Comparison
Free AI grading tools for teachers, and what the free plan counts
Ten AI grading tools, what you get at $0, and the unit each one counts in: submissions, essays, words or students. A plan that says 100 means something different on every page.
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 | Free option | Paid from | Counts in | Grades |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brisk | Free for teachers | Custom, schools | Not stated | Feedback; scoring opt-in |
| Class Companion | Free for teachers | By demo, schools | Not stated | Written answers |
| CodeGrade | 50 students a course | From $24 per student | Students | Code |
| CoGrader | 150 a month | $15 a month | Submissions | Essays; handwriting on paid plan |
| EssayGrader | 100 a month | $14.99 a month | Essays | Essays, short answers |
| GPTZero | 10,000 words a month | $12.99 a month | Words | Written work |
| Gradescope | Free Basic plan | On request | Not stated | Paper exams, code |
| GradingPal | 50 a month, no card | $14 a month | Submissions | Essays, handwritten STEM |
| Graidable | 10 free gradings | $9.99 a month | Students graded | Handwritten and typed tests |
| MagicSchool | Free plan | $8.33 a month | Not stated | Written feedback |
Brisk
- Free option
- Free for teachers
- Paid from
- Custom, schools
Class Companion
- Free option
- Free for teachers
- Paid from
- By demo, schools
CodeGrade
- Free option
- 50 students a course
- Paid from
- From $24 per student
CoGrader
- Free option
- 150 a month
- Paid from
- $15 a month
EssayGrader
- Free option
- 100 a month
- Paid from
- $14.99 a month
GPTZero
- Free option
- 10,000 words a month
- Paid from
- $12.99 a month
Gradescope
- Free option
- Free Basic plan
- Paid from
- On request
GradingPal
- Free option
- 50 a month, no card
- Paid from
- $14 a month
Graidable
- Free option
- 10 free gradings
- Paid from
- $9.99 a month
MagicSchool
- Free option
- Free plan
- Paid from
- $8.33 a month
In this article
Ten AI grading tools: Brisk1, Class Companion2, CodeGrade3, CoGrader4, EssayGrader5, GPTZero6, Gradescope7, GradingPal8, Graidable9 and MagicSchool10. Most have something free, but the free plans are measured in different units, so “100” and “150” can’t be compared as they stand. This page lines them up.
What each free plan counts
Read the unit before the number, in the table under the title. CoGrader and GradingPal count submissions, one student’s work on one assignment. EssayGrader counts essays and caps their length. GPTZero counts words. CodeGrade counts students in a course. Brisk, Class Companion, Gradescope and MagicSchool state no count.
Say you teach 30 students and grade four assignments in a month. That is 120 submissions. CoGrader’s free plan covers it. EssayGrader’s and GradingPal’s free plans stop at 100 and 50, and GPTZero’s 10,000 words are about ten essays of 1,000 words.
The ten, in alphabetical order
Each profile says what the vendor’s own pages stated on 9 October 2026. Plans and prices change, so open the vendor’s page before you decide.
Brisk
Feedback inside Google Docs and your LMS.
- Grades
- Feedback on written work; rubric scoring in feedback is opt-in
- Free option
- Free plan for teachers, with feedback tools including batch feedback
- Counts in
- Not stated
- Price
- Premium for schools and districts has custom pricing
- The free plan is a Chrome and Edge extension that works in Docs, Slides and your LMS.
- Premium lists more tools than the free plan: 35+ against 20+.
Class Companion
Practice with instant feedback and retakes.
- Grades
- Short-answer, essay and multiple-choice assignments
- Free option
- Free Teacher plan with instant AI feedback and basic insights
- Counts in
- Not stated
- Price
- School and district plans by demo; the plans page gives no price
- School and district plans add LMS integration, AI and plagiarism detection and premium insights.
- Students can dispute a score, and you accept or overrule.
CodeGrade
Autograding for programming courses.
- Grades
- Programming assignments
- Free option
- Free plan, up to 50 students per course; no card, no trial, no expiration
- Counts in
- Students per course
- Price
- $24 per student per course on Starter, $39 on Advanced
- Pricing is per course, so students can pay for themselves with an access code.
- A Claude-powered coding assistant is a $15 per student per course add-on.
- LMS integration is on Advanced and Institutional.
CoGrader
Rubric-based grading of written work.
- Grades
- Essays and open-ended work; handwritten assignments on the Individual plan
- Free option
- Starter: 150 student submissions a month, with Google Classroom, Canvas and Schoology integration
- Counts in
- Student submissions
- Price
- Individual $15 a month billed annually, or $19 a month (350 submissions); schools get a quote
- The Individual plan adds handwritten assignments, grammar checking, a class dashboard, AI detection and plagiarism detection.
