Side by side

Gradescope vs Pawtograder

Both stand on rubric software. Which one you can start free with, which one lets you read the code, and what each costs once you pay.

Gradescope

Free plan AndroidiPhoneWeb

Gradescope covers several assessment formats and offers rubric-based grading, exports, and code workflows. Check which features require the Institutional license and note that its mobile app is for students only.

Visit Gradescope

Pawtograder

Free plan Self-hostedWeb

Pawtograder combines course grading and student support workflows, with community hosting or institutional self-hosting. Check the repository model and runner requirement against your course setup; ongoing use at scale requires contacting the project.

Visit Pawtograder

The facts

	Gradescope	Pawtograder
Free plan	Yes	Yes
Open source	No	Not published
Runs on	Android, iPhone, Web	Self-hosted, Web
Lowest paid plan	Free or on request	Free or on request
Plans published	3	1
Maker	Not published	Not published
Website	gradescope.com	pawtograder.com
On rubric software	#1 of 22	#4 of 22

Gradescope: what it does well

Supports variable-length and fixed-template assignments
Flexible rubrics can be applied to already graded work
Code grading can use autograders or inline comments
Free Basic plan includes data export

What to know first

Student app does not support instructor workflows
AI-assisted grading and Answer Groups require Institutional license
LMS integrations require institutional license
Mobile app requires iOS 13+ or Android 15+

Pawtograder: what it does well

Commit-triggered tests show per-test results
Rubrics support line annotations and group-member scoring
Office hours support text, video, and screen sharing
Open source under GPLv3

What to know first

Requires institution-provided GitHub Actions runners
Community instance is for evaluation; scale use requires contact
One repository per assignment is assumed

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