Alternatives & comparisons
A Safe Exam Browser Alternative for the AI Cheating Era
Safe Exam Browser locks the exam to a single kiosk window, and it does that well. But window-level lockdown is one layer of a multi-layer problem. Invisible overlays, on-device LLMs, and remote-access tools all run as separate processes beneath the browser. Here is what fills that gap in 2026.
What Safe Exam Browser Does Well
Safe Exam Browser is open-source, free, and widely used across universities and certification testing. An exam is configured with a config file and key, then delivered in a locked kiosk mode that disables shortcuts and prevents other apps from taking focus at the window level. It integrates cleanly with LMS and assessment platforms (Moodle, Inspera, and others). For controlling the exam window, it is dependable and costs nothing.
The Architectural Limit: One Kiosk Window on a Multi-Process Machine
Safe Exam Browser is a kiosk application. It enforces inside the exam window and over the shortcuts the OS routes to it. The candidate's machine, meanwhile, runs dozens of processes. Everything beneath the window (invisible overlays, the network stack, local language models, second-monitor content) sits outside SEB's field of view.
This is architecture, not a flaw. A window-level tool has no way to enumerate or block sibling desktop processes, inspect outbound DNS, or read what marks itself invisible to screen capture. The 2026 attack surface lives precisely in that blind spot.
What Changed in 2025–2026
Name-based and window-based control is the wrong layer for 2026 AI cheating. The dominant threats run as separate desktop processes. Cluely, Pluely, InterviewCoder, and their open-source forks mark themselves invisible to screen capture using the exclude-from-capture flag, so they never appear in the exam window. On-device LLMs (Ollama, LM Studio) run silently in memory with little or no network traffic. A kiosk browser cannot enumerate, see, or block any of them.
Aiseptor enforces at the OS and network layer and detects the technique rather than a process name: the screen-capture-exclusion flag, Electron renderer trees, GPU VRAM spikes, and DNS/SNI requests to AI endpoints. Because it matches the technique, a renamed or unknown tool is caught the same way a known one is.
Comparison: Safe Exam Browser vs. Network-Layer Enforcement
These tools address different layers. Neither is a complete solution on its own.
| Capability | Safe Exam Browser | Aiseptor (Network Layer) |
|---|---|---|
| Kiosk lockdown of the exam window | Yes | No (complementary) |
| Invisible AI overlays (Cluely, Pluely, unknown forks) | No | Yes |
| On-device LLMs (Ollama, LM Studio) | No | Yes |
| OS-wide network / DNS enforcement | No | Yes |
| Detects the technique, not just a process name | No | Yes |
| BYOD, 30-second deploy, no managed device | Partial (config distribution) | Yes |
The Honest Answer: Complementary, Not a Replacement
Safe Exam Browser is a solid free kiosk lockdown for low-stakes settings, and it can keep delivering the exam window. Aiseptor is the device and network layer that SEB architecturally cannot reach. Let SEB own the window; let Aiseptor own the machine boundary. Together they cover both surfaces.
Use Safe Exam Browser for kiosk lockdown if your LMS or assessment platform expects it. Use Aiseptor for the OS-wide and network surface a kiosk browser was never built to see.
See also: Respondus alternatives and ExamSoft alternatives.
Deployment: 30 Seconds, No Admin Rights, Any Device
Aiseptor deploys as a user-space process: no kernel driver, no IT ticketing, no managed-device requirement, and no per-machine config file to distribute and key. A candidate on their personal MacBook can be in a compliant session in 30 seconds. From $2 per session.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Safe Exam Browser block Cluely?
No. Cluely is a separate desktop process that marks its window invisible to screen-capture APIs. Safe Exam Browser is a kiosk browser: it controls its own window and the shortcuts the OS routes to it, but it cannot enumerate or block other processes. This is an architectural boundary of any window-level tool, not a SEB defect.
Can Safe Exam Browser detect on-device LLMs like Ollama or LM Studio?
No. Local models run silently in device memory with little or no outbound network traffic. Safe Exam Browser has no visibility beneath its own window, so it cannot detect, flag, or block local AI inference running elsewhere on the machine.
Is Aiseptor a replacement for Safe Exam Browser?
Not a replacement — a complement. Safe Exam Browser is a solid free kiosk lockdown for delivering the exam window, often paired with an LMS or assessment platform. Aiseptor owns the device and network boundary SEB architecturally cannot reach: invisible overlays, on-device LLMs, and OS-wide DNS enforcement. They work together.
Safe Exam Browser is free and open-source — why add anything?
Free kiosk lockdown is genuinely useful and the right tool for low-stakes settings. The gap is the threat layer that moved below the browser in 2025–2026. SEB controls the exam window; it cannot see a second desktop process flagged invisible to capture, an Electron renderer tree, or a GPU VRAM spike from a local model. That is the surface Aiseptor detects.
Where Aiseptor Fits: Beneath, Not Instead Of
Aiseptor is a layer, not a rip-and-replace. It sits beneath Safe Exam Browser — 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.
Run a free session with network-layer enforcement
5 sessions free, no credit card. See what a kiosk browser architecturally cannot reach, flagged in the audit log before the exam starts.