Anchor vs Lightspeed Classroom

Anchor is classroom software for schools using managed or bring-your-own-device Windows laptops. A teacher starts a focus session for a class, selects allowed app and website bundles, and watches student states and off-list events on a dashboard. Microsoft 365, Smartschool, and GeoGebra are named selectable bundles, and teachers sign in with existing school Microsoft accounts. Off-list apps are set aside rather than closed; off-list Microsoft Edge pages show a block page with an access-request option. Anchor provides activity monitoring, web filtering, and device controls, but no live screen view or behavior tracking. It observes activity only during an active teacher-started session. During that session, the extension sends off-allowlist visits, unblock requests, integrity signals, and liveness heartbeats to the school backend. Each school runs a single-tenant backend in its own Azure subscription. Anchor is GPL-3.0 licensed, self-hostable, and publicly auditable. It is free, with no licence fee or per-seat charge, though Azure hosting costs may apply.

Lightspeed Classroom is a classroom management solution that gives teachers controls for student screens and web activity. Teachers can view, lock, and record screens, receive alerts about unusual browsing, restrict web access, set tab limits, and close off-task tabs. They can organize students into groups with custom browsing rules and curriculum links, add co-teachers, and merge classes. The product provides visibility and notifications about classroom AI activity. It interoperates with Lightspeed Hall Monitor to show hall-pass reports and integrates with Zoom and Microsoft Teams. Lightspeed Classroom works on Chromebooks, Windows devices, and Macs; its FAQ says third-party screen monitoring does not work on iOS. Administrators can decide whether screen monitoring is enabled off campus. Lightspeed offers weekly live online teacher training, an on-demand video course, documentation, and help materials. The company says data is encrypted at rest using AES and in transit using TLS, and that it undergoes an annual independent SOC 2 Type II audit. Pricing is available by request.