Comparison
Which AI grading tools give students feedback before they hand in, and which wait for you
Some AI grading tools talk to the student while the draft is still open. Others hold every score until you have approved it. Both are sold as grading tools, and they do different jobs.
The Graidable team
Published
Graidable makes one of the tools compared here. Every claim about another tool links to that vendor’s own page.
| Tool | Student side | Sees it first | Resubmit | Delivered as | Free option |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brisk | Yes, school add-on | You approve first | Not stated | Google comments | Free for teachers |
| Class Companion | Yes, in the app | Student, or your choice | Multiple attempts | In the app | Free plan |
| CoGrader | Public checker only | You approve first | Not stated | LMS passback | 150 a month |
| EssayGrader | Through you | You approve first | Drafts side by side | LMS sync | 100 a month |
| Gradescope | Not stated | You publish | Regrade requests | In the app, after publish | Basic plan |
| GradingPal | Not stated | You approve first | Feedback without grade | Classroom, email, PDF | 50 a month |
| Graidable | Teacher only | You approve first | You regrade | PDF per student | First class free, without a card |
| MagicSchool | Yes, Student Rooms | You, or instant in rooms | Not stated | Batches, Classroom | Free plan |
| TimelyGrader | Yes, three drafts | Student on drafts, you on grades | Three drafts | LMS or CSV | Free to try |
Brisk
- Student side
- Yes, school add-on
- Sees it first
- You approve first
- Free option
- Free for teachers
Class Companion
- Student side
- Yes, in the app
- Sees it first
- Student, or your choice
- Free option
- Free plan
CoGrader
- Student side
- Public checker only
- Sees it first
- You approve first
- Free option
- 150 a month
EssayGrader
- Student side
- Through you
- Sees it first
- You approve first
- Free option
- 100 a month
Gradescope
- Student side
- Not stated
- Sees it first
- You publish
- Free option
- Basic plan
GradingPal
- Student side
- Not stated
- Sees it first
- You approve first
- Free option
- 50 a month
Graidable
- Student side
- Teacher only
- Sees it first
- You approve first
- Free option
- First class free, without a card
MagicSchool
- Student side
- Yes, Student Rooms
- Sees it first
- You, or instant in rooms
- Free option
- Free plan
TimelyGrader
- Student side
- Yes, three drafts
- Sees it first
- Student on drafts, you on grades
- Free option
- Free to try
In this article
This page compares nine AI grading tools on one question: when does the student see what the AI wrote? The nine are Brisk1, Class Companion2, CoGrader3, EssayGrader4, Gradescope5, GradingPal6, Graidable7, MagicSchool8 and TimelyGrader9. Graidable is ours. Every cell comes from the vendor’s own pages, read on 5 November 2026.
The answer sorts the tools into two jobs. A tool with a student side gives feedback on the draft, in the moment, often with retakes, and the student revises before the work counts. A tool that waits for you drafts the score and the comment, and the student sees them once you have approved them. Searches for “feedback before submission” and “same-day feedback” land on both kinds, so the table under the title asks which kind each tool is before it asks the price.
The same error, two comments
Here is one unsupported claim in a student’s paragraph, with the two comments it gets (Figure 1). On the draft, the comment asks for a change the student can make tonight. With the grade, the comment explains the score and names what to do next time. A tool built for the first job writes the first kind; a tool built for the second writes the second. They arrive at different moments, and for a given piece of work you usually want one of them.
On the draft, before it is handed in
Your second paragraph says the treaty caused the uprising, but nothing in the paragraph shows it. Add one piece of evidence from the sources, then submit again.
With the grade, after the teacher approves
Evidence: 1 of 3. The claim about the treaty stands without a source behind it. Next time, put one piece of evidence under every claim before you move on.
The nine, in alphabetical order
“Not stated” means the pages we read didn’t say. It doesn’t mean no, so ask the vendor.
Brisk
Feedback as comments inside Google Docs and your LMS.
- Student side
- Yes, as an add-on: the Brisk Boost extension gives students instant feedback on their essays, on the School & District plan
- Who sees it first
- You, in the teacher tool: comments stay in draft until you approve them for posting. Boost chats go to the student, and you can see all of them
- Resubmit
- Not stated; its home page says you can see how students revised their work
- Reaches students as
- Google comments on the student’s document
- Free option
- Free for teachers; batch feedback has an upload limit
- Price
- Premium and Intelligence plans on custom pricing; Boost is an add-on to the School & District plan
- Its Writing Coach gives students real-time feedback as they write, aligned to your rubric.
- Teachers have visibility into all student chats with Brisk Boost, per its page.
