Both are full classrooms that run at any size, from 1:1 tutoring to large cohorts. Engageli centers assigned-seat tables and seat-level engagement analytics, sold to institutions. Pencil Spaces centers the learning itself, on a shared collaborative whiteboard, and it is open and free to start.
Both rejected the meeting tool and built a real classroom. Engageli is built for structured institutional courses, with video tables and engagement analytics, and is provisioned through a demo, a quote, and a paid pilot. Pencil Spaces is a hands-on classroom built around the learning, on an infinite collaborative whiteboard, with math and STEM tools, co-browsing, and learning apps. It runs everything from a single tutoring session to a full cohort, and you can start free today.
10M+ sessions taught
200M+ minutes of learning
One-click join, no installs
Last updated June 2026
learning-first
A hands-on classroom built around the learning, on a shared collaborative whiteboard, free to start, for any size from 1:1 to full cohorts.
Tables and analytics
A higher-ed and L&D platform built around assigned-seat tables and seat-level analytics, sold to institutions.
The short answer
Pencil Spaces and Engageli are both purpose-built virtual classrooms that run at any size, from 1:1 tutoring to large cohorts. They differ in what the classroom is built around. Engageli centers assigned-seat virtual tables and seat-level engagement analytics, and is sold to institutions through a demo, a quote, and a paid pilot. Pencil Spaces centers the learning itself, with a shared collaborative whiteboard, math and STEM tools, co-browsing, and in-room learning apps, runs the whole tutoring and K-12 workflow, and is open and free to start. If you want hands-on, collaborative teaching and the freedom to begin today, Pencil Spaces is the more direct fit. If you want assigned-seat tables and seat-level cohort analytics for large institutional courses, Engageli is purpose-built.
Any size, cohorts included. From 1:1 tutoring to large cohorts.
Free, self-serve start. Sign up and teach today, no demo or paid pilot.
Whiteboard-first. Infinite canvas with math, STEM, and co-browsing.
Learning apps in the room. Desmos, Quizlet, and more open on the board.
Named K-12 stack. COPPA, FERPA, HIPAA, SOC 2, GDPR, and ISO, plus safeguarding.
Proven at tutoring scale. More than 10 million sessions delivered.
Buyer education
Engageli was founded by Coursera co-founder Daphne Koller and Stanford's Serge Plotkin, and built to recapture the engagement that massive online courses gave up, at the scale of a university. The pedigree is real, and so is the problem it set out to solve.
But engagement is not the same as learning.
Engageli's answer is the virtual table, which splits a course into assigned small groups, and a layer of analytics that tracks who is drifting across the cohort. For a large institutional course, those are reasonable answers. Pencil Spaces is built around something different: the learning itself, the shared work on a whiteboard where a class understands the material together, at every size from a single tutoring session to a full cohort.
Engageli seats the class and measures it. Pencil Spaces helps it learn.
Side by side
Both are real classrooms, not meeting tools, and both run at any size, from 1:1 to large cohorts. The real differences are what each is built around and how you get it. Where Engageli has a feature Pencil Spaces does not, it is marked clearly.
Your question
for the session
for the cohort
The basics
Is it a purpose-built virtual classroom, not a meeting tool?
Yes. A classroom built for tutoring and K-12.
Yes. A classroom built for higher ed and L&D.
Can I start teaching today, without talking to sales?
Yes. Sign up free and teach in minutes.
Sold via a demo, a custom quote, and a paid pilot.
Is pricing public and transparent?
Yes. Usage-based, free to start.
Custom quote, by license or learner hour.
The teaching experience (the room of two)
Is there an infinite collaborative whiteboard?
Yes. The core teaching surface.
Shared materials at virtual tables.
Are math, graphing, and STEM tools built in?
Yes. Native to the board.
Slides and content, not a math canvas.
Can the tutor and student browse a website together?
Yes. Co-browsing built in.
Not listed.
Do learning apps open inside the room?
Yes. Desmos, Quizlet, and more on the board.
Content and LMS integrations.
Does the room persist between lessons?
Yes. Reusable persistent spaces.
Course and session based.
Class size, engagement and async
Can it run large classes and full cohorts?
Yes. Group classes, breakouts, and recurring cohorts, proven at the largest tutoring operations.
Yes. Large institutional courses are its core.
Are there assigned-seat virtual tables?
Breakout rooms, not fixed table seating.
Yes. Its signature feature.
Are there seat-level engagement analytics across a cohort?
Session-level visibility for the teacher.
Yes. Speak time, attendance, reactions, and more.
Is there interactive asynchronous learning?
Recordings and review.
Yes. Interactive playback rooms.
