Indian software company Zoho has launched Classes 2.0, a learning management system rebuilt around artificial intelligence — and it is offering the platform free of licensing costs to every government school, college and university in India.
An LMS rebuilt around AI
Launched on July 15, 2026, Zoho Classes 2.0 is the overhaul of a tool born during the pandemic as a simple assignment-collection app. Nearly five years and, by its product lead's count, conversations with more than a thousand teachers later, it has become a full academic platform used by state governments, universities, schools and colleges — with around 500 institutional sign-ups globally and more than a million assignment submissions processed.
The flagship feature is an AI Course Builder that generates a complete course — structure, reading resources, video outlines, assignments with grading rubrics and assessments — in under 30 seconds, in any of 22 scheduled Indian languages, and aligned with course and programme outcomes. Teachers remain in the loop: everything the AI drafts opens in an editor for review before students see it.
Students, teachers, institutions
For students, Classes 2.0 adds a 24/7 AI tutor deliberately restricted to the subjects a learner is enrolled in — a design choice meant to curb off-topic use and hallucinations — plus Duolingo-style bite-sized daily questions with streaks, gamified modules and AI-based career counselling. For teachers, the platform automates lesson planning and offers AI-assisted grading for computer science assignments, which Zoho estimates could save roughly 150 hours of manual grading per teacher per semester. AI-generated feedback is never sent directly to students; the teacher edits and returns it.
For institutions, a course-outcome mapping tool helps generate the data behind accreditation reports required by bodies such as AICTE, NAAC, NBA and NMC, while dedicated features support Competency-Based Medical Education. A low-code micro-app builder lets colleges digitise admissions and administration without programmers.
Built for India's scale — and its rules
The platform supports all 22 scheduled Indian languages and is aligned with the National Education Policy 2020. On privacy, Zoho stresses that student activity is visible to institutions — “you cannot use it like your own personal chatbot” — and institutions can disable student AI access entirely. The mobile app can cache content for short periods offline, though full downloads are not supported, a concession to low-end devices.
Pricing as a statement
Classes 2.0 is free for all central and state government institutions, and for individual teachers with up to 100 students. Private institutions pay 500 rupees per teacher per month. CEO Mani Vembu framed the decision plainly: access to advanced education technology should not depend on an institution's budget.
Why it matters beyond India
An international rollout is planned in the coming months. If Zoho's bet lands, it pressures the global LMS market on two fronts at once: AI-native features that incumbents are still bolting on, and a pricing model that treats public education as a mission rather than a market. For under-resourced systems everywhere, that combination will be hard to ignore.