If you're running a tutoring centre or language school on Zoom, you've probably noticed the gaps: no way to monitor breakout groups, no built-in attendance, and meeting links that anyone can forward. This guide shows you how to move your teaching to a purpose-built classroom without disrupting your timetable.
This isn't a "Zoom is bad" piece. Zoom is excellent for business meetings. But when you're teaching small groups, managing enrolment, tracking attendance, and supervising breakout rooms, a video-call tool doesn't quite fit. Simpleclass was built for exactly that gap: tutoring institutes, language schools, and exam-prep organisations that need video plus the structure of a classroom.
Here's how to make the switch without losing a day of teaching.
Why Switch? Ground Every Reason in a Feature
Before we walk through the steps, it's worth naming the specific things that change when you move from a meeting tool to a classroom platform.
Breakout Room Monitoring
In Zoom, you create breakout rooms and then visit one at a time. You knock, wait to be let in, and students know you're there. In Simpleclass, you can monitor multiple breakout rooms at once—seeing all groups in one overview, listening to several rooms' audio simultaneously, and dropping into any room invisibly to observe without students knowing. You can also broadcast a message or your voice to every room at once.
This matters for language conversation practice, group problem-solving, and any scenario where you want to keep an eye on everyone without constantly interrupting.
No Meeting Links
Zoom sessions are protected by a meeting link or passcode. Anyone with that link can join, and students can forward it. Simpleclass removes the meeting link entirely: students join from their account and course enrolment. The system mints a private token for each authenticated, enrolled participant. There's nothing to leak, forward, or "Zoombomb". Read the full comparison for more detail.
Keeping Student Cameras On
You can ask students to turn their cameras on in Zoom, but you can't enforce it. In Simpleclass, teachers can require cameras (and microphones) to stay on: the toggle is locked, and the device is forced back on if the student tries to disable it. Frame this as "teachers can require cameras on"—it's not a permanent platform-wide default, but a per-session choice.
Attendance, Recordings, and Reports in One Place
Zoom doesn't track attendance unless you export participant lists and wrangle spreadsheets. Simpleclass logs who joined each session and for how long, automatically. Session recordings (room-composite MP4 including the whiteboard) are stored in EU-hosted object storage and streamed back via signed links. Teachers can produce a session report and email it to parents directly if a parent email is on file.
EU-Hosted Video and Data
All video, recordings, files, and chat are hosted in the EU (Scaleway, Paris region), using a self-hosted LiveKit media server. If GDPR compliance and data residency matter to your institution—or to parents—this architecture makes a difference.
Step 1: Set Up Your Institution and Invite Your Team
Start by registering at admin.simpleclass.eu/register. You'll get a 7-day free trial: one teacher account and fifty student accounts, no credit card required.
Once you've confirmed your email and logged in, you'll land in the admin dashboard. This is where you manage your team, courses, and billing—completely separate from the classroom app your teachers and students will use.
Invite Teachers
Go to the Teachers tab and click Invite. Enter each teacher's email address. They'll receive a setup link, choose their own password, and log in. Each teacher licence costs €49 per month and includes fifty student accounts. Volume discounts apply for larger teams.
Invite Students
Head to the Students tab and invite your learners the same way. Students don't cost extra—they're included with each teacher licence. If you have a parent email on file, add it during the invite so session reports can be sent automatically.
Claim Your Custom Subdomain
Simpleclass gives each institution its own branded login portal—something like yourschool.simpleclass.eu. Set this in the admin dashboard under Settings. Your teachers and students will always log in at your subdomain, which keeps everything under your brand and makes access easier to explain.
Step 2: Create Courses and Enrol Students
In Zoom, you probably created a recurring meeting for each group and shared the link via email or WhatsApp. In Simpleclass, you create a course for each subject or group, enrol the students who belong to it, and assign the teacher(s) who will teach it.
Think of a course as a container: all the sessions, materials, attendance records, and chat for that group live inside it. Students only see the courses they're enrolled in, and they can only join sessions that belong to those courses.
To create a course, your teachers (or you, as admin) log in to the classroom app at your custom subdomain, navigate to Courses, and click New Course. Give it a name, enrol the students, and you're done. You can create courses in advance and schedule sessions on the calendar, or create them on the fly.
Step 3: Schedule Your First Sessions
Instead of generating a Zoom link and pasting it into a calendar invite, you schedule a session inside the course. Teachers open the course, click Schedule Session, pick a date and time, and save. The session appears on the course calendar and in each enrolled student's upcoming list.
Students join by logging in to their account, seeing the session in their dashboard, and clicking Join when it's time. No meeting link, no passcode, no confusion about which link is for which group.
Step 4: Run Your First Class—With Breakout Rooms
When it's time to teach, your teacher logs in and starts the session. Students join from their accounts. The interface will feel familiar: video grid, chat panel, whiteboard on the side.
Create Breakout Rooms
Click the breakout rooms icon, create as many rooms as you need, and assign students by dragging them into groups. Send everyone to their rooms.
Monitor All Rooms at Once
Here's where it diverges from Zoom. Instead of visiting one room at a time and knocking, you see all rooms in a single overview. You can monitor multiple rooms' audio at once, drop into any room invisibly (students don't see you or know you're there), and move between rooms while keeping the overview open. If you need to speak to everyone, broadcast your voice to all rooms at once.
