cnx

Name

cnx

Legal name

Rice University (OpenStax)

Website

https://cnx.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1999

Operating status

Operating

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Open Educational Resources / Educational Technology

NAICS

Educational Support Services (611710), Software Publishers (5132)

SIC

Books: Publishing Or Publishing & Printing (2731), Services-Prepackaged Software (7372)

akta.pro primary industry

Open Textbooks (Open-licensed core texts) (EDAGAJAA)

akta.pro secondary industries

Open Homework Systems & OER-Integrated Courseware (EDAGAJAH), Higher Education Digital Courseware & Modules (EDAGAEAB), Digital/Blended K–12 Courseware & Interactive Textbooks (EDAGAAAJ)

Keywords

• Open educational resources
• Online textbooks
• Learning management platform
• K-12 instructional materials
• Higher education publishing

Headquarters

HQ city

Houston

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Software

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Philanthropic Donations: OpenStax operates as a nonprofit initiative of Rice University, funded primarily through charitable donations from individuals, foundations, and institutional supporters. Donations enable the organization to maintain free access to all textbooks and educational resources.
2. Assignable Platform Subscription: Premium LMS-integrated course platform with auto-graded assessments, AI tools, and learning analytics available at $15 per student per course per semester. This is the primary revenue-generating product while core textbooks remain free.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion4 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

OpenStax publishes free, peer-reviewed textbooks under Creative Commons licensing across major academic subjects (Business, Computer Science, Humanities, Math, Nursing, Science, Social Sciences), available for reading on any device or download. It complements this with Assignable, a paid LMS-integrated learning platform priced at $15 per student per course per semester that delivers auto-graded homework, assessments, videos, simulations, AI tools, and learning analytics. The organization is also developing the EduStax AI Tool, a K-12 focused learning assistant designed to guide reasoning rather than deliver answers.

Product overview

OpenStax offers a dual-tier product portfolio: (1) Free OpenStax Textbooks — peer-reviewed, openly licensed textbooks for higher education and K-12, available on any device with built-in study tools; and (2) Assignable — a paid learning platform ($15/student/course/semester) providing auto-graded homework, assessments, AI tools, LMS integration, and grade sync for instructors. The company is also developing EduStax AI Tool, a K-12 AI learning assistant focused on guided reasoning. Technology partners build additional tools (courseware, adaptive learning, audiobooks) on OpenStax content.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Assignable: A platform for instructors to create courses around OpenStax content with auto-graded homework, assessments, videos, and simulations, plus AI tools, inside the LMS. $15 per student and course per semester.
• EduStax
• SafeInsights

Products and services

• OpenStax Free Textbooks Free, peer-reviewed textbooks available for reading on any device or download, enhanced with research-based learning tools. Covers subjects including Business, College Success, Computer Science, Humanities, Math, Nursing, Science, and Social Sciences. No ads, permanent access, with study tools built in. Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
• Assignable A paid LMS-integrated course platform that enables instructors to create courses around OpenStax content with auto-graded homework, assessments, videos, and simulations, plus AI tools inside the LMS. Provides grade sync, learning analytics, and Wolfram-powered computational autograding for math. Priced at $15 per student per course per semester.
• EduStax AI Tool An AI-powered learning assistant designed to help students reason through problems rather than simply providing answers, with teacher controls and student data protection. Targeted at K-12 education and currently in development and testing.

Quantifiable outcome

• $3.8 billion saved for 49 million students through free textbook access
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability2 records

Feature5 records

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered flagship, core, strategic and minor.

• Rice UniversityflagshipStrategic or Co-development PartnerOpenStax is an initiative of Rice University, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit institution. Rice provides institutional backing, research infrastructure, and the academic credibility that underpins OpenStax's mission. The university houses OpenStax's research team and the SafeInsights national research hub.
• WolframcoreTechnology or IntegrationWolfram provides computational mathematics engine powering Assignable platform's auto-grading and step-by-step worked examples for mathematical content. Enables accurate computational assessment across math courses.
• Google (Gemini, NotebookLM)strategicTechnology or IntegrationOpenStax content is integrated with Google's AI products including Gemini and NotebookLM. Peer-reviewed educational content provides sourcing for AI-generated learning materials.
• Microsoft Learning ZonestrategicTechnology or IntegrationOpenStax content integrated with Microsoft's learning platforms. Educational content serves as authoritative source material for Microsoft's AI-powered learning tools.
• SafeInsightscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSafeInsights is OpenStax's sister program and national research hub at Rice University. Collaborative research initiative focused on education data and learning insights that inform OpenStax content and tool development.
• Technology Partners (courseware, adaptive learning, simulations, audiobooks)minorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorVarious technology partners build affordable products on OpenStax content including courseware platforms, adaptive learning systems, virtual simulations, and audiobook services. These partners help keep the library updated while expanding distribution channels.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Lumen Learning: Provides OER-based courseware for higher education with auto-graded homework and LMS integration, directly competing with OpenStax's Assignable platform on the same instructor and institutional buyer.
• Khan Academy: Offers free, high-quality educational content across subjects with a freemium model and LMS integration (Khan Academy for Districts), competing for the same K-12 and independent learner audience.
• CK-12 Foundation: Provides free, customizable K-12 STEM textbooks and adaptive practice under an open license, mirroring OpenStax's OER approach to digital textbooks and K-12 adoption.
• OER Commons: A public digital library of open educational resources for K-12 and higher education, serving as a competing discovery and distribution hub for OER content.

Broad incumbents

• Cengage Group: Major commercial educational publisher and edtech provider offering digital textbooks, courseware, and inclusive-access programs that compete with OpenStax's paid Assignable platform across higher education.
• Pearson Education: Global commercial publisher of textbooks, MyLab/Mastering assessment platforms, and digital courseware, competing directly with OpenStax for institutional adoption in higher education.
• McGraw Hill Education: Large commercial publisher of K-12 and higher-ed textbooks and adaptive learning platforms (e.g., Connect, ALEKS), competing across both of OpenStax's core segments.

Emerging players

• Saylor Academy: Nonprofit offering free online college-level courses and open textbooks, with smaller reach than OpenStax but a similar open-access, low-cost positioning.
• Pressbooks: Book production platform widely used by OER authors and institutions to create and remix openly licensed textbooks, operating in the same OER publishing ecosystem as OpenStax.

Others

• Creative Commons: Enabling organization behind the CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 license OpenStax uses; not a direct competitor but a key ecosystem participant whose standards shape OpenStax's open licensing strategy.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/cnxresourcescorp

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 cnx