ExamSoft vs LockDown Browser - Which Locks Down More on Mac?

ExamSoft (delivered as the Examplify app) and Respondus LockDown Browser are both "secure exam delivery" products on Mac, but they target different markets and use different tech to lock you in. The differences matter when you are trying to figure out what your specific exam will let you do.

Examplify is a self-contained Mac app that can run exams offline (encrypted question packs decrypt at exam start, results upload after). Its lockdown is OS-level: it disables Mission Control, Cmd-Tab, screenshots, and screen recording. LockDown Browser is a Chromium-based browser that loads your LMS quiz, blocking the same shortcuts but only inside the browser process. Both use Apple's standard screen-capture APIs when Monitor or proctoring is enabled, so both honor window-level privacy. The overlay is invisible to either.

Examplify locks more of the OS (no dock, no menu bar). But for the on-screen overlay specifically, both honor the same Apple capture privacy mechanism, so the overlay is invisible to both.

Usually no. The platform is decided by the program: law schools and professional cert bodies pick Examplify; undergrad faculty pick LDB through their LMS. You install whichever is required.

No. The overlay does not need internet either. It just renders ChatGPT / Claude in a window the OS hides from capture.