30 Best AI Tools for Teachers in 2026 (Free and Paid)
These are the 30 AI tools we would recommend to a teacher in 2026, grouped by the job each one does, from making lessons to grading essays. Start with our top 10, or use the table to see what is free in each category.
Our top 10 AI tools for teachers
- 1MagicSchool
Lessons and resources
80 AI tools for nearly every teaching task.
Free plan - 2Chalkie
Lessons and resources
Full lesson decks and worksheets from one prompt.
Free planOurs - 3ChatGPT for Teachers
AI assistants
Free for US K-12 staff, does almost anything.
Free plan
- 4
Gemini for EducationAI assistantsAlready free in school Google accounts.
- 5
Brisk TeachingFeedback and gradingFeedback and leveling inside your browser tabs.
- 6
KhanmigoStudent-facing AIFree teacher tools and a tutor for students.
- 7
Canva for EducationLessons and resourcesAI decks and worksheets, free for K-12.
- 8
DiffitDifferentiationAny text at any reading level.
- 9
Claude for TeachersAI assistantsA free year for US K-12 teachers.
- 10
CoGraderFeedback and gradingFirst-pass essay grading, 150 free a month.
- ChalkieOurs
5 resources a week · From $8.99/mo · Slides and worksheets
- MagicSchool
Free plan · From $8.33/mo · All-round AI toolkit
- Canva for Education
Free for K-12 · Always free · Design
Gamma400 credits, once · Plus plan · Fast decks
Eduaide.aiLimited free plan · From $4.17/mo · Cheap paid plan
MonshaFree plan · From $10/mo · Unit planning
KuraplanLimited free plan · From $9/mo · Detailed planning
TeachMateLimited free plan · Pro plan · UK teachers
AilaFree · Always free · England's curriculum
- ChatGPT for Teachers
Free for US K-12 staff · Paid plans · Writing anything
- Gemini for Education
Free with school Google · School add-on · Google schools
- Claude for Teachers
Free year for US K-12 · From $17/mo · Long documents
Microsoft CopilotCopilot Chat only · $18/mo add-on · Microsoft schools
Gemini NotebookFree plan · Paid plans · Your own sources
PerplexityFree plan · From $17/mo · Fact-checking
- Brisk Teaching
Free for teachers · Educator Pro · Feedback in Docs
- CoGrader
150 essays a month · From $15/mo · Essay grading
- Snorkl
Free for teachers · School plans · Math reasoning
CuripodLimited free plan · School plans · Writing practice
- Diffit
Free plan · From $14.99/mo · Leveled reading
Twee5 trial runs · From $6.50/mo · Language classes
Goblin ToolsFree · Pro plan · Executive function
Wayground10 AI credits a month · Individual plan · Live quizzes
QuestionWell5 exports a month · From $5.83/mo · Question banks
- Conker
Limited free plan · Basic plan · Science quizzes
Edcafe AI100 generations a month · From $7.99/mo · Quick activities
Prices are the cheapest individual plan in USD. "School plans" means the paid version is sold to schools or districts.
AI tools for lessons, slides and resources
Where most teachers start: describe the lesson and get a first draft of the slides, worksheet or plan to edit.
- ChalkieOurs
Lesson slide decks and printable worksheets from one prompt
5 resources a weekFrom $8.99/moK‑12Chalkie makes the two things teachers spend longest on: a full lesson slide deck with images, and printable worksheets in about 30 formats, from cloze to crosswords. Pro aligns each one to your state standards, and everything exports to Google Slides, PowerPoint, Google Docs or Word.
Pros
- Finished slides and worksheets, not outlines
- Standards for every US state
Cons
- Free plan: 5 resources a week
- Standards alignment needs Pro
MagicSchool is the AI toolkit most teachers meet first, with 80 tools for everything from rubrics and IEP drafts to parent emails and a relaunched slide maker. The free plan is generous, and schools can add student rooms with guardrails. The sheer number of tools takes a while to learn.
