# Shmoop Reviews **Vendor:** Shmoop **Category:** [Study Tools](https://www.g2.com/categories/study-tools) **Average Rating:** 4.5/5.0 **Total Reviews:** 18 ## About Shmoop Shmoop is an education technology solutions company that provides engaging digital classroom tools and solutions aimed at easing the stress of the learning environment. Shmoop’s four core products support grades 6-12 and include The Shmoop Heartbeat, Courses & Content, Test Readiness, and Intervention. More than 6M monthly users and thousands of schools and districts across the world are using Shmoop to support their curriculum, social-emotional learning, intervention and test readiness programs. Offering both video-based and written formats, Shmoop’s learning solutions are rigorous, while injected with humor and storytelling to drive student engagement. The company has been recognized by a variety of educational institutions as providing high quality, engaging, and cutting-edge digital education products. ## Shmoop Reviews ### 1. Shmoop for Novel Studies **Rating:** 4.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Samantha L. | Enrichment Specialist , Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** April 28, 2020 **What do you like best about Shmoop?** Often when I am building a novel study for one of my classes, Shmoop offers a good outline of the text, plot details, characters and chapter summaries. They also have a small, but good, selection of full-text e-books for teachers and students to use. This is a very helpful and timely resource, because of Covid-19 all my classes are now taught remotely without access to our books in school. These texts also align with Shmoop's Study Guides--also a helpful resource for students and teachers alike. Offering free online access to ACT/SAT and English/Math skill building is especially helpful with most students home because of Covid-19, though I find them helpful throughout the year. **What do you dislike about Shmoop?** I only access the free materials because, well, you know, I am not in teaching for the money...So, I don't really have anything I dislike--since Shmoop offers a lot of free content for which I am grateful for, though I am curious as to all the resources available with a license. I teach 3-5th Enrichment RLA and Math, so having more resources for those grade levels would be great. I would like to be able to see the entire lesson guide prior to purchasing, perhaps with a watermark, just so I can make sure it is what I want before ordering. **Recommendations to others considering Shmoop:** I definitely would check out all that Shmoop has to offer--they seem to be created by passionate educators and their lesson ideas are current and timely. **What problems is Shmoop solving and how is that benefiting you?** It is a good starting point for creating my class novel studies. I use the information they provide (free) and build upon that with other online resources. Shmoop is more user friendly than the Cliff Notes' website, it is more graphically pleasing and is better organized. I have also used this as a parent when looking for SAT/ACT and other study materials for my sons. I also didn't realize that they have Math tutorials and skill-building resources--which is great for my middle school students and my son. It also seems as Shmoop is upping its game, as their website looks newly updated from the last time I used it, and by just exploring I am seeing more resources that I didn't realize that they offer. I am ### 2. Shmoop is fresh and fun **Rating:** 4.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Primary/Secondary Education | Enterprise (> 1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** April 23, 2020 **What do you like best about Shmoop?** I like the language and voice of the literary summaries. They are witty and student friendly. **What do you dislike about Shmoop?** Students may depend on it too much and overuse it in their class assignments **What problems is Shmoop solving and how is that benefiting you?** I haven’t had any problems. Benefits include encouraging and enabling students to work independently ### 3. Great tool for teaching! **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Primary/Secondary Education | Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** March 16, 2019 **What do you like best about Shmoop?** I love that Shmoop covers so many ELA topics. It is great for book summaries and analysis, and it is also great for teaching grammar and basic reading skills! **What do you dislike about Shmoop?** It would be great if there was an option without ads. The ads can be very distracting and occasionally inappropriate for a middle school classroom. **What problems is Shmoop solving and how is that benefiting you?** I'm able to save paper and one by not printing out material. ### 4. Shmoop is great help **Rating:** 4.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Education Management | Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** April 16, 2019 **What do you like best about Shmoop?** Simple to the point explanations. It has lots of materials for both students and teachers. Many teachers think the students will not read the actual books. I like to use it as a resource. My students still need to do the work themselves. **What do you dislike about Shmoop?