Yes. Digital Red Pen is a Gradescope alternative built for one job in particular: reading each student's handwritten math work and awarding partial credit from the steps shown — instead of grouping similar answers for you to grade. It is made for individual 7–12 math teachers, and you make the final call on every score.
Gradescope alternative for math
It reads each student's work —
you don't re-grade by hand.
No per-question rubric to build, no answer groups to click through. Scan your stack, upload one PDF, and get back graded handwritten exams with partial credit, per-student reports, and class analytics — reviewed by you at The Desk before anything reaches students.
Get started →Different tools for different jobs
Gradescope groups
You build a rubric, and it clusters similar submissions so you apply that rubric across each group. Powerful for large, structured courses — and it still asks you to do the grading, one group at a time.
Digital Red Pen reads
It reads each student's individual handwritten process and assigns partial credit from the steps — with no per-question rubric to build. You review and rule; it doesn't hand you groups to grade.
If you're running bubble sheets or want answer-grouping at university scale, Gradescope is built for that. If you're a 7–12 math teacher hand-grading partial credit on handwritten work at the kitchen table on a Sunday, that's the job Digital Red Pen is built for. The difference that matters most: it reads the work itself, so you start from graded papers you can review — not a pile of groups still waiting on your rubric.
How it works
Scan your stack
Place your student exams with a clean copy of the test at the front. Scan to one PDF — no sorting, no cover sheets, no answer key or rubric to build first.
Upload — it reads every paper in parallel
The system spawns an isolated worker for each exam and reads every paper at the same time, awarding partial credit from the handwritten steps. A full class set finishes in roughly the time a single exam takes. One bad scan fails alone — it never holds up the rest of the batch.
Review, approve, done
The Desk — the built-in review layer — presents every grade for your sign-off. Override anything; the correction propagates to every matching case in the stack. Nothing reaches students until you approve.
What you get back
Partial credit from the steps
It reads each student's handwritten work — setup, process, intermediate steps — and awards credit for what was correct, not only the final answer.
Per-student reports
Each exam comes back with a graded breakdown. Walk into class the next morning knowing exactly who needs what.
Class analytics
Grade distribution, score trends, and problem-level breakdowns — the diagnostic picture for the whole class, without a spreadsheet.
No rubric to build
Keyless grading needs no answer key and no per-question rubric. Prefer it aligned to your exact solution? Author a key — optional, not required.
"I checked it against my own Algebra 2 grading. It agreed with me about as well as two good teachers agree with each other. Honestly, on the Sunday nights I graded after 9 pm, it was more consistent than I was — I was handing different scores to kids for the same work depending on how tired I felt. The machine doesn't have bad days."— Zack Alexander, co-founder and secondary math teacher
You make the call.
The machine applies the standard. You judge. That is not a disclaimer — it is the design. The Desk is a built-in review layer between grading and the report: every grade is presented to you before it leaves the system. Override anything; rulings propagate automatically to every matching case in the stack, so one correction covers the whole class.
The system also knows what it is not good at. Handwritten graphs are hard to parse reliably, so graph-heavy problems are flagged and routed to you rather than graded with false confidence.
Grading
$19
per month · per class · cancel anytime
100% money-back guarantee on your first graded exam. No free tier — the guarantee is the risk-reversal instead.
Start grading tonight →Frequently asked questions
Is Digital Red Pen a Gradescope alternative?
Yes, for one specific job: grading handwritten 7–12 math. Digital Red Pen reads each student's handwritten steps and awards partial credit from the work shown, rather than grouping similar answers for a teacher to grade. The teacher reviews every score at The Desk and makes the final call before anything reaches students.
What is the difference between Digital Red Pen and Gradescope?
Gradescope groups similar submissions so the teacher applies a rubric across each group, which works well for large, structured courses. Digital Red Pen reads each student's individual handwritten process and assigns partial credit from the steps, with no per-question rubric to build. Gradescope groups; Digital Red Pen reads. Digital Red Pen is built for individual secondary-math teachers hand-grading partial credit.
Do I have to build a rubric for every question?
No. The keyless workflow reads the handwritten steps and awards partial credit with no answer key and no per-question rubric. If you want grading aligned to your exact solution and a deeper per-skill breakdown, you can optionally supply or author a key — but it is not required to start.
Does it give partial credit on handwritten work?
Yes, that is the core capability. The system reads the handwritten steps shown, not just the final answer. A student who sets up the problem correctly but makes an arithmetic error gets credit for the setup. The grader awards points from the process.
Is this for college or K–12?
It is built for secondary (grades 7–12) math teachers. Algebra 2 is the validated core; Geometry, Pre-calculus, Calculus, Statistics, and middle-school math are in scope. Math only — science is not in scope.
How accurate is it?
The grading agreement is described as: it agrees with an experienced teacher about as well as two good teachers agree with each other. The founder checked it against his own Algebra 2 grading and found it more consistent than himself on the nights he graded when tired. The machine applies one standard to paper 1 and paper 150, and you make the final call.