not loading properly on mobile devices
  • Inconsistent performance across platforms

Requested features

3 requests
  • Add page numbers and search functionality to ebooks
  • Improve syncing between mobile and web versions
  • Allow more flexible location settings for attendance

Brightspace Pulse

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Frequent log-out problems
  • Inability to load course content
  • Notifications not working as expected
  • Compatibility issues with older devices

Requested features

4 requests
  • Allow file downloads and exports
  • Improve notification reliability
  • Optimize for tablet/iPad use
  • Add more customization options

In-app purchases

None

Top Hat

No in-app purchases

None

Brightspace Pulse

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Top Hat free?
Top Hat is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Brightspace Pulse free?
Brightspace Pulse is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Top Hat or Brightspace Pulse?
Brightspace Pulse is rated higher. Top Hat averages 4.6 out of 5 from 23K ratings, while Brightspace Pulse averages 4.8 from 263K ratings.
Do Top Hat or Brightspace Pulse have ads?
Neither Top Hat nor Brightspace Pulse shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Top Hat or Brightspace Pulse?
Top Hat ships an update fortnightly, and Brightspace Pulse every 2 weeks. Most recently, Top Hat was updated on September 24, 2026 and Brightspace Pulse on September 24, 2026.
Which is more popular, Top Hat or Brightspace Pulse?
Top Hat currently peaks at #106 in the App Store charts, and Brightspace Pulse at #31. Chart position reflects recent download velocity rather than total install base.

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