How much does TeacherForge cost and can I try it for free?

TeacherForge is free to start: the site advertises 18 free credits with no credit card required, which is enough to generate material and judge whether the output fits your classes before paying anything. Beyond that starting allowance, TeacherForge uses a paid upgrade model — the site links to a pricing page and describes its plans as "simple, transparent pricing," with payments processed through Lemon Squeezy. The exact plan tiers, credit amounts, and current prices are not published in the material available here, so check the pricing page for live numbers rather than relying on any figure quoted elsewhere.

What you get before paying

The free entry point is a credit balance, not a time-limited trial:

• 18 free credits on sign-up
• No credit card required to start
• Credits are spent as you compose material — worksheets, practice sets, and full exams

That structure matters because it lets you test the parts of the tool you'd actually use. If you teach exam classes, spend the credits on a full exam preset; if you teach young learners, test the vocabulary or grammar composers instead.

What the paid side covers

The upgrade path is what unlocks continued generation once the free credits run out. From the site's own description, a paid plan is the mechanism for keeping the "compose once, use forever" workflow going — regenerating variants for multiple classes, retakes, and makeups without reusing the same questions.

Why the credit model suits ESL/EFL teachers

The value of a credit isn't a single worksheet — it's a template. Every piece of material you compose can be regenerated into fresh variants with the same structure but different questions. That's the feature that decides whether a paid plan is worth it for you:

• Multiple classes at the same level — three B1 groups can each get their own variant, so answers don't circulate.
• Retakes and makeups — same rigour, zero overlap with the original paper.
• Unlimited practice — regenerate as often as you need rather than storing one static PDF.

If you teach one class and rarely reuse material, the free credits may cover your needs for a while. If you teach several parallel classes or run regular retakes, the regeneration model is the reason to upgrade.

How to decide

1. Sign up and use the 18 free credits deliberately. Build one item from each composer you'd realistically use — for example, a grammar worksheet with answer keys and a reading passage with questions.
2. Check the output against your level. The composers target A1–C2, with grammar covering a 300-point CEFR curriculum and reading offering automatic CEFR detection, so verify the generated difficulty matches your class.
3. Test the variant feature. Regenerate the same template and confirm the new version is genuinely different — this is the core paid value.
4. Then open the pricing page and compare the plan cost against how many variants you'd realistically generate per term.

The one thing to confirm on the pricing page is what happens after the free credits: whether there's a continuing free allowance or whether all further generation requires a paid plan. The material here doesn't say, and it's the deciding factor for light users.