Free Online Exam Software: What You Get and What You Give Up

Free online exam software usually means one of four things: a permanent free plan with caps, a free core with paid add-ons, a general form tool with a quiz mode, or a time-limited trial. This guide reads each vendor’s own pages, as of November 2026, to show what the free offer includes, what it leaves out and what the first paid step costs.

It is written for trainers, training providers and L&D managers who want to run low-stakes exams, practice tests or a pilot for one client cohort without a budget line, and who need to know when “free” stops being free.

Disclosure: SimpliAssess is our product, and it is included here as one option, listed in alphabetical order with the rest. Nobody ran or tested these products for this article. Every fact comes from a vendor’s own page read in November 2026, so there are no rankings or scores, and “not stated” means only that the page read was silent.

Key takeaways

• Check which of four patterns a “free” offer follows before you compare features: capped free plan, free core with paid add-ons, general form tool, or trial.
• Caps are counted in different units (responses, results, credits, active quiz takers), so the same cohort can fit one plan and overflow another.
• Wherever a page described proctoring, it was a paid add-on or a credit cost, not part of the free offer.
• Free suits low-stakes checks and pilots. When scores decide certificates or jobs, price the paid tier from day one.

What does “free” mean in free online exam software?

Free online exam software falls into four patterns: a permanent free plan with caps, a free core where proctoring or AI costs extra, a general-purpose form tool with a quiz mode, and a time-limited trial. Only the first three let you keep running exams after a month, and each hides a different cost.

The patterns map onto the tools in this guide like this:

• Capped free plan: FlexiQuiz, ProProfs Quiz Maker and the Testportal education plan.
• Free core, paid add-ons: EasyEvaluate and OnlineExamMaker.
• General form tool: Google Forms and Microsoft Forms.
• Trial only: ClassMarker, Exam.net and the Testportal business plans. SimpliAssess’s published pages describe neither a free plan nor a trial.

Two directory pages read for this guide, from GetApp and SourceForge, list “free” exam software without separating these patterns. That gap matters, because a 30-day trial and a permanent free tier lead to very different budgets by month two.

How do 10 free online exam software options compare on published limits?

The table uses the same four columns for every tool and shows only what each vendor’s pages state as of November 2026. Order is alphabetical, not ranked. A “not stated” entry means the page read was silent, not that the feature is missing.

What does each vendor’s page say, and where is the catch?

Each tool below gets one short paragraph: who its published terms suit and one limit worth knowing. The catch differs by pattern. Capped plans run out of responses, free-core plans charge for proctoring, form tools were not built only for exams, and trials end.

ClassMarker: a trial, not a free plan

ClassMarker’s business pricing page, as of November 2026, mentions a 30-day free trial and no free plan. Plans are measured in credits, and camera monitoring uses ten times the credits of an unmonitored test. It suits teams that expect to pay after the trial. The page read shows no prices, so ask for them before you build content there.

EasyEvaluate: unlimited on paper, add-ons by the month

EasyEvaluate’s pricing page lists a $0 plan with unlimited tests, questions and test attendees. Proctoring and the AI question generator are $5 a month each. A separate page says batches must stay within free-tier limits it never defines, so ask what that means before a large cohort. Recordings are stored for five days, so download anything you must keep.

Exam.net: school license after a trial

Exam.net’s pricing page says it has no free plan and offers a 30-day trial per school. Licensing is by school, invoiced annually, with the price on request. It suits a school or training group that can commit to an annual license. It is the wrong pick if you need a no-cost plan once the trial ends.

FlexiQuiz: a small, clearly stated free tier

FlexiQuiz publishes its free limits in a help article: 20 responses a month, 10 questions per quiz and unlimited quizzes. File upload, picture choice and hot spot questions need a paid plan. If you downgrade, any quiz using paid features closes. It fits a pilot under 20 sittings a month, not a full cohort.

Google Forms: quiz mode inside a general form tool

Google’s quiz help page describes answer keys for six question types, points and feedback on all types, and a choice of whether respondents see missed questions or correct answers. It also describes score summaries and manual grading. The pages read state no price or response cap. Emailing results needs collected email addresses, and which account types include Forms is something to confirm.

Microsoft Forms: scored quizzes for teams already on Microsoft 365

Microsoft’s support page describes points per question, answer-specific feedback, real-time analytics and Excel export. Question types include choice, text, rating, ranking and file upload. The page states no price. Copilot-generated quizzes need a Microsoft 365 account and a Copilot license, so check what your own subscription covers before you plan around it.

OnlineExamMaker: free SaaS or self-hosted, with paid proctoring

OnlineExamMaker’s proctoring page says “free forever, no credit card required” for its SaaS option and offers a free self-hosted download. Shuffled options, question pools and a lockdown browser are listed as free. AI proctoring and face ID verification cost extra. The page carries no date or numeric limits, and the pricing page needed JavaScript, so confirm terms live.

ProProfs Quiz Maker: free, but only 12 questions

ProProfs’s exam software page lists a free plan with up to 12 questions, counting 8 quiz questions and 4 lead capture fields, and 90 days of history. Paid Essentials is $19.99 per 100 active quiz takers a month. The page labels the free plan as having all features yet lists security and branding under the paid plan, so confirm which controls you get.

SimpliAssess: white-label delivery, no published free tier

SimpliAssess’s features page describes a standalone or embedded platform with an API for items and tests, item banking, test management, analytics and white-label control. Its published pages describe no free plan, free trial or pricing. It suits a training company that wants assessments under its own brand, and it is not the answer if you need a no-cost tool this week.

