Choosing online assessment and proctoring software comes down to five decisions: how much security each exam really needs, what kinds of cheating you are trying to stop, whether the tool works with your LMS and publisher content, how it treats student privacy and accommodations, and which pricing model fits your exam volume. Most institutions end up with a light tool for routine quizzes and a stronger one for high-stakes exams.
The category covers everything from a locked exam browser to live human proctors watching over a webcam. Buying the strongest option for every quiz wastes money and frustrates students. Buying the lightest option for a licensure exam puts credentials at risk. The work is in matching the tool to the stakes.
Match the level of security to the stakes
Sort your exams by what happens if someone cheats, then pick a level of control for each group.
- Lockdown browser only: blocks other sites and apps during an LMS quiz. Suits weekly quizzes and low-stakes checks. Respondus LockDown Browser is the common choice here.
- Automated webcam monitoring: records the student and flags unusual behavior for later review. Suits midterms and larger courses.
- AI flags with human review: software watches, and a person steps in when something looks wrong. Honorlock pairs AI monitoring with live proctors who pop in only on a flag.
- Live proctoring: a person watches the whole session. Suits certification, licensure prep and graduate entrance exams. Meazure Learning, which runs ProctorU, is built for this.
- Secure offline testing: the exam runs in a locked app and does not depend on a steady connection. ExamSoft’s Examplify serves law, nursing and medical programs this way.
Write the levels into policy so faculty know which tool to use for which exam. Without that, every instructor makes a different call and students face a different experience in every course.
Know what you are protecting against in 2026
The threats have changed. A few years ago the main worries were open notes and a friend in the room. Now buyers also have to plan for AI chatbots, a second phone on the desk, smart glasses and watches, and someone else taking the exam.
- Ask whether the tool blocks AI assistants and browser extensions during the exam.
- Ask whether it detects a second device, such as a phone or smartwatch. Honorlock lists phone and smartwatch detection.
- Ask how identity is checked: photo ID, a face match, or a live check by a person.
- Ask what the tool can see on a second monitor or a virtual machine.
Software is only half the answer. Large question banks, randomized questions and answer order, sensible time limits and open-book formats for some exams cut cheating without any monitoring at all. The best programs pair proctoring with better exam design. Faculty development matters here: a short workshop on writing questions that test application rather than recall can do as much for integrity as any monitoring tool.
Check LMS, publisher and device fit
A proctoring tool that does not fit your systems will create support tickets on exam day. Map where your exams actually live before you look at features.
Learning management systems
Respondus LockDown Browser works with LMS quizzes in Blackboard, Brightspace, Canvas, Moodle, Sakai and Schoology, but only with LMS quizzes. Honorlock lists Canvas, Blackboard, Moodle, D2L Brightspace and Open LMS among its integrations and says it uses LTI 1.3, so it should work with other LTI-compliant platforms.
Publisher platforms
Many introductory courses give exams inside publisher platforms rather than the LMS. Honorlock supports McGraw Hill Connect, Pearson MyLab and Cengage WebAssign, among others. If your faculty rely on publisher exams, confirm coverage for each one by name.
Devices and connections
Ask which operating systems, browsers and devices each tool supports, including Chromebooks and tablets, and what happens when a student’s connection drops in the middle of an exam. Tools that run exams locally, like ExamSoft, need internet only to download the exam and upload answers, which helps students with unreliable home connections.
Treat privacy, accessibility and fairness as requirements
Proctoring records students in their homes, so it draws more scrutiny than most education software. Recordings and flags are tied to individual students and fall under FERPA. Some states regulate biometric data, such as Illinois under its Biometric Information Privacy Act, so ask whether a tool collects face geometry or other biometric identifiers and how it obtains consent. Room scans deserve care too: in 2022 a federal judge ruled that a room scan required by Cleveland State University violated a student’s Fourth Amendment rights.
- Ask what is recorded, who can view it, where it is stored and when it is deleted.
- Ask how extra time, breaks, screen readers and other assistive technology work with the tool.
- Ask for a VPAT and the vendor’s WCAG 2.1 AA conformance.
- Plan an option for students without a webcam, a quiet room or reliable internet, such as a campus testing center.
