PrairieLearn is an online assessment and learning system for instructors creating educational resources, assignments, practice, and tests. Instructors write questions as code; the system generates and grades question variants and gives students real-time feedback. Students can continue with new variants until they master a question. Response formats include numerical, multiple-choice, checkbox, dropdown, graphical, code, and ordered-block answers. PrairieLearn is described for in-class activities, homework, practice, and testing, including proctored and bring-your-own-device tests. It connects to learning management systems through LTI 1.3 for assignment linking and grade syncing, with integration primarily designed and documented for Canvas; its importer accepts QTI 1.2 content. The software is open source and can be run or modified on personal or institutional infrastructure. Instructors and courses with up to 20 students per term can use the free plan. For larger courses, Basic costs 8.00 USD per once for each student and excludes code autograding, workspaces, and PrairieTest; Premium costs 16.00 USD per once for each student and includes them. Self-hosted installations are not supported by PrairieLearn.
Who it is for
PrairieLearn suits instructors who need configurable assessments, practice, or testing with automatically generated question variants. It may also suit institutions that want open-source software they can run on their own infrastructure.
What is good
- Generates and grades question variants with real-time feedback.
- Supports several response formats, including code and graphical answers.
- LTI 1.3 supports assignment links and grade syncing.
- Open-source software can be run on your own infrastructure.
What to know first
- Self-hosted installations are not supported.
- Windows local installation requires WSL 2.
- Courses above 20 students incur per-student charges.
Verdict
PrairieLearn combines varied assessment formats with repeated practice toward mastery. Check the plan limits and support arrangements, especially for larger courses or self-hosted use.
PrairieLearn plans and pricing
All plansCompared on automated grading software
- Free plan
- Yes
- Programming autograding
- Yes
- Math autograding
- Yes
- Written-work OCR
- Yes
- LMS or LTI support
- Yes
- Question bank
- Yes
