What Appily does

Appily is a US-based, free college-planning platform serving prospective and current college students with college search, scholarship matching, virtual campus tours, admission-probability calculations, and direct admissions services. The platform, which rebranded from Cappex in 2022, operates as a subsidiary of EAB (Education Advisory Board) and aggregates data on 4,000+ colleges alongside scholarship opportunities totaling $44 million in accessible funding. Approximately 3 million students register annually, generating a large user base despite no fees being charged to students.

The core technology centers on a college matching and recommendation engine that uses student academic profiles (GPA, SAT/ACT scores), preferences, and demographic data to personalize college and scholarship matches. Appily's proprietary features include a Direct Admissions program that inverts traditional admissions by having colleges apply to students, immersive virtual college tours, a College Chances Calculator estimating admission probability, and an extensive scholarship database. The platform also publishes SEO-optimized content, interactive quizzes, and calculators as top-of-funnel lead generation and maintains counselor and parent resource hubs as a referral channel. Additional verticals include the Advanced Degrees sub-brand targeting adult learners and the Serve portal for military-affiliated students.

Revenue is generated through data monetization rather than student fees. Appily explicitly identifies as a "data broker," collecting and aggregating student registration data, academic profiles, and preferences, then providing this intelligence to colleges and universities for recruitment and marketing purposes. Distribution is primarily product-led growth via a self-serve web platform, with supplemental partnerships through high school counselor networks and dedicated counselor and parent hubs. The primary customer segments served are high school juniors and seniors, with secondary segments including current college students, counselors, parents, and educational institutions.

Name

Appily

Legal name

Appily

Website

https://appily.com

Company type

Private

Operating status

Operating

Short description

Appily is a free college-planning platform for US students, offering college search, scholarship matching, virtual tours, and direct admissions. Operated by EAB as a data broker serving 4,000+ colleges and roughly 3 million annual student registrants.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

College Planning Platform

NAICS

Educational Support Services (611710)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro primary industry

Enrollment Yield, Matriculation & Onboarding Platforms (EDAFAMAG)

akta.pro secondary industries

Application Planning, Document Management & Submission Tools (EDAFAMAC), Scholarship, Financial Aid & FAFSA Support Platforms (EDAFAMAF)

Keywords

• College planning platform
• Scholarship matching
• College search engine
• Virtual campus tours
• Direct admissions

Headquarters

HQ city

Chicago

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Technology or R&D, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Operations

Revenue model

1. Data Services to Educational Institutions: Appily is explicitly labeled as a 'data broker' on their website. The platform collects and aggregates student data (registration information, academic profiles, preferences) and provides this to colleges and universities for recruitment and marketing purposes. This data exchange allows educational institutions to identify and target prospective students.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Appily is a free college planning platform that helps high school students and parents search colleges, match to scholarships, take virtual campus tours, run college and financial aid calculators, and apply via a direct admissions program in which participating colleges proactively extend admission offers. The platform is monetized by selling student intent and profile data and recruitment-related services to colleges, universities, and other education institutions.

Product overview

Appily is a comprehensive college planning platform that rebranded from Cappex. The core platform integrates five main service areas: College Search (filterable by cost, academics, location, and identity groups), Scholarship Database (matching students to scholarships by qualification), Virtual Tours (immersive campus exploration), Direct Admissions (schools recruiting students), and Serve (military education pathways). The platform also includes a separate Advanced Degrees sub-brand for career and degree completion. Quizzes and calculators provide personalization across all services, enabling tailored college recommendations and scholarship matches based on user profiles.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Appily College Planning Platform Free end-to-end college planning platform for high school students, parents, and counselors that consolidates college search, scholarship matching, virtual tours, college and financial aid calculators, and direct admissions into one destination.
• College Search Searchable database of 4,000+ colleges and universities with filters, comparison tools, and detailed institution profiles for prospective students.
• Scholarship Database and Matching Searchable database of $44M+ in scholarships with matching/personalization to help students find and apply to relevant scholarships.
• Virtual Campus Tours Virtual tours of college campuses that allow prospective students to explore schools remotely without traveling.
• Direct Admissions Program where participating colleges review student profiles and proactively offer admission to qualified students, bypassing the traditional application-first model.
• Advanced Degrees Sub-brand within the Appily ecosystem dedicated to graduate school resources, including graduate program search and planning tools.
• Serve Sub-brand within the Appily ecosystem that helps students explore military pathways and service-oriented educational and career options.
• College and Financial Aid Calculators Interactive calculators that help students estimate admissions chances and financial aid eligibility at prospective colleges.

Named customers6 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability2 records

Feature4 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• EABcoreOthersEAB is the parent company of Appily. Appily operates as a division/subsidiary of EAB, an education research and consulting firm. The footer references EAB's privacy policy and terms.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Niche: Niche is a leading college search and review platform that lets students research schools, compare costs, and read reviews. It directly overlaps with Appily's core college search, scholarship matching, and identity-group filtering capabilities for U.S. high school students.
• Common App: Common App is the dominant college application platform used by most U.S. colleges and universities. It competes with Appily for the college-bound student workflow and is increasingly layering in college search and advising features adjacent to Appily's offering.
• Naviance (PowerSchool): Naviance is a college and career readiness platform sold to high schools and counselors for college planning, application management, and student tracking. It is highly comparable to Appily on the counselor and institution-facing workflow side.
• Unigo: Unigo provides college search, reviews, scholarships, and financial aid information for prospective students. It targets the same high school audience as Appily with similar college search and scholarship tools.
• Raise.me: Raise.me pioneered micro-scholarships earned over high school for college admission. It is closely comparable to Appily's scholarship matching feature and historically targeted the same students seeking early, transparent financial aid signals.
• College Confidential: College Confidential is a college admissions forum and information site offering college search, financial aid, and application advice. It serves the same high school student demographic and historically competed with Cappex/Appily for college-bound traffic.
• Scholly (by Sallie): Scholly is a scholarship search and matching platform originally popularized on Shark Tank and now part of Sallie. It is directly comparable to Appily's scholarship database and matching capabilities.

Broad incumbents

• BigFuture (College Board): College Board's BigFuture is a free college and career planning platform that helps students build college lists, find scholarships, and connect with colleges. It is backed by the SAT/PSAT/NMSQT ecosystems and is a broad incumbent in the same college planning category as Appily.
• Chegg: Chegg is a broad education platform serving college students with textbooks, tutoring, and admissions tools (including former Zinch and College Confidential brands). It overlaps Appily in scholarship and admissions support as part of a wider student services portfolio.

Emerging players

• YouVisit / EAB Virtual Tours: YouVisit provides immersive virtual campus tour technology used by many colleges. It overlaps with Appily's Virtual Tours product and shares EAB's broader ecosystem as a sibling in the EAB portfolio of education solutions.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/AppilyCom
• Facebookfacebook.com/appilysocial

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Appily