Zoho Classes 2.0 is a serious academic LMS.
Vacademy is an operating system for coaching institutes.
Zoho launched Classes 2.0 on 15 July 2026 — an AI-powered academic LMS with a course builder, an AI tutor, AI-assisted grading and content in 22 Indian languages, free for India's government schools, colleges and universities. It's a genuinely strong product, and Zoho aims it at schools, colleges, universities and government institutions. Vacademy is built for a different buyer: the coaching institute that has to win admissions, run live batches, collect fees and put its own brand in learners' pockets. This page compares the two honestly, using publicly available information as of 17 July 2026.
Why teams switch from Zoho Classes
Three reasons your team will move
It's aimed at academic institutions, not coaching institutes
Zoho's own materials position Classes 2.0 for government institutions, universities, colleges and K-12 schools — with course/programme outcome mapping, UGC/AICTE accreditation and NEP 2020 compliance. Coaching institutes and tuition centres aren't a named audience. Vacademy is built around how coaching actually works: enquiries, demo classes, batches, fee plans, mock tests and parents on WhatsApp.
Your brand, or Zoho's
Students reach Zoho Classes through Zoho-branded Student and Faculty apps, and a white-label option isn't publicly documented. For a coaching institute, the app icon on a student's home screen is the brand you spent years building. Vacademy ships branded Android, iOS and web apps under your institute's own name as part of standard plans.
Admissions is where institutes actually compete
Classes 2.0 covers the enrolled student's lifecycle — its low-code Micro Apps let you build admissions apps yourself. What isn't documented is a lead-management CRM: capture, follow-up automation, counsellor routing and conversion analytics. Vacademy ships that natively, plus Vacademy Voice — an AI agent that calls and qualifies enquiries in English, Hindi or Hinglish.
Vacademy Research · October 2026
What our research found about Zoho Classes
We scored 37 education platforms on 13 capabilities using only what each vendor documents publicly. Zoho Classes documents 4 of 13; Vacademy documents 13. Vacademy publishes this research and is scored with the same rubric.
- Type of platform
- Academic LMS
- Entry price
- Free
- Fee on each sale (entry plan)
- Not published
- Coverage (teaching · operations)
- 60% · 12%
| Capability | Zoho Classes | Vacademy | Evidence for Zoho Classes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Courses (LMS) | Yes | Yes | Courses with content locking and scheduled releases, assignments, syllabus |
| Live classes | Not documented | Yes | Not mentioned on homepage or pricing |
| Online exams | Yes | Yes | Exams, practice tests with score tracking, question papers |
| AI content | Yes | Yes | AI-generated courses from lesson plans; AI tutor per student; teacher AI assistants |
| AI grading | Not documented | Yes | Not mentioned |
| Branded apps | Not documented | Yes | 'Educate millions of students with a single app'; white-label not stated |
| Website | Not documented | Yes | Not mentioned |
| Fee collection | Not documented | Yes | Not mentioned |
| Admissions CRM | Partial | Yes | 'Agentic-AI-Powered Student CRM'; low-code micro apps for admissions |
| Not documented | Yes | Not mentioned | |
| ERP / HR | Partial | Yes | Attendance; no HR or payroll |
| AI calling | Not documented | Yes | Not mentioned |
| Parent app | Not documented | Yes | Not mentioned |
“Not documented” means we found no public description; Zoho Classes may still offer it. Read on 20 October 2026 from Zoho Classes's own pages. Spot an error? Email support@vacademy.io with a source and we will correct it.
See all 37 platforms on the Education Platform Map →Side-by-side · honest comparison
Vacademy vs Zoho Classes
We don't hide what Zoho Classes does well. Where they win, we mark it. Where we win, we explain why.
How to switch
Evaluating Zoho Classes 2.0 → moving to Vacademy
Zoho Classes 2.0 is new (launched 15 July 2026), so most institutes reading this are evaluating rather than migrating. If you're on the Zoho stack today — Classes for teaching, Zoho CRM for enquiries, spreadsheets for fees — this is how consolidation onto Vacademy usually runs. Migration is free and most institutes are live in about 48 hours.
Map what you actually run
Most institutes on Zoho run more than one product: Classes or another LMS for teaching, Zoho CRM for enquiries, Books for invoices, WhatsApp by hand. We map every workflow to a single Vacademy record before anything moves.
Move courses, learners & question banks
We migrate your courses, content, assignments, question banks, learner accounts and batch structure free of charge — with no learner losing access mid-batch.
Turn on admissions
Connect your enquiry sources — website, WhatsApp, walk-ins, ad campaigns — into one pipeline with automated follow-ups, counsellor routing and, if you want it, the Vacademy Voice AI agent qualifying new leads within minutes.
Publish your own apps & go live
Your branded Android, iOS and web apps go out under your institute's name, with fee collection, GST invoicing and parent WhatsApp alerts switched on. Live in about 48 hours.
Also compared with
Compare against another LMS
Comparing Zoho Classes 2.0?
See the coaching-institute version of the same stack.
If you run a government school or a university, Zoho Classes 2.0 deserves a serious look — and for government institutions in India it's free. If you run a coaching institute that lives or dies on admissions, branded apps, fees and mock tests, book 30 minutes and we'll show you Vacademy against your actual workflow.