Last updated: May 2026. This page replaces the original 2012 tools list. Pricing and free tier details change frequently — verify on each platform’s pricing page before purchasing.
The original version of this page was published in 2012. Most of what was on it is now obsolete, and the landscape has changed enough that a simple update wasn’t practical. This is a fresh list organized around what teachers and learners are actually using in 2026, with a focus on tools rather than content sites. For categorized lists of language learning websites — grammar, reading, listening, vocabulary, and more — see the Website Megalist.
Contents
- AI Speaking and Pronunciation Tools
- AI Writing and Feedback Tools
- Audio Recording and Editing
- Blogging and Portfolio Platforms
- Collaborative Learning / Digital Whiteboard Tools
- Corpus and Dictionary Tools
- Graphic and Image Creation
- Learning Management Systems (LMS)
- Live Classroom Response Tools
- Media Players
- Quiz and Activity Creation
- Screencasting and Recording
- Utilities
- Video Creation and Annotation
- Virtual Environments and Meeting Spaces
1. AI Speaking and Pronunciation Tools
AI conversation and pronunciation tools have matured significantly. The best now go beyond pass/fail feedback to provide phoneme-level analysis and adaptive conversation practice. They are most useful as supplements to classroom speaking work, not replacements for it. Feedback accuracy varies by language — English support is strongest; tonal languages like Mandarin and Vietnamese remain less reliable.
ELSA Speak — The most focused pronunciation tool available for English learners. ELSA analyzes speech at the phoneme level, identifies specific problem sounds, and builds a personalized practice plan. It has moved beyond isolated drills into conversational scenarios including job interviews and presentations. English only, which is its primary limitation. Free tier available; Premium from approximately $13/month.
Talkio AI — Conversation practice with AI tutors across 40+ languages and 130+ regional dialects, distinguishing, for example, Brazilian Portuguese from European Portuguese. Real-time pronunciation scoring and vocabulary tracking. Useful for intermediate and advanced learners who need speaking volume that classroom time can’t provide. From $10/month with a 7-day free trial; team and school plans available.
Speak — Structured conversation practice with AI tutors across 15+ languages. Polished mobile interface with progressive lesson design. More structured than Talkio, which suits learners who want guided progression rather than open conversation. From approximately $12/month.
HelloTalk — A language exchange platform connecting learners with native speakers for mutual practice. Less consistent than AI tools in terms of availability and feedback quality, but provides authentic interaction that AI partners can’t replicate. Free tier with core features; Plus plan available.
2. AI Writing and Feedback Tools
Three tools dominate actual classroom use for EFL writing feedback: ChatGPT, Grammarly, and QuillBot. They serve different functions and are most effective when used deliberately for specific purposes rather than as general-purpose fix-everything tools.
Grammarly — Real-time grammar, spelling, style, and tone feedback as students write. The educational value is in the explanations, not just the corrections — paid tiers explain why something is wrong, which creates a learning moment rather than just a fix. Integrates with browsers and most word processors. Free tier covers basic grammar and spelling. Premium from approximately $12/month; institutional plans available.
QuillBot — Primarily a paraphrasing and rewriting tool, useful for helping students rework source material into their own language. Also includes a summarizer, grammar checker, and citation generator. Most useful for reading comprehension support and academic writing tasks. Worth being explicit with students about appropriate use. Free tier with limited paraphrasing; Premium at approximately $9.95/month.
Wordtune — Focuses on sentence-level rewriting and tone adjustment. Useful for helping students understand how the same idea can be expressed differently, making it a better teaching tool than QuillBot for style awareness. Free tier available; paid plans from approximately $10/month.
Large Language Models (ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Copilot, DeepSeek) — All five major LLMs handle writing feedback competently, and for EFL students they offer something genuinely useful: patient, detailed, on-demand response to drafts at any hour. Used well, they can identify grammar patterns, flag register mismatches, suggest structural improvements, and explain their reasoning in plain language. The feedback quality is broadly comparable across the main platforms, though responses vary in tone and depth depending on how the prompt is framed. Vague requests (“check my essay”) produce vague feedback; specific prompts asking for particular types of attention produce far more actionable results. For a tested prompt designed specifically for student writing feedback, see Jeff’s favorite AI writing feedback prompt.
