Instructure Launches First EdTech Top 40 for Higher Education, Finds Dedicated AI Tools Outside the Top 100

Analysis of data covering nearly 19.5 million U.S. higher education users shows content, collaboration and video account for more than half of the Top 40, and formal AI integration remains limited

SALT LAKE CITY, Sept. 29, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Instructure, the leading learning ecosystem and maker of Canvas LMS, today released EdTech Top 40: Inside the U.S. Higher Education Digital Learning Stack, the first higher education edition of its EdTech Top 40 research. Based on data from nearly 19.5 million U.S. higher education users between September 2025 and April 2026, the analysis found that despite intense attention on AI in education, no dedicated AI tool ranks among the Top 100.

The broader findings show a technology environment built heavily around content, connection and institutional infrastructure. Higher education institutions averaged 28 unique Learning Tools Interoperability (LTI) integrations during the measurement period, compared with four for an individual instructor and five for an individual student. Content represents 27.5% of the Top 40, collaboration and video another 25%, and student information systems (SIS) and administrative tools 15%. Together, the findings show why technology decisions increasingly need to account for how tools fit into the broader institutional environment, not just how they perform individually.

"Higher education leaders need to look at the learning environment as a whole and ask how each tool fits into the experience they're creating for learners and educators," said Melissa Loble, chief learning officer at Instructure. "The LMS should serve as connective infrastructure across institutional systems, so every tool has a clear role and contributes meaningful value."

AI attention outpaces formal institutional integration

Google Gemini, the most widely adopted dedicated AI tool identified in the analysis, reached nearly 88,000 users across 211 institutions but did not rank among the Top 100. Because the analysis measures LTI launches, it captures AI tools formally integrated into the learning environment rather than consumer AI applications that students or faculty independently use outside the LMS. Separate research by Instructure found that only 11% of higher education instructors have received comprehensive AI training, adding context to the pace of formal AI integration.

"Formal AI adoption requires a higher bar than individual pilots or experimentation," said Mary Styers, director of evidence and learning strategy at Instructure. "Institutions weigh accessibility, data privacy, interoperability and existing research before a tool becomes part of the learning environment. That scrutiny shapes which AI tools ultimately reach institutional scale."

Higher education's technology mix differs sharply from K-12

The report also shows a distinctly different technology mix in higher education than in K-12. Personalized learning represents 27.5% of the K-12 EdTech Top 40 but only 2.5% in higher education. Assessment management accounts for 22.5% in K-12 compared with 7.5% in higher education. SIS and administrative tools show the opposite pattern, accounting for 2.5% in K-12 and 15% in higher education. Collaboration and video make up 25% of the higher education Top 40 but do not appear as a category in the K-12 Top 40. The findings reflect a higher education environment where instructors continue to drive the pace and design of courses and the LMS connects a broader set of academic and institutional systems.

Security and accessibility set a high bar for institutional adoption

The findings show how common accessibility and security documentation is among technologies that reach institutional scale. Ninety percent of the Top 40 have a publicly available Voluntary Product Accessibility Template (VPAT), 75% reference SOC 2 compliance and 58% reference the Higher Education Community Vendor Assessment Toolkit (HECVAT). Ninety percent are purpose-built for postsecondary education.

Separate conversations with higher education technology leaders at InstructureCon's Partner Summit reinforced the importance of those requirements. One institutional technology leader described a vetted VPAT as "a non-negotiable" and data security agreements as "table stakes for us" before vendor conversations can move forward.

Security and accessibility documentation is more widespread than evidence from deeper research. Seventy-five percent of the Top 40 have some form of research, but only 43% have evidence beyond customer case studies. Forty-three percent meet LTI 1.3 standards, according to 1EdTech.

Content and connection anchor the higher education stack

Content represents 27.5% of the Top 40. The 10 leading content tools identified in the analysis are all commercial publishers and distributors, and the report notes that open educational resources may be underrepresented because instructors can bring materials directly into the LMS without an LTI launch.

Collaboration and video make up another 25% of the Top 40, with Zoom leading the category by user reach at more than 9 million users, followed by Kaltura at 8.59 million and Panopto at 8.33 million. Together, those categories reinforce how central content and connection are to the higher education technology environment.

The report is based on de-identified Canvas LTI launch data from Sept. 1, 2025, through April 30, 2026, covering 19,480,990 individuals across U.S. higher education institutions using Canvas LMS. The analysis includes community colleges, R1 research universities, online institutions and other higher education institutions, and excludes native API integrations, which may cause some tools to be undercounted.

Read the full report here, EdTech Top 40: Inside the U.S. higher education digital learning stack.

About Instructure
Instructure builds the learning ecosystem that organizations, educators and learners depend on across K-12, higher education and the workforce. Canvas, Mastery and Parchment serve thousands of school districts, university systems, statewide agencies and employers, reaching tens of millions of learners in more than 100 countries. Everything Instructure makes is built for education first, with the data privacy protections, evidence and institutional control that schools, colleges and employers require. That is how learning becomes opportunity at every age, every stage and every pivotal transition. Discover more at Instructure.com.

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Instructure
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SOURCE Instructure