WebAssign
- Company typePrivate
- Founded1998
- HeadquartersRaleigh, United States
- Headcount51–100
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingSoftware
WebAssign firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- WebAssign
- Legal name
- WebAssign (Cengage Learning, Inc.)
- Website
- https://webassign.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 1998
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 51–100 employees
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
WebAssign industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Educational Assessment Software
- NAICS
- Educational Support Services (61171), Educational Services (611)
- SIC
- Services-Educational Services (8200), Services-Prepackaged Software (7372)
- akta.pro primary industry
- STEM Assessment, Badging & Competition Platforms (EDAFANAJ)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Asynchronous Tutoring (Q&A, Essay Review, Homework Help) Platforms (EDANAGAC), Online Learning Content & Course Publishing Platforms (BPAMAJAL)
Keywords
Where WebAssign is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Raleigh
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Markets served
WebAssign business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Technology or R&D, Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales, Others
Revenue model
- Single-term Course Access: Students purchase access for the duration of a single-term course. Students who need to retake the course do not have to pay twice as access continues.
- Multi-term Course Access: For multi-term courses, students can purchase access to a single term or discounted access across multiple terms of the same course sequence.
- Cengage Unlimited: Subscription plan providing unlimited access to Cengage's entire library of eTextbooks, online platforms including WebAssign, and hundreds of student success and career readiness activities. Students always have access to WebAssign for the duration of their multi-term course sequence.
- Inclusive Access: Business model integrating course material costs into institutional registration fees. Content is delivered directly and seamlessly to an institution's LMS or preferred channel.
- Build-Your-Own Course: Instructors can purchase access to question banks, tutorials, exams, and personal study plans without requiring a Cengage textbook. Contact Cengage representative for pricing.
- Access Code Cards: Bookstores can purchase Access Code Cards for classes using non-Cengage textbooks. Sold in bulk for institutional purchasing.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Subscription | Pay-as-you-go | Single-term access for students |
| Subscription | Multi-year contract | Multi-term course access |
| Subscription | Annual | Cengage Unlimited |
| Subscription | Annual | Inclusive Access |
| Unit Pricing | Pay-as-you-go | Build-Your-Own Course |
| Freemium | Pay-as-you-go | Free Content Options |
Go-to-market motion3 records
Distribution channels6 records
Marketing channels8 records
WebAssign product offering
Product offeringCore offering
WebAssign is a cloud-based online homework and assessment platform for higher education STEM courses (mathematics, physics, statistics, engineering, chemistry, astronomy). It enables instructors to create, customize, and assign algorithmic questions with automatic grading, instant feedback, and student performance analytics, while integrating with Learning Management Systems and Cengage eTextbooks. The platform serves over 1.5 million students annually and supports secure testing, adaptive practice, and inclusive access purchasing models.
Product overview
WebAssign is a unified online homework and assessment platform operated by Cengage Learning. The core WebAssign platform provides instructors with tools for assignment creation, automatic grading, and student performance analytics across disciplines including math, science, engineering, and statistics. The platform integrates tightly with Cengage's content ecosystem, featuring embedded eBooks powered by MindTap Reader, Statistical Analysis and Learning Tool (SALT) for statistics education, and Learn It Modules for adaptive just-in-time remediation. Instructor tools include Class Insights for predictive analytics on at-risk students, Course Packs with pre-built assignments, Question Creation for custom questions, and LMS integrations via LTI for seamless grade synchronization with Blackboard, Canvas, Moodle, Brightspace, and Schoology. Assessment integrity is supported through LockDown Browser and Respondus Monitor proctoring tools. The Mastery feature enables adaptive practice with automated mastery assessment, while Common Error Assistance provides AI-powered error detection and feedback. All features are accessible through responsive web interfaces with accessibility support including screen reader compatibility for STEM content.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- Mastery: A feature in WebAssign that builds student confidence with multiple opportunities to practice course topics through randomized questions where students need to answer a set number correctly to achieve mastery.
