Comparison

SafeExamBrowser vs Vaia

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

SafeExamBrowser

This app creates a secure browser environment for online exams, preventing students from accessing other apps or websites. It locks down devices into an assessment kiosk mode, ensuring exam integrity on both personal and institutional iOS devices.

Highlights
  • Secure kiosk browser environment
  • Prevents app switching and website access
  • Assessment kiosk mode
  • Supports unmanaged and managed iOS devices
  • Configurable via API, files, links, and QR codes
  • Integrates with LMS and exam systems
  • Optional Dock and slider menu for commands
Features
Read full description

SafeExamBrowser (SEB) is a secure kiosk web browser environment used to carry out e-assessments that run on exam servers. SEB opens a web browser without an address and search bar, loads a pre-configured webpage and locks an iPad (or iPhone or iPod Touch) into an assessment kiosk mode. This mode prevents students from switching to other apps (unless additional permitted apps are configured), accessing websites and communicating with other students during an exam. SEB enables secure exams on unmanaged iOS devices like students' own iPads as well as on iOS devices owned and managed by an institution. SEB doesn't use a centralized server or cloud service; it can be configured with an API, configuration files, links and QR codes. It can be used with most web-based quiz and e-assessment systems. For improved security and usability, some exam systems provide additional built-in support for SEB. Currently, SEB integrates especially well with learning management systems (LMS) such as Moodle, OpenOlat, ILIAS and with several non-commercial and commercial exam systems, such as Inspera Assessment, Dugga, Exam.net, EvaExam and Ans. SEB uses one of the single app modes provided by iOS. After an exam is submitted, SEB can automatically end the app self-lock assessment mode (an exam invigilator could also use a quit password to end the SEB exam session and unlock the device if necessary). SEB features an optional Dock displaying buttons for various commands. Instead or in addition, a left slider menu shows a list of open browser tabs and commands which can be used to (if enabled in settings) quit an exam session, jump back to the start page of an exam, reload a web page, and navigate back/forward in the browsing history. SEB for iOS uses the same format for encrypted .seb configuration files as the SEB versions for other platforms. Those config files allow to individually configure SEB to display the start page of an exam system or an exam portal page with a list of links to current exams. If SEB for iOS is installed using a mobile device management (MDM) system, its initial configuration can easily be deployed using the "MDM Managed Configuration" feature. You can also directly start an exam with an individual configuration in SEB for iOS using a special config hyperlink. This link can be opened by examinees from Safari, Mail or a messenger app. In addition, you can use QR codes containing SEB links or even full, individual configurations. An exam can directly be started in SEB by using the iOS Camera app or the built-in QR code scanner. SEB also works together with Apple Classroom, teachers can start individually configured exams on all student devices. See https://safeexambrowser.org/ios for more information. SafeExamBrowser for iOS was developed by Daniel R. Schneider, ETH Zurich, IT Services, based on the original idea of Safe Exam Browser by Stefan Schneider, University of Giessen Project concept: Thomas Piendl, Daniel R. Schneider, Damian Büchel, Andreas Hefti, Nadim Ritter, Dirk Bauer, Michael Kern, Kai Reuter, Tobias Halbherr, Karsten Burger, Marco Lehre, Brigitte Schmucki, Oliver Rahs. Safe Exam Browser is released as freeware. The code is subject to the Mozilla Public License Version 1.1 (the "License"); you may only use these files in compliance with the License. You may obtain a copy of the License at http://www.mozilla.org/MPL/ . Important parts of this project have been carried out as part of the program "AAA/SWITCH – e-Infrastructure for e-Science" led by SWITCH, the Swiss National Research and Education Network and the cooperative project "Learning Infrastructure" (part of the CRUS program "Information scientifique: accès, traitement et sauvegarde") coordinated by SWITCH, and was supported by funds from the ETH Board and the State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation (SERI).

About

Vaia

This app helps students improve grades and reduce study stress with AI-powered personalized study plans, flashcards, and practice exams. It transforms uploaded notes into comprehensive study materials, making learning efficient and engaging for any subject.

