Best Apps For Teachers (2025)

A curated collection of widely used educational apps that support instruction, organization, and student engagement in K–12 classrooms.

Core Apps Teachers Actually Use

Google Workspace for Education
What it is: An integrated productivity suite for planning, feedback, and classroom communication.
Good for: docs, slides, collaboration, assignment workflow
Example: Students draft in Docs; teacher uses comments and version history for real-time revision.

Canva for Education
What it is: A design platform with classroom templates and collaboration tools.
Good for: visuals, posters, slide decks, student products
Example: Groups co-create a one-page “unit concept map” as a review artifact.

YouTube
What it is: The largest free library of teacher- and student-credible video content.
Good for: flipped learning, content models, enrichment
Example: A short vetted explainer launches a discussion before guided practice.

Seesaw
What it is: A student portfolio and feedback platform.
Good for: evidence of learning, formative assessment, family visibility
Example: Students upload weekly reflections with photo or video documentation.

Remind
What it is: A school-friendly messaging tool for quick updates and communication.
Good for: announcements, family contact, reminders
Example: A teacher shares a quick reminder before a field trip or assessment.

Goodnotes / Notability
What it is: Tablet-based handwriting, annotation, and PDF markup.
Good for: modeling, digital handouts, mini-lessons
Example: A teacher annotates a passage while mirroring the tablet to the class display.

Nearpod
What it is: Interactive lessons with polls and formative checks.
Good for: engagement, rapid feedback, pacing
Example: A quick checkpoint poll clarifies misconceptions mid-lesson.

Kahoot
What it is: Game-based formative assessment.
Good for: review, retrieval practice, energy
Example: A brief vocabulary sprint before Friday’s quiz.

Padlet
What it is: A visual board for brainstorming and curation.
Good for: idea collection, exemplars, group work
Example: Students post examples of literary devices from current reading.

Quizlet
What it is: Study sets with practice modes and adaptive review.
Good for: retrieval, independent study, quick checks
Example: Students use a shared deck to prepare for a short quiz.

Planning & Classroom Workflow

Planboard
What it is: A lightweight digital lesson planner with pacing tools.
Good for: planning, curriculum rhythm, unit structure
Example: A teacher maps out a week of lessons and attaches resources to each day.

Notion
What it is: A flexible workspace for planning and organization.
Good for: unit planning, resource tracking, team systems
Example: One shared page houses project rubrics, links, and exemplars.

Schoology
What it is: A course management platform for instruction and materials.
Good for: blended learning, organization
Example: Students access prompts, rubrics, and submissions in one space.

Socrative
What it is: A quick-response formative assessment tool.
Good for: warm-ups, exit tickets, hinge questions
Example: A three-question check determines whether to reteach or extend.

Plickers
What it is: Polling + data using teacher scanning, not student devices.
Good for: device-limited classrooms
Example: Students hold answer cards while the teacher scans the room.

MultiTimer
What it is: A structured time and task management app.
Good for: station work, transitions, timeboxing
Example: Rotations move automatically on a visible countdown timer.

Trello
What it is: A visual board for tasks, units, or team planning.
Good for: mapping, resource hubs, workflow
Example: Split boards track “Draft → Teach → Refine” cycles.

AI-Adjacent Instructional Tools

Diffit
What it is: Text differentiation and scaffolds from a single source.
Good for: access, leveled texts, question sets
Example: One article generates multiple reading levels while keeping aligned prompts.

Curipod
What it is: Prompt-based lesson slides and interactive warm-ups.
Good for: quick starts, engagement, discussion cues
Example: A 60-second prompt creates instant discussion slides.

Perplexity Edu
What it is: Research with citations surfaced by default.
Good for: inquiry, research modeling
Example: Students compare summaries and then open original sources.

Best Free Apps (Mini-List)

Google Workspace — full productivity suite free for schools.

Canva for Education — design and media creation for students and teachers.

YouTube — teacher-curated libraries for every subject area.

Padlet — collaborative boards for quick sharing and brainstorming.

More at Best Free Apps for Teachers.

Best Grading Apps (Mini-List)

Gradescope — rubric-based grading at speed and scale.

Google Classroom — streamlined feedback and rubrics built into workflow.

Formative — live student responses with auto-scoring when applicable.

More at Best Grading Apps.

Best Organization Apps (Mini-List)

Notion — connected pages and databases for lesson planning and resource hubs.

Trello — board-based task management for units, projects, and teams.

Google Keep — lightweight notes, lists, and reminders across devices.

Todoist — structured to-do lists with priorities, labels, and scheduling.

Evernote — long-form notes, notebooks, and archive-friendly organization.

More at Organization Apps for Teachers.

Course & Community Platforms for Teachers

GroupApp
What it is: A course and community platform for hosting content and discussion spaces.
Good for: course hosting & teacher collaboration
Example: A cohort course with modules, member discussions, and shared resources.

Heights Platform
What it is: A creator-first course platform with cohorts, progress tracking, and sales tools.
Good for: course hosting & teacher collaboration
Example: A guided PD course with lesson videos, downloadable resources, and badges.

Optional Honorable Mentions

Flip — reflective video check-ins.

Adobe Express — lightweight media creation.

OneNote Class Notebook — Microsoft alternative to Google-based workflows.