2026 Buyer's Guide
The Best Gradebook Apps for Teachers
A practical, honest guide to digital mark books — free and paid — for K-12 teachers. Written by a working Ontario teacher, with the Canadian options most U.S. listicles skip.
A gradebook app is the digital version of the mark book teachers have always kept — the place where assessments, scores, weights, and averages live. The good ones do the boring math reliably, let you weight categories the way your course actually grades, and show students their marks without you re-typing anything.
The hard part is that "gradebook" means very different things to different people. For some teachers it's a free assignment hub that happens to show point totals. For others it's a standards-based system, or an Ontario mark book with KATC strands and learning skills, or a full school platform with attendance and a parent portal.
How to choose: decide whether you need (1) just grade storage and averaging, (2) a fuller classroom platform with attendance, assignments, and parent communication, or (3) a system your school or board mandates. Then check the dealbreakers: weighted categories, free-tier limits, data residency, and whether students and parents can see marks in real time. Here are nine options worth knowing in 2026.
1. Level Up Classroom
Gradebook + engagement + AI in one tool · Free plan
Level Up Classroom is a gamified gradebook and classroom platform built by a working Ontario high school teacher. The core is a real weighted gradebook — any framework (KATC, percentage, standards-based), auto-calculated averages, reusable mark sets, and learning-skills tracking — paired with a live student portal so students see their grades the moment you release them.
It's also more than a mark book: attendance, seating charts, a Google-Classroom-style class stream, at-risk analytics, one-click parent and student emails, and AI tools (report card comments, rubrics, assignment and lesson generators, pop quizzes) powered by Claude — with student names never sent to the AI. Ontario curriculum alignment is built in, so you can link curriculum documents to a class and track Overall Expectation coverage, including split classes. Data lives in Canada (Firebase Toronto region), PIPEDA-compliant.
Best for: Canadian and Ontario teachers — and anyone — who wants one tool that combines a real gradebook with engagement and AI, instead of stitching three apps together.
2. Google Classroom
Free with Google Workspace for Education
Google Classroom is the most widely used assignment hub in K-12, and for good reason: it's free with Workspace for Education and the Google Drive integration for distributing and collecting work is excellent. Its grading, though, is a flat list of point totals — there's no real concept of weighted categories, strands, or reusable mark schemes.
Best for: teachers on Google Workspace who mainly need to post and collect Drive assignments and keep their actual gradebook elsewhere.
3. ThinkWave
Free, browser-based, solo teachers
ThinkWave is a long-standing, browser-based gradebook aimed at individual teachers and small schools. The free tier covers core grade entry and reporting, with paid tiers adding parent and student access and richer reports. It's straightforward and works on any device without installing anything.
Best for: solo teachers who want a free, no-install web gradebook with optional parent/student portals.
4. QuickSchools
Gradebook + attendance + parent portal
QuickSchools is a lightweight school management system that bundles a gradebook with attendance and a parent portal. It leans toward small private schools that want a single hosted system rather than individual teachers, and it covers the day-to-day record-keeping a small office needs.
Best for: small schools that want gradebook, attendance, and parent communication in one hosted package.
5. TeacherEase
Standards-based grading specialist
TeacherEase is built around standards-based grading and mastery reporting, which makes it a strong fit for schools that have moved away from traditional percentage averages. It can track proficiency against individual standards and generate standards-based report cards.
Best for: schools and teachers committed to standards-based or mastery grading.
6. iGradePlus
Free, highly customizable
iGradePlus offers a free, customizable online gradebook with attendance and behavior tracking. It supports flexible grading schemes and works for both teachers and tutors. The interface is utilitarian, but the customization and free tier make it appealing for teachers who like to configure things themselves.
Best for: teachers and tutors who want a free, highly configurable gradebook with attendance and behavior logs.
7. SimpleGradebook
Free, Canadian-built, Canadian servers
SimpleGradebook is a free, no-frills online gradebook built by a Canadian teacher and hosted on Canadian servers — a meaningful detail for boards and teachers who care about data residency. It focuses on doing grade entry and averaging cleanly without a steep learning curve.
