Nearpod review (2026): is the free plan enough?
Interactive K-12 lessons with built-in questions and activities
Black Friday: is there a Nearpod sale?
Nearpod report card
Fair · out of 4.0 · graded Nov 12, 2026
Best for interactive lessons for a classroom
Nearpod turns slides into lessons with polls, quizzes and drawing for students on their own devices. Silver is free for 40 students a lesson and 300 MB. Gold is $159 a year, and co-teaching, LMS links and student accounts sit on school and district licences that are quoted.
Who Nearpod is for
- Fits if you teach a class of up to 40 and want to see every student's answer live
- Works for schools that buy a district licence and want LMS rostering
Who Nearpod is not for
- Tight if you stay free: 300 MB and 40 students a lesson, and Gold lifts that only to 75
- Pricey if you want AI Create, the Google Slides add-on or sub plans, as that is Gold at $159 a year
- Skip it if you need co-teaching, student accounts or LMS links, as those are school and district licences with no public price
- Watch out: Nearpod Math and Social Studies are listed as school and district programs
Why Nearpod gets a 2.4
Five grades, each with its reason. The GPA is their average: an A is 4 points, an F is none.
- CValue for moneyGold is $159 a year, about $13 a month, and Platinum is $397 a year. Schools get a quote.
- BFree plan and trialSilver is free for good, with 20+ formative question types, 40 students a lesson and 300 MB of storage. One teacher can live on that, until a class goes over 40.
- CFeaturesInteractive lessons, a library, file import and real-time results. Co-teaching, live annotation, student accounts and LMS links are on school licences.
- CEase of useNo store rating on record. Teachers build or adapt lessons from slides, and rosters need school set-up.
- BPlatforms and integrationsWeb, iOS and Android, with Google Slides, PowerPoint, YouTube and LMS links. No desktop app is listed.
What these grades rest on. Graded from this listing, whose facts were read from Nearpod's own pages on 12 November 2026. Not based on using the product, and shorter than our full reviews. How we review and grade.
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<a href="https://toolgpa.com/tools/nearpod#review"><img src="https://toolgpa.com/badge/nearpod.svg" alt="Nearpod: 2.4 GPA on ToolGPA" width="196" height="56"></a>Where Nearpod stands among presentation tools
Nearpod's GPA of 2.4 is higher than 27 of the 51 other presentation tools we grade, and level with 9.
It stands best on free plan and trial (B, above 35 of 51) and worst on ease of use (C, above 3).
Its paid plans start at $13.25 a month when paid by the year, against a middle price of $10 for the category: 27 of the 37 others that charge start lower.
On features, ease of use and platforms it scores 2.3 out of 4. 9 tools score higher and cost less.
Each grade against the category
Every bar is all 52 presentation tools we grade, cut by the letter each got. Nearpod’s own letter is outlined.
- CValue for moneyAbove 16 of 51, level with 19
- BFree plan and trialAbove 35 of 51, level with 8
- CFeaturesAbove 6 of 51, level with 33
- CEase of useAbove 3 of 51, level with 38
- BPlatforms and integrationsAbove 20 of 51, level with 27
Price against what you get
Each dot is one of 42 presentation tools. Further left costs less, and higher up scores better on features, ease of use and platforms. Point at a dot to see which tool it is.
Features, ease of use and platforms, averaged
What paid plans start at, a month (each step along is roughly double) →
- The best score at each price
- Has a free plan
- No free plan
Keep Nearpod, or make your own?
Keep it
Nothing Nearpod does is plain enough to make in a weekend. The 4 things listed below take a company.
It costs $159 a year.
What you could not
- A slide editor.
- A real app for iOS and Android. Something home-made would be a web page.
- Several people working in it at the same moment.
- AI features, unless you pay a model provider for each request yourself.
What this rests on. Nearpod’s listing: what it does, where it runs, what it plugs into and what it costs. It is a judgement about the kind of software this is. We have not built a replacement for it, and making your own means looking after it too. How we decide, and every tool’s verdict.
