Best Assessment Software of 2026

Organizations such as corporates, educational institutes, and coaching centers conduct assessments to evaluate job applicants and monitor employee and student performance. With most classroom sessions now going virtual, these companies are moving their assessments online. But creating online assessments is time-consuming, requires manual labor, and is also prone to human errors.

Assessment software can automate the process to help save time and effort. It offers a centralized system that lets companies create various types of assessments, conduct online tests, and grade candidate performance.

There are many assessment tools available on the market, so choosing the right one for your business can be challenging. In this buyers guide, we provide all the information you need to make a well-informed purchase decision.

Here's what we'll cover:

• What is assessment software?

• Common features of assessment software

• What type of buyer are you?

• Benefits of assessment software

• Market trends to understand

What is assessment software?

Assessment software is a digital platform used by organizations and educational institutions to create online assessments for evaluating the performance of their employees and students. It also helps recruiters conduct knowledge- and skill-based tests to check if an applicant is fit for a job opening.

The learning and development (L&D) team or faculty can use the software to monitor a candidate’s entire learning lifecycle. This helps provide data-backed feedback and plan corrective actions to improve learning outcomes.

Key capabilities of an assessment software tool:

• Create various question types (e.g., multiple choice, fill in the blank, true or false) to evaluate the skill sets of candidates.

• Verify the identity of candidates to prevent cheating or unauthorized access to tests.

• Generates reports to track the overall performance of students and employees.

Common features of assessment software

Reporting and performance tracking in DevSkiller (Source)

What type of buyer are you?

Understanding the different types of buyers in the market will help you identify your buyer type to make an informed purchase. The majority of buyers belong to the following categories:

• Educational institutions: Educational institutes such as universities, colleges, and schools need an assessment platform to conduct exams and deliver learning material to their students. These buyers should opt for a tool that integrates with their learning management system. Integration functionality will allow them to create customized assessments based on the content sourced from the learning management system.

• Enterprises: These buyers need an assessment tool to check if applicants are qualified for a job opening. They also want to monitor the performance of their employees to ensure their skills are up to date. Assessment software with test creation, skill testing, and reporting features would fit the needs of these buyers. They should also look for a tool that can integrate with their existing human resources (HR), applicant tracking, onboarding, and talent management systems for seamless exchange of candidate and assessment data.

Benefits of assessment software

Let’s take a look at some of the benefits of using an online assessment tool:

• Better security: Assessment software stores test questions, submitted answers, and candidate scores at a centralized location that’s accessible only to authorized users. You can grant access permissions to only those users who are involved in creating, conducting, or grading assessments. This helps reduce the risk of data breaches and leakage.

• Remote assessments: Online assessment software allows candidates to take exams from anywhere and at any time. They don’t have to spend time and money to travel to a test center. This is also beneficial for international candidates located across geographies. Similarly, your instructors can schedule and evaluate assessments from anywhere.

• Improved hiring decisions: An online assessment tool helps your hiring managers match the right applicant to the right job. Outcomes of skill-based assessments let you find a suitable applicant who has the skills required for the job.

Market trends to understand

Here's a market trend to keep in mind when selecting an assessment software solution:

• Increasing adoption of cloud-based online assessment software. Cloud-based assessment software has registered increased adoption among enterprises and higher education institutes due to benefits such as flexible payment options, low upfront investment, better scalability, and zero maintenance hassles.

Note: The application selected in this article is an example to show a feature in context and is not intended as an endorsement or recommendation. It has been obtained from sources believed to be reliable at the time of publication.