HackerRank vs PrairieLearn
HackerRank
hackerrank.comPrairieLearn
prairielearn.comSide by side
| Figure | HackerRank | PrairieLearn |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | $165/mo | $0.25/mo |
| Free plan | — | Yes |
| Free trial | Yes | Yes |
| Open source | — | — |
| Web | Yes | Yes |
| Windows | Yes | Yes |
| macOS | Yes | Yes |
| Linux | — | Yes |
| API | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hosted | — | Yes |
| Plans published | 3 | 9 |
| Spec score · Automated Grading Software | 8.8 (#2) | 8.1 (#15) |
Plans
PrairieLearn
- FreeFree
- PrairieTest Starter$3 a year
- PrairieTest Small$5 a year
- PrairieTest Medium$7 a year
- Basic$8, paid once
- PrairieTest Large$10 a year
- PrairieTest Enterprise$15 a year
- Premium$16, paid once
- EnterprisePriced on request
In their own words
HackerRank
HackerRank helps companies attract, hire, and upskill developers, while also supporting a developer community. Its Screen product offers take-home technical assessments for evaluating applicants in the hiring funnel. Teams can use role-based Certified Assessments or generate a test from an uploaded job description. Screen includes a suspicious-activity model, a proctor, and identity and multiple-face monitoring. HackerRank APIs can automate test administration, interviews, user and team management, candidate data, and question retrieval. Integration categories include ATS, scheduling, talent intelligence, SSO, and productivity tools. The HackerRank for Work platform supports Chrome, Edge, and Firefox on Windows and macOS, plus Safari on macOS; a desktop app is available for Windows and macOS, including Apple Silicon and Intel Macs. HackerRank says its AWS platform complies with ISO 27001 and other listed security standards, and that redundant data centers provide 99.9% service availability. The Starter plan is $165 a month, billed $1,990 billed annually, with one user and 120 attempts per year; additional attempts cost $20. Pro is $375 a month, billed $4,490 billed annually. A free plan and free trial are available.
PrairieLearn
PrairieLearn is an online assessment and learning system for instructors creating educational resources, assignments, practice, and tests. Instructors write questions as code; the system can generate and grade variants automatically and provide real-time feedback. Students can continue trying new variants until they achieve mastery. Supported response formats include numerical, multiple-choice, checkbox, dropdown, graphical, code, and ordered-block answers. The platform is described for in-class activities, homework, practice, proctored tests, and bring-your-own-device tests. It connects with 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. PrairieLearn is open source and can be run or modified on institutional or individual infrastructure. The free plan covers instructors and courses with up to 20 students in each term. For larger courses, Basic costs $8, paid once per student and Premium costs $16, paid once per student. Local development is supported on macOS, Linux, or Windows inside WSL 2; Windows without WSL 2 is not supported for local installation.