What Cirrus Assessment does

Cirrus Assessment operates a cloud-based SaaS e-assessment platform used by awarding bodies, higher-education institutions, and professional certification organisations to author, deliver, and invigilate high-stakes online exams. The platform is built on multi-region AWS infrastructure and exposes LTI 1.3, SAML 2.0, and REST API interfaces, allowing it to interoperate with institutional learning management systems, identity providers, and remote proctoring vendors such as ProctorU and Proctorio. The company has positioned the product to support both computer-based testing at scale and the integrity controls required for regulated, high-stakes certification, evidenced by hundreds of thousands of exams delivered and industry recognition including e-Assessment Awards in 2017 and 2021.

Commercially, Cirrus monetises through a subscription-based SaaS model sold primarily via enterprise sales cycles to credentialing bodies, universities, and professional testing organisations. Named customers include the University of Pretoria, the National Council for the Training of Journalists (NCTJ), and Chartered Accountants Ireland, indicating geographic and vertical diversification across EMEA, Africa, and the English-speaking professional certification market. The platform's deep integrations with LMS and proctoring ecosystems raise the practical cost of replacement, supporting renewal economics typical of vertical enterprise SaaS.

Cirrus Assessment BV was incorporated in 2014, with platform development beginning in 2013, and is headquartered in Utrecht, the Netherlands. The company is privately held by five original investors from the 2014 round and operates with a headcount of 51-100 employees. By 2019 the platform was in use across all major global regions, and the company has continued to expand product surface area, notably through remote proctoring capability recognised with the 2021 e-Assessment Award for Best Innovation in Online Proctoring.

Name

Cirrus Assessment

Legal name

Cirrus Assessment

Website

https://cirrusassessment.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2013

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

Cirrus Assessment is a Utrecht-based SaaS provider of cloud e-assessment software for awarding bodies, universities, and professional certification organisations, offering secure online exam authoring, delivery, and remote proctoring via AWS with LTI 1.3 and SAML 2.0 interoperability.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Cloud-Based E-Assessment Platform

NAICS

Educational Support Services (611710), Educational Support Services (61171), Custom Computer Programming Services (541511)

SIC

Services-Prepackaged Software (7372), Services-Educational Services (8200), Services-Computer Programming Services (7371)

akta.pro primary industry

Online Exam Delivery & Test Administration Platforms (EDAFADAA)

akta.pro secondary industries

Remote & Live Online Proctoring Platforms (EDAFADAB), Test Item Banks, Question Authoring & Assessment Design Tools (EDAFADAC), Secure Browser, Device Lockdown & Exam Security Tools (EDAFADAI), Certification & Licensing Exam Management Platforms (EDAFADAG), Digital Assessment Platforms & Computer-Based Testing Authorities (EDADAFAK)

Keywords

• E-assessment platform
• Online exam delivery
• Remote proctoring software
• Psychometric analytics
• Certification testing platform

Headquarters

HQ city

Cumming

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales, Operations

Revenue model

1. SaaS Platform Subscription: Cirrus operates as a cloud-based SaaS provider offering its assessment platform on a subscription basis to exam providers, awarding bodies, educational institutions, and professional certification organisations. The platform supports the full exam lifecycle including creation, delivery, marking, analytics, and integrity. Pricing is likely volume- and feature-tier based given the enterprise nature of the clients.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels9 records

Core offering

Cirrus Assessment operates a cloud-based SaaS e-assessment platform that supports the full exam lifecycle — question authoring, booking and scheduling, exam delivery (online, remote proctored, test centre, print-and-scan hybrid), auto-scoring and human marking workflows, psychometric analytics, and tamper-proof audit trails. The platform is sold on a subscription basis to awarding bodies, higher education institutions, and professional certification organisations globally, with AWS multi-region hosting (EU/Ireland, AU/Sydney, CA/Montreal, SG/Singapore) and integrations including LTI 1.3 Advantage, SAML 2.0 SSO, Proctorio, ProctorU, Safe Exam Browser, Turnitin, ReadSpeaker, and a REST API.

Product overview

Cirrus Assessment is a cloud-based SaaS assessment platform providing a comprehensive exam management system for high-stakes testing. The core offering consists of the Cirrus Platform covering the full assessment lifecycle (creation, delivery, marking, analytics), supplemented by multiple integration modules and add-on services. Key modules include LTI 1.3 Advantage for LMS integration with 100+ certified platforms, SAML 2.0 and SURFConext for enterprise SSO, remote proctoring via Proctorio and ProctorU, Safe Exam Browser for lockdown delivery, Office 365 and Sowiso for specialist question types, Turnitin for plagiarism detection, and ReadSpeaker for accessibility. The platform also offers a REST API with webhook support for custom integrations, and FTPS for secure file transfers. Documentation and support are provided through the Cirrus Help Centre and Developer Portal.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Cirrus Data & Insights: Assessment data analytics and insights product that helps organizations analyze beyond pass/fail scores to understand item performance, timing patterns, and cohort behavior.
• The Cirrus Examiner
• Prove It Podcast

Products and services

• Cirrus Platform
• Cirrus Data & Insights
• LTI 1.3 Advantage Integration
• SAML 2.0 Single Sign-On
• Proctorio Integration
• ProctorU Integration
• Safe Exam Browser Integration
• Cirrus REST API (EAPI)
• Platform Services
• Assessment Consultancy
• Managed Services
• Psychometric Review
• FTPS File Transfer Secure FTP over TLS service for file transfer including PDF exports and report processing. Supports both customer-hosted and Cirrus-hosted FTPS servers.
• Cirrus Developer Portal Technical documentation portal for developers and IT staff covering the REST API, LTI integration, SAML 2.0 SSO, single sign-on configurations, third-party integrations, and platform URLs.
• Cirrus Help Centre Knowledge base and help widget providing setup guides, how-tos, and platform documentation for Cirrus Platform users.

