ComPAIR vs WebPA
ComPAIR
github.comWebPA
github.comSide by side
| Figure | ComPAIR | WebPA |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | — | — |
| Free plan | — | — |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Open source | — | — |
| Web | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hosted | Yes | Yes |
| Plans published | 0 | 0 |
| Spec score · Peer Assessment Software | 7.8 (#7) | 6.9 (#13) |
| Intended users | UBC describes ComPAIR as a tool for instructors and students to conduct peer assessment by comparing answers and providing feedback. | WebPA is designed for teams of students doing group work in higher education. |
| Purpose | ComPAIR is a peer review application that pairs student answers so students can compare peer work and give feedback. | WebPA is an online peer assessment system for student teams, using peer and self-grading to help determine individual grades from a group mark. |
| Support | The ComPAIR site says its support site has moved to compair.open.ubc.ca. | The project site says Loughborough's support for WebPA has ended and points users to archived documentation and a JISC mailing list for community support. |
In their own words
ComPAIR
ComPAIR is a self-hosted web application for peer review in which students compare pairs of work and give feedback with both answers in view. Instructors can enable adaptive scores based on comparison outcomes and use them to assemble later pairs. The application has student, instructor, and system administrator roles with distinct permissions, plus rubric scoring and moderation tools. It supports LTI login, course membership, and grade updates; administrators configure LTI consumers with a key and secret. Documented authentication options also include username and password, CAS, and SAML 2.0. Learning analytics can be sent to a Learning Record Store through xAPI or Caliper, though both are disabled by default. The default attachment limit is 250 MB, with PDF, audio, video, and image extensions allowed. Administrators can manage whether instructors see student email addresses and CAS/SAML usernames; those fields are disabled by default. ComPAIR is open source under GPL-3.0 and freely available to download, install, and use. Its README documents deployment with Docker Compose, with access at localhost:8080. The tool is described as suitable for higher education and K-12 communities.
WebPA
WebPA is an open-source, self-hosted web system for peer and self-assessment in higher-education group work. It combines peer assessments, self-assessments, and a group mark to calculate individual grades, with rubric scoring and moderation tools. Administrators download the application and configure a local instance, database credentials, and environment variables. The latest version lists PHP 7.4 or 8.0 with MySQLi, Sessions, and XML extensions enabled; Composer and the repository release page provide download routes. Standard installation does not include LTI support, but a separate connector can link WebPA with LTI-compliant environments such as Blackboard Learn, WebCT, and Moodle. Where services are available, it can synchronize memberships, groups, grades, outcomes, settings, enrolments, and timestamps; Moodle and Canvas membership and group services can use their APIs. WebPA is free and licensed under GNU GPL version 3. Loughborough support has ended, with archived documentation on GitHub and community support directed to the JISC mailing list.