Publish a plain-language notice for students that explains what the tool does and how flags are reviewed. Clear rules reduce anxiety and appeals. Share the notice before the term starts, not the night before the first exam, and include a practice quiz so students can test their setup without pressure.
Model pricing against your real exam volume
Pricing models in this category vary widely, and the cheapest-looking option depends on how many exams you run.
- Flat campus license: Respondus publishes LockDown Browser campus licenses from $3,295 a year for up to 2,000 FTE. Respondus Monitor adds webcam proctoring at a flat $4,950 for the first institution-wide term, and schools with LockDown Browser get 200 free Monitor seats each year.
- FTE, per-student or per-exam tiers: Honorlock quotes flat-rate annual licensing or FTE, per-student and per-exam options for higher education.
- Per session: live proctoring services such as Meazure Learning charge per session, and live sessions cost the most.
- Student pays: some tools let students buy access themselves. Respondus Monitor can be bought by students for $15 a year, but student-paid models raise equity questions.
Do the math before you compare quotes. A course of 300 students that runs four proctored exams a term generates 1,200 proctored sessions. Multiply that by every course that needs proctoring, and per-session pricing can quickly pass the cost of a flat license. For low-volume, high-stakes testing, the reverse is often true.
Plan who reviews flags
Every automated tool produces flags, and someone has to review them. With fully automated monitoring, that work usually falls on faculty after the exam. Tools that add human review, like Honorlock’s pop-in proctors, shift some of that work to the vendor. Live proctoring catches problems during the exam rather than after.
Agree in advance that a flag is evidence to review, not proof of cheating, and route confirmed cases through your normal academic integrity process. Track how many flags turn out to be false alarms during your pilot, because a tool that cries wolf wastes faculty time and erodes student trust.
Run a pilot before you sign
Respondus offers a free two-month pilot, and most other vendors will arrange a trial for a few courses. Use it on real exams.
- Pick a mix of courses: a large intro course, an online-only course and a program with accommodations.
- Run at least one real exam per course, not a practice quiz.
- Test on the devices and connections your students actually use.
- Measure support tickets, exam-day failures and the share of flags that turn out to be false alarms.
- Survey students and faculty, then decide.
When you are ready to compare vendors in detail, our ranked list of the best online assessment and proctoring software covers pricing, strengths and weaknesses for each tool.
Questions to ask in every demo
- Which LMS and publisher platforms do you support by name?
- How do you block AI tools and detect second devices?
- Who reviews flags, and how quickly?
- How do extra time and assistive technology work?
- What do you record, and how long do you keep it?
- Do you collect biometric data, and how is consent handled?
- What happens when a student’s connection drops?
- How does pricing change if our exam volume doubles?
See the full ranking
Best Online Assessment and Proctoring Software in 2026
We compare six proctoring and assessment tools on exam security, student experience, and price, and name the right fit for colleges and testing programs.
Frequently asked questions
Do you need proctoring for low-stakes quizzes?
Usually not. For weekly quizzes, a lockdown browser plus randomized questions and time limits is enough, and it avoids recording students at home. Save webcam monitoring, human review and live proctors for midterms, finals and credential exams, where the cost and intrusion are easier to justify. A written policy helps faculty apply the levels consistently.
Who should review flagged exam sessions?
Someone trained in your academic integrity process, not just whoever is free. With automated tools, that is usually the instructor or a teaching assistant. Some vendors include human review of flags. Treat every flag as something to investigate, not proof of cheating, and give students a clear way to explain or appeal before any penalty is applied.
How long should you keep proctoring recordings?
Keep them only as long as you need them to resolve integrity cases, then delete them. A sensible window covers the grading period and the appeal deadline. Write the retention period into the vendor contract, confirm the vendor deletes its copies too, and tell students how long their recordings are stored.
Should students pay for proctoring themselves?
Only with care. Student-paid options, such as buying Respondus Monitor for $15 a year, shift cost away from the institution but can feel unfair when the exam is required. If you use them, say so in the course description before enrollment and offer a no-cost path, such as a campus testing center, for students who cannot pay.
What should happen if a student’s internet drops mid-exam?
Decide the policy before exam day and tell students. Ask each vendor how its tool handles a disconnect, whether the session resumes and what the instructor sees afterward. Give faculty a simple process for reopening an exam, and consider tools that run exams locally for students with unreliable connections.