Top Hat vs Coursicle
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
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.
- 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
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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
Coursicle
This academic planner helps college students organize their coursework. It syncs with major learning platforms, provides timely reminders for assignments and classes, and offers features like professor reviews and backup schedule creation.
- Syncs with Canvas, Blackboard, Moodle
- Assignment and class reminders
- Class seat opening notifications
- Professor reviews
- Schedule building and backup schedules
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Coursicle is an all-in-one academic planner: • Sync and color code assignments from Canvas, Blackboard, Brightspace D2L, Moodle, and more • Get reminders of upcoming classes and about all of your assignments, quizzes, projects, and exams • Get notified when classes have open seats • Read reviews of your professors • Build your schedule and create backup schedules for class registration Millions of students use Coursicle to manage classes, track assignments, and plan ahead. Terms of Use & Privacy Policy: coursicle.com/terms/
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Top Hat at none against Coursicle's 17. Top Hat also leads on ratings volume (23K vs 658). Coursicle's advantage is review sentiment (39% vs 14%) and rating (4.8 vs 4.6). On price, update cadence, ads and chart position 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
Both are free to download. Coursicle sells 6 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month. Top Hat asks for nothing beyond the download.
Coursicle holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 4.6. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Top Hat has 23K ratings behind it against 658, 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 39% of Coursicle's.
Top Hat ships an update fortnightly, Coursicle every 8 days. Both last shipped on September 24, 2026.
| Parameter | Top Hat | Coursicle |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.6 (23K ratings) | 4.8 (658 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 14.4% of reviews | 38.7% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 23K — better | 658 |
| Update frequency | Fortnightly | Every 8 days — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | Free — better | Free with in-app purchases |
| Best chart rank | #147 — better | #149 |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 17.0 | 15.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 162 MB | 33 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Top Hat Monocle | Coursicle, Inc. |
Customer experience
Top Hat
Coursicle
User reviews
Top Hat
From 23K App Store ratingsWhat 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
Coursicle
From 658 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🚀 Helpful for getting into classes
- 🚀 Notifications about class openings
- 👍 Easy to use
- 👍 Great customer service
Room to improve
- 💰 Expensive premium subscription
- 🐛 Delayed or inaccurate notifications
- 🐛 Bugs and glitches
- 🔒 No account system to sync across devices
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
Coursicle
Reported bugs
3 issues- Classes shown as open when they are actually full
- App crashes or freezes when trying to add classes
- Referral system not working as expected
Requested features
4 requests- Ability to track classes for multiple semesters
- More customizable notification settings
- Schedule planning and visualization tools
- Support for summer courses
In-app purchases
Top Hat
No in-app purchases
Coursicle
- Coursicle Premium$4.991 Month
- Coursicle Premium$29.991 Year
- Premium4 variants$4.99
- Premium8 variants$6.99
- Premium2 variants$9.99
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- Coursicle Premium$99.99
