Course Hero Review: How This Study Tool Can Save Your Finals

Have you ever found yourself staring at a tough homework problem at 2 a.m., wishing you had someone to help? Allow me to introduce you to Course Hero, with over 30 million study materials uploaded by students and educators around the world.

What started as a student-founded idea back in 2006 has grown into a global community of learners sharing everything from lecture notes to practice exams. Whether you’re cramming for finals or trying to make sense of something confusing, Course Hero promises 24/7 access to answers, explanations, and support.

But is it really worth the price? And how reliable are the materials?

In this Course Hero review, I’ll discuss the pros and cons, what it is, who it’s best for, and its key features. Then, I’ll show you how I used Course Hero to get answers to questions, access study documents, and get homework help.

I’ll finish the article by comparing Course Hero with my top three alternatives (Gradescope, TurboLearn, and Fetchy). Here’s my honest take on whether Course Hero is the right study tool for you.

Verdict

Overall, Course Hero is a helpful study platform with a huge library, fast tutor support, and AI tools that make learning easier. However, its high cost, inconsistent content quality, and academic integrity concerns may be drawbacks for some.

What is Course Hero?

Course Hero is an online learning platform based in Redwood City, California, that connects students with study resources and educational support. Access these resources by subscribing or uploading your own study materials to earn unlocks.

It’s like a massive digital library combined with a tutoring center, except it’s all happening on your laptop. The platform was founded in 2006 by Andrew Grauer, who was still a student at the time.

What really surprised me about Course Hero was the sheer size of the community. There are over 200,000 faculty members worldwide who use it. That’s not just some small forum. It’s a legitimate educational ecosystem that’s been built over nearly two decades.

Core Mission

Course Hero’s core mission boils down to making education more accessible and affordable. When you consider that a single tutoring session can cost $50-100 per hour, having access to millions of study documents for a monthly subscription fee changes the game for a lot of students.

Course Hero vs. Traditional Tutoring Services

The way Course Hero differs from traditional tutoring is something I had to wrap my head around.

Traditional tutoring offers one-on-one time with someone who knows the material. That’s great, but limited by scheduling and cost.

Course Hero flips that model by providing access to collective knowledge. Thousands of students who’ve already taken your exact course have uploaded their notes, study guides, and explanations.

Plus, there’s on-demand tutoring if you need it. However, the real value is in having 24/7 access to resources.

User Base & Community

What makes the Course Hero community really powerful is the peer-to-peer learning.

Students aren’t just downloading PDFs and disappearing; they’re rating documents, leaving comments about which study guides actually helped them pass exams, and building on each other’s work. That crowdsourced quality control means the best materials naturally rise to the top over time.

Value Proposition

The value proposition of Course Hero is pretty straightforward when you break it down.

Instead of struggling alone with a textbook that costs $300, you get access to how thousands of other students understood and mastered that same material. It’s collaborative learning at scale, which wasn’t possible before the Internet made platforms like Course Hero feasible.

Freemium Model

Course Hero operates on a freemium model. That means you can browse and preview materials for free, but accessing full documents requires either uploading your own quality content or paying for a subscription.

Who is Course Hero Best For?

Here’s who Course Hero is best for:

• College and university students who need course-specific study materials like notes, practice exams, and guides.
• Students preparing for exams who use flashcards, summaries, and past tests to study.
• Students who want 24/7 homework help from expert tutors at an affordable price and AI explanations for tough subjects.
• Educators who want to share teaching materials and collaborate with others.

While high school students and lifelong learners can use Course Hero, its target demographic is college/university students and teachers.

Course Hero Key Features

Here are Course Hero’s key features:

• Access to millions of user-uploaded study documents (course notes, study guides, essays, practice problems, and lecture slides) organized by school, course, and subject.
• 24/7 homework help, allowing students to ask questions and get answers from expert tutors in as little as 30 minutes.
• Study your own documents by uploading them and using the AI chat for answers, explanations, content recommendations, and writing tools.
• Step-by-step textbook solutions for thousands of popular textbooks across many disciplines.
• AI tools such as a grammar checker, paraphraser, proofreader, and spell checker.
• Document rating and commenting to verify the usefulness of resources.
• A collaborative platform for students and faculty to share and improve educational materials.
• Mobile apps for iOS and Android for convenient access, offline document storage, and notifications for new uploads.

How to Use Course Hero

Here’s how I used Course Hero to get answers to specific questions, access study documents, and get homework help:

1. Sign Up for Course Hero
2. Ask a Question
3. Access the Document Library
4. Get Help from a Tutor

Step 1: Sign Up for Course Hero

I started by going to coursehero.com and selecting “Join” to sign up. You can sign up as a student or an educator.

Step 2: Ask a Question

After selecting my plan (which comes with a thirty-day money-back guarantee), I was directed to my dashboard. This was where I could ask Course Hero’s AI a question and upload documents and images to start studying.

