15 Best Teachers Pay Teachers Alternatives (Free and Paid)

Published June 12, 2026Updated October 17, 2026By Mark Hughes

A table with binders of printable worksheets, a tablet of resource thumbnails, a globe and coloured pencils

These are the 15 best alternatives to Teachers Pay Teachers in 2026, from completely free libraries to cheap subscriptions and AI that makes the resource for you. Start with our top 10, or use the table to see what each site costs.

Our top 10 TPT alternatives

  1. 1
    Share My Lesson

    Free forever

    420,000+ free resources from the AFT.

    Free
  2. 2
    Chalkie

    Make your own with AI

    Make the exact resource you need, in a minute.

    Free planOurs
  3. 3
    Education.com

    Free plans

    40,000+ Common Core printables and games.

    Free plan
  1. 4
    Super Teacher Worksheets

    25,000+ elementary printables for $24.95 a year.

  2. 5
    Twinkl USA

    20,000+ resources made for US standards.

  3. 6
    ReadWorks

    6,000+ free reading passages.

  4. 7
    Khan Academy

    Free practice with progress tracking.

  5. 8
    Teach Starter

    Editable slides and worksheets, $73 a year.

  6. 9
    Boom Learning

    Self-checking digital task cards.

  7. 10
    The Curriculum Corner

    Free TPT-style printables for elementary.

All 15 at a glance15 sites · as of October 2026

Free forever

Free plans

Paid libraries

Make your own with AI

  • ChalkieOurs

    5 resources a week · From $8.99/mo · K‑12

  • MagicSchool

    Free plan · From $8.33/mo · K‑12

Prices are the cheapest individual plan in USD.

Free alternatives to Teachers Pay Teachers

No paywall at all. These are funded by nonprofits, unions, public media or donations.

  1. Free lessons and resources from the American Federation of Teachers

    EverythingAlways freePreK‑12

    Share My Lesson is run by the American Federation of Teachers and has more than 420,000 free resources uploaded by teachers, from SEL to special education and world languages. It is the closest free thing to TPT's breadth. Quality varies, because anyone can upload.

    Pros

    • 420,000+ free resources
    • Every subject, PreK to 12

    Cons

    • Quality varies by uploader
    • Search takes some digging
  2. Free reading passages and question sets from a nonprofit

    EverythingAlways freeK‑12

    ReadWorks is a nonprofit with more than 6,000 free reading passages and question sets, many on science and social studies topics. If you buy reading comprehension packs on TPT, start here first.

    Pros

    • 6,000+ free passages
    • Question sets ready to assign

    Cons

    • Reading only
    • No slides or full lessons
  3. Free courses, practice and teacher dashboards

    EverythingAlways freeK‑12

    Khan Academy's 840+ free courses come with practice you can assign and progress you can track. It replaces paid practice packs rather than printables, and its Khanmigo assistant is free for teachers.

    Pros

    • Free practice with tracking
    • Khanmigo free for teachers

    Cons

    • Few printable worksheets
    • Course-style, not lesson-ready
  4. Free videos, interactives and lessons from PBS

    EverythingAlways freePreK‑12

    PBS LearningMedia has free videos, interactives and lesson plans from PBS stations, including NOVA, Ken Burns and PBS KIDS, searchable by standard and shareable to Google Classroom.

    Pros

    • Trusted PBS content
    • Search by standard

    Cons

    • Mostly video
    • Few printables
  5. Free printable literacy and math resources by former teachers

    EverythingAlways freePreK‑6

    The Curriculum Corner is run by former teachers and gives away the kind of printables TPT sellers charge for: literacy centers, reading units, math games, planning binders and even sub plans. It is free for classroom use and paid for by ads.

    Pros

    • TPT-style printables, free
    • Planning binders and centers

    Cons

    • Elementary only
    • Ad-supported pages

PBS LearningMedia: free, standards-aligned videos and lessons.PBS LearningMedia: free, standards-aligned videos and lessons.

Sites like Teachers Pay Teachers with a free plan

A real free allowance, then one flat price for the whole library instead of paying per resource.

  1. Printable worksheets, games and guided lessons

    3 downloads a month$119.88/yrPreK‑8

    Education.com has more than 40,000 worksheets, games and activities aligned to Common Core. One Premium plan covers up to 35 students and removes the download limit, and first-year deals often cut the price in half.

    Pros

    • 40,000+ Common Core resources
    • Covers a whole class

    Cons

    • 3 free downloads a month
    • Renews at full price
  2. Printable worksheets and generators for elementary

    Hundreds of free sheets$24.95/yrPreK‑6

    Super Teacher Worksheets has more than 25,000 printables for elementary grades, from phonics to place value, plus generators for word searches and quizzes. At $24.95 a year, it costs less than a handful of TPT bundles.

