BigFuture vs Shiksha

BigFuture is a free resource for students exploring careers, planning for college, and considering how to pay for education after high school. Its Career Quiz suggests 30 personalized career options, and more than 1,000 profiles describe salary, education, and job outlook. Students can specify preferences such as location, cost, and majors to get a personalized college list, then filter searches by criteria including campus life and save schools. Tools cover college costs and financial aid, with scholarship resources as well. Students can qualify for $40,000 and $500 BigFuture Scholarships by completing six planning steps; there is no essay or minimum GPA or test score requirement. Students may also opt in to Student Search Service, which connects them with more than 1,200 colleges and scholarship programs. BigFuture is available on Android, iOS, and the web. The separate free BigFuture School app offers SAT Suite score access and personalized college and career guidance to eligible students; access requires age 13 or older, a participating U.S. school, and an eligible in-school test or AP course, and exclusions may apply.

Shiksha helps students discover and research colleges, courses, and exams for higher education in India and abroad. Its college directory includes information on admission criteria, eligibility, fees, placements, rankings, reviews, scholarships, and accepted exams. Students can compare colleges and courses, read reviews, build a shortlist, and use college or rank predictors based on exam scores and historical cutoff trends. Shiksha Assistant counselling recommends colleges using factors such as exam scores, budget, location, and profile. The mobile app adds search, comparisons, reviews, alerts, personalized recommendations, and exam resources including papers, syllabi, and dates for 600+ exams. The service is available on Android, iOS, and web, and the listed plan is free. Shiksha says its site covers more than 60,000 institutions and 375,000 courses; it separately describes its website and app as hosting information on 800+ exams, 50,000+ institutions, and 400,000+ courses. It says contact information may be shared with colleges when users express interest or are shortlisted as potential admission candidates. The Android listing says the app may share app activity and collect location, while encrypting data in transit and allowing deletion requests. Shiksha says it is not affiliated with or endorsed by a government organization.