Comparison

Top Hat vs BadgerSAFE

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

BadgerSAFE

This official safety application provides University of Wisconsin-Madison students and staff with critical safety alerts and instant access to campus security resources. It offers features like emergency contacts, real-time location sharing with friends, and direct tip reporting to campus security.

Highlights
  • Emergency Contacts
  • Friend Walk location sharing
  • Tip Reporting to security
  • Safety Toolbox
  • Campus Maps
  • Offline Emergency Procedures
  • Support Resources access
  • Safety Notifications
Features
Read full description

BadgerSAFE is the official safety app of the University of Wisconsin-Madison. It is the only app that integrates with the University of Wisconsin-Madison's safety and security systems. The app will send you important safety alerts and provide instant access to campus safety resources. BadgerSAFE features include: - Emergency Contacts: Contact the correct services for the University of Wisconsin-Madison area in case of an emergency or a non-emergency concern - Friend Walk: Send your location to a friend through email or SMS on your device. Once the friend accepts the Friend Walk request, the user picks their destination and their friend tracks their location in real time; they can keep an eye on them to make sure they make it safely to their destination. - Tip Reporting: Multiple ways to report a safety concern directly to University of Wisconsin-Madison security. - Safety Toolbox: Enhance your safety with the set of tools provided in one convenient app. - Campus Maps: Navigate around the University of Wisconsin-Madison area. - Emergency Procedures: Campus emergency documentation that can prepare you for disasters or emergencies. This can be accessed even when users aren’t connected to Wi-Fi or cellular data. - Support Resources: Access support resources in one convenient app to enjoy a successful experience at University of Wisconsin-Madison. - Safety Notifications: Receive instant notifications and instructions from University of Wisconsin-Madison safety when on-campus emergencies occur. Download today to ensure you’re prepared in the event of an emergency.

Screenshots

Top Hat4 screens
BadgerSAFE4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Top Hat at 4.6 against BadgerSAFE's 3.6. Top Hat also leads on update cadence (fortnightly vs every 14 months) and ratings volume (23K vs 14). BadgerSAFE's advantage is iOS requirement (15.6 vs 17.0). On price, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model 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

Top Hat holds the better App Store score, 4.6 against 3.6. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Top Hat has 23K ratings behind it against 14, so its average is the more settled of the two.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Top Hat ships an update fortnightly, BadgerSAFE every 14 months. The most recent releases landed on September 24, 2026 and September 9, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 6 level
Top Hat versus BadgerSAFE: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterTop HatBadgerSAFE
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.6 (23K ratings) — better3.6 (14 ratings)
Positive reviews14.4% of reviews
Number of ratings23K — better14
Update frequencyFortnightly — betterEvery 14 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFreeFree
Best chart rank#147 — better
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS17.015.6 — better
Further details — not scored
Size162 MB34 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperTop Hat MonocleUniversity of Wisconsin-Madison

Customer experience

Top Hat

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

BadgerSAFE

All ratings14 ratings
Positive64.3%
Neutral0.0%
Negative35.7%

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

BadgerSAFE

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

None

Top Hat

No in-app purchases

None

BadgerSAFE

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Top Hat free?
Top Hat is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is BadgerSAFE free?
BadgerSAFE is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Top Hat or BadgerSAFE?
Top Hat is rated higher. Top Hat averages 4.6 out of 5 from 23K ratings, while BadgerSAFE averages 3.6 from 14 ratings.
Do Top Hat or BadgerSAFE have ads?
Neither Top Hat nor BadgerSAFE shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Top Hat or BadgerSAFE?
Top Hat ships an update fortnightly, and BadgerSAFE every 14 months. Most recently, Top Hat was updated on September 24, 2026 and BadgerSAFE on September 9, 2026.

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