Class Companion
Practice with instant feedback, retakes and an AI tutor.
- Student side
- Yes: students take the assignment in the app, with AI feedback and scoring as they work and an AI tutor beside them
- Who sees it first
- The student, in the moment or whenever you choose; students can dispute a score and you accept or overrule
- Resubmit
- Multiple attempts on questions, when you allow them
- Reaches students as
- In the app; grades export to CSV, and the school plan passes grades back to Canvas, Schoology and Google Classroom
- Free option
- Free plan for teachers, with instant AI feedback and scoring
- Price
- School and district plans by demo; no price shown
- Handwritten responses can be uploaded as photos.
- Pasted-text, similar-response and typing-anomaly detection are on its plan table.
CoGrader
Writing assignments in K–12, graded from your rubric.
- Student side
- Not in the class product; a free Grade My Essay page lets anyone paste an essay for instant feedback, with no sign-up and no link to your class
- Who sees it first
- You: teachers review every score and comment before students see it
- Resubmit
- Not stated; a teacher quoted on its home page has students update their papers before final submission
- Reaches students as
- Back to Google Classroom, Canvas or Schoology; a gradebook export without an LMS
- Free option
- 150 student submissions a month
- Price
- Individual $15 a month billed annually, $19 monthly; schools and higher ed on request
- Reads handwriting and sorts scanned pages by student; students need no devices or accounts.
- Its public checker shows the grade an essay would earn on a real rubric, per its tools page.
EssayGrader
Essays and longer papers, K–12 and higher ed.
- Student side
- Not stated; the draft loop runs through you: give feedback on a draft, let students revise, grade again
- Who sees it first
- You: every score and comment goes to the teacher first, and nothing is released until you approve it
- Resubmit
- Yes, graded by you: revision drafts are compared side by side
- Reaches students as
- Synced to Google Classroom, Canvas or Schoology; AI-writing and plagiarism reports never go to students
- Free option
- Basic: 100 essays a month, up to 1,000 words each
- Price
- Pro $14.99 and Premium $34.99 a month; districts and higher ed on quote
- Papers up to 25 pages, on its paper grader page.
- Rubric from its library, built in the tool, or your own.
Gradescope
Instructors grading paper exams and homework.
- Student side
- Not stated; students upload PDFs or photos of their work for you to grade
- Who sees it first
- You: you grade, with AI answer groups on fixed-template exams, and publish the grades when you are ready
- Resubmit
- Regrade requests once grades are released; a revision means extending the late due date or a second assignment, per its FAQ
- Reaches students as
- In Gradescope once published, with an email you send; publishing alone doesn’t notify students; CSV export, LMS on the institutional license
- Free option
- Basic is free after a one-term institutional trial, without AI-assisted grading
- Price
- Institutional license by quote; no plan for an individual teacher
- Students never see the name of the person who graded their work, per its guide.
- A Viewed? column shows which students have opened their graded work.
GradingPal
K–12 science and math, graded from your criteria.
- Student side
- Not stated; students need no account to read their feedback. Lite and Pro list student image submission
- Who sees it first
- You: teachers review, edit and approve before sharing, and you decide when to share
- Resubmit
- Share the feedback without the grade while students revise a draft; a newer Google Classroom attempt can be imported
- Reaches students as
- Google Classroom, email, or printable PDF reports in a ZIP; a release can be scheduled for later
- Free option
- 50 submissions a month, no card
- Price
- Lite $14 and Pro $26 per teacher a month, billed annually; schools on request
- Students need no GradingPal account to read their printed feedback, per its sharing page.
- Canvas and Schoology are on a school plan.
GraidableOur tool
Handwritten or typed work, graded from your own rubric.
- Student side
- Teacher side only: students don’t use the app; you hand out the feedback
- Who sees it first
- You: every grade is a proposal next to the student’s own pages until you approve that student; there is no approve-all button
- Resubmit
- You can regrade any student from scratch before approving
- Reaches students as
- A feedback PDF for each approved student, in the template you choose, and a spreadsheet of points per question
- Free option
- Your first class is free without a card: up to 30 students within 30 days, once your email is confirmed; the first plan then starts with 20 free gradings
- Price
- Student $9.99 a month (10 students graded) and Professional $24.99 (60); schools on request
- The PDF shows the points, each question’s result and the feedback you kept, never your private notes or the AI’s reasons.
- Each suggested point shows where on the student’s page it comes from.
MagicSchool
A set of teacher tools, with a student side.