- Its Advocate program gives the Individual plan free to teachers who join.
EssayGrader
Essays in ELA and the humanities.
- Grades
- Essays and written assignments; oral exams and video submissions on Pro
- Free option
- Basic: 100 essays a month, up to 1,000 words each
- Counts in
- Essays, with a word cap per essay
- Price
- Pro $14.99 (350 essays, 3,500 words each) and Premium $34.99 (800 essays, 8,000 words each) a month billed annually; schools get a quote
- The word cap rises with the plan: 1,000, 3,500, then 8,000.
- AI-writing and plagiarism detection are on Pro and Premium.
GPTZero
AI-writing checks and grading in one place.
- Grades
- Written assignments, with the AI Reviewer
- Free option
- Free plan: 10,000 words a month. The AI Reviewer page has a “Try Grading Free” button.
- Counts in
- Words
- Price
- Premium $12.99 (300,000 words) and Professional $24.99 (500,000 words) a month billed annually
- The AI Reviewer page says it is included in all Educator plans.
- Divide the word allowance by the length of your assignments to see how many it covers.
Gradescope
Paper exams and code, graded by rubric.
- Grades
- Paper exams and homework, with programming assignments on Institutional
- Free option
- Basic plan, free after a one-term Institutional trial
- Counts in
- Not stated
- Price
- Institutional is priced on request
- Basic has dynamic rubrics, question-by-question grading, regrade requests and data export.
- AI grading, programming assignments and code similarity are listed under Institutional.
GradingPal
Essays and handwritten math and science.
- Grades
- Essays, handwritten math and science, lab reports, slides, audio and video
- Free option
- 50 submissions a month, no credit card; handwritten assignments and Google Classroom included
- Counts in
- Submissions
- Price
- Lite $14 a month (250 submissions) and Pro $26 a month (unlimited), billed annually; schools by contact
- Quizzes, exams, worksheets, problem sets, video and audio grading are in Pro, or a Lite add-on.
- Canvas and Schoology integration comes with a school plan.
GraidableOur tool
Handwritten tests graded from your own rubric.
- Grades
- Written answers on handwritten or typed tests; PDFs, images and scans
- Free option
- 10 free gradings with your first plan, and a sample class to try without a plan
- Counts in
- Students graded; setting up, reading and reviewing are free
- Price
- Student $9.99 a month (10 students graded) and Professional $24.99 a month (60); $0.49 or $0.35 per extra student if you turn it on; schools get a price on request
- You pay for each student graded with AI. Grading a student again counts again; a failed or cancelled grading isn’t counted.
- You add a card at checkout, and get a full refund if you cancel in the first period before using more than the free gradings.
MagicSchool
A set of teacher tools, feedback among them.
- Grades
- Feedback on written assignments, among 80+ teacher tools
- Free option
- Free plan, “Forever Free”
- Counts in
- Not stated
- Price
- Plus $12.99 a month, or $8.33 a month billed annually ($99.96); Enterprise is custom
- The pricing page says teachers can use MagicSchool on their own with the Free or Plus plans.
- Enterprise adds district-level management; classroom tools stay open to individual teachers.
What a free plan leaves out
The same features sit behind the paid plan again and again. Handwriting is in CoGrader’s paid plan and in GradingPal’s free one. AI-writing detection is in CoGrader’s, EssayGrader’s and Class Companion’s paid or school plans. LMS integration is on school plans at Class Companion, and Canvas and Schoology at GradingPal. If you need one of those, price the plan that has it, not the free one.
CodeGrade’s free plan is real, but it ends at 50 students in a course. Graidable’s way in is a first plan with ten free gradings, plus a sample class you can try without a plan; you add a card at checkout.
Pay per teacher, per student or per school
- Per teacher a month. CoGrader, EssayGrader, GPTZero, GradingPal and MagicSchool. You know the bill in advance, and the limit is the count.
- Per student graded. Graidable. The bill follows how many students you grade, so a small class costs little and a large one costs more.
- Per student a course. CodeGrade. Students can pay with an access code.
- By quote. Brisk’s Premium, Class Companion, Gradescope’s Institutional plan, and every vendor’s school tier.
Before you pay
Run the free plan on one real assignment you have already graded. Count the submissions it used, read the unit, and check whether the feature you need is in the plan you tried. A free plan that handles your first class set but not your handwriting won’t survive the first week of mock exams.
Graidable is the tool we make. This part is about it.
Where Graidable fits
Graidable is one of the ten, and the one built for paper. It reads handwritten or typed answers on a test, drafts a score and a comment for each criterion from your rubric or answer key, and you approve every one before a student sees anything. We compare the full set by what is graded in AI grading tools compared for essays, handwritten math and code.