Diffit alternative: ClassSense vs Diffit

What Diffit does

Diffit's site describes quality, print-ready resources for any instructional need. You start from a topic or from something you already have, optionally set things like MTSS tier, challenge level, language, scaffolds and standards, and get back differentiated activities, station rotations, sub plans, intervention materials and slides. Its tagline for the work is to scaffold, modify, extend and adapt in seconds. You edit the result, then print, export or share it.

One thing Diffit says plainly about itself is that it has no student logins and no student AI. The teacher is the only user. Its pricing page also says it does not collect student data. That is a deliberate design choice, and for some schools it is exactly the point.

The free Basic plan lets you create and download resources and keep content made in the last 90 days. The page lists exports to Google, Canva and Microsoft, alignment to standards, skills, MTSS tiers and DOK levels, and full resource history under Diffit for Schools. I saw school pricing described as a flat annual subscription tiered by enrollment, without a number.

What ClassSense does

ClassSense does take student accounts, because that is the whole point of it. Students join a class with a six-character code, pick a nickname and work through skill packs generated from your unit. Practice items are multiple choice, the wrong choices are tied to a named misconception, and there are hints and feedback. The product records mastery per student per skill, and a mastered skill comes back later for a quick check.

The same word, two meanings

Both products talk about differentiation, and they mean different things.

• Diffit: the same text or resource, adapted so that a range of readers can access it. The differentiation is in the document.
• ClassSense: the same skill, with practice that responds to how each student is doing. The differentiation is in the path, and the record of who has mastered what.

A student who cannot read the passage needs the first. A student who reads it fine but keeps confusing mass with weight needs the second. Many classrooms have both kinds of student, which is why the two are not really rivals. See differentiated instruction for how ClassSense handles its half.

Where Diffit is the better choice

• Reading access. If the barrier is the text itself, Diffit is built for that, and ClassSense is not a text-leveling tool.
• Teacher-only use. If your school wants no student accounts at all, Diffit states that design. ClassSense needs students to join.
• Print-first classrooms. Diffit emphasizes print-ready layouts. ClassSense generates .docx worksheets and .pptx presentations from the Create Content tab, but the center of the product is onscreen practice.
• Cost. Diffit has a free plan. ClassSense is free for 30 days and then $19 a month.

Who should not switch

An ELL or intervention teacher whose daily need is a grade-level article at three reading levels should keep Diffit. ClassSense has not been tested in other languages, so I would not point a multilingual classroom at it for translation.

The better question for most teachers is whether they want to add the other half. If you already differentiate texts and still cannot say which students have mastered a skill and which have not, upload one unit and look at the dashboard. Use the sample course first if you want to see the teacher view before you upload anything.

Common questions