- Learn It Modules
- SALT (Statistical Analysis and Learning Tool)
- Common Error Assistance
- Course Packs
Products and services
- WebAssign (Core Platform) Primary online homework and assessment platform enabling instructors to create, customize, and manage assignments with automatic grading, instant feedback, and analytics for student performance tracking across disciplines including math, science, engineering, and statistics. Used by over 1.5 million students annually.
- Statistical Analysis and Learning Tool (SALT) Data analysis tool designed by statisticians for introductory statistics courses, integrated into WebAssign questions to help students visualize data and gain conceptual understanding of statistical concepts including graphing, distributions, hypothesis testing, regression, and sampling.
- WebAssign eBooks Dynamic eTextbooks powered by MindTap Reader integrated with WebAssign, featuring Read It links, note-taking, highlighting, bookmarks, text-to-speech, and mobile access via Cengage Read app.
- Course Packs Pre-built assignment collections created by subject matter experts, available for most Cengage titles, containing ready-to-go homework, labs, and quizzes that are fully customizable. Includes special variants for scaffolded learning, corequisite courses, and math mindset modules.
- Math Readiness Bootcamps Free assessment and learning modules addressing prerequisite skills for College Math or Calculus, helping students prepare for course success by identifying and remediating readiness gaps.
- Virtual Astronomy Labs Interactive online laboratory experiences combining analysis of real astronomical data with simulations and targeted feedback for introductory astronomy courses.
- Mastery Adaptive practice feature providing randomized question groups where students must answer a set number correctly to demonstrate concept mastery, with optional help tools including videos, tutorials, and feedback. Instructors can customize question sets and grading.
- New Instructor Experience Redesigned instructor experience featuring a new intuitive Assignment Editor and modernized navigation to help instructors find pages and features faster.
Quantifiable outcome
- 85% of students report WebAssign positively impacted their exam grades
- +1 more outcomes
Companies that use WebAssign
Customer profileNamed customers9 records
Segments5 records
Ideal customer profiles3 records
WebAssign technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration9 records
AI capability10 records
Feature10 records
WebAssign partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Six partnerships are on record, tiered core.
- OpenStaxcoreWebAssign is an OpenStax Ally, offering OpenStax courses featuring complete digital textbooks, algorithmically generated peer-reviewed questions, and additional open educational resources. This partnership provides affordable, peer-reviewed textbook content integrated into WebAssign's platform.
- BlackboardcoreLMS integration providing single sign-on, deep linking, and automatic grade synchronization. Due date sync also available. This is a primary distribution channel for WebAssign to reach students through their institution's LMS.
- Canvas (Instructure)coreLMS integration with single sign-on, deep linking, automatic grade synchronization, and due date sync. Primary channel for WebAssign adoption at institutions using Canvas.
- MoodlecoreLMS integration providing single sign-on, deep linking, and automatic grade synchronization for institutions using Moodle.
- Brightspace by D2LcoreLMS integration with single sign-on, deep linking, and automatic grade synchronization for Brightspace users.
- SchoologycoreLMS integration providing single sign-on, deep linking, and grade synchronization for Schoology platform users.
Scale indicators2 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights6 records
WebAssign competitors and assessment
Company assessmentOthers
- OpenStax (Rice University): OpenStax is both a partner ('OpenStax Ally' offering WebAssign question generation on free textbooks) and an indirect competitor whose free peer-reviewed textbooks reduce the paid textbook moat that anchors WebAssign's higher-ed distribution.
- Respondus: Respondus builds the LockDown Browser and Monitor proctoring tools that WebAssign integrates with for secure testing; it is an ecosystem partner but also adjacent — Respondus is increasingly bundled with competing LMS platforms and could expand its own assessment stack.