Pros
- A tool for nearly every task
- Generous free plan
Cons
- 80 tools take time to learn
- Docs and Word export needs Plus
Design suite with AI decks and worksheets, free for K-12
Free for K-12Always freeK‑12We love Canva here at Chalkie, and it is free for verified K-12 teachers. Magic Design drafts a whole deck from a prompt, and the AI worksheet maker turns slides into a worksheet. You still bring the teaching content.
Pros
- Free premium features for K-12
- AI decks and worksheets in one editor
Cons
- Design first, lesson second
- No standards alignment
Gamma turns a prompt, notes or a document into a clean, modern deck in under a minute. It is made for business decks, so you add the checks and practice yourself. Free credits do not refresh.
Pros
- Fast, good-looking decks
- Works from your own notes
Cons
- Free credits never refresh
- Not built around lessons
110+ templates for worksheets, question sets, games and rubrics
Limited free planFrom $4.17/moK‑12Eduaide has more than 110 templates for worksheets, graphic organizers, assessments and games, and Pro aligns to standards from over 50 jurisdictions, including Common Core, TEKS and NGSS. At $49.99 a year, Pro is one of the cheapest paid plans here. It makes documents, not slides.
Pros
- Pro is $49.99 a year
- Standards from 50+ jurisdictions
Cons
- No slide maker
- Free plan caps generations
Monsha plans whole units and makes the slides, worksheets and quizzes to go with them. It covers US, UK, Australian, Canadian and IB standards, and exports to Google, Microsoft and most learning platforms.
Pros
- Units, slides and worksheets together
- Exports to LMS formats
Cons
- Credit system takes some learning
- Fewer export options on free
Kuraplan builds lesson and unit plans against the US, UK or New Zealand curriculum, then turns them into worksheets and, on Pro, slideshows. It suits teachers who like to plan in detail before they make anything.
Pros
- Strong on full unit plans
- Three national curricula
Cons
- Slides and images need Pro
- Free limits are not published
TeachMate (formerly TeachMate AI) is the UK's answer to MagicSchool: about 160 tools for lesson plans, slides, worksheets and end-of-year reports, organised by key stage. It is built for UK schools, so US teachers will find little that matches their standards.
Pros
- Built around UK key stages
- Report-writing tools
Cons
- Little for US standards
- Free plan is a small starter set
Aila is Oak National Academy's free lesson assistant for teachers in England. One chat builds a lesson plan, a slide deck, two quizzes and a worksheet, grounded in the national curriculum. It is still in beta and cannot make images or diagrams yet.
Pros
- Free from Oak National Academy
- Plan, slides, quizzes and worksheet
Cons
- No images or diagrams yet
- England's curriculum only
Three 4th grade worksheets made in Chalkie, ready to print.
AI assistants and chatbots for teachers
General assistants that do almost anything with a good prompt. Several now have free plans just for teachers.
OpenAI's assistant, free for verified US K-12 staff
Free for US K-12 staffPaid plansAnyChatGPT is the most flexible tool here, and ChatGPT for Teachers makes it free for verified US K-12 staff until at least June 2027, with chats kept out of model training by default. It writes, explains and plans anything you ask. It does not lay out slides or worksheets, so expect to copy, paste and format.
Pros
- Free for US K-12 teachers
- Handles almost any writing task
Cons
- You format everything yourself
- Free offer is US K-12 only
Google's AI app and Gemini in Classroom, for school accounts
Free with school GoogleSchool add-onK‑12If your school uses Google Workspace for Education, you already have Gemini for Education at no extra cost, and your data is kept out of model training. Gemini in Classroom adds a tab for drafting lesson outlines, quizzes and texts. Gemini inside Docs and Slides needs Education Plus or a paid add-on.
Pros
- Already in school Google accounts
- A Gemini tab inside Classroom
Cons
- Docs and Slides features cost extra
- Features vary by school plan
Anthropic's assistant, free for a year for US K-12 teachers
Free year for US K-12From $17/moK‑12Claude for Teachers launched in July 2026 and gives verified US K-12 teachers a free year of premium Claude if they sign up by June 30, 2027. It connects to standards for all 50 states, and training is off for teacher accounts. It is strong at long documents such as unit plans and rubrics.