Testportal: free for teachers, a trial for everyone else

Testportal’s education pricing page calls its plan always free for teachers, with 100 results stored. Its business page lists a 14-day trial, then $35 a month for 30 results. A corporate trainer is not the audience for the free plan, and monthly prices are all the business page shows.

How fast does a free online exam software plan run out?

Quickly, once more than one cohort sits an exam. Caps are counted in different units, so the only fair test is to run one imagined month through each tool’s own unit. The example below is illustrative: three cohorts of 15 learners each sit one exam, giving 45 sittings.

The same 45 sittings land on five different units. That is why a headline price cannot rank free plans. Proctoring changes the arithmetic most: on ClassMarker’s published credit rates, the camera turns a comfortable month into an overflow.

Pro tip: Ask Whether Retakes Count. Caps are stated in responses, results or credits, not learners. Before you trust any plan, ask the vendor in writing whether retakes, practice attempts and your own test runs count toward the cap.

What do you give up with free online exam software?

You give up capacity, depth, history, proctoring and brand control, usually in that order. The published pages show where each limit sits, and it is rarely where a buyer first looks. Check these six areas against your own needs before you build content on any free plan:

• Capacity: FlexiQuiz’s free plan allows 20 responses a month, and Testportal’s Standard plan lists 30 results.
• Exam size: FlexiQuiz’s free plan allows 10 questions per quiz and ProProfs’s lists 12.
• Question types: FlexiQuiz puts file upload, picture choice and hot spot on paid plans.
• History and retention: ProProfs lists 90 days of history, Testportal’s education plan stores 100 results, and EasyEvaluate stores proctoring recordings for five days.
• Proctoring: EasyEvaluate charges $5 a month, OnlineExamMaker charges extra for AI proctoring, and ClassMarker’s camera monitoring uses 10 credits per attempt.
• Branding and integration: FlexiQuiz lists white-label emails, APIs and single sign-on only on Enterprise, and custom certificates from Premium.

What no free plan page offered is evidence that a score will hold up when challenged. That is an editorial judgment, not a published finding, but it explains where free stops. A knowledge check or practice test can run on a free plan. A certificate, a license or a hiring decision needs the security settings in our exam security settings checklist and a plan sized for the peak month.

Design choices can reduce cheating without any proctoring fee, as we cover in reducing cheating without proctoring. They do not replace identity checks for high-stakes exams.

Pro tip: Export Results Before the Window Closes. ProProfs lists 90 days of history and Testportal’s education plan stores 100 results. Put a monthly export on the calendar so your learner records never depend on a free-plan window.

Which free online exam software suits which job?

Match the tool to the job, not the price tag. Based on the published terms above, these are editorial suggestions rather than rankings:

• A pilot under 20 sittings a month: FlexiQuiz’s free plan fits inside its stated cap.
• A teacher or tutor storing up to 100 results: Testportal’s education plan is built for that case.
• Many learners, low stakes, no proctoring: EasyEvaluate, OnlineExamMaker, Google Forms and Microsoft Forms state no numeric caps on the pages read. Verify that live.
• Anything needing a camera or face check: budget for the add-on or credits wherever the page describes them.
• Exams sold or delivered under your own brand: compare paid, white-label platforms instead of free tiers.

What should you do next?

Write down four numbers before you open any pricing page: sittings in your busiest month including retakes, questions per exam, how long you must keep results, and whether any exam needs proctoring. Then screenshot each pricing page with today’s date, because every limit above can change.

If you outgrow free tiers, our broader guide to online exam software compared on published facts covers paid platforms, and the assessment platform RFP checklist lists the questions to put to each vendor.

If you want assessments under your own brand with an API, you can request a SimpliAssess demo. Its published pages describe no pricing, so a demo is how you would learn the cost.

Frequently asked questions

Is there really free online exam software?

Yes, in four forms, as of November 2026. FlexiQuiz and ProProfs publish capped free plans, EasyEvaluate and OnlineExamMaker publish free cores with paid add-ons, and Google Forms and Microsoft Forms offer quiz modes. ClassMarker and Exam.net offer trials instead. Read the caps before building content on any of them.

Can I run proctored exams on a free plan?

On the pages read, proctoring is paid wherever it is described. EasyEvaluate lists AI and manual proctoring at $5 a month, OnlineExamMaker says AI proctoring and face ID verification cost extra, and ClassMarker’s camera monitoring uses 10 credits per attempt. Basic controls such as shuffled options and question pools may be included.

What happens when a free limit is reached?

The pages read rarely say. FlexiQuiz states that quizzes using paid features close after a downgrade, and Testportal states that tests are suspended when a trial or subscription ends, while results stay accessible. FlexiQuiz’s page does not say what happens at the 20-response cap, so ask the vendor in writing.

Is Google Forms enough for an online exam?

For a low-stakes knowledge check, it may be. Google’s quiz help describes answer keys, points, feedback, score summaries and a choice of when to release grades. Whether that is enough depends on your stakes, so check security and identity controls separately before using it for a certificate or a hiring decision.

How much do paid plans cost once the free tier ends?

As published in November 2026: FlexiQuiz Essentials is $17 a month for 500 responses, ProProfs Essentials is $19.99 per 100 active quiz takers a month, and Testportal’s Standard plan is $35 a month for 30 results. ClassMarker and Exam.net did not show prices on the pages read, so request quotes.

Is open-source exam software a better free option?

It removes the license fee but not the cost. You host it, patch it and secure it, so the spend moves from a subscription to servers and staff time. OnlineExamMaker’s page, for example, describes its free on-premise download as self-hosted. For most small teams, a capped hosted plan is simpler.