Quantifiable outcome

• 50,000 students successfully assessed in a single deployment (University of Pretoria)
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments9 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

Yes

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration20 records

Feature10 records

Partnerships

Seven partnerships are on record, tiered core and regional.

• ProctorUcoreTechnology or Integration · 1 January 2017Cirrus signed a partnership agreement with ProctorU in 2017, the market leader in remote live proctoring, to extend test delivery capabilities. ProctorU integrates with the Cirrus platform via API to enable live remote proctoring of exams. ProctorU proctors use their own lockdown browser and do not have access to the Cirrus environment or invigilator dashboard. A separate agreement with both ProctorU and Cirrus is required to activate the integration.
• ProctoriocoreTechnology or IntegrationCirrus provides a seamless integration with Proctorio for browser-based remote proctoring. If contracted through Cirrus, Proctorio acts as a Sub-Processor under the Cirrus Data Protection Agreement. Proctorio keys are configured per schedule, with heartbeat monitoring that alerts Cirrus if proctoring is disrupted.
• Amazon AWScoreTechnology or IntegrationAmazon AWS is the core hosting infrastructure for the Cirrus Platform, hosting customer data across EU (Ireland/Dublin, Stockholm/Sweden as backup), Australia (Sydney), Canada (Montreal), and Singapore. AWS provides the underlying compute, storage, and global CDN for the Cirrus SaaS platform with ISO 27001, SOC, and GDPR DPA compliance.
• Safe Exam BrowsercoreTechnology or IntegrationCirrus supports the open-source Safe Exam Browser (SEB) lockdown browser for Windows (3.10+ supported). SEB restricts candidate access during exams by blocking unauthorized applications and websites. Cirrus performs server-side key checks via the SEB JavaScript API to ensure exam integrity.
• IMS Global / 1EdTechcoreTechnology or IntegrationCirrus is certified by IMS Global (now 1EdTech) for LTI 1.3 Advantage with Canvas, Blackboard, and Sakai, with 100+ additional LTI 1.3 compatible platforms supported. IMS Global certification ensures interoperability with the broader EdTech ecosystem.
• SURFConextregionalTechnology or IntegrationCirrus provides an out-of-the-box SURFConext integration for Dutch Higher Education institutions, enabling Single Sign-On via the SURFConext identity federation. Cirrus registers environments via the SURFConext Dashboard for activation.
• Global Partner and Reseller NetworkcoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorBy 2020, Cirrus had expanded its global reach through a growing partnership network offering remote proctoring, test centre network, and paper-based assessment options through resellers and partners.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Kryterion (Webassessor): Kryterion provides an online testing platform (Webassessor) for credentialing organizations with remote proctoring and global test-center options. Directly comparable to Cirrus in serving awarding bodies and certification programs.
• ClassMarker: ClassMarker provides online quiz and exam software with secure delivery and reporting for businesses and educators. It overlaps with Cirrus in private-label online test administration and enterprise customer use cases.
• ExamSoft (Turnitin): ExamSoft, now part of Turnitin, delivers secure offline and online high-stakes assessment for higher education and professional licensing. Comparable to Cirrus in regulated exam integrity and large-volume institutional deployments.
• Questionmark: Questionmark is a long-standing enterprise assessment platform offering authoring, delivery, proctoring and analytics for high-stakes exams. Direct overlap with Cirrus in regulated certification and higher-education use cases makes it the most comparable competitor.

Emerging players

• Respondus: Respondus provides lockdown browser (Respondus LockDown Browser) and assessment tools integrated with major LMS platforms including Canvas and Blackboard. Adjacent overlap with Cirrus in secure exam delivery for higher education institutions.
• Mercer Mettl: Mercer Mettl offers an online assessment platform for skills, psychometric and proctored tests targeted at hiring and certification. Overlaps with Cirrus in question authoring, proctoring and analytics for assessment organizations.
• Easy-LMS: Easy-LMS offers a cloud-based learning and assessment platform targeting training providers and SMB certification use cases. Provides comparable authoring, delivery and basic analytics features though at a smaller scale than Cirrus.

Broad incumbents

• Pearson VUE: Pearson VUE is the dominant computer-based testing and certification delivery network, operating a global test-center footprint for professional and academic exams. It overlaps with Cirrus in the certification and high-stakes testing segment but with significantly broader scale.
• Prometric: Prometric runs a global test delivery and proctoring network for high-stakes licensure and certification exams. Comparable to Cirrus in regulated professional testing but competes primarily at the test-center/network layer.

Others

• Caveon Test Security: Caveon specializes in test security, item analysis and cheating analytics for high-stakes assessments. Adjacent to Cirrus in serving the integrity and psychometric needs of certification bodies, but as a specialist service provider rather than a platform.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/CirrusAssess
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/cirrus-assessment

Compliance7 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Cirrus Assessment