We make Learnify, so read this as one side of the argument. There is no single best app: each one below is the best at a different job. Every price and detail comes from the app's own pages, checked in September 2026.
| App | Best for | Students need devices? | Free for teachers? | Paid plans |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ClassDojo | Points and parent photos, K to 5 | For the student and parent apps | Yes | Plus for families |
| Google Classroom | Assignments and grading | Yes | No cost for qualified schools | Education Plus for schools |
| Classroomscreen | A widget board for the lesson | No, polls are optional | Yes, 26 widgets | Pro $3 a month, billed yearly |
| Learnify | Points, characters and class games | No | Yes, one class of 30 | Plus $6.99, Pro $9.99 a month |
| Remind | Texting families | No, families use phones | Yes, Remind Chat | Hub for schools |
| Bloomz | Messaging families | No, families use phones | The district pays | From $5 per student a year |
| LiveSchool | School-wide points | No | Free pilot | From $49 per staff a year |
| PBIS Rewards | School-wide PBIS | No | No | Price on quote |
| Classcraft | A different HMH product now | Ask HMH | No, closed to individuals | Through HMH |
Best for: Points and parent photos in primary school
Teachers give points, post class photos and message families. Students have their own accounts for portfolios, and parents follow along in the app.
Free for teachers. ClassDojo Plus is an optional paid subscription for families; class points, messaging and the class story stay free.
Best for: Assignments, class materials and grading
The place to hand out work, collect it and give feedback, tied into Google Docs, Slides and Drive.
Part of Google Workspace for Education. The Fundamentals edition is available without cost for qualified schools. Students work on their own devices.
Best for: A free widget board for the lesson
Timers, a sound level meter, a random name picker, a group maker, polls, text and drawing on one screen at the front of the room.
Basic is free with all 26 widgets. Pro is $3 a month, billed yearly. Students need nothing for the widgets and can vote in polls from their own devices.
Best for: Points, characters and whole-class games on one screen
You give points for reasons you set, and every student's character levels up and evolves through ten stages a rank. The same points power boss battles, squad seasons, races and quiz games the whole class plays on the class screen.
We make it. Free for one class of up to 30 students; Plus is $6.99 a month and Pro $9.99 a month. No student accounts or devices, and the teacher can switch off the top-3 badges and hide last names. It does not message parents; caregivers can follow progress.
Best for: Texting families and students
Two-way messages to a class or group without sharing personal phone numbers, with translation into more than 90 languages.
Remind Chat is free for teachers, coaches and activity leaders. Remind Hub is the paid plan for schools.
Best for: Messaging families across a school or district
School-to-home messaging with translation into more than 250 languages, bought by the school or district.
Free to teachers and families because the school or district pays: tiers are priced per student, with Premium from $5 per student a year.
Best for: A school-wide points and rewards system
Behavior points across a whole school, a paperless rewards store, house points and a hall pass, with parent access.
Priced per staff member, not per student: Starter $49 and Premium $99 per staff member a year, and a free pilot for one school year.
Best for: Schools running PBIS
A school-wide positive behavior system built around PBIS, with rewards and district reporting.
Sold to schools and districts. The price comes with a quote.
Best for: Schools that buy from HMH
The role-playing classroom platform many teachers remember.
The original Classcraft closed to individual teachers in June 2024, and the name now belongs to a different HMH product.
If it comes out of your own pocket, start with the free plans: ClassDojo, Classroomscreen, Remind Chat and Learnify all have one. Bloomz, LiveSchool and PBIS Rewards are bought by a school or a district.
Google Classroom needs them. ClassDojo uses them for student accounts and portfolios. Classroomscreen and Learnify run from the teacher's screen, so a class with no devices loses nothing.
Messaging families points to Remind or Bloomz. Handing out work points to Google Classroom. Points that turn into class games point to Learnify. Many teachers use two: one for families and one for the class.
A system the whole school shares, with one rubric and one rewards store, is what LiveSchool and PBIS Rewards are built for. For one teacher's class, those are more than you need.
It depends on the job. ClassDojo is free for teachers and strongest for points and parent photos in primary school. Classroomscreen's free plan has all 26 widgets. Learnify is free for one class of up to 30 students, with points, characters and class games.
Classroomscreen and Learnify run from the teacher's laptop on the class screen. Remind and Bloomz reach families on their own phones, so students need nothing either.
Classcraft closed to individual teachers in June 2024. Learnify is the nearest thing in shape: persistent characters, a skill tree, squads and boss fights, played on one screen. The full comparison.
Free for one class of up to 30 students. Four minutes to set up, and your register is the only thing you bring.