    Pros

    • 25,000+ printables for $24.95
    • Daily word problems built in

    Cons

    • Elementary only
    • Print-first, little digital
  3. Free printable worksheets for kindergarten to grade 5

    Most worksheets$23.95/yrK‑5

    K5 Learning gives away most of its math, reading and grammar worksheets with no account. Membership removes grade labels and ads, which helps if you use the sheets for intervention with older students.

    Pros

    • Most worksheets free, no account
    • Clean, simple practice

    Cons

    • Print-only PDFs
    • Grades K to 5 only
  4. Editable worksheets, slides and units, aligned to standards

    Free PDF collection$73/yrPreK‑7

    Teach Starter, now part of Tes, makes polished worksheets, slides and unit plans that you can edit in Google Slides or PowerPoint. The free collection is PDF only; editable files need Plus at $73 a year.

    Pros

    • Editable Slides and PowerPoint
    • Consistent, polished design

    Cons

    • Free files are not editable
    • Up to grade 7 only
  5. Self-checking digital task cards, made by teachers

    5 studentsFrom $6.99/moPreK‑12

    Boom Cards are self-checking digital task cards made by teachers. More than 500,000 decks report results for each student. The free Starter plan works for five students, so most teachers will need Premium.

    Pros

    • Self-checking, with student reports
    • 500,000+ decks

    Cons

    • Free plan: 5 students
    • Many decks cost extra

Super Teacher Worksheets: 25,000+ printables for $24.95 a year.Super Teacher Worksheets: 25,000+ printables for $24.95 a year.

One subscription instead of paying per resource. Worth it if you buy from TPT every month.

  1. Huge library with 20,000+ resources for US standards

    Limited free accountMembershipPreK‑8

    Twinkl is the giant of subscription libraries, with over a million resources worldwide and more than 20,000 made for US standards, including Common Core, TEKS and NGSS. Most of the library sits behind a membership.

    Pros

    • 20,000+ US-standards resources
    • Slides, printables and games

    Cons

    • Most resources need a membership
    • UK origins show in places
  2. Scholastic printables, mini-books and activities

    Free trial$29.99/yrPreK‑6

    Teachables gives you more than 30,000 Scholastic printables, including over 2,000 mini-books, for $29.99 a year after a 30-day trial. Scholastic adds more than 100 new resources a month.

    Pros

    • Scholastic quality for $29.99
    • 2,000+ mini-books

    Cons

    • No free plan after the trial
    • Grades PreK to 6 only
  3. Science and math videos with lessons and quizzes

    5 free lessons$250/yrK‑8

    Generation Genius makes short, high-quality science and math videos with lesson plans, quizzes and worksheets, aligned to NGSS and state standards. It is pricey for one teacher, so it is often bought by schools.

    Pros

    • Excellent science videos
    • NGSS and state standards

    Cons

    • $250 a year for one subject
    • Answer keys are paid only

Make the resource yourself with AI

When no seller has made exactly what you need, AI makes it to your topic, grade and standard in a minute.

  1. Lesson slides and printable worksheets on any topic

    5 resources a weekFrom $8.99/moK‑12

    Chalkie makes the kind of resource you would buy on TPT, but to your exact topic: a full lesson slide deck with images, or a printable worksheet in one of about 30 formats. Pro aligns it to your state standards, and everything exports to Google Slides, PowerPoint, Docs or Word.

    Pros

    • Exactly your topic and grade
    • Slides and worksheets, ready to teach

    Cons

    • Free plan: 5 resources a week
    • Alignment needs Pro
  2. 80+ AI tools for worksheets, slides and planning

    Free planFrom $8.33/moK‑12

    MagicSchool's free plan includes a worksheet generator, a relaunched slide maker and dozens of other tools. Its worksheets come out as editable documents, so expect to tidy them before printing.

    Pros

    • Generous free plan
    • Worksheets and slides in one place

    Cons

    • Documents need formatting
    • Docs and Word export needs Plus

Four slides from a 5th grade writing lesson made in Chalkie.Four slides from a 5th grade writing lesson made in Chalkie.

Frequently asked questions

Is Teachers Pay Teachers free?

Partly. TPT has free resources from sellers, but most cost money, typically a few dollars each and up to $25 or more for bundles. The free sites in this list have no paywall at all.

What is the best free alternative to Teachers Pay Teachers?

Share My Lesson, for its 420,000+ free resources across every subject. For reading, ReadWorks. For elementary printables, The Curriculum Corner and K5 Learning.

Is there a site like TPT with a subscription instead?

Yes. Education.com, Super Teacher Worksheets, Teach Starter, Twinkl and Teachables by Scholastic all charge one price for their whole library. Super Teacher Worksheets is the cheapest at $24.95 a year.

Can AI replace buying resources on TPT?

For many resources, yes. AI tools such as Chalkie make slides and worksheets on your exact topic and grade. For hand-crafted games, novel studies and classroom decor, TPT sellers are still hard to beat.

Are resources on free sites aligned to standards?

Some are. PBS LearningMedia and Education.com let you search by standard, and ReadWorks lists NGSS links. Teacher-uploaded sites such as Share My Lesson vary, so check each resource.