Highlights
  • AI-generated study plans
  • Personalized flashcards
  • Practice exams
  • Upload notes for study materials
  • Spaced repetition learning
  • Shared study materials
Features
Read full description

Your notes can do more than sit in a folder. Turn lecture slides, PDFs, and class notes into a personal study path with Vaia. Use AI to create flashcards and summaries, get help understanding tricky topics, and practice what you need for homework, midterms, and finals. YOUR MATERIALS, MADE FOR LEARNING A stack of slides and no idea where to start? Upload your materials and build a study guide around your own course. • Break down your material with explanations and summaries • Generate AI flashcards to practice key ideas • Follow a learning path with chapters, lessons, and questions Go from collecting notes to actually working through them. HOMEWORK HELP THAT BUILDS UNDERSTANDING Stuck on a topic while doing homework? Ask Vaia's AI assistant questions about your study materials and get explanations to help you move forward. Use the homework scanner to capture a problem as input. Then put your understanding to work with flashcards and practice questions. Get help with today's material and build knowledge you can use on your next test. FLASHCARDS THAT FIT YOUR COURSE Generate flashcards from your notes, create your own cards, or explore sets shared by other students. Practice definitions, formulas, and vocabulary by recalling the answer before you flip the card. Use spaced repetition to revisit material over time. Fit in a few cards between classes or settle into a longer study session. A STUDY PLANNER WITH A CLEAR NEXT STEP Your course becomes a structured learning path. Work through chapters, read explanations, and practice with interactive questions. See your progress and pick up where you left off. From biology to economics, keep your study materials and your next lesson together in one place. FIND THE GAPS BEFORE EXAM DAY That topic looked familiar. Could you explain it without your notes? Find out with quizzes, exercises, and practice tests. • Check your understanding with multiple-choice and fill-in-the-blank questions • Try practice exam mode and review your results afterward • Revisit the topics that need more work before your midterm or final GIVE YOUR NOTES A VOICE Create study podcasts from your materials and listen on the go. Review a topic on your commute or switch things up when you need a break from reading. SHARE THE WORK. KEEP LEARNING. Explore shared flashcards, study notes, and summaries to complement your own materials. Share your sets with classmates and bring useful resources together for your course. From high school homework to college finals, Vaia helps you turn your materials into something you can learn from. Download Vaia, upload your first notes, and start your first chapter. Terms of Use: https://www.vaia.com/en-us/terms/ Privacy Policy: https://www.vaia.com/en-us/privacy/

Screenshots

SafeExamBrowser4 screens
Vaia4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Vaia at 82% against SafeExamBrowser's 7%. Vaia also leads on rating (4.7 vs 1.6) and update cadence (weekly vs every 3 months). SafeExamBrowser's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 17) and iOS requirement (12.0 vs 17.0). On price, ads and device support there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Vaia sells 15 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month. SafeExamBrowser asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Vaia holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 1.6. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Vaia has 1.6K ratings behind it against 50, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 7% of SafeExamBrowser's written reviews are positive against 82% of Vaia's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

SafeExamBrowser ships an update every 3 months, Vaia weekly. Both last shipped on October 24, 2026.

Scorecard7 real differences · 3 level
SafeExamBrowser versus Vaia: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterSafeExamBrowserVaia
PriceFreeFree
Rating1.6 (50 ratings)4.7 (1.6K ratings) — better
Positive reviews7.1% of reviews81.5% of reviews — better
Number of ratings501.6K — better
Update frequencyEvery 3 monthsWeekly — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree — betterFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS12.0 — better17.0
Further details — not scored
Size67 MB258 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperETH ZurichStudySmarter GmbH

Customer experience

SafeExamBrowser

All ratings46 ratings
Positive15.2%
Neutral0.0%
Negative84.8%
Written reviews411 reviews
Positive7.1%
Neutral1.2%
Negative91.7%

Vaia

All ratings1,550 ratings
Positive93.9%
Neutral2.1%
Negative4.1%
Written reviews677 reviews
Positive81.5%
Neutral7.4%
Negative11.1%

