Socrative vs TAO
Socrative
socrative.com
TAO
taotesting.comSide by side
| Figure | Socrative | TAO |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | $10/mo | $149/mo |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | Yes | Yes |
| Open source | — | Yes |
| Web | Yes | Yes |
| Windows | — | Yes |
| macOS | — | Yes |
| Linux | — | Yes |
| iOS | Yes | — |
| Android | Yes | — |
| API | — | Yes |
| Self-hosted | — | Yes |
| Plans published | 4 | 7 |
| Spec score · Automated Grading Software | 8.2 (#12) | 8.7 (#3) |
| Spec score · Assessment Software | 8.3 (#15) | 8.8 (#7) |
| Founded | 2012 | 2013 |
| Headquarters | Edmonton, Alberta, Canada | Capellen, Luxembourg |
| Integrations | Socrative supports Google single sign-on and Google Drive report exports. | Listed integrations include Moodle, Canvas, Blackboard, GeoGebra, Proctorio, MathType, Wiris and Texthelp. |
| Support | The Organization plan includes priority support and a dedicated account manager. | Community Edition support is through the TAO Community Forum and User Guide; paid plans offer additional support options. |
| Trial | New users who have not purchased Socrative can start a one-time 21-day trial of Essentials or Pro; it converts to a paid plan if not cancelled before the end date. | TAO provides a link to start a trial, but the opened pages do not state a trial duration. |
| What it does | Socrative is an online tool for teachers to give quizzes and on-the-fly assessments, with automatic grading and reports. | TAO is an open-source digital assessment platform for creating, delivering, scoring, grading and reporting tests. |
Plans
Socrative
- FreeFree
- Essentials$10 a month
- Pro$16.67 a month
- Organization$14.40 a month
TAO
- TAO Community EditionFree
- TAO StarterFree
- TAO StarterFree
- TAO Author$149 a month
- TAO Ignite$990 a month
- TAO ElevatePriced on request
- TAO EnterprisePriced on request
In their own words
Socrative
Socrative is an online assessment tool for teachers, with quizzes, quick checks, automatic grading, and reports. Teachers can view learning progress live and use real-time insights to identify gaps. Students may receive an explanation or correct response after answering. Activities include in-lesson tasks, self-paced work, homework, exit tickets, polls, and team Space Races. AI tools can generate assessments, create questions from class material, and transform existing quizzes. Students join a room with a code and do not need an account. Socrative works in modern browsers on laptops, Chromebooks, tablets, and smartphones, as well as through Android and iOS apps. Free and Essentials rooms allow up to 50 students per activity; Pro allows up to 300. The free plan costs 0.00 USD. Essentials is $10.00 per month and Pro is $16.67 per month, both billed annually. New users who have not purchased Socrative can take a one-time 21-day trial of Essentials or Pro; it becomes paid unless cancelled before the end date. Socrative supports Google single sign-on and Google Drive report exports.
TAO
TAO is an online platform for creating, delivering and managing digital assessments. Authors can build tests manually, convert existing exam files, use AI-assisted drafting or import QTI packages. Question formats include Choice, Extended Text, File Upload, Hotspot and Text Entry. Scoring supports automatic and manual methods, partial credit, weighted responses and cut scores, with branching logic also available. Results can be reviewed through session and test-taker reports, custom reports, CSV results, Data Explorer and TAO Insights. TAO supports QTI 2.2 and QTI 3.0, and promotes interoperability through QTI and LTI. Delivery options include online, LMS via LTI, test centers, local proctoring, and cloud-hosted or self-hosted configurations. TAO Cloud offers shared or private hosting using providers including AWS, Google Cloud and Linode. Starter is free for one author and 50 learner attempts monthly; Community Edition is a free, self-hosted open-source option. Paid plans include TAO Author at $149 a month and TAO Ignite at $990 a month; custom plans are also listed.