Course Hero is not just a place to find study guides. The real power comes from knowing how to search effectively and which tools to use for your specific needs.

The search bar is where everything starts, but you’ll want to be specific with your searches. Try searching with your textbook name, edition number, and the concept you’re struggling with.

For example, I tried searching “calculus derivatives.” Course Hero asked me to clarify whether I was looking for the definition, rules for finding derivatives, examples, or applications.

For a more accurate response without clarification, I searched for something more accurate: “Stewart Calculus 8th Edition derivative rules practice problems.” While Course Hero was unable to provide specific problems from the textbook, it suggested types of problems that might be encountered, which was helpful.

Step 3: Access the Document Library

The document library is probably what most students use Course Hero for. It’s a collection of documents uploaded by other students.

To get full access to these documents, you have to unlock them.

Course Hero uses a credit system where you need “unlocks” to view full documents. You get unlocks by uploading your own study materials, but keep in mind that quality matters.

For example, a blurry photo of handwritten notes is probably not going to get approved for unlocks. What works is typing up clear study guides, uploading well-organized notes, or sharing practice problems with solutions.

Step 4: Get Help from a Tutor

The Q&A feature is where you can post specific questions, and actual tutors will answer them in as little as 30 minutes. It’s important to ask good questions by being specific about what you don’t understand.

Include the full problem, mention what you’ve tried already, and point out exactly where you’re stuck. The response rate is much higher when you do this.

Overall, Course Hero made studying more interactive by combining AI tools, tutor support, and community resources in one place. I found that the more specific I was with my searches and questions, the more accurate and useful the results became.

Top 3 Course Hero Alternatives

Here are the best Course Hero alternatives I’d recommend:

Gradescope

The first Course Hero alternative I’d recommend is Gradescope by Turnitin. It’s an AI grading platform that helps educators quickly grade paper, digital, and coding assignments with automated feedback, analytics, and LMS integration.

Gradescope uses AI to speed up grading and give consistent feedback for both handwritten and digital work. It groups similar answers and allows anonymous grading.

Meanwhile, Course Hero offers millions of student-uploaded study materials, 24/7 tutor help, and AI tools for summaries. It’s a great tool for students who need extra resources, practice exams, and explanations for college courses.

Choose Gradescope for AI grading and fast instructor feedback. Otherwise, choose Course Hero for study guides, textbook help, and tutoring.

TurboLearn

The next Course Hero alternative I’d recommend is TurboLearn. It turns audio, video, and PDF files into notes, flashcards, and quizzes for studying. It also includes a smart chatbot that answers questions based on your materials, making studying faster and easier.

On the one hand, TurboLearn turns lecture recordings, transcripts, and PDFs into interactive study aids with AI. Meanwhile, Course Hero provides a large library of course materials and tutoring that relies on community contributions rather than automated content.

Use TurboLearn to generate notes and flashcards with AI for personalized learning. Otherwise, use Course Hero for access to valuable resources like past exams and 24/7 tutor help.

Read my TurboLearn review or visit TurboLearn!

Fetchy

Course Hero Review: The Right Tool For You?

Overall, I enjoyed my experience with Course Hero. I loved having 24/7 access to millions of study materials and being able to ask specific questions to tutors or the AI. Course Hero made studying more interactive, and the resources often gave me insights I wouldn’t have found on my own.

But with that said, content quality can vary. Also, the subscription may feel expensive at times.

If you’re curious about the best Course Hero alternatives, here’s what I’d suggest:

• Gradescope is best for instructors who need AI-assisted grading, quick feedback, and analytics.
• TurboLearn is best for students who want AI-generated notes, flashcards, and quizzes from lectures or PDFs.
• Fetchy is best for K-12 teachers and parents interested in AI tools for lesson planning and curriculum creation.

Thanks for reading my Course Hero review! I hope you found it helpful. Experience it risk-free with a 30-day money-back guarantee.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is it safe to use Course Hero?

Yes, Course Hero is generally safe for your data, following privacy rules like GDPR. However, some schools see using others’ work as an honor code violation, so it should be used ethically for studying and not copying answers.

Does Course Hero cost money?

Yes, Course Hero costs money. When signing up, you will have to choose one of their plans. However, there is a 30-day money-back guarantee.

Can professors see if you use Course Hero?

Professors cannot directly see individual student accounts or track who accesses or unlocks specific documents on Course Hero. However, they can detect uploaded course materials using plagiarism detection software like Turnitin.

Can I use Course Hero for free?

Yes, you can use Course Hero for free by earning “unlocks” through uploading original study materials and rating documents. This allows access to locked content without paying. Full and unlimited access to documents and 24/7 tutor help requires a paid subscription.

Can I earn money from Course Hero?

Yes, you can earn money from Course Hero by becoming a tutor and answering students’ questions online. Top tutors can reportedly make up to $1,500 per month, though actual earnings vary.