Best for: Canadian teachers who want a free, simple gradebook with data kept on Canadian servers.
8. Follett Aspen MarkBook
Ontario board standard
Aspen is the student information system used by many Ontario boards, and its MarkBook module is the official gradebook teachers in those boards are expected to use for report cards. It's deeply integrated with board reporting, but the interface is widely considered dated and slow for day-to-day grade entry. Many teachers keep a faster working gradebook and export marks into Aspen at reporting time.
Best for: Ontario teachers whose board mandates Aspen for official report cards.
9. Edsby
Canadian SIS-integrated K-12 LMS
Edsby is a Canadian K-12 learning management and analytics platform adopted at the district and provincial level. It combines a gradebook with messaging, attendance, and parent engagement, and integrates with student information systems. As a board-procured platform, it's typically chosen by districts rather than individual teachers.
Best for: districts and boards wanting an integrated Canadian K-12 LMS with gradebook, comms, and analytics.
At a glance
| Tool | Free tier | Weighted categories | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Level Up Classroom | ✓ 1 class, 25 students | ✓ Any framework | Gradebook + engagement + AI in one |
| Google Classroom | ✓ With Workspace | Limited | Distributing & collecting work |
| ThinkWave | ✓ | ✓ | Solo teachers, no install |
| QuickSchools | Paid | ✓ | Small schools, parent portal |
| TeacherEase | Paid | ✓ Standards | Standards-based grading |
| iGradePlus | ✓ | ✓ | Customizable, tutors |
| SimpleGradebook | ✓ | ✓ | Free, Canadian servers |
| Aspen MarkBook | Board-licensed | ✓ | Ontario official reporting |
| Edsby | Board-licensed | ✓ | District-wide Canadian LMS |
Where Level Up Classroom fits
If you only need a place to store and average marks, almost any tool on this list will do — pick the free one that matches your grading style. The case for Level Up Classroom is narrower and honest: it's for teachers who want the gradebook and the rest of the classroom in one place, without paying for a separate LMS, a separate gamification app, and a separate AI tool.
It's also the option built Ontario-first. KATC, learning skills, split classes, curriculum-expectation tracking, and Canadian data residency are designed in, not bolted on. If your board mandates Aspen for official report cards, Level Up Classroom works as the faster daily mark book that feeds it — many teachers run exactly that pairing.
And it's free to try: one class, 25 students, full weighted gradebook, no credit card. If it's not for you, every other tool here is a legitimate choice.
Frequently asked questions
What is the best free gradebook for teachers?
There are several genuinely free options. Level Up Classroom has a free plan with one active class, up to 25 students, and a full weighted gradebook — no credit card required. ThinkWave, iGradePlus, and SimpleGradebook are also free for individual teachers. Google Classroom is free with Google Workspace for Education but is an assignment hub rather than a true weighted gradebook. The best choice depends on whether you need just a mark book or a fuller classroom platform.
What is a digital mark book?
In Canada, a gradebook is often called a mark book. A digital mark book is software that replaces the paper or spreadsheet version: it stores student marks, weights them by category, auto-calculates averages, and usually adds attendance, reporting, and a parent or student portal. Level Up Classroom is a digital mark book built around Ontario frameworks like KATC and learning skills.
Is Level Up Classroom free?
Yes, Level Up Classroom has a free plan: one active class, up to 25 students, and the full weighted gradebook, with no credit card required. Paid plans start at $4 CAD per month (Basic), then $9 (Pro) and $19 (Ultra), with roughly 17% off for annual billing and cancel-anytime.
Which gradebook is best for Ontario teachers?
Ontario teachers usually need KATC categories, learning skills (E/G/S/N), split-class support, and an Aspen MarkBook workflow. Follett Aspen MarkBook is the board standard at many schools but has a dated interface. Edsby is a Canadian K-12 platform many boards adopt. Level Up Classroom is built Ontario-first, with curriculum-expectation tracking and Canadian data residency, and works alongside an existing board system.
Start free — no credit card
A full weighted gradebook for your next class. Data stored in Toronto.
Get Started Free