Slido vs Top Hat

Slido9.3Visit Top Hat8.6Visit

Higher score Slido #1 in Student Response Systems 9.3/10 Free plan Free plan✓ 3 of 4 features Visit Slido

vs

Top Hat #7 in Student Response Systems 8.6/10 5-day trial Free trial✓ 0 of 4 features Visit Top Hat

• Slido fits best

  Straightforward polling and Q&A events

• Top Hat fits best

  Higher education seeking an all-in-one classroom system

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Side by side

Feature	Slido 9.3/10 Visit ↗	Top Hat 8.6/10 Visit ↗
At a glance
Editor score	9.3	8.6
Ranking	#1 in Student Response Systems	#7 in Student Response Systems
Best for	Straightforward polling and Q&A events	Higher education seeking an all-in-one classroom system
Pricing model	Free plan + paid	Paid
Starting price	—	$35/unit/mo
Free plan	✓ (best)	Not checked yet
Free trial	—	5 days
Deployment	Cloud, Mobile	Cloud, Mobile
Platforms	Web	Web, iOS, Android
Integrations	9 integrations	5 integrations
Features Slido 3/4 · Top Hat 0/4
Live polling	✓ (best)	Not checked yet
Quiz mode	✓ (best)	Not checked yet
Anonymous responses	✓ (best)	Not checked yet
LMS integration	Not checked yet	Not checked yet
Specs
Question types	Not checked yet	Not checked yet
Class size limit	Not checked yet	Not checked yet
Our review
Pros	Free plan includes polls, Q&A, quizzes, voting, analytics and exports Supports PowerPoint, Google Slides, Webex, Teams and Zoom Participants can respond without downloads or logins	Combines polls, quizzes, discussions, attendance, assignments and gradebook Supports Canvas, Blackboard, Brightspace, Moodle and Sakai Works across web, iOS and Android with AI-powered study tools
Cons	Free-plan audience limit is 200 Platform coverage is narrower than some alternatives Paid tiers and pricing are not detailed here	Paid access starts at $35 per 4-month term Department and institution-wide pricing is custom Its broad feature set may exceed polling-only needs
Our verdict	Slido is a web-based audience response platform for meetings, training sessions, webinars, presentations and events. Hosts can run live polls, surveys, quizzes and Q&A sessions while participants respond from their devices without… Read the review →	Top Hat is an interactive learning platform for college and university educators who want more than live polling. Instructors can run polls and quizzes, present interactive slides, moderate discussions, collect anonymous responses,… Read the review →

Strengths and trade-offs

• Slido — where it wins

  • Free plan includes polls, Q&A, quizzes, voting, analytics and exports
  • Supports PowerPoint, Google Slides, Webex, Teams and Zoom
  • Participants can respond without downloads or logins

  Where it doesn't

  • Free-plan audience limit is 200
  • Platform coverage is narrower than some alternatives
  • Paid tiers and pricing are not detailed here

• Top Hat — where it wins

  • Combines polls, quizzes, discussions, attendance, assignments and gradebook
  • Supports Canvas, Blackboard, Brightspace, Moodle and Sakai
  • Works across web, iOS and Android with AI-powered study tools

  Where it doesn't

  • Paid access starts at $35 per 4-month term
  • Department and institution-wide pricing is custom
  • Its broad feature set may exceed polling-only needs

• Slido9.3/10 · Free plan

  Straightforward live polling, Q&A and quizzes with a free plan and broad presentation integrations.

  Visit SlidoFull verdict →
• Top Hat8.6/10 · 5-day trial

  A broad classroom system that goes beyond polling, with paid student access.

  Visit Top HatFull verdict →