Plickers

Plickers is a classroom polling and assessment tool for teachers who want students to respond without individual devices or accounts. Its card-based sessions, offline use and downloadable results suit in-person classroom checks, while the 63-student class limit and five-question free Sets constrain broader use.

Overview

Teachers run live polls or quizzes while students answer with unique Plickers cards. A mobile app scans the cards, collects responses, reveals correct choices and moves through questions. That puts participation within reach even when students lack devices, but the teacher must manage scanning and session flow.

Offline sessions make Plickers useful where classroom internet is unreliable. For synchronous remote lessons, E-Learning lets students answer from home on a device instead of using cards. Teachers can use student reports and scoresheets, download results for further analysis, and enable anonymous responses. Classes imported from Google Classroom can be updated when rosters change.

Key features

• Card-based responses: Students do not need their own devices or accounts for in-person participation. The approach is practical for quick class checks, but depends on students having their individual cards available.
• Teacher-controlled scanning: The mobile app handles answer collection, correct-choice reveals and question progression. This makes the format well suited to teacher-led activities, less so to assessments students complete independently.
• Reports and downloads: Reports and scoresheets let teachers review student results, and downloads allow further analysis. These tools extend Plickers beyond an immediate show-of-hands replacement.
• Privacy and security: Plickers says it does not request several categories of student data, including addresses, photos and biometric data, and does not sell student information. It says it uses commercially reasonable safeguards, plans breach notifications within 72 hours of awareness, and retains personal information for no longer than 120 days after account termination or deactivation unless a school agreement or law permits otherwise.
• YouTube search: The service integrates with YouTube API Services for video search, a supporting feature rather than a core response tool.

Pricing

Plickers offers a free plan and a 14-day trial. The Free Account costs nothing and allows unlimited Classes and Reports, but each Set is limited to five questions and student results are available for 30 days at a time. Each Class is capped at 63 students. This is a reasonable starting point for short classroom checks, but the question and results limits narrow its usefulness for longer assessments or extended recordkeeping.

Plickers Pro Monthly costs $8.99 a month, billed monthly. It removes the question limit on Sets and adds private Pack collaboration, custom unlimited Scoresheet date ranges and priority support. It retains the 63-student Class cap, so it is not a solution for larger classes.

Plickers Pro Yearly costs $71.88 a year, paid for the full year at once, equivalent to $5.99/month (USD). It includes the same Pro features as monthly billing. The annual option lowers the stated monthly equivalent, but requires paying the year upfront; monthly billing costs more over a full year but avoids that commitment. Both paid plans suit teachers who need longer question sets or expanded scoresheet date ranges, while occasional users can stay on Free if its caps fit their work.

Platforms

Plickers is available on Android, iOS and the web. The mobile app is central to scanning cards in class; remote E-Learning uses student devices instead.

Who it's for

Plickers is strongest for teachers running teacher-led checks with groups of up to 63 students, especially when students cannot or should not use their own devices. Offline operation is a practical advantage for classrooms with unreliable connectivity. It is a weaker fit for larger groups, self-paced testing, or teachers who need longer free assessments and more than 30 days of student results at a time.

Pros and cons

• Pro: Students can answer in person without devices or accounts, reducing the equipment needed for a live class activity.
• Pro: Offline sessions, reports and downloadable results support use beyond a single quick poll.
• Pro: The free plan includes unlimited Classes and Reports, making it possible to organize multiple groups without paying.
• Con: Every Class is limited to 63 students, including on Pro, which rules it out for larger groups.
• Con: Free Sets stop at five questions and results cover only 30 days at a time, so longer assessments or extended review call for Pro.
• Con: In-person sessions depend on the teacher scanning cards and controlling progression, concentrating the workflow on the teacher’s mobile app.

Alternatives

OnlineExamMaker is worth considering for exam-focused use: its free plan includes three exams per month, 50 attempts per exam per month and 150 total attempts per month, with 10 concurrent takers and 50 candidates. Wayground (formerly Quizizz) may suit teachers who want a broader platform selection; its free Starter plan permits 20 activities and up to 100 participants per session, with limited library access. FlexiQuiz is an option for quiz creation with a free allowance of 20 responses per month and per quiz, 10 questions per quiz, and unlimited quizzes.

Socrative offers a free plan with five quizzes, one room, 50 students per activity and a 30-day report history. SpeedExam has a free plan with 25 exam attempts per month, 2,000 questions and 100 MB storage. TAO is an alternative assessment platform. Testportal is another option for assessment. CodeSignal is another software option.

Browse Assessment Software, Student Response Systems and Audience Response Systems for more options in these categories.

Verdict

Choose Plickers for teacher-led classroom responses when avoiding student devices and maintaining offline capability matter more than student independence. Its cards, reports and results downloads form a focused classroom toolkit, but the 63-student ceiling is firm and the free plan’s short Sets and 30-day results window may push regular users to Pro. Look elsewhere if you need larger classes or a student-led assessment workflow.