Proctortrack vs Proctorio - Which Watches More on Mac?
Proctortrack and Proctorio are the two browser-extension proctoring platforms most US universities pick when they want automated proctoring without paying for live agents. They look similar on paper but the monitoring intensity differs noticeably.
Proctorio takes a "broad and shallow" approach: webcam frames every few seconds, basic face detection, ambient audio sampling, screen capture during the exam, plus a behavior-anomaly score the instructor reviews. Proctortrack goes deeper with continuous biometric verification: every frame compared against your enrolled baseline, voice patterns checked for the same speaker, and integration with the institution's identity system. Both stacks capture the screen through Chrome's tab-capture path on Mac, both go through ScreenCaptureKit, both filter out flagged windows. The deeper biometric layer in Proctortrack does not see the screen, so the overlay's invisibility is identical.
Key points
- Proctorio: high volume, lower per-student cost, common at community colleges.
- Proctortrack: persistent biometric, common at health-sciences and online-degree programs.
- Same Chrome-extension capture path on Mac; both honor window privacy.
- Proctortrack's extra biometric checks watch your face/voice, not your screen.
- Both flag external monitor connections; use built-in display only.
How it works
┌── Proctorio ─────────────────────┐ ┌── Proctortrack ─────────────────┐ │ Webcam: sampled snapshots │ │ Webcam: continuous biometric │ │ Voice: ambient audio sample │ │ Voice: speaker-ID continuous │ │ Screen: tab-capture, filtered │ │ Screen: tab-capture, filtered │ │ ✓ overlay invisible │ │ ✓ overlay invisible │ └──────────────────────────────────┘ └────────────────────────────────┘
Compatibility on Mac
| Use case | Proctorio: undergrad, Proctortrack: higher stakes | ~ |
| Biometric depth | Proctorio: light, Proctortrack: continuous | ~ |
| Screen capture method | Both: tab-capture / ScreenCaptureKit | ~ |
| Overlay invisible to both | Yes | ✓ |
Common questions
Will Proctortrack's "voice ID" detect me using ChatGPT?
Voice ID checks that the speaker is you, not whether you're reading something. The overlay makes no sound; voice ID only hears the room and your voice.
Does Proctorio do continuous face match?
It checks face presence and counts faces in frame. It does not deeply biometric-match each frame, which is the contrast with Proctortrack.
Which one is harder to pass with the overlay?
Both are equally invisible to the overlay. Difficulty depends on your camera setup, room, and behavior, not on which proctor you face.