Edthena and Trellis both use AI to turn a principal's classroom observation notes into framework-aligned feedback. Edthena's Observation Copilot is a free write-up tool that sits alongside its video coaching products. Trellis is a feedback platform built around the observer's workflow, with each teacher's growth history carried into every draft. If you need occasional write-ups at no cost, Observation Copilot is worth trying. If you want feedback that builds on prior observations and a record of teacher growth across your school, Trellis is built for that.
What Edthena offers
Edthena is known for video-based professional learning. Its VC3 platform supports human-led video coaching, where teachers record lessons and coaches or peers leave timestamped comments. AI Coach is a paid product that guides teachers through analyzing their own recorded lessons, setting an action plan, and measuring the impact of a change.
In 2025 Edthena launched Observation Copilot for principals. The observer takes notes during a classroom visit, and Observation Copilot drafts a write-up that maps the evidence to the district's instructional framework or another framework of the observer's choice, along with suggested next steps. The draft is reviewed and edited by the principal and shared with the teacher through the school's existing systems. Through a partnership with The Danielson Group, the Framework for Teaching is available inside the tool.
Observation Copilot's biggest advantage is price: Edthena offers it free of charge. For a principal who wants help with the blank-page problem on individual write-ups, that is a low-risk place to start.
What Trellis offers
Trellis is built around the full observation-to-feedback cycle rather than a single write-up. Leaders capture observations through typed notes, document uploads, or audio recordings, and Trellis drafts feedback aligned to the school's chosen framework, including Danielson, Marzano, CSTPs, UDL, and custom rubrics.
The main difference is memory. Trellis keeps a longitudinal growth profile for each teacher, so a new draft can reference earlier observations, stated goals, and progress since the last visit. That is the part of feedback writing that takes the longest by hand, and it is what makes feedback feel like coaching rather than a series of disconnected judgments.
Trellis is intentionally non-evaluative and positive-first: it surfaces strengths before growth areas, and ToneBoost adjusts language to fit each teacher. Teacher PII is anonymized before any content reaches an AI model, and Trellis supports districts' FERPA obligations with a signed data processing agreement (DPA).
Key differences at a glance
The table below compares Trellis with Edthena's observation and coaching products, based on Edthena's public materials as of the review date.
| Category | Trellis | Edthena |
|---|---|---|
| Primary focus | Observation feedback and teacher growth for school leaders | Video-based coaching (VC3, AI Coach) plus Observation Copilot for principal write-ups |
| Observation write-ups | AI drafts from typed notes, document uploads, or audio recordings | Observation Copilot drafts from the observer's notes |
| Framework support | Danielson, Marzano, CSTPs, UDL, custom rubrics | District framework or framework of choice; Danielson Framework for Teaching via The Danielson Group partnership |
| Teacher history | Longitudinal growth profiles referenced in each new draft | Write-ups are shared through the school's existing systems |
| Video coaching | Not video-based | Core strength through VC3 and AI Coach |
| Price | Site plan at $249 per seat per year, unlimited teachers | Observation Copilot is free; AI Coach and VC3 are paid licenses |
| Best suited for | Leaders who want connected, growth-focused feedback across every observation | Schools centering professional learning on recorded lessons, or principals wanting free write-up help |
Where Trellis stands out
- Feedback that remembers: each draft can build on a teacher's earlier observations, goals, and progress
- Audio capture, so observers can stay present in the room instead of typing
- ToneBoost adjusts the language of each draft to what an individual teacher needs
- Positive-first, non-evaluative design that keeps informal feedback separate from formal HR evaluation
- School-wide view of teacher growth over time rather than one write-up at a time
Which is right for you?
These products overlap on one job, drafting observation write-ups, and differ on almost everything around it.
Choose Edthena if your professional learning model is built around teachers recording and analyzing their own lessons, or if you want free help drafting individual observation write-ups and are comfortable keeping teacher history in your existing systems.
Choose Trellis if you want every piece of feedback to build on what came before. Trellis keeps each teacher's growth story in one place, so leaders can write connected feedback quickly and see how practice is changing across the school.
The two can coexist: a school can use Edthena for video coaching cycles and Trellis for the observation feedback leaders write between them.
Frequently asked questions
Is Edthena's Observation Copilot free?
Yes. Edthena describes Observation Copilot as available free of charge. Its AI Coach and VC3 video coaching products are paid licenses.
What is the main difference between Trellis and Observation Copilot?
Both draft framework-aligned feedback from observation notes. Trellis also maintains a growth profile for each teacher, so drafts reference earlier observations and goals, and it accepts audio recordings and document uploads as well as typed notes.
Can I use Trellis and Edthena together?
Yes. Edthena's strength is video-based coaching, while Trellis focuses on the written feedback leaders give after classroom observations. Many schools could use both for different parts of their professional learning.
Try Trellis
Turn your observation notes into feedback teachers use.
Trellis drafts specific, framework-aligned feedback that remembers each teacher's growth, so a write-up takes minutes instead of an evening.