Don't let a $0.99 trial drain $519/year for a 2.8★ extension.
On its website, CheatMate advertises a 4.8★ rating and a cheap trial. But when you click install, it sends you to a disguised Chrome extension called “Study Buddy” with a 2.8★ rating, a 10-second loading delay, and a $9.99/week ($40+/month) auto-renewing charge.
ExamGhost never touches your credit card to try it. You get 50 Free Question Solves immediately, 0.3-second double-click solving inside a closed Shadow DOM, and honest student passes starting at $8.25/mo ($99/yr).
Bonus red flag: The privacy policy link on their Chrome Web Store page points to a misspelled dead domain (http://cheatemate.io/privacy).
WEEKLY BILLING MATH · WHY STUDENTS GET BURNED
How CheatMate's “$0.99 trial” quietly costs you $160+ in a single semester.
Weekly billing is designed so you don't notice $9.99 charges hitting your debit card four times every month. Look at how fast it adds up across a 16-week college semester compared to ExamGhost.
Or grab the $199 Lifetime Degree Pass once and never pay another subscription through graduation.
TECHNICAL STEALTH COMPARISON
Why CheatMate's “Wait 10 Seconds” modes get flagged on Canvas.
In its Chrome Web Store instructions, Study Buddy (CheatMate) tells students: “Wait 10 seconds • Double click each question.” Here is why its 3 modes fail modern LMS integrity checks—and how ExamGhost fixes all three.
Mutates Your Live Exam HTML
CheatMate's content script waits 10 seconds after page load before parsing the DOM, then sends questions to a congested cloud queue (taking another 8–12 seconds during midterms).
Even in its “Sneaky Mode” or “Invisible Mode,” CheatMate alters the actual .question_text and .answer_label nodes inside the Canvas HTML page. Any MutationObserver script sees the edit immediately.
When professors use Canvas New Quizzes (LTI 1.3 iframes) or embed calculus formulas as images, CheatMate's text-node scraper fails to attach double-click listeners.
Closed Shadow DOM + 0.3s Edge AI
Double-click any question the second your quiz opens. ExamGhost solves and auto-fills, highlights, or copies the answer in 0.3 seconds.
Choose Invisible Mode (zero UI on screen, silent auto-fill), Stealth Mode (quiet micro-cursor), or Explain Mode (rendered inside an isolated mode: 'closed' Shadow root that page scripts cannot read).
Locked diagram or LTI iframe? Press ⌘+Shift+S and drag over the problem. Meanwhile, Focus Shield blocks window.blur and visibilitychange telemetry 100% of the time.
CheatMate vs ExamGhost: 2026 Comparison Matrix
Verified side-by-side audit of pricing, speed, stealth, and LMS support.
| Evaluation Metric | ExamGhost (v4.2) | CheatMate (“Study Buddy” v4.5) |
|---|---|---|
Chrome Web Store Rating Verified student rating on official store | 4.9 ★ Student Verified | 2.8 ★ (14 ratings · 2,000 users) |
Trial & Entry Price Test before entering payment details | ✓ 50 Free Solves ($0, No Card) | $0.99 Trial → Auto-bills $9.99/week |
Annualized Cost Total cost over an academic year | $99/yr ($8.25/mo) or $199 Lifetime | $519.48/yr ($9.99 × 52 weeks) |
DOM Isolation Architecture Protection against LMS DOM scanners | ✓ Closed Shadow DOM v1 | ✗ Mutates Host DOM Nodes |
Question Solving Speed Time from click to verified answer | ✓ 0.3s Instant Edge Solve | 10s Page Wait + 8–12s Cloud Queue |
Snap-It Screenshot OCR (⌘+Shift+S) Solves diagrams, circuits & locked iframes | ✓ Built-In Mathpix STEM Vision | ✗ Fails on unselectable images |
Emergency Panic Kill Switch Instant memory & UI purge hotkey | ✓ ⌘+Shift+U (<8ms Purge) | ✗ None |
View Chrome Web Store Manifest & Publisher Forensics (“Study Buddy” v4.5)
pifapfmbofjgaenkhhipjhfacfmmhkcp, listed as “Study Buddy” v4.5 (3.12MiB), publisher Aidan Gollan (64 14th St, San Francisco, CA 94103).cheatmate.io injects static JSON-LD claiming 4.8★ (523 reviews), contradicting its live 2.8★ Chrome Store rating across 14 reviews.http://cheatemate.io/privacy; support uses HelpScout Beacon 3e665fa3-6582....“CheatMate charged my debit card $9.99 every single week for two months after the $0.99 trial before I caught it on my bank statement. Worse, during my Cognitive Science midterm, I had to wait 10+ seconds on every page and it didn't work on image questions. ExamGhost let me test 50 questions free without a card, and the $99/yr pass solves everything in 0.3s.”
Frequently Asked Questions
Everything you need to know about CheatMate (“Study Buddy”) vs ExamGhost.
Why does CheatMate have a 2.8-star rating on the Chrome Web Store while claiming 4.8 stars on cheatmate.io?
On the official Chrome Web Store, CheatMate is disguised under the title 'Study Buddy' (v4.5, 2,000 users) and holds a verified 2.8 out of 5 star rating across 14 student reviews. Meanwhile, its marketing site cheatmate.io embeds hardcoded schema claiming a 4.8 rating across 523 reviews, and its official store privacy policy link points to a misspelled broken domain (http://cheatemate.io/privacy).
How much does CheatMate actually cost per month and per year?
CheatMate advertises a $0.99 trial that automatically enrolls your card into a $9.99 per week recurring charge—equaling $39.96 every 4 weeks or $519.48 per year. ExamGhost gives you 50 Free Solves with zero credit card required, followed by transparent plans: $19/month, $99/year ($8.25/mo Academic Year Pass), or $199 one-time for the Lifetime Degree Pass.
Why is CheatMate's 'Wait 10 seconds and double-click' workflow risky on Canvas?
Study Buddy / CheatMate instructs users to wait 10 seconds after the quiz loads and double-click questions. Its Homework, Sneaky, and Invisible modes directly alter host page DOM text styles and attach listeners to Canvas HTML nodes, which proctoring and DOM checksum scripts can inspect. ExamGhost isolates all UI inside a closed Shadow DOM root and solves in 0.3 seconds with Focus Shield blur protection.
How do I cancel CheatMate if I am being billed $9.99 every week?
Because CheatMate bills weekly and its store privacy link is broken (cheatemate.io/privacy), you must either log into your billing portal via cheatmate.io, email contact@cheatmate.io, or contact your card issuer to block recurring weekly charges. ExamGhost never uses weekly billing or credit-card trial traps.
Test 50 Free Solves Right Now—Zero Credit Card Needed.
See why thousands of students ditched $9.99/week extensions for ExamGhost's 0.3s closed Shadow DOM solver.