The Problem with Akindi
Akindi was a real improvement on the Scantron model. Instructors could print bubble sheets on regular paper, scan them with any office scanner, and skip the proprietary hardware. For a multiple choice exam, that alone was a big step forward.
But the model has not moved on much since. Akindi is a per-instructor or per-institution subscription, and the auto-grading only covers the multiple choice bubbles. Short answer and numeric-response questions are supported as "Written Answer Questions," but the instructor still scores each one by hand before the total can sync to the LMS. Randomization is capped at six versions per assessment, which is not enough to stop copying in a lecture hall.
For an instructor grading a modern paper exam, that is a lot to leave on the table.
What a Modern Alternative Should Do
A better tool for paper exam grading in 2026 should:
- Auto-grade short answer and numeric response. Not just multiple choice bubbles, and not "auto" with hand-scoring underneath.
- Generate unlimited randomized versions. Every student gets a unique exam, not one of six presets.
- Randomize the numbers, not just the order. In a math or finance exam, each student sees different values in the same question.
- Be free for individual instructors. No seat license, no institutional gatekeeping.
- Sync a full graded exam to the LMS in one step. Canvas, Blackboard, D2L, and Moodle, without a hand-scoring detour for the short answers.
- Auto-grade a full class in minutes. Not one sheet at a time, the whole stack at once.
How Paper Exam Grader Works
Paper Exam Grader is a free tool built for university instructors who want to auto-grade paper exams without an Akindi subscription and without the multiple choice ceiling.
The workflow has three steps.
Upload your questions
Import questions from Word, PDF, Canvas QTI, Connect exports, or a photo of a printed exam. Set your randomization preferences: question order, answer order, and variable numerical values. Press generate to create a PDF with unlimited unique exam versions.
Print, administer, and scan
Print the exams on regular paper. Hand them out in class. Collect them when the exam is over. Scan the stack to a PDF using any office scanner and upload it.
Review results
Auto-grading completes in under 2 minutes. The platform flags ambiguous answers for your review. Results include item difficulty analysis, discrimination indices, and distractor effectiveness. Export grades directly to your LMS gradebook.
How It Compares to Akindi
Both tools use any office scanner and regular printer paper. The differences show up around what gets auto-graded, how many unique versions you can generate, and how the final score reaches the gradebook.
| Feature | Akindi | Paper Exam Grader |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Per-instructor or institutional subscription | Free for individual instructors |
| Auto-grading | Multiple choice bubbles only; short answer and numeric hand-entered by the instructor | Multiple choice, short answer, and numeric all auto-graded |
| Randomized versions | Up to 6 versions per assessment, with question and answer scrambling within each | Auto-generated, unlimited unique versions from one question set |
| Variable numeric values | Not supported | Each student sees different numbers in the same question |
| Grading speed | Multiple choice graded fast; short answer added manually before sync | Whole class graded in under 2 minutes, short answer included |
| LMS sync | Canvas, Blackboard, D2L, Moodle via LTI | Canvas, Blackboard, D2L, Moodle via LTI |
| Item analysis | Basic | Item difficulty, discrimination, distractor effectiveness |
| FERPA compliant | Yes | Yes |
Who This Is For
Paper Exam Grader is built for university instructors who want to:
- Keep the parts of Akindi that work (regular paper, any scanner) without the subscription
- Auto-grade short answer and numeric response, not just multiple choice
- Give every student a fully unique exam, including different numerical values
- Sync a full graded exam to Canvas, Blackboard, D2L, or Moodle without hand-entering short-answer marks
There is no trial period, no feature limit, and no credit card required. If your department later wants to adopt it at scale, institutional plans are available.
Ready to Try It?
Skip the subscription and skip the hand-scoring step for short answers. Import your existing questions, print a unique version for every student, and sync a full graded exam back to the LMS in one step.
Create your first exam for free or watch a quick demo to see the full workflow.
