LMS · head to head
Echo360 vs Pear Deck
Echo360
LMS
Lecture capture, video management, polling and exam authoring for universities
- From
- On request
- Rated
- -
The short version
- Only Pear Deck has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
- Each has a real cost: Echo360 no pricing is published for any component, so institutions cannot benchmark before entering a procurement, and the eventual figure depends on negotiated enrolment bands that vary widely between comparable universities.; Pear Deck the Teacher Dashboard, draggable and drawing responses and Reflect and Review require Teacher Premium at $149 per year
- They diverge on capability: Echo360 covers Scheduled lecture capture, Pear Deck covers Interactive slides.
- Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which Echo360 and Pear Deck actually diverge.
Identical on both: user rating (Not yet rated), category (LMS).
What each one covers
Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.
Only in Echo360
- Scheduled lecture capture
- Automatic transcription and search
- Engagement analytics
- EchoEngage polling
- EchoExam
- GoReact video assessment
- LMS integration
- Student notes and interaction
Only in Pear Deck
- Interactive slides
- Real-time responses
- Formative assessment
- Student-paced mode
- Dashboard
- Audio responses
- Drawing
- Vocabulary
What people use each for
The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.
Echo360
- A university with a legal obligation to caption teaching material, where automatic transcription across every recorded lecture is cheaper than commissioning captions per modulenot Pear Deck
- A department wanting to see which students stopped watching recordings before a failure point, and to act on it before the examnot Pear Deck
- A teacher training or nursing programme that needs time-stamped assessor feedback on student performance video, which GoReact is built fornot Pear Deck
- An institution replacing an ageing clicker estate and wanting polling on the same contract as lecture capture rather than a second vendornot Pear Deck
Pear Deck
- Interactive classroom presentations for teachersnot Echo360
- Student practice and assessment toolsnot Echo360
- Standards-aligned content delivery for schoolsnot Echo360
Where each one falls short
Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.
Echo360
- No pricing is published for any component, so institutions cannot benchmark before entering a procurement, and the eventual figure depends on negotiated enrolment bands that vary widely between comparable universities.
- The catalogue is assembled from mergers and acquisitions including Turning Technologies and GoReact, so the bundle is not one product: components differ in codebase, support and roadmap attention, and integration between them is uneven.
- Room capture hardware and installation are priced separately from the software licence and often exceed it in year one, which is regularly missed in budget submissions that only cover the subscription.
- Private equity ownership through Centre Lane Partners means roadmap and pricing decisions answer to an investment thesis, and universities on multi-year contracts have limited leverage if the strategy changes mid-term.
- Automatic transcription accuracy on technical lecture content, accented speakers and poor room audio falls well short of what an accessibility obligation strictly requires, so institutions relying on it for compliance usually still pay for human correction on a subset of courses.
Pear Deck
- The Teacher Dashboard, draggable and drawing responses and Reflect and Review require Teacher Premium at $149 per year
- Pear Assessment Premium is a separate $125 per year purchase from Pear Deck Premium
- Standards aligned content, district library and efficacy reports are only in the Schools and Districts plan
- SIS and LMS integration is only in the Schools and Districts plan
- School and district pricing is by quote with no published rate
Pricing, plan by plan
Echo360
On request- EchoVideo$undefined/year
- Lecture capture, transcription, streaming and analytics
- Institution-wide licence, quoted
- Room hardware and installation priced separately
- EchoEngage$undefined/year
- Polling and audience response including PointSolutions
- Quoted, sometimes with student-paid licences
- EchoExam and EchoInk$undefined/year
- Assessment authoring and interactive content
- Quoted as bundle components
- GoReact$undefined/year
- Video-based skill assessment
- Sold per programme or institution-wide, quoted
Pear Deck
Free- Pear Start FreeFree
- 40+ AI tools for teachers
- unlimited usage
- Pear Deck FreeFree
- basic interactive presentations
- anonymous responses
- student-paced mode
- Pear Deck Premium$149/year
- Teacher Dashboard with named responses
- drawing/draggable features
- Reflect & Review
- Pear Assessment FreeFree
- basic assessment creation
- autograding
Which should you pick?
Choose Echo360 if
- You need scheduled lecture capture.
- You work on Web, iOS, Android, Windows, macOS.
- You also want automatic transcription and search.
Choose Pear Deck if
- You need interactive slides.
- You want to start without paying.
- You work on Web, Chrome Extension.
- You also want real-time responses.
Questions people ask
- Is Echo360 or Pear Deck better?
- Neither clearly leads. Echo360 starts at On request and Pear Deck at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
- Which is cheaper, Echo360 or Pear Deck?
- Pear Deck has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at On request for Echo360 and Free for Pear Deck.
- Does Echo360 or Pear Deck run on more platforms?
- Echo360 runs on Web, iOS, Android, Windows, macOS. Pear Deck runs on Web, Chrome Extension.
- Can I use Pear Deck for free?
- Yes. Pear Deck has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Echo360 starts at On request.
- What is Echo360 best used for?
- Echo360 is most often used for a university with a legal obligation to caption teaching material, where automatic transcription across every recorded lecture is cheaper than commissioning captions per module, a department wanting to see which students stopped watching recordings before a failure point, and to act on it before the exam, a teacher training or nursing programme that needs time-stamped assessor feedback on student performance video, which goreact is built for, an institution replacing an ageing clicker estate and wanting polling on the same contract as lecture capture rather than a second vendor. Of those, a university with a legal obligation to caption teaching material, where automatic transcription across every recorded lecture is cheaper than commissioning captions per module and a department wanting to see which students stopped watching recordings before a failure point, and to act on it before the exam are not what Pear Deck is typically brought in for.
- What can Echo360 do that Pear Deck cannot?
- Echo360 covers Scheduled lecture capture, Automatic transcription and search, Engagement analytics, EchoEngage polling. Pear Deck covers Interactive slides, Real-time responses, Formative assessment, Student-paced mode.
Answered from the vendors’ own pages
Echo360: Does Echo360 publish pricing?
No. Every component is quoted, generally as an institution-wide annual licence banded by enrolment, with hardware and installation separate.
Pear Deck: What is the price for individual teacher subscriptions?
Pear Deck Premium: $149/year; Pear Assessment Premium: $125/year. Pear Practice and Start have custom pricing for paid tiers.
SourceEcho360: Is automatic captioning good enough for accessibility compliance?
Not on its own for high-stakes use. Automatic transcription handles search and general access well, but technical vocabulary and poor room audio degrade it, and most institutions budget for human correction where a formal accommodation exists.
Pear Deck: Are there free versions available?
Yes, all Pear Deck products offer free teacher plans: Pear Start, Pear Deck, Pear Practice, and Pear Assessment are free for educators.
SourceEcho360: What did the Turning Technologies merger bring?
The polling and clicker business, now sold as EchoEngage and PointSolutions, which is why polling appears alongside lecture capture on one contract.
Pear Deck: What features require payment in Pear Assessment?
Free version includes basic assessment creation and autograding. Premium ($125/year) adds advanced security, accessibility tools, state test interface mimicry, and rubric scoring.
SourceEcho360: Is GoReact sold separately?
Yes. GoReact can be bought on its own for a programme such as teacher training, or as part of the wider Echo360 bundle.
Pear Deck: Do schools get discounted pricing?
Yes, schools and districts receive custom pricing with additional features like standards-aligned content, shared libraries, and LMS integration.
SourceRelated pages
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