What is Nearpod?
Nearpod is a K-12 teaching platform for building and running interactive lessons, videos and activities with built-in formative assessments. Lessons run live or at the students' own pace, and a library of ready-made lessons is included. Individual teachers can start free and pay for more storage and student seats, while schools and districts are quoted a license. Nearpod has been part of Renaissance Learning since 2021.
Worth knowing
- Individual plans cap how many students can join: 40 on Silver, 75 on Gold and 90 on Platinum.
- Silver's 300 MB of storage also limits how much of the library a teacher can save.
- Co-teaching, live annotation, student accounts, LMS and LTI integrations are on school and district licenses, which are quoted.
- Nearpod Math and Nearpod Social Studies programs are listed as school and district features.
Key features
- Interactive lessons
- Lessons, videos and activities combine slides with 20+ formative assessment types and can be run live or student-paced.
- Nearpod Library
- A library of standards-aligned lessons, activities and interactive videos, said to be made with 70+ publishers. Free and individual plans can save items up to the storage limit.
- Import your own files
- Existing PowerPoint, PDF and Google Slides files can be uploaded and turned into interactive lessons.
- AI Create
- Generates multiple-choice questions on Gold and above, and activities and lessons on school and district licenses.
- Real-time insight
- Teachers see live responses and get post-session reports. Schools get admin reporting dashboards.
- District tools
- School and district licenses add co-teaching, shared libraries, student accounts and LMS, LTI and rostering integrations.
Nearpod pricing
As of Nov 12, 2026, Nearpod has a free plan, and paid plans start at $159 per year (Gold, individual educators).
- Starts at
- $159 per year (Gold, individual educators)
- Free plan
- Silver is free: 300 MB of storage and up to 40 students joining each lesson, with the core features.
- Free trial
- None listed
| Plan | Price | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| Silver | $0 | 300 MB storage and 40 student joins per lesson, with 20+ formative assessment types and access to the Nearpod Library up to the storage limit. |
| Gold | $159per year, for individual educators | Adds the AI Create question generator, Google Slides add-on, drag and drop, sub plans, 1 GB storage and 75 student joins per lesson. |
| Platinum | $397per year, for individual educators | Everything in Gold plus student notes, 5 GB storage and 90 student joins per lesson. |
| Schools & districts | Custom | Unlimited storage, 250 student joins per lesson, co-teaching, LMS and rostering integrations, admin dashboards and a customer success manager. Request a quote. |
Read from nearpod.com on Nov 12, 2026. Prices change, so confirm with Nearpod before you buy.
How people rate the Nearpod app
3.1
out of 5 for the iPhone and iPad app
- 5 stars41%
- 4 stars9%
- 3 stars6%
- 2 stars6%
- 1 star38%
1,893 ratings on the App Store in the United States, read Nov 13, 2026. It rates the app, not everything the product does. See the listing
Works with
- Google Slides
- PowerPoint
- LMS and LTI
- YouTube
Nearpod alternatives
- Nearpod vs Pear Deck
Free plan · from $149/yr
- Nearpod vs Mentimeter
Free plan · from €14/mo
- Nearpod vs Poll Everywhere
Free plan · from $10/mo
- Nearpod vs AhaSlides
Free plan · from $7.95/mo
- Nearpod vs Wooclap
Free plan · from $13/mo
Common questions
Does Nearpod have a Windows app?
No Windows app was listed when its pages were read on Nov 12, 2026. Nearpod is listed for Web, iOS and Android.
Does Nearpod have a macOS app?
No macOS app was listed when its pages were read on Nov 12, 2026. Nearpod is listed for Web, iOS and Android.
Is Nearpod open source?
Nearpod is not described as open source on its own site, as read on Nov 12, 2026.
Sources for this page
The prices, plans, platforms and features above were read from these pages on Nov 12, 2026. What people say is linked where it appears.