- Student side
- Yes, through MagicStudent: students enter Student Rooms you set up, and a student writing feedback tool gives instant feedback so they can revise right away
- Who sees it first
- You, in class writing feedback: you review and edit everything before it reaches students. In a Student Room the feedback goes to the student, and you can review their activity
- Resubmit
- Not stated; the student tool says revise and improve right away
- Reaches students as
- Sent in batches from the teacher tool; Google Classroom for sharing; Canvas SpeedGrader on enterprise plans
- Free option
- Free plan with class writing feedback and essential student tools; remaining usage shows on the dashboard
- Price
- Plus $12.99 a month, or $8.33 a month billed annually
- The free plan card says essential teacher and student tools; Plus lists 50+ student tools.
- Educators review and finalize all feedback before sharing it, per its FAQ.
TimelyGrader
Instructors and TAs grading written work.
- Student side
- Yes: students upload up to three drafts for instant, rubric-aligned feedback before the final submission, on the Institution plan
- Who sees it first
- The student, on drafts; a final grade is never posted without instructor approval
- Resubmit
- Up to three drafts, each with its own feedback and progress shown across them; instructors can view the drafts
- Reaches students as
- Pushed into Canvas SpeedGrader or Brightspace, or exported to CSV; LMS on the Institution plan
- Free option
- Free to try, no card; no submission count given
- Price
- Starter $12 a month, or $10 a month billed annually; institutions on request
- Students can request instructor review on a draft, per its students page.
- Instant student feedback is listed only under the Institution plan.
Two jobs, not one ranking
Four of the nine have a student side, where the AI answers the student directly: Class Companion (on its free plan, with retakes and an AI tutor), TimelyGrader (up to three drafts before the final submission), MagicSchool (Student Rooms you set up) and Brisk (the Boost extension).
TimelyGrader and Brisk put that feature on an institution or school plan, so a teacher on a free or individual plan is grading there, not coaching. MagicSchool’s pricing page lists essential student tools on the free plan and 50+ on Plus.
Five are teacher-side tools: the AI’s draft goes to you, and the student sees what you approve. Two of them still carry a revision loop, run by you. EssayGrader compares drafts side by side and lets you grade again; GradingPal can share the comment without the grade while a draft is still open. CoGrader’s free public checker takes a pasted essay from anyone, with no link to your class or your rubric.
For the question people search for, feedback before submission, TimelyGrader is the one that says those words on its own page. Class Companion gets there with multiple attempts. With the rest, the draft gets feedback before submission when you run it through the tool yourself and send the comment back without the grade.
Decide by what the work is for
Before you pick a tool, pick the moment. The three questions below settle most cases.
Figure 2
Should the AI talk to your students before you see the work?
Will the student revise this before it counts?
Yes: Pick a tool with a student side and retakes. The feedback reaches the student the same day, and you read the class insights afterwards.
No: go on to the next question
Does the score go on a report card?
Yes: Pick a tool that holds every score until you approve it. The student sees your grade and your comment, never the AI’s first draft.
No: go on to the next question
Do students hand in on paper?
Yes: Pick from the tools that read photos or scans. Some student-side tools take a photo of a handwritten answer too.
No: go to the last step
Otherwise: Then it is practice you won’t grade. A student-side tool with the score hidden gives the comment and nothing else.
A student side also means student accounts, or at least student uploads, so the vendor’s privacy pages matter more; we compared those in a separate article.
Graidable is the tool we make. This part is about it.
Where Graidable fits
Graidable is one of the nine, and it is ours. It is built for the second job: you upload the handed-in work, handwritten or typed, with your rubric, and it drafts points and a comment for each criterion, with the place on the student’s page each point rests on. You approve each student yourself, and the feedback goes out as a PDF per student that you hand out.
The same nine tools are compared on grading with your own rubric and by price in Free AI grading tools for teachers.
Sources
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Brisk Teaching, Give feedback, Plans and Brisk Boost. Checked 5 November 2026. ↑
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CoGrader, Home, Pricing, FAQ and Grade My Essay. Checked 5 November 2026. ↑
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EssayGrader, Home, Pricing and Feedback reports. Checked 5 November 2026. ↑
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Gradescope, Pricing, Reviewing grades and How can my students submit a revised assignment after grading is complete?. Checked 5 November 2026. ↑
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GradingPal, Pricing, FAQ and Sharing feedback. Checked 5 November 2026. ↑
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Graidable, How it works and Pricing; the tool is ours. Checked 5 November 2026. ↑
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MagicSchool, Pricing, FAQ and Magic tools. Checked 5 November 2026. ↑
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TimelyGrader, Instructors, Students and Pricing and plans. Checked 5 November 2026. ↑