Students
Study on one canvas.
Verify a .edu address at a partner university and Novastart is free for as long as you are enrolled: every folder, canvas and window with no caps, and shared canvases for group work.
Education
Novastart for education.
Students and teachers at partner universities get Novastart free with a .edu email. Every class, project and study group on one infinite canvas, with your classmates and your AI agents in plain sight. Universities offer it to their whole campus at no cost.
- Free for students
- Free for teachers
- Free for the campus
Free for the whole campus.
One offer, three ways in. A student or a teacher applies with a .edu address; a university partners once and covers everyone with its domain.
Teachers and faculty
Teach from one board.
Free while you teach. Set up a canvas for each course, share it with your class by email, and every reading, document and browser window on it is live for everyone you invited.
Universities
Offer it to everyone.
Partner with Novastart and every student and teacher with your .edu address gets it free. You get a listing kit for your software catalog, install packages for labs and a direct line to us.
Why a canvas in a classroom.
Novastart is an operating system whose desktop is an infinite canvas. Apps float on it, your classmates and your AI agents work on it beside you, and it is still there tomorrow.
One canvas per course.
Every reading, slide deck, document and browser tab for a course sits on one canvas, and the canvas reopens exactly where you left it: apps, positions and tab addresses restored.
Group work without screen share.
Share a canvas by email and every window on it is live for the whole group, streamed from its owner's machine. Classmates click and type in it from their own computers.
AI you can watch.
Every agent has its own cursor on the canvas, so a class can see what it clicks and types. Every run is logged with its steps and screenshots, so students can audit what an agent did.
The apps you already use.
Gmail, Google Docs, Slides, Notion, Slack, Figma, Canva, Zoom, GitHub and ChatGPT are among 37 web apps that open as app windows on the canvas, and Linux apps run too.
Private by default.
Canvas contents never leave a student's machine until they share the canvas, and then only the people they invited see it. Nothing of theirs is stored on a Novastart server.
Runs on the computers you have.
Novastart OS installs on Intel and other x86 PCs. The desktop app runs Novastart in a window on Windows 10 and 11 and on Intel Macs, and there is a package for existing Ubuntu desktops.
How it works.
- 1
Email us from your .edu address.
Write to support@novastart.com from your university email with your university and whether you study or teach. If your university is not a partner yet, write anyway and we will get in touch with them.
- 2
We confirm by email.
We check the address against our partner list and reply to it with your next step.
- 3
Install Novastart.
Download the app or Novastart OS from the install page and sign up with the same address.
- 4
Keep it while you study or teach.
Your education plan stays free for as long as you have a current .edu address. Confirm it once a year.
Bring Novastart to your campus.
A partnership costs your university nothing. Every student, teacher and member of staff with your .edu address gets Novastart free, and your IT and teaching staff get a direct line to us.
What a partner university gets.
- Novastart free for every student, teacher and member of staff with your .edu address.
- A listing kit: a short description, the Novastart logo and the link to this page, ready for your software catalog or student portal.
- Install packages for labs and loan laptops: the Novastart OS image for x86 PCs, the Ubuntu package, and the Windows and Intel Mac app.
- A direct line to Novastart for your IT, library and teaching and learning staff.
- No student data on our servers: canvases stay on the machine until a student shares them. See the security and privacy pages.
Questions.
Who is eligible?
Students, teachers and staff at a partner university with a .edu email address. Universities outside the United States qualify with their own academic domain.
My university is not a partner yet. Can I still get it?
Yes. Email us from your .edu address and we will get in touch with your university. You can help by sending this page to your IT office or your teaching and learning centre.
What do I get on the education plan?
The full Novastart: every folder, canvas and window with no caps, and shared canvases for classes and group work. The pricing page shows how that compares with the other plans.
Does the education plan cover AI agents?
Agents run on OpenAI's computer-use models and are charged per use rather than through the plan, on the education plan as on every other. The pricing page has the details, and the AI Agents page shows what they do.
What computers does it run on?
Novastart OS installs on Intel and other x86 PCs. The desktop app runs Novastart in a window on Windows 10 and 11 and on Intel Macs. There is also a package for existing Ubuntu desktops. The install page has the downloads.
Can we put it in a computer lab?
Yes. The Novastart OS image replaces the operating system on a PC's disk, installs offline and updates itself with signed updates, and the Ubuntu package leaves an existing desktop in place. Write to us and we will help you plan it.
Where does student work live?
On the student's machine. Canvas contents never leave it until the student shares a canvas, and then only the people they invited see it. Nothing of theirs is stored on a Novastart server. The security page has the detail.
What happens when I graduate or leave?
Your canvases are on your machine and stay there. Your account moves to a standard plan; the pricing page lists them.
How does a university become a partner?
Email support@novastart.com with Education partnership in the subject line, from a university address. We set up your domain, send the listing kit and answer your IT team's questions.
Get Novastart for your campus.
Email us from your .edu address. Students and teachers: tell us your university and whether you study or teach. University staff: tell us about your campus and we will set up the partnership.
Or write to support@novastart.com with Education in the subject line. We reply by email.