Pros
- Free year for US K-12 teachers
- Standards for all 50 states
Cons
- Sign up by June 2027
- No slide or worksheet layouts
Copilot Chat on school accounts; Teach on a paid add-on
Copilot Chat only$18/mo add-onAnyTeachers on Microsoft 365 school plans get Copilot Chat at no cost, with data kept inside the school's tenant. The paid academic add-on puts Copilot inside Word and PowerPoint and adds Teach, which writes lessons, quizzes and rubrics to a set reading level and standard.
Pros
- Free chat on school accounts
- Teach sets reading level and standards
Cons
- Word and PowerPoint need the add-on
- Usually bought by the school
Google renamed NotebookLM to Gemini Notebook in July 2026. Upload a textbook chapter, articles or notes, and it answers only from those sources, with citations. Its audio and video overviews turn a reading into a short podcast-style summary for students.
Pros
- Answers only from your sources
- Audio overviews of any reading
Cons
- Some features are 18+ only
- Higher limits need a paid plan
Perplexity answers questions with live web search and a citation on every claim, which makes it useful for checking facts before they go into a lesson. It is a research tool, not a resource maker.
Pros
- Cites every source
- Good for fact-checking lessons
Cons
- Does not make resources
- Education discount is unclear
Gemini for Education comes free with Google Workspace for Education.
AI tools for feedback and grading
A first read of student work in minutes. You stay the grader; the AI drafts the comments.
Browser extension with 20+ tools that work inside Google Docs
Free for teachersEducator ProK‑12Brisk works inside the tabs you already have open. Its best trick is feedback: open a student's Google Doc and it drafts comments against your rubric, which you edit before sharing. It can also level a text or build slides from an article.
Pros
- Feedback right inside Google Docs
- Free for teachers
Cons
- Free use pauses after several runs
- Chrome and Edge only
CoGrader reads each essay against your rubric, suggests a score and drafts feedback for you to edit. It comes with rubrics for state tests such as STAAR and Florida B.E.S.T., and the free plan covers 150 essays a month, which is a full set for most English teachers.
Pros
- 150 free essays a month
- Rubrics for state tests built in
Cons
- Writing only
- Scores still need your check
In Snorkl, students record their voice while they work on a whiteboard, and the AI gives feedback on their reasoning as well as the answer. It is excellent for math talk and for seeing who really understands.
Pros
- Feedback on reasoning, not answers
- Free for teachers
Cons
- Activity limits on the free plan
- Needs devices with microphones
Curipod has moved from AI slides to writing practice. Students write during a session you run, get instant AI feedback on their draft, then revise. The free plan takes any number of student writers, with a weekly session cap.
Pros
- Feedback while students write
- Any number of student writers free
Cons
- Weekly session cap on free
- Reports need a school plan
CoGrader grades essays against a rubric, with 150 free a month.
AI tools for differentiation and accessibility
Level a text, break a task into steps, or rewrite instructions for the students who need it.
Diffit rewrites any article, video or topic at the reading level you choose, then builds questions, vocabulary and graphic organizers around it. The free plan keeps your last 90 days of resources. Standards alignment and Google exports are on the paid plan.
Pros
- Any text at any reading level
- Print-ready kits and organizers
Cons
- Free plan keeps 90 days
- Google exports need a paid plan
Twee is built for English and world language teachers: it writes texts, dialogues and exercises at any CEFR level from A1 to C2, and can check students' answers. Outside language teaching it has little to offer.
Pros
- Every CEFR level, A1 to C2
- Checks student answers
Cons
- Language teaching only
- Trial is just 5 runs
Goblin Tools was made for neurodivergent people, and teachers use it with any student who freezes at a big task. Magic ToDo breaks a job into small steps, and other tools reword text or estimate how long something will take. The web version is free with no ads.
Pros
- Free, with no ads
- Breaks any task into steps
Cons
- Not for making resources
- Output can be wrong
AI quiz and question makers
Questions written to your topic or standard, sent straight to the quiz tool your class already uses.
