Hypothesis
Hypothesis adds collaborative annotation to digital reading.
What Hypothesis is
Hypothesis adds collaborative annotation to digital reading. Readers can highlight passages, ask questions, and reply to others in context across web pages, PDFs, EPUB files, YouTube videos, and content from VitalSource and JSTOR. Personal accounts and collaboration are always free, while the Free package includes core annotation, private groups, and self-service support. For education, Hypothesis offers private groups, advanced analytics, auto-grading, and an LMS reporting dashboard for annotation counts and engagement. LTI integrations connect with Canvas, Blackboard, Moodle, D2L Brightspace, and Sakai, and annotations can sync with LMS gradebooks including Canvas SpeedGrader. Institutional tiers add seat limits, training, analytics, grading, and varying support. The service identifies colleges, universities, educators, students, publishers, and partners as audiences. Its Chrome extension also works in Chromium browsers; Firefox and Safari users can use a bookmarklet.
Good
- Supports web, PDF, EPUB, and video annotation
- Personal use and collaboration are free
- Integrates with major LMS platforms
- Annotations can sync with gradebooks
- Offers analytics and auto-grading tiers
Watch out
- Locally saved PDFs are unavailable on mobile
- Firefox and Safari require a bookmarklet
Who it suits
It suits students, educators, institutions, publishers, and anyone wanting shared annotations. Local PDF annotation requires a desktop or laptop rather than a mobile device.
Verdict
Hypothesis combines free collaborative reading tools with education-focused LMS features. Check device support and institutional tier details for your setup.
Plans and prices
From Hypothesis's own pricing page, checked 4 Oct 2026.
| Plan | Price | What it gives you |
|---|---|---|
| Free | Free | Core annotation · Private groups · Self-service support · Per student/yearly |
| Bronze | — | Core annotation · LMS integration · Up to 1,000 user seats · 1 annual training session · Standard email support · Per student/yearly |
| Custom solution | Priced on request | Custom solution · Contact sales |
| Gold | — | All Silver features · Up to 3,000 seats · Unlimited training · Dedicated CSM · Premium support · Quarterly check-ins · Per student/yearly |
| Silver | — | Core annotation · LMS integration · Up to 2,000 user seats · Advanced analytics · Auto-grading · Hypothesis Academy · Per student/yearly |
The facts
Each one read from Hypothesis's own pages, with the date it was checked.
Where it runs
- Browser availability
- The Chrome extension also works in Chromium-based browsers including Brave, Vivaldi, and Microsoft Edge, while Firefox and Safari users can use a bookmarklet.checked 4 Oct 2026
- Platform limitation
- Annotating locally saved PDFs requires a desktop or laptop and is not available on mobile devices.checked 4 Oct 2026
What it does
- Education capabilities
- Education features include private groups, advanced analytics, auto-grading, and an LMS reporting dashboard for annotation counts and engagement.checked 4 Oct 2026
- Gradebooks
- Annotations sync with LMS gradebooks, including Canvas SpeedGrader.checked 4 Oct 2026
- Institutional use
- Hypothesis describes its institutional audience as colleges and universities, faculty and instructors, students, and publishers or partners.checked 4 Oct 2026
- Integrations
- Hypothesis integrates with Canvas, Blackboard, Moodle, D2L Brightspace, and Sakai through LTI.checked 4 Oct 2026
- Personal use
- Hypothesis says personal accounts and collaboration are always free.checked 4 Oct 2026
- Privacy
- Hypothesis says it does not monetize student data.checked 4 Oct 2026
- Purpose
- Hypothesis adds collaborative annotations to digital readings so students can highlight passages, ask questions, and respond to peers in context.checked 4 Oct 2026
- Reading formats
- The product supports annotation of web pages, PDFs, EPUB files, YouTube videos, and content from VitalSource and JSTOR.checked 4 Oct 2026
- Security
- Hypothesis says it has completed a Cloud Security Alliance CAIQ assessment, documents SOC compliance, and regularly tests its software and network for vulnerabilities.checked 4 Oct 2026
- Support
- The Free package includes self-service support; Bronze includes standard email support, and Gold includes premium support and a dedicated customer success manager.checked 4 Oct 2026
