Alternatives & comparisons
ProctorU Alternative for the AI Cheating Era (2026)
ProctorU pairs live and AI-assisted proctors with webcam and screen monitoring. It does visible behavior well. But Cluely isn't visible. It's an OS-layer overlay that excludes itself from screen-capture APIs — the same surface a proctor watches. Here is what sits below the observation layer.
What ProctorU Does
ProctorU is a remote proctoring service that combines live human proctors with AI/automated proctoring, webcam and screen monitoring, behavioral analysis, and a browser-lockdown component. It's used across higher education and professional certification. It works well for the things a person or a behavioral model can see: a second person off-camera, a phone in view, looking away from the screen, obvious environmental cheating, and identity verification.
What ProctorU Cannot See
Behavioral and webcam observation infers cheating from what's visible. An invisible AI overlay like Cluely marks itself invisible to the screen-capture APIs a proctor relies on. A candidate reading an AI answer off a transparent overlay looks like a candidate reading the question. The technique is invisible by design.
The same limitation applies to on-device LLMs. A model running in local memory produces no screen artifact, no webcam-visible behavior, and no network traffic to intercept. Aiseptor detects the technique instead of the appearance: a screen-capture-exclusion flag, GPU VRAM deltas, and DNS/SNI to AI endpoints — regardless of process name.
The Privacy Trade-off
ProctorU's model is observation: webcam video, screen activity, and behavioral signals, often reviewed by a live human and retained for audit. Webcam proctoring is a live concern for institutions subject to FERPA, GDPR, or internal privacy commitments — you are collecting and storing a recording of the candidate in their own home.
Aiseptor collects no webcam data, no screen content, and no keystrokes. Only session-level network and device signals, retained by default for 24 hours. For the full data model, see the trust page.
Comparison: ProctorU vs. Network-Layer Enforcement
| Capability | ProctorU | Aiseptor (Network Layer) |
|---|---|---|
| Live human / webcam proctoring | Yes | No |
| Invisible AI overlays (Cluely, Pluely, unknown forks) | No | Yes |
| On-device LLMs (Ollama, LM Studio) | No | Yes |
| OS-wide network / DNS enforcement | No | Yes |
| Data collected | Webcam, behavioral, screen | Network access signals only |
| Data retention | Extended | 24 hours (default) |
Complementary Architecture
ProctorU = identity, physical, and behavioral layer. Aiseptor = network and device layer. They cover different parts of the threat surface. ProctorU's live proctors catch physical and environmental cheating Aiseptor does not address — a person off-camera, a second device in view. Aiseptor catches the device and network AI surface a webcam cannot see — the overlay opened before the exam started, the local model running in memory. We don't claim to replace identity verification or physical proctoring.
See also: Honorlock alternatives · Proctorio alternatives · Pricing
Frequently Asked Questions
Does ProctorU detect Cluely?
ProctorU observes the candidate through a webcam and the screen through a browser-lockdown component. Cluely is an OS-layer overlay that excludes itself from the same screen-capture APIs a proctor would see. A live or AI proctor watches what's visible; an invisible overlay is invisible by design. These surfaces don't intersect architecturally.
Does ProctorU detect AI cheating?
ProctorU can flag some AI-assisted behaviors that are visible to a webcam, a live proctor, or its behavioral AI — looking off-screen, suspicious typing patterns, a second person in the room. It cannot see an OS-layer overlay that hides from screen capture, or an on-device language model running in local memory with no network traffic.
What does ProctorU collect from candidates?
ProctorU's model is built on observation: webcam video, screen activity, and behavioral signals, often reviewed by a live human proctor. That data is retained for review and audit. The architectural question is not whether the observation is accurate, but whether the technique being used is visible to observation at all.
Is there a ProctorU alternative without webcam?
Yes. Aiseptor enforces exam integrity at the network and device layer: no webcam, no screen recording, no keystrokes. The audit record is metadata about what was and wasn't reachable during the session, not a recording of the candidate. Retention defaults to 24 hours.
Where Aiseptor Fits: Beneath, Not Instead Of
Aiseptor is a layer, not a rip-and-replace. It sits beneath ProctorU — and beneath any lockdown browser or proctoring service — owning the device and network layer those tools architecturally cannot reach. Keep what you have for browser control or webcam proctoring; add Aiseptor for the OS- and network-level AI threats it was built to stop. The exam page can open in a normal browser while Aiseptor enforces the machine boundary.
What Aiseptor does not do: physical and environment security is out of scope. Aiseptor does not verify identity, watch the room, or catch a phone, a paper note, or an in-person accomplice off-camera. For those, pair Aiseptor with a live proctor or an identity-verification step. Aiseptor secures the device and the network path — not the physical room around it.
No webcam. No live proctor. Just network enforcement.
5 sessions free, no credit card. The audit record is metadata about what was and wasn't reachable, not a recording of your candidates.