Comparison

SafeExamBrowser vs Thea

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

Thea

Transform your course materials into interactive study tools with an AI-powered platform. Upload notes, PDFs, or videos to generate flashcards, practice tests, and summaries. Learn efficiently and master your subjects with personalized study plans.

Highlights
  • AI-powered study material transformation
  • Interactive flashcards and game modes
  • Adaptive learning question generation
  • Practice test simulation
  • Automatic summarization and guide creation
  • Multi-language support
Features
Read full description

Feeling overwhelmed by lecture notes, textbook PDFs, and hours of video content? Stop juggling dozens of apps. Meet Thea.study, the all-in-one AI learning platform that transforms your course materials into powerful, interactive study tools in seconds. Reduce stress and save time with Thea, your smart study partner. We help you master your material efficiently, leaving more time for the things you love. Thea offers a powerful set of AI tools designed for personalized learning and better results. UPLOAD ANYTHING, STUDY INSTANTLY: Get started in seconds. Upload handwritten notes, PDFs, lecture videos, or even paste a YouTube link. Thea's AI extracts the key information and builds your personalized study kit. SMART STUDY: Move beyond rote memorization. Our AI-powered adaptive learning generates questions that focus on your weak spots, getting more challenging as you master the material. MEMORIZE FASTER: Use interactive flashcards and engaging game modes built on a proven spaced repetition system. Perfect for on-the-go learning that makes information stick. TEST WITH CONFIDENCE: Generate practice tests from your study materials to simulate the real exam environment. Build confidence and refine your strategy before exam day. SUMMARIZE & CREATE GUIDES: Instantly distill dense information into concise summaries. Generate comprehensive, downloadable study guides with a single click to simplify your revision process. DESIGNED FOR STUDENTS EVERYWHERE: With support for over 80 languages, you can learn and study in the language you're most comfortable with for better understanding. ACCESSIBLE ANYTIME, ANYWHERE: Thea works seamlessly across your computer, tablet, and smartphone. Your study companion goes wherever you do. A POWERFUL TOOL FOR EDUCATORS: Create classes, assign AI-generated study modules from your own teaching materials, and track student progress with our powerful analytics. Get Started in Seconds! Download Thea today and start achieving better results with less stress! EULA: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Terms of service: https://www.theastudy.com/termsofservice Privacy policy: https://www.theastudy.com/privacy

Screenshots

SafeExamBrowser4 screens
Thea4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Thea at 93% against SafeExamBrowser's 7%. Thea also leads on rating (4.9 vs 1.6) and ratings volume (2.6K vs 50). SafeExamBrowser's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 2) and iOS requirement (12.0 vs 15.0). 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. Thea sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $12.00 per month. SafeExamBrowser asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Thea holds the better App Store score, 4.9 against 1.6. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Thea has 2.6K 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 93% of Thea's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

SafeExamBrowser ships an update every 3 months, Thea monthly. The most recent releases landed on November 2, 2026 and November 4, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard7 real differences · 3 level
SafeExamBrowser versus Thea: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterSafeExamBrowserThea
PriceFreeFree
Rating1.6 (50 ratings)4.9 (2.6K ratings) — better
Positive reviews7.1% of reviews92.7% of reviews — better
Number of ratings502.6K — better
Update frequencyEvery 3 monthsMonthly — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree — betterFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac — better
Requires iOS12.0 — better15.0
Further details — not scored
Size67 MB4 MB
Age rating4+12+
DeveloperETH ZurichThea Study

Customer experience

SafeExamBrowser

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

Thea

All ratings2,459 ratings
Positive97.8%
Neutral0.8%
Negative1.4%
Written reviews507 reviews
Positive92.7%
Neutral3.2%
Negative4.1%

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

Thea

From 2.6K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Easy to use
  • 🚀 Helpful AI features
  • 💰 Free version available
  • 📚 Effective for studying and learning
  • 🎓 Useful for AP and nursing exams

Room to improve

  • 🔍 Lack of spaced repetition setting
  • 🔒 Potential for paywalls in the future

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

Thea

Reported bugs

1 issue
  • Answers not mixed up in matching game

Requested features

2 requests
  • Spaced repetition setting
  • More customization options

In-app purchases

None

SafeExamBrowser

No in-app purchases

2 purchases

Thea

Subscriptions2
  • Monthly$12.001 Month
  • Yearly$48.001 Year

Questions

Is SafeExamBrowser free?
SafeExamBrowser is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Thea free?
Thea is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, SafeExamBrowser or Thea?
Thea is rated higher. SafeExamBrowser averages 1.6 out of 5 from 50 ratings, while Thea averages 4.9 from 2.6K ratings.
Do SafeExamBrowser or Thea have ads?
Neither SafeExamBrowser nor Thea shows ads.
Which is updated more often, SafeExamBrowser or Thea?
SafeExamBrowser ships an update every 3 months, and Thea monthly. Most recently, SafeExamBrowser was updated on November 2, 2026 and Thea on November 4, 2026.

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