** Some kids take advantage and use it for cheating. I explained to them that this is a tool for better understanding not a substitute for their work. After being caught once, they never do it again. **What problems is Shmoop solving and how is that benefiting you?** Language may not be appropriate at times ### 5. The Best Product Of All Time **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Arts and Crafts | Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** March 23, 2019 **What do you like best about Shmoop?** This revolutionary product has changed the way I study! **What do you dislike about Shmoop?** Honestly it can be a little glitchy sometimes, but otherwise it is absolutely perfect **What problems is Shmoop solving and how is that benefiting you?** I used to do all of my problem solving in a notebook. But honestly Shmoop has made it easier for me to get my job done! ### 6. Student-friendly and Ph.d. Written **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Joshua C. | Assistant Principal, Primary/Secondary Education, Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** December 12, 2017 **What do you like best about Shmoop?** Shmoop provides an engaging and student-friendly summary/analysis of some of the most read texts in the high school and middle school curricula. **What do you dislike about Shmoop?** Sometimes Shmoop's resources are almost too robust, so students get lost in trying to find what they need. **Recommendations to others considering Shmoop:** I would pick your favorite book and spend five minutes browsing the resources. You'll be able to show students how to navigate to different sections based on their needs. If you're teaching Shakespeare, do not shy away from using both the summary and analysis pages in order to improve student comprehension **What problems is Shmoop solving and how is that benefiting you?** Absentee rates at schools can be difficult, particularly for students who need supports in class. This allows us to support students outside of the classroom to catch them up to their peers. ### 7. Shmoop makes learning fun **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Education Management | Enterprise (> 1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** December 12, 2017 **What do you like best about Shmoop?** Shmoop has a great variety of subjects that the videos teach. I have used them with my students during lessons in class for ages high school to adult, and the students always get a kick out of them. I always embed the videos in my online feedback to students when they submit their assignments online. **What do you dislike about Shmoop?** They speak a little too fast for my international students, but they're perfect for my native English-speaking students. Some of the references and jokes fly over the head of my international students, but I love them! **Recommendations to others considering Shmoop:** Really fun way to learn, easy to use. Topics are plentiful and the content is very good. They're easy to embed in online learning formats too. **What problems is Shmoop solving and how is that benefiting you?** They teach subject matter in creative ways and make learning a lot more fun than if my students just had to listen to me the entire time! It adds variety to my lessons and holds the students' interest. ### 8. Good resource but not everything is free **Rating:** 4.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Education Management | Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** December 19, 2017 **What do you like best about Shmoop?** Shmoop is one of the few websites, that can boast the breadth and depth of the content that they offer. I think History, Social Sciences, and Humanities are their best offering. I recently also started looking at their test prep courses and felt they are good. **What do you dislike about Shmoop?** Shmoop needs to work harder on their offerings in sciences. Would help if they are more interactive than what they currently are. Sometimes it gets boring and repetitive. I hate that many great courses are hidden behind a premium subscription. **Recommendations to others considering Shmoop:** I recommend this product and feel that every teacher and student needs to have this product. **What problems is Shmoop solving and how is that benefiting you?** As the depth and breadth of the content are phenomenal, Shmoop is a go-to resource for any quick update on a concept. I also prefer to use Shmoop to get a good overview of the scope of the certain subject and its coverage. ### 9. Good review tool **Rating:** 4.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Lisa D. | Teacher, Enterprise (> 1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** April 24, 2018 **What do you like best about Shmoop?** Written in such a way that’s friendly to teens **What do you dislike about Shmoop?** Seems a bit superficial. Would like to see more analysis help. **What problems is Shmoop solving and how is that benefiting you?** Provides students with an additional means of studying for the ap exam. Could help increase their scores. ### 10. Shmoop Review **Rating:** 4.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in E-Learning | Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** February 02, 2018 **What do you like best about Shmoop?