Emerging players
- Khan Academy: Khan Academy is a free, broad-reach learning platform expanding into higher-ed-aligned content; while not a direct STEM homework competitor, it pressures the affordable end of the market and is increasingly adopted by colleges for remediation and corequisite courses.
Broad incumbents
- Instructure Canvas: Canvas is both WebAssign's deepest LMS integration partner (with two-way grade and due-date sync) and a broad incumbent that could, over time, build its own richer native assessment features that reduce third-party demand for WebAssign.
Direct peers
- Macmillan Learning (Sapling Learning): Macmillan's Sapling Learning and similar homework platforms serve higher-ed STEM disciplines with auto-graded problems and instructor analytics, competing directly with WebAssign for course adoptions, particularly in chemistry and biology adjacent courses.
- WileyPLUS: Wiley's online homework and eTextbook platform serves higher-ed STEM courses with auto-grading and LMS integration, mirroring WebAssign's publisher-tied, course-key-based distribution model.
- Cengage MindTap: MindTap is Cengage's sister digital learning platform that overlaps with WebAssign within the same parent portfolio; both target higher-ed instructors with personalized homework, eTextbooks, and analytics, creating internal cannibalization and overlap risk for WebAssign.
- McGraw-Hill Connect: McGraw-Hill Connect is a direct online homework and assessment platform competing head-to-head with WebAssign across STEM disciplines, with overlapping question banks, LMS integrations (including LTI 1.3 grade passback), and institutional sales motions.
- Pearson MyLab: Pearson's MyLab suite (MyMathLab, MyLab Statistics, MasteringPhysics, etc.) is the closest direct competitor to WebAssign, offering auto-graded online homework, eTextbook integration, and LMS connectivity for the same higher-ed STEM instructor and student audience.
- McGraw-Hill ALEKS: ALEKS uses adaptive questioning and knowledge-space learning for math and chemistry; it is the most direct adaptive-learning competitor to WebAssign's Mastery and Learn It features, targeting the same developmental-math and gateway-STEM course seats.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat6 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
WebAssign social profiles
Digital presenceWebAssign compliance and trust
Trust signalCompliance1 record
WebAssign financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
WebAssign leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
WebAssign funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
WebAssign M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about WebAssign
What does WebAssign do?
WebAssign is a cloud-based online homework and assessment platform for higher education STEM courses (mathematics, physics, statistics, engineering, chemistry, astronomy). It enables instructors to create, customize, and assign algorithmic questions with automatic grading, instant feedback, and student performance analytics, while integrating with Learning Management Systems and Cengage eTextbooks. The platform serves over 1.5 million students annually and supports secure testing, adaptive practice, and inclusive access purchasing models.
Is WebAssign a public or private company?
WebAssign is a private company. It is classified as corporate owned and is currently operating.
When was WebAssign founded?
WebAssign was founded in 1998. It employs 51 to 100 people.
Where is WebAssign based?
WebAssign is headquartered in Raleigh, United States, in the North America region.
How does WebAssign make money?
Six revenue lines are on record. Single-term Course Access are the primary driver. The others are multi-term Course Access, cengage Unlimited, inclusive Access, build-Your-Own Course and access Code Cards.
Who are WebAssign's main competitors?
Others on record are OpenStax (Rice University) and Respondus. Khan Academy is listed as an emerging player. Instructure Canvas is listed as a broad incumbent. Direct peers are Macmillan Learning (Sapling Learning), WileyPLUS, Cengage MindTap, McGraw-Hill Connect, Pearson MyLab and McGraw-Hill ALEKS.
Does WebAssign have an API?
No public API is recorded for WebAssign.
What industry is WebAssign in?
WebAssign's product category is Educational Assessment Software. Its primary akta.pro industry code is EDAFANAJ, STEM Assessment, Badging & Competition Platforms, with a secondary code of EDANAGAC, Asynchronous Tutoring (Q&A, Essay Review, Homework Help) Platforms. Its NAICS code is 61171 and its SIC code is 8200.