Quizizz renamed: AI quizzes, lessons and live games
10 AI credits a monthIndividual planK‑12Wayground is the new name for Quizizz. Its AI turns a topic, PDF or video into a quiz or interactive lesson, and students play live or at their own pace. The free plan's 10 AI credits a month go quickly.
Pros
- Students already know Quizizz
- Quizzes from a PDF or video
Cons
- 10 AI credits a month free
- Free plan stores 20 activities
Questions and readings to a standard, exported to quiz tools
5 exports a monthFrom $5.83/moK‑12QuestionWell writes questions, readings and vocabulary lists to the standard you pick, then sends them in one click to Kahoot, Wayground, Blooket, Gimkit, Google Forms or your LMS. Premium is $70 a year.
Pros
- One-click export to quiz tools
- Writes to your chosen standard
Cons
- Free plan: 5 uses of most tools
- No live game of its own
Conker makes formative quizzes with read-aloud built in, and has a library of ready-made quizzes that started with NGSS and TEKS. Quizzes go out through Google Forms, Google Classroom or Canvas.
Pros
- Ready-made NGSS and TEKS quizzes
- Read-aloud for every question
Cons
- Small free allowance
- Prices vary between sources
Edcafe makes quizzes, flashcards and slides, and lets you build chatbots and assignment graders for students. The free plan's 100 generations a month is more generous than most.
Pros
- 100 free generations a month
- Student chatbots with distress flags
Cons
- 40 participants per bot free
- Exports mostly to PowerPoint
AI tutors and student-facing AI
AI your students use directly, inside limits you set. Check your school's AI policy first.
Khan Academy's AI tutor for students and assistant for teachers
Free for teachers$4/mo for familiesK‑12Khanmigo is free for teachers, paid for by Microsoft, with more than 20 tools for lesson hooks, rubrics, exit tickets and IEP drafts. For students it is a tutor that asks questions instead of giving answers, tied to Khan Academy's lessons.
Pros
- Free for teachers
- Tutors without giving answers away
Cons
- Tied to Khan Academy content
- Country list for teachers varies
In SchoolAI you build a Space around a task, and students chat with an AI that sticks to it while you watch every conversation. Pro removes the Space limit and adds rostering and standards alignment. The free trial allows five Space launches a year.
Pros
- You see every student chat
- Spaces stay on your task
Cons
- Free trial: 5 launches a year
- Pro price is not published
Flint lets teachers turn their own materials into activities that students do with an AI tutor, graded against the teacher's rubric. It is free for up to 80 users, which covers a small school or a department trial.
Pros
- Free for up to 80 users
- Uses your own materials
Cons
- Paid plans start at $3,000 a year
- No individual teacher plan
Mizou lets you build a chatbot for a task, such as interviewing a historical figure or practicing a language, and students join by link with no account. Paid plans add rubrics and your own knowledge files.
Pros
- Students join with no account
- 50 free sessions a day
Cons
- Free plan uses an older model
- Rubrics need a paid plan
Frequently asked questions
What is the best AI tool for teachers?
MagicSchool for the widest set of tools, Chalkie for finished slide decks and worksheets, and ChatGPT for Teachers or Gemini for Education for open-ended help. Most teachers use one of each.
What AI tools are free for teachers?
ChatGPT for Teachers and Claude for Teachers are free for US K-12 staff, Khanmigo is free for teachers, and Gemini for Education comes with school Google accounts. Chalkie, MagicSchool, Brisk and Diffit have free plans.
Is it safe to use AI tools with student data?
Use tools your school has approved, and leave names and personal details out of prompts. Several tools here sign data agreements with schools and keep teacher data out of model training. Check each one's privacy page.
Will AI replace teachers?
No. These tools draft resources and feedback, but they get things wrong and know nothing about your class. Teachers who check and adapt the output get the time back without losing the judgement.
How much time can AI save a teacher?
A 2025 Gallup and Walton Family Foundation survey found teachers who use AI weekly save about 5.9 hours a week. Most of it comes from planning, resources and feedback.