Is there game-based learning?
Quizzes and activities.
Yes. The Learning Arcade.
Built-in AI
Can AI generate lessons, quizzes, and summaries?
Yes. Smart Assistant.
Yes. AI Classroom Suite.
Is there an always-on AI tutor for students?
Yes. Learning Companion.
Yes. Socratic AI tutor.
Does it autograde student work?
Yes. Autograder.
Not listed.
Trust, safety and compliance
Is COPPA compliance published for K-12?
Yes.
Not enumerated publicly.
Is FERPA compliance published?
Yes.
Not enumerated publicly.
Is HIPAA compliance published?
Yes.
Not enumerated publicly.
Is there SOC 2?
Yes.
SOC 2/3 at the data center.
Are there K-12 safeguarding controls, like a waiting room and guest-name moderation?
Yes.
Strong class controls.
Is there 24/7 support?
Yes.
Yes.
Fit and scale
Does it run a tutoring business, with scheduling and operations?
Yes.
Sits beside your LMS.
Does it integrate with the LMS and SIS?
Integrations.
Yes. Canvas, Blackboard, Moodle, SIS.
Are there native desktop apps?
Browser-first.
Yes. Windows and Mac, plus browser.
Is it proven at scale?
10M+ sessions, from solo tutors to the largest tutoring operations.
Used across universities and L&D.
Engageli details sourced from public pages at engageli.com, including its Features, FAQ, and Security pages, as of June 2026. "Not enumerated publicly" means a certification is not named on Engageli's public security page (last updated November 2024), not that data is unprotected; Engageli documents strong enterprise controls, credited below.
Which to choose
The fastest way to decide is to name your unit of teaching. If it is a cohort, look hard at Engageli. If it is a session, Pencil Spaces was built for you.
You teach at any size, from 1:1 to large cohorts
The shared whiteboard and the work are the lesson
You teach K-12 and need a named compliance and safeguarding stack
You want to start free today, with transparent usage pricing
You are a solo tutor, a center, or a tutoring company running operations
You run large university lectures or seminars
Assigned-seat table breakouts inside a big class are central
Deep cohort engagement analytics are a primary goal
You deliver cohort-based corporate L&D programs
You are buying at the institution level and can run a paid pilot
Engageli is bought for an institution. Pencil Spaces is open to any teacher, for any size of class.
In fairness
A comparison is only useful if it is honest. There are real things Engageli has that Pencil Spaces does not, and for some buyers they matter. If this is your situation, Engageli is worth a look.
STRENGTH 01
Assigned-seat tables that split a lecture of hundreds into many small-group conversations are the feature Engageli is known for, and a real point of difference for very large higher-ed courses. Pencil Spaces runs large classes and cohorts too, but with breakout rooms rather than fixed table seating.
STRENGTH 02
Engageli puts seat-level analytics at the center: speak time, attendance, chat, notes, and reactions across a cohort. It also publishes its own outcome figures, including retention rising from 78 to 92 percent and test scores up 14 percent. For seat-level cohort measurement, it goes deeper than Pencil Spaces does.
STRENGTH 03
Engageli was founded by Coursera co-founder Daphne Koller and Stanford professor Serge Plotkin, and was named to TIME's list of America's Top EdTech Companies for 2026. The team behind it is genuinely credentialed.
STRENGTH 04
Native desktop apps, LMS and SIS integration, asynchronous playback rooms, and an institution-grade onboarding model make Engageli a natural fit for universities and enterprises running structured, large-format programs.
Proven where it counts
Pencil Spaces is the classroom layer behind some of the largest online tutoring operations in the world. These are tutoring numbers, not webinar numbers.
Tutoring sessions delivered on Pencil Spaces
minutes of live learning
Named compliance certifications, K-12 to healthcare grade
To sign up and start teaching today
Switching over
There is no procurement cycle to start. You can be in a real lesson before you would have finished scheduling a demo.
Create a space. Sign up free and open a room in your browser. No install, no sales call, no contract to begin.
Bring your lesson. Drop slides, PDFs, and links onto the whiteboard, set up math and graphing, and pin the learning apps you use.
Teach and scale. Invite one student, a class, or a full cohort, run the session, then reuse the persistent room. Add tutors and rooms on usage-based pricing as you grow.
Open a Pencil Spaces room and teach a real lesson today, with the shared whiteboard, the tools, and the compliance a hands-on classroom actually runs on, at any size.
Free to start / Usage-based as you grow / COPPA, FERPA, HIPAA, SOC 2, GDPR, ISO
FAQ
Start free in your browser. No download, no credit card. Your first lesson can be today.