User reviews

SafeExamBrowser

From 50 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🔒 Prevents cheating
  • 👍 Facilitates secure exams
  • 👍 Good for exam integrity
  • 👍 Works when used correctly

Room to improve

  • 🐛 App crashes frequently
  • 🐛 Freezes and becomes unresponsive
  • 🐛 Prevents exiting kiosk mode
  • 🐛 Blank page errors
  • 🐛 Slow performance

Vaia

From 1.6K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Efficient flashcard creation and study tools
  • 🧠 AI-powered features for learning
  • 📚 Vast library of shared study materials
  • 🎨 Customizable and visually appealing interface
  • 🤝 Collaboration and sharing with peers

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Occasional bugs and glitches
  • 🔒 Limited offline access without premium subscription
  • 🤖 Inconsistent performance of AI-generated content
  • 🗂️ Difficulty organizing and navigating large study sets
  • 📱 Suboptimal mobile app experience compared to web

Bugs and requests

SafeExamBrowser

Reported bugs

24 issues
  • App crashes
  • Freezes and becomes unresponsive
  • Cannot exit kiosk mode
  • Blank page errors
  • Slow performance
Show 19 more
  • High battery consumption
  • Device locking issues
  • Setup difficulties
  • Poor instructions
  • Errors during exams
  • Unreliable behavior
  • Difficulty uninstalling/quitting
  • Device issues (black screen, viruses)
  • Inconsistent camera support
  • Cheating still possible (reported by some users)
  • Data privacy concerns raised
  • Unintuitive interface
  • Incompatibility with older/newer OS versions
  • Configuration issues
  • Leads to exam failure
  • Developer unresponsiveness
  • Not working with iOS 18
  • Camera access issues
  • Kiosk mode not activating properly on iOS 17

Requested features

4 requests
  • Better instructions/homepage
  • Support for Thai language
  • Update for iOS 18
  • More user-friendly setup

Vaia

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Flashcard review progress not saving correctly
  • Inability to delete individual flashcards from a set
  • Syncing issues between mobile app and web version
  • Inconsistent behavior of AI-generated quiz questions

Requested features

5 requests
  • Add more language options
  • Improve PDF and note-taking editor functionality
  • Implement nested subsets within study sets
  • Provide more customization options for colors and themes
  • Integrate study timers and task management features

In-app purchases

None

SafeExamBrowser

No in-app purchases

15 purchases

Vaia

Subscriptions15
  • Premium Plan$2.991 Month
  • Premium Plan (1 month)7 Days trial$5.491 Month
  • Premium Plan (1 month)7 Days trial$6.491 Month
Show 12 more
  • Premium Plan (1 month)7 Days trial$6.991 Month
  • Premium Plan (1 week)7 Days trial$7.997 Days
  • Premium Plan (1 month)7 Days trial$8.991 Month
  • Premium Plan (1 month)7 Days trial$12.991 Month
  • Premium Plan (1 year)7 Days trial$17.991 Year
  • Premium Plan (1 month)7 Days trial$19.991 Month
  • Premium Plan (1 year)7 Days trial$31.991 Year
  • Premium Plan (1 year)7 Days trial$43.991 Year
  • Premium Plan (1 year)1 Month trial$59.991 Year
  • Premium Plan (1 year)7 Days trial$63.991 Year
  • Premium Plan (1 year)7 Days trial$89.991 Year
  • Premium Plan (1 year)1 Month trial$89.991 Year

Questions

Is SafeExamBrowser free?
SafeExamBrowser is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Vaia free?
Vaia is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, SafeExamBrowser or Vaia?
Vaia is rated higher. SafeExamBrowser averages 1.6 out of 5 from 50 ratings, while Vaia averages 4.7 from 1.6K ratings.
Do SafeExamBrowser or Vaia have ads?
Neither SafeExamBrowser nor Vaia shows ads.
Which is updated more often, SafeExamBrowser or Vaia?
SafeExamBrowser ships an update every 3 months, and Vaia weekly. Most recently, SafeExamBrowser was updated on October 24, 2026 and Vaia on October 24, 2026.

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