TrustRadius: an HG Insights company

Save this comparison

Save this comparison

Add Product

Recommended Comparisons

    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    Mongoose

    Score9 out of 10
    N/AN/A

    $2,500

    per year

    Top Hat

    Score8 out of 10
    N/ATop Hat supports student engagement for higher education. Grounded in learning science, the platform and content solutions help educators create interactive, personalized learning experiences with the goal of boosting student engagement, belonging, and success.

    $35

    per semester per student

    Pricing
    MongooseTop Hat
    Editions & Modules
    Basic
    $2,500
    per year
    1 term
    $35
    per semester per student
    1 year
    $58
    per year per student
    4 years
    $96
    48 months per student
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    MongooseTop Hat
    Free Trial
    YesYes
    Free/Freemium Version
    NoNo
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    NoNo
    Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
    Additional Details——
    More Pricing Information
    User Ratings
    MongooseTop Hat
    Likelihood to Recommend
    6.0
    (1 ratings)
    8.0
    (3 ratings)
    Support Rating
    -
    (0 ratings)
    9.5
    (2 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    MongooseTop Hat
    Likelihood to Recommend
    Mongoose
    At our college, the admissions team also uses Cadence. I think it's particularly useful for back-and-forth interactions in real time (or through an AI chatbot) My department focuses only on donors and alums. These communications are much less likely to be back-and-forth. They're more informational in nature which makes some of the features un-necessary. It's easy for a recipient to opt-out, but not easy to set up scenarios where they can opt out of specific types of texts - all-or-nothing is more likely and it's difficult for them to re-subscribe once they've opted out.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Top Hat
    Top Hat is well suited for courses where students are comfortable with utilizing online learning management system as part of their course contents. It is more appropriate to use Top Hat as a stand-alone learning management system or if the school happens to have it integrated to the system. It is not recommended to use Top Hat and another platform or system for students as this would be too much for students.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Pros
    Mongoose
    • easy to set up segments in order to reach certain portions of the audience
    • easy opt-out for recipients
    • simple reporting after texts are sent
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Top Hat
    • I use Top Hat as a discussion tool where the students can write what they have learned or what they haven't.
    • Exams are taken in class and are totally paperless with grades available immediately.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Cons
    Mongoose
    • There is built-in connection with Raiser's Edge NXT but the field mapping is overly complicated and setting it up requires action both on customer end and Cadence end
    • Cannot update a bad email address without deleting the record and re-importing it
    • Cannot simply add records - must be done through import from a spreadsheet
    • assigning a record to a user can only be done during initial import
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Top Hat
    • If students are paying, it's a confusing onboarding process for students and instructors and could be better streamlined.
    • The Android app not as well polished as iOS.
    • A better, free, or ad-supported model might be more palpable to students.
    • Integration directly with PowerPoint -- not requiring instructors to upload their slides to Top Hat.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Support Rating
    Mongoose
    No answers on this topic
    Top Hat
    They are very helpful and fast to resolve any issues
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Alternatives Considered
    Mongoose
    We are currently evaluating Mailchimp's SMS option to see if the price for adding that feature is less than what we are paying for Cadence. Currently we are ONLY using Mailchimp for email communications, but the interface is much more user friendly. We have not yet had a chance to demo the SMS feature to compare it to Cadence, but we plan to check it out.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Top Hat
    Top Hat generally stacks up pretty well against other industry leading or popular learning management systems. Top Hat is comparable to learning management systems used in most educational institutions. The features such as allowing the educator to create an interactive experience by leveraging tools such as quizzes and polls is comparable. Data on student performance is also a helpful feature that is comparable to that of other similar learning management systems.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Return on Investment
    Mongoose
    • Too early (one year) to have hard ROI info, but we have had constituents who have indicated a preference for text as their primary means of interacting with our organization.
    • Even with the integration with Raiser's Edge NXT it takes time to update the database with opt-outs.
    • We have fewer constituents with mobile numbers than those with email addresses. We will have to appeal to our constituents to share mobile numbers with us
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Top Hat
    • One of the better ways to track attendance in a mostly secure and automated way.
    • Promotes more active learning, especially in large classrooms.
    • Unpopular if students have to pay.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    ScreenShots