** Shmoop is excellent for summarizing literature for students. It is easily accessible for students and very user-friendly. **What do you dislike about Shmoop?** The interface needs more interaction to keep student's interests. **Recommendations to others considering Shmoop:** Shmoop is a great resource to use to add to a student's toolbox for evaluating literature. **What problems is Shmoop solving and how is that benefiting you?** Problems solved are to allow students a tool to use when reading literature. ### 11. Wonderful source for students! **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Karis N. | Curriculum Developer, Education Management, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** November 16, 2017 **What do you like best about Shmoop?** Shmoop had a great variety of literature guides for my students to use. I was able to pull up the guides to help with class discussion, and it helped me do further research on books in order to start discussions in class. **What do you dislike about Shmoop?** I don't recall disliking anything about Shmoop, to be honest. **Recommendations to others considering Shmoop:** Definitely try it! **What problems is Shmoop solving and how is that benefiting you?** I have had no problems with Shmoop, but the greatest benefit came from opening class discussions as a result of using it. ### 12. shmoop solves the background knowledge barrier **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Higher Education | Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** December 12, 2017 **What do you like best about Shmoop?** Shmoop gives students the basics. They need background info on many topics, and Shmoop can provide it with videos. **What do you dislike about Shmoop?** Nothing to dislike here! If anything, I'd say I'd want more videos. **What problems is Shmoop solving and how is that benefiting you?** Shmoop provides quick background knowledge where it may be lacking. ### 13. Free tool, but expect to shell out some cash if you want to access most of the content. **Rating:** 3.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Heather L. | Teacher Librarian, Libraries, Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** December 19, 2015 **What do you like best about Shmoop?** My favorite part about Shmoop is the humor weaved throughout the website. I think this humor helps keep the student more engaged, particularly through some of the lengthier lessons. Shmoop includes content on a variety of subjects and tests, at a variety of grade levels. In addition to Shmoops great subject specific and test-prep tutorials, there are some great tools like the Essay Lab and Flashcard Builder that are built-in. **What do you dislike about Shmoop?** While I am appreciative of the free content offered on Shmoop, the free version is loaded with advertisements. The free version is also plastered with "Sign up for our premium package". Unfortunately, some of the things that appear to be accessible via the free version turn out to be premium content, but the user will only learn that after multiple clicks through the beginning of the module or guide. **Recommendations to others considering Shmoop:** Shmoop has a lot of great content, but only a small portion of it is available on the free version. I would strongly recommended browsing through the content before subscribing to ensure that what you're looking for isn't already available for free. **What problems is Shmoop solving and how is that benefiting you?** Textbooks often offer one or two practice tests per unit and sometimes that isn't enough for the student. Shmoop gives students access to additional tutorials and practice quizzes with feedback. This has been great for our students needed extra practice without putting extra work on the hands of the teacher. ### 14. Invaluable in School, Fun After **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Market Research | Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** January 19, 2016 **What do you like best about Shmoop?** I love it's fun approach to literature and english! The information is not only insightful, but it is also entertaining to read. They make a lot of connections and references to other work which I find useful. The organization is great, and it's really easy to find exactly what I am looking for. Overall, it is a very down to earth feel, yet it is still really helpful in pointing out details and connections I may have missed on my own. **What do you dislike about Shmoop?** There is nothing I really dislike about this site. The info and organization is top-notch. If anything, I guess the look of the site is a little cheesy and could be cleaned up. **Recommendations to others considering Shmoop:** This is great for business use to keep you in the know. I would also recommend it for personal use. It is fun to browse classics or your favorite subject to see their interesting presentation and insights. **What problems is Shmoop solving and how is that benefiting you?** This is my go-to place to get the scoop if I'm not understanding a reference that I read or saw in a presentation or paper. It's a quick place to get the gist of something. Also, if I am having trouble remembering something that I want to reference myself, I go here to refresh my memory. ### 15. Great Test Prep Tool: Expect to dish out some serious cash to access most of the features **Rating:** 3.