Neukol vs Pencil Spaces

Neukol is a virtual classroom for interactive distance teaching and learning, with tools for presenting course materials and managing live lessons. Its whiteboard supports writing, drawing, typing, and image pasting; finished boards can be saved as courseware. Teachers can present uploaded slides, documents, audio, and video without screen sharing, and use a laser pointer and annotation pen. Other listed tools include quizzes, a timer, an answer buzzer, rewards, raised hands, chat, collaborative whiteboarding, and cloud recording with HD playback. Instructors and assistants can control participant muting, video layout, visibility, and access to screen sharing and the pen tool. Free includes two lessons per month, up to 15 participants, and 1 GB storage, with replays available for up to seven days. Pro costs $19.99 a month, billed annually, and allows up to 60 lesson hours monthly. Enterprise is pay as you go, with a prepaid start from 200 USD and Core API access. Neukol lists Android, iOS, macOS, Windows, and API support.

Pencil Spaces is an online classroom for tutoring that combines live teaching, collaboration, session recording, and lesson management. Its browser-based classroom has persistent whiteboards, video calling, built-in resources, document annotation, and interactive web content. Teachers can manage student views and permissions, use waiting and breakout rooms, and receive private alerts when a student goes idle or switches tabs. Scheduling includes attendance tracking, automated scheduling, reminders, and engagement insights. Sessions can be recorded locally or in the cloud; cloud recording storage is 90 days on Expert and 12 months on Master. Starter is free, a 14-day trial is available, and paid plans start at $4/mo. Enterprise starts at $1,000/mo, with custom pricing from $0.002 per participant minute. Prices are in USD per session hour, not per person, and charges begin when a second person joins a Space. Some mobile features may be unavailable.