Feedback Loop vs. CATME: Comparing Peer Feedback & Team-Matching Tools

Why Instructors Choose Feedback Loop as a CATME Alternative

1. Native LMS integration without extra logins

Feedback Loop is built to live inside your Learning Management System rather than being bolted on. Students complete peer feedback as native LMS assignments, teams sync automatically, and grades flow directly into the gradebook. There is no separate site to visit or separate login.

CATME, by contrast, is a standalone application. Instructors and students log in directly at catme.org, independent of whatever LMS the course runs on. There is a second login and a manual step to get results back into your course.

2. Smarter, faster team formation

Feedback Loop can import student groups directly from your LMS or use the built-in Team Matcher, letting you build criteria like shared availability, balanced personality types, and preferred teammates, all without leaving your course. Matched teams sync back to your LMS groups for a seamless experience.

CATME's Team-Maker takes a similar criteria-driven approach to forming teams, refined over nearly two decades of academic use, but it runs as a separate step outside your LMS.

3. Peer evaluation built for accuracy and focus

Feedback Loop gives you research-based survey templates shown to reduce student bias, or a flexible template builder to create your own. You can send multiple peer feedback surveys per course, then drill into results from the whole class down to a single team or student all with outlier performance flagged automatically and full Excel export. The Feedback Loop student user experience is intuitive and requires no practice step to learn.

CATME organizes its Peer Evaluation around five Teamwork Dimensions, and includes a notable feature of its own: Rater Practice, which trains students to rate more accurately before they complete a real evaluation.

4. Instructors and coaches can participate in ratings for true 360° feedback

For advanced courses, instructor or coach ratings of teammates may be needed. Feedback Loop supports instructor ratings of students and even student ratings of instructors, if needed. This flexibility provides an option for true 360° feedback, something not available in CATME.

5. Grading that doesn't create extra work

Because Feedback Loop lives in your LMS, grades sync automatically to the gradebook, with flexible, customizable grading rules built in. CATME produces detailed team-healthiness reports, but since it's a separate system, getting those results into your gradebook is a manual step.

6. Try before you buy, either way

Feedback Loop offers three licensing tiers: per-course, school-wide, and campus-wide, allowing instructors and institutions to implement flexibly. Feedback Loop can be installed to an LMS test course at no cost. Likewise, CATME is free to test with sample data, but requires a license once you're ready to survey real students. If a native LMS experience matters to you, schedule a Feedback Loop demo to see the difference firsthand.

Where Feedback Loop and CATME Are Similar

• Both are purpose-built for Higher Ed teamwork courses, not general survey tools.
• Both combine team formation and peer evaluation in a single product.
• Both are backed by research on improving teamwork outcomes.
• Both are trusted at scale: Feedback Loop at schools like Georgia Tech, Auburn, and University of Pennsylvania; CATME at institutions including Purdue, University of Kentucky, and Penn State.

Is Feedback Loop the Right CATME Alternative for You?

Feedback Loop is likely the better fit if:

• You want peer feedback to feel like a normal LMS assignment, with no separate student login.
• You need grades to sync automatically into your existing gradebook.
• You're on Canvas, Blackboard, D2L Brightspace, or Moodle and want a native integration.
• You want a user experience for students that is similar to workplace peer feedback.

Ready to see it in action? Schedule a demo or explore Feedback Loop pricing to find the right plan for your course, department, or institution.

This analysis was done on July 27, 2026, and is subject to change.
Sources

• getfeedbackloop.com
• catme.org
• info.catme.org
• info.catme.org/features/overview