Comparison

Top Hat vs GradGPS

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
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

GradGPS

This app analyzes your college transcript to create a personalized graduation plan. It identifies completed, in-progress, and remaining courses, then maps them out semester by semester, considering prerequisites and credit loads. Users can add minors, certificates, and record course substitutions for a comprehensive academic roadmap.

Highlights
  • Transcript analysis
  • Personalized graduation plan
  • Semester-by-semester scheduling
  • Prerequisite tracking
  • Minors and certificates integration
  • Course substitution recording
  • Course details lookup
Features
Read full description

GradGPS turns a college transcript into a plan for graduating. Upload your unofficial transcript and choose your major. GradGPS reads what you've already taken, checks it against every requirement in your program, and shows what's done, what's in progress, and what's left. Then it lays the remaining classes out semester by semester - in prerequisite order, with a realistic credit load each term, and following your program's published suggested plan where one exists. The home screen shows the classes to register for next, so you know what to sign up for without opening the full plan. You can declare up to three minors or certificates and see the extra coursework folded into the same timeline. For a general education slot or an elective, a picker lists the courses that actually count so you can choose one instead of leaving a placeholder. If your department approved a course substitution, you can record it and the plan updates. And if you add or drop a class for the term you're registered in, you can change it without re-uploading your transcript. Tap any course to see its title, credit value, and official description. GradGPS currently supports degree programs, minors, and certificates at Penn State's University Park campus. More schools are being added. GradGPS is an independent project and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by any university. Requirement data comes from publicly published course bulletins. It's a planning tool, not academic advising - confirm with your adviser before you register. There are no ads and no analytics. You can delete your transcript, or your entire account, from the Account screen at any time. Terms: gradgps.com/terms Privacy: gradgps.com/privacy Support: gradgps.com/support

Screenshots

Top Hat4 screens
GradGPS4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: GradGPS at 5.0 against Top Hat's 4.6. GradGPS also leads on update cadence (every 3 days vs every 2 weeks) and iOS requirement (15.1 vs 17.0). Top Hat's advantage is ratings volume (23K vs 2). 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

GradGPS holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.6. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Top Hat has 23K ratings behind it against 2, so its average is the more settled of the two.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Top Hat ships an update every 2 weeks, GradGPS every 3 days. The most recent releases landed on October 30, 2026 and October 25, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
Top Hat versus GradGPS: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterTop HatGradGPS
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.6 (23K ratings)5.0 (2 ratings) — better
Positive reviews15.1% of reviews—
Number of ratings23K — better2
Update frequencyEvery 2 weeksEvery 3 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFreeFree
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPod
Requires iOS17.015.1 — better
Further details — not scored
Size152 MB27 MB
Age rating4+12+
DeveloperTop Hat MonocleMATTHEW DENNIS KROKOSZ JR

Customer experience

Top Hat

All ratings23,095 ratings
Positive93.0%
Neutral3.2%
Negative3.8%
Written reviews199 reviews
Positive15.1%
Neutral8.5%
Negative76.4%

GradGPS

All ratings2 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

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

GradGPS

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

None

Top Hat

No in-app purchases

None

GradGPS

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Top Hat free?
Top Hat is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is GradGPS free?
GradGPS is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Top Hat or GradGPS?
GradGPS is rated higher. Top Hat averages 4.6 out of 5 from 23K ratings, while GradGPS averages 5.0 from 2 ratings.
Do Top Hat or GradGPS have ads?
Neither Top Hat nor GradGPS shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Top Hat or GradGPS?
Top Hat ships an update every 2 weeks, and GradGPS every 3 days. Most recently, Top Hat was updated on October 30, 2026 and GradGPS on October 25, 2026.

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