A focused Google Classroom alternative for live teaching
If you want to teach live from your PDFs on the board and run practice with instant feedback, rather than only hand out files, ClassKite is an alternative to Google Classroom built around the lesson.
Teaching from your PDFs and running practice are free on Teacher Basic. The Live Student Grid and the reports are part of class analytics, included with Teacher Plus and the School plan.
The problem
Google Classroom is good at handing out files, collecting work and grading it. What happens during the lesson gets less support: drawing on a PDF is limited to its mobile apps. It is not designed around teaching from the board while students follow on their own screens, or watching who gets stuck as they answer.
Built for what happens during the lesson
ClassKite is a digital classroom platform centred on teaching and checking understanding in the moment. Organise your material by class, topic and section; teach live on the board with PDF annotation; push a practice and watch the Live Student Grid fill in; then review per-student reports. Students join free using a join code, so there's nothing extra to license or manage.
How it works
- 1
Set up your classes
Create a class, add topics and sections, and share the join code with your students.
- 2
Teach live on the board
Open your PDFs and annotate as you explain. Students who open the same PDF follow the page you're on.
- 3
Check understanding instantly
Push a practice; answers are auto-marked and the live grid shows who's stuck.
- 4
Review and reteach
Per-session and per-student reports show what to revisit next lesson.
In the classroom
A teacher who used to post worksheets in Google Classroom now opens the same PDF in ClassKite, annotates it live and sends a five-question check. Before the lesson ends, the teacher can see who needs another example.
An illustrative example of how a lesson can run, not a customer case study.
What you get
Teach live from the board
Annotate and explain on the classroom display. Students can watch your writing appear on their own devices.
Teach from your own PDFs
Upload the PDFs you already use (export slides to PDF first) and mark them up live. There's nothing to rebuild.
Instant-feedback practice
Auto-marked questions during the lesson, so you know who understood before the bell.
Real-time progress
The Live Student Grid shows who's in progress, done or struggling as it happens.
Free for students
Students join with a code on a free account of their own. There are no per-student charges.
Classroom management built in
Classes, topics, sections and rosters live in one place alongside your teaching.
Frequently asked questions
Is ClassKite a replacement for Google Classroom?
It depends what you need. ClassKite is built for live teaching and instant-feedback practice rather than file distribution and assignment hand-in. Many teachers use it as their main tool for lessons and practice; some run it alongside another tool for file storage.
Do students need accounts or paid logins?
Students need a free ClassKite account: they create it when they join your class with its code, or you import a class list and ClassKite creates the accounts. Students never pay, and there are no per-student charges.
When is Google Classroom the better fit?
When what you need is assignment hand-in, grading and returning work, and keeping files in Google Drive. Classroom is an LMS, and it is included in the free Google Workspace for Education Fundamentals for eligible schools. ClassKite does not connect to Google Classroom: it does not import Classroom rosters or send grades back to it, so teachers who use both keep them side by side. (Compared with Google's own help pages, checked 15 October 2026.)
Can I use my existing PDFs and slides?
Yes. Upload your PDFs and teach from them. Slide decks work too once you export them to PDF.
What does ClassKite do that a file-sharing classroom doesn't?
Live PDF annotation streamed to student screens, follow-me page sync, auto-marked practice with instant feedback, and a real-time grid of who's progressing or struggling.
Try ClassKite with your class
Start free as a teacher, or see how it rolls out across a whole school.
Teacher Basic is free, with no payment details needed