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Toni M. | Curriculum & Instruction Consultant for Social Studies, Education Management, Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** January 04, 2016 **What do you like best about Shmoop?** Schmoop offers test prep resources for hundreds of tests from the SATs to any AP class imaginable. They provide a nice calendar to help students keep track of upcoming exams. Schmoop also offers an essay lab. This lab allows students to become familiar with the foundations of writing anything from expository essays to mathematical proofs. **What do you dislike about Shmoop?** It is frustrating that many of the features are paid. While Schmoop has a lot of offer teachers and students by way of test preparation, its plans are quite pricey. **What problems is Shmoop solving and how is that benefiting you?** This resource has been used as a way to help prepare my students for AP and college entrance exams. ### 16. Shmoop is a great teaching tool **Rating:** 3.5/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Ashley K. | Commercial Credit Analyst, Financial Services, Mid-Market (51-1000 emp.) **Reviewed Date:** April 14, 2016 **What do you like best about Shmoop?** I like that in addition to it being a homework website, there is also help for assignments and test prep **What do you dislike about Shmoop?** For how much information is available, I think the page could be more professional and clean looking, there's a surplus of links **Recommendations to others considering Shmoop:** I would recommend based on all the resources available on the page **What problems is Shmoop solving and how is that benefiting you?** Great for additional tools all on one page for helping with studying, don't have to use search engine to find help and potentially end up with inaccurate information ### 17. Helping students prepare with Shmoop **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Verified User in Education Management | Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** January 04, 2016 **What do you like best about Shmoop?** This is a great resource for finding supplementary material for my class. **What do you dislike about Shmoop?** There is a massive amount of resources available, it can be hard to sift through. **What problems is Shmoop solving and how is that benefiting you?** I am using this to assist students with supplemental preparation materials. This will help students better prep for both my class and other courses. ### 18. Wow **Rating:** 5.0/5.0 stars **Reviewed by:** Jennifer L R. | ELL Coordinator, Small-Business (50 or fewer emp.) **Reviewed Date:** June 17, 2015 **What do you like best about Shmoop?** I like the variety of options that Shmoop offers to teachers and students alike. Shmoop will help me with studying for my Praxis! I like the variety of subject options for students to help them understand a particular concept in a different way. I like the video at the start of the website to introduce people to its website. **What do you dislike about Shmoop?** I didn't discover or know about Shmoop prior to now. I think Shmoop needs to be promoted more as an help tool for teachers and their students. I wish Shmoop would send a survey out to its users to ask for their thoughts because sometime when I receive emails from them, the emails are just about random things and not really pertaining to me and then I delete the email. **Recommendations to others considering Shmoop:** I think Shmoop is a great company to utilize for students and yourself needing some extra help with differentiation with a specific lesson or concept. It is not just pertained to one subject area either; there are a variety or subjects such as English, language arts, math, social studies,etc. Also ACT, SAT or other test Prep. **What problems is Shmoop solving and how is that benefiting you?** There are no business problems to solve per say; just professional. I have realized how Shmoop can benefit me as a professional teacher but also my students and their learning. ## Shmoop Discussions - [What is Shmoop used for?](https://www.g2.com/discussions/what-is-shmoop-used-for) - [View Shmoop pricing details and edition comparison](https://www.g2.com/products/shmoop/reviews?section=pricing&secure%5Bexpires_at%5D=2026-05-15+07%3A14%3A31+-0500&secure%5Bsession_id%5D=4bd884fb-da79-4597-b6d6-709dfb201870&secure%5Btoken%5D=d94c86814d9a57c9b42a1c6e9037492eb164b950b6dd9444efd32af9d47ff486&format=llm_user) ## Shmoop Features **Assessment delivery** - Question variety - Real-time assessment - Pre-made content **Courses** - Personalized recommendations - High-quality content - Video content - Projects - In-course assessments - Certification practice tests **Grading and reporting** - Automated grading - Gamification - Analytics dashboard - Reporting **Administration** - Team-level monitoring - Administrative dashboard - Certificates **Administration** - White-labeling - Mobile compatibility **Compatibility** - Mobile compatibility - Single sign-on (SSO) ## Top Shmoop Alternatives - [Kahoot!](https://www.g2.com/products/kahoot/reviews) - 4.6/5.0 (398 reviews) - [Pluralsight](https://www.g2.com/products/pluralsight/reviews) - 4.6/5.0 (1,297 reviews) - [Canvas LMS](https://www.g2.com/products/canvas-lms/reviews) - 4.5/5.0 (1,730 reviews)