CuraCourseCuraCourse vs Top Hat
How CuraCourse and Top Hat compare on interactive content, coding, exams, AI, and what students pay.
We wrote this from each company’s public docs. Last checked .
When Top Hat fits
Top Hat makes sense if you rely on live polling, attendance, and in-class engagement, or you want an interactive eText from its catalog.
When CuraCourse fits
Choose CuraCourse if you want to build your own activities that save progress and scores, add autograded code to any lesson, or have AI grade written work against your rubric.
The main differences
Your own interactive activities
Top Hat Pages can embed an outside web page, but we couldn’t find a way to save scores or progress from it. In CuraCourse, you build HTML, CSS, and JavaScript activities inside a lesson, or describe one to CuraAI, and each student’s progress and score is saved.
Coding practice
Top Hat has autograded coding questions in select Interactive OpenStax titles. In CuraCourse, any instructor can add runnable code and output checks to their own lessons. Paid plans add cloud-based labs.
Each cell links to its guide or source.
| What you need to do | CuraCourse | Top Hat |
|---|---|---|
| Interactive lessons | ||
| Author your own material Write content and organize it for your class. | Available Write lessons with explanations, video, equations, and activities in one editor. Guide | Available Write your own material in Top Hat Pages, or adopt and adapt an interactive eText. Source |
| Questions alongside teaching material Ask questions while students learn a concept. | Available Multiple choice, fill-in-the-blank, open response, sorting, and ordering, right after your explanation. Guide | Available Pages and eTexts can include questions and polls next to the reading. Source |
| Custom Activities | ||
| Build your own interactive activity Put a simulation or tool you made in HTML, CSS, and JavaScript inside a lesson, with saved progress and scores. | Available Build it yourself or with CuraAI. It saves each student’s progress and score. Guide | Not in their docs Pages can embed an outside web page. We couldn’t find a way to save scores from it. Docs checked |
| Exams | ||
| Timed exams Give students a set amount of time. | Beta Set a time limit, how students move through questions, and when grades are released. Guide | Available Tests can have time limits and scheduled windows, with optional monitoring. Source |
| IDE | ||
| Write and run code in the browser Students code without installing anything. | Available Code exercises run inside the lesson on every plan. Cloud-based labs need Pro, or Core with the labs add-on. Guide | Select titles Students write and run code in coding questions, listed for select Interactive OpenStax titles. Source |
| Automatic code checks Grade code against tests you set. | Available Check student programs against the output you expect, on every plan. Guide | Select titles Coding questions check student output against test cases, in select titles. Source |
| Grading | ||
| Manual scoring and feedback Grade work yourself and leave comments. | Available Grade with your rubric, and move through submissions quickly with Lightning Grader. Guide | Available Review and grade open-ended work by hand; most other question types grade automatically. Source |
| AI rubric grading AI scores work against your rubric and gives feedback. | Available Write the rubric, then review the AI’s scores and feedback. On every plan, and free Starter courses include a few AI credits. Guide | Not in their docs AI summaries of video responses are documented. We couldn’t find AI rubric scoring. Docs checked |
| AI | ||
| AI help you control Decide how much AI helps students. | Available Turn on the AI tutor per lesson and choose how much it helps. Off by default. Guide | Available Ace answers student questions from course materials; instructors can turn it off. Source |
| Adoption & cost | ||
| LMS launch and grade sync Students open work from your LMS, and grades go back automatically. | Available LTI 1.3 with grade passback. Works with Canvas, Moodle, Blackboard Ultra, Brightspace, Schoology, and more. Guide | Available LTI 1.3 with grade sync for Canvas and D2L; LTI 1.1 for Blackboard, Moodle, and Sakai. Source |
| How access is priced What a course costs, including paid features and usage. | Free to start Free for instructors. Students pay $0, $20, or $45 per course, or the school pays. Guide | Student or school Students pay $35 a term, $58 a year, or $96 for four years, more with an eText. Schools get quotes. Source |
“Available” means it’s documented, though it may need a certain plan. “Not in their docs” means we couldn’t find it in the linked pages. It may still exist.
Switching from Top Hat
- Copy the text and questions you wrote yourself. Licensed eText content stays in Top Hat.
- Rebuild your polls and questions in a lesson, and recreate coding questions with their test cases.
- Export your Top Hat gradebook first, then connect CuraCourse to your LMS so new grades sync back.
Sources
We checked these pages in October 2026. Some features depend on the plan or book, so ask Top Hat about your setup. If something is out of date, tell us and we’ll fix it.
- Top Hat: Pages
- Top Hat: Pages embed toolbar (UCA copy)
- Top Hat: Tests guide (UCA copy)
- Top Hat: Coding assessments
- Top Hat: Assessments
- Top Hat: What’s new
- Top Hat: Ace AI assistant
- Top Hat: LMS integrations
- Top Hat: Pricing
CuraCourse entries in the table link to our own guides.