This feature—breakout room monitoring—is the single most-cited reason tutoring centres and language schools migrate from Zoom to Simpleclass. It changes how you run conversation classes, group exercises, and exam preparation.
Step 5: Use the Integrated Whiteboard and Chat
The whiteboard is always available in the sidebar. It syncs in real time to all participants, and it's composited into the session recording if you're recording. You can also open it in a second-screen tab. It's not as feature-rich as a standalone tool like Miro—there's no undo/redo, save/export, or multiple pages—but it's there when you need to sketch a diagram or work through a problem together.
Chat works as you'd expect: a group chat visible to everyone, plus private 1:1 direct messages between teacher and student. A sound cue alerts you to new direct messages. All chat is logged and searchable within the session.
Step 6: Review Attendance and Send Reports
After the session ends, attendance is already recorded. Simpleclass tracks who joined and how long they stayed—no manual register, no export-and-email routine.
Teachers can produce a session report and email it to parents directly if a parent email is on file. The report includes attendance, duration, and any notes the teacher adds. Recordings (if enabled) stream from EU storage via signed links under your control.
What About Your Existing Zoom Recordings?
If you've been recording lessons in Zoom, download them from Zoom Cloud before you cancel your subscription. Simpleclass doesn't import Zoom recordings—session recording in Simpleclass starts fresh with your first recorded session. Store your old Zoom files wherever you keep your institution's archives, and move forward with the new system.
Pricing: What It Actually Costs
Simpleclass charges €49 per teacher, per month. Each teacher licence includes fifty student accounts. Students don't pay; they're free, included with the teacher seat. Every feature—breakout room monitoring, session recording, custom subdomain, whiteboard, chat, attendance—is available on every plan. There are no feature tiers.
Volume discounts apply for larger teams (four or more teachers). Billing is monthly via Mollie. You can cancel anytime; access continues to the end of the paid period. EU VAT applies: 21% in the Netherlands, 0% reverse charge for non-Dutch businesses with a valid VAT number, 21% for consumers.
Trial Without Commitment
The 7-day free trial gives you one teacher account and fifty student accounts. No credit card required. You can invite your team, create courses, run live sessions, test breakout room monitoring, and record a session—all before you decide whether to subscribe.
Once per institution. If the trial works for you, choose a subscription inside the admin dashboard and your billing starts. If it doesn't fit, the trial expires and nothing is charged.
Common Questions About Switching
Do I need to migrate data?
No. Simpleclass doesn't import Zoom chat logs, participant lists, or cloud recordings. You start fresh: create your courses, invite your people, and schedule new sessions. Your Zoom history stays in Zoom (or in your downloads folder).
Can I run Zoom and Simpleclass in parallel?
Yes. Many schools試 one course on Simpleclass while keeping the rest on Zoom, then migrate group by group. Because access is by account and enrolment (not a shared meeting link), there's no risk of students joining the wrong platform—they only see the courses they're enrolled in.
What if my teachers are used to Zoom?
The learning curve is gentle. Video, screen share, and chat work as expected. The new concepts—courses, enrolment, breakout monitoring—take one session to internalise. Most teachers report that the breakout room overview alone makes the switch worthwhile.
Do students need to install anything?
No app install required. Students log in via browser (Chrome, Edge, Safari, Firefox) at your custom subdomain. There's also a mobile-friendly layout for phones and tablets, with adaptive video quality and a dedicated UI.
Making the Switch Without Disrupting Your Timetable
Here's a practical migration timeline that minimises disruption:
- Week 0: Register for the trial. Set up your subdomain. Invite one or two teachers.
- Week 1: Create one pilot course. Enrol a small group of students. Run one session with breakout rooms to test the monitoring workflow.
- Week 2: If the pilot works, invite the rest of your teaching team. Create courses for the new term. Schedule sessions on the calendar.
- Week 3: Invite all students. Send a short email explaining the new login (your custom subdomain) and what to expect. Run your first full week of sessions on Simpleclass.
- Week 4: Review attendance reports, test session recording, and gather feedback from teachers. Cancel your Zoom subscription if you're ready.
Because the 7-day trial doesn't require a credit card, you can test the platform thoroughly before committing to billing. If you need more time, reach out—trial extensions for larger institutions are handled case by case.
What You Gain, What You Leave Behind
Switching from Zoom to Simpleclass means you gain:
- Breakout room monitoring (invisible observation, multi-room overview, broadcast to all rooms)
- Access by account and enrolment—no shareable meeting links
- Teacher-controlled camera and microphone locks
- Automatic attendance tracking and parent reports
- EU-hosted video, recordings, and data
- One platform for video, whiteboard, chat, calendar, and billing
What you leave behind:
- Virtual backgrounds and background blur (not implemented)
- Hand-raise and emoji reactions with sounds (not implemented)
- Recurring meeting scheduling (you schedule sessions individually or copy-paste dates)
- Week/day grid calendar view (Simpleclass uses a list/month calendar)
If those missing features are essential to your teaching, Simpleclass might not be the right fit. If breakout monitoring, account-based access, and purpose-built tutoring workflows matter more, it's worth the trial.
Ready to Try?
Start your 7-day free trial at admin.simpleclass.eu/register. One teacher account, fifty student accounts, no credit card required. Set up your courses, invite your team, and run a session with breakout room monitoring. If it works for your teaching, subscribe. If it doesn't, the trial expires and nothing is charged.
Questions? Visit the FAQ or get in touch via the contact page.