LanguageTool — Open-source grammar and style checker supporting 30+ languages, making it more useful for multilingual classrooms than English-only tools. Integrates with browsers, Google Docs, and Word. Free tier covers most basic use cases; Premium from approximately $5/month.
3. Audio Recording and Editing
Audacity — The standard free, open-source audio editor. Available for Windows, Mac, and Linux. Handles multi-track recording, noise reduction, format conversion, and a wide range of effects. The interface is dated and the learning curve is steeper than simpler alternatives, but for teachers creating podcast-style content or students doing extended audio projects, it remains the most capable free option. Completely free, open-source.
Ocenaudio — A cleaner, more modern alternative to Audacity for straightforward recording and editing tasks. Better for trimming recordings, removing noise, and basic editing without the complexity of a full digital audio workstation. Lacks Audacity’s multitrack capabilities. Completely free, cross-platform.
Online Voice Recorder — Browser-based recording with no installation required. Useful for quick student recordings and low-stakes audio tasks. Free.
Adobe Audition — Professional-grade audio editing with far more capability than most language teachers need. Worth knowing if your institution has a Creative Cloud license. Included in Adobe Creative Cloud subscriptions.
4. Blogging and Portfolio Platforms
Blogging as a classroom activity is less central than it was in 2012, but student writing portfolios, class blogs, and reflective journals remain legitimate pedagogical tools. The platform landscape has narrowed considerably.
Edublogs — The most education-specific option, built on WordPress and designed for classroom management of student blogs. Handles privacy controls well, which matters when students are publishing online. Hosts over 5 million education blogs. Free tier includes 1GB storage, 250+ themes, ad-free experience, privacy controls, and basic class management tools. Free blogs are not indexed by search engines, which is a feature rather than a limitation for most classroom use. Pro plan at $39.95/year removes storage and feature limits.
WordPress.com — More capable than Edublogs for teachers who want their blog to function as a genuine public site, but more complex to manage for classroom use. The free tier is functional but ad-supported and limited. Skills learned here transfer to the broader web. Free tier available; paid plans from approximately $4/month.
Blogger — Google’s original blogging platform, launched in 1999 and still maintained, though not actively developed. The interface is dated and the design options are limited compared to everything else on this list, but it has two things going for it: it’s completely free with no storage limits, and anyone with a Google account can have a live blog in under five minutes. For students who just need a low-friction place to publish writing for the first time, that simplicity has real value. Don’t expect much in the way of privacy controls or classroom management features. Free.
Google Sites — Extremely simple website builder that works well for student portfolios and class project pages when writing isn’t the focus. Integrates with Google Drive and Docs. Free with any Google account.
Notion — Not a blogging platform, but increasingly used by students for portfolio work and organized note-keeping. Free tier is generous for individual use.
5. Collaborative Learning / Digital Whiteboard Tools
Google Jamboard was discontinued in late 2024. The tools below cover its core use cases and go considerably further.
Padlet — A shared board where participants post text, images, links, video, and files. Works as a collaborative notice board, discussion space, student output display, or resource collection. One of the most versatile classroom tools for visible, asynchronous group work — students post responses to a prompt and can see and respond to each other’s contributions. The free tier is now quite restrictive at 3 padlets total with ads; it’s functional for evaluation but not practical for ongoing classroom use. Gold plan at approximately $70/year removes the cap and ads. Classroom plans at approximately $160/year add student account management and privacy controls.
FigJam — Figma’s collaborative whiteboard tool, and the most practical free option for education after Jamboard’s discontinuation. Infinite canvas, sticky notes, drawing tools, timers, templates, and real-time collaboration. Completely free for verified teachers and students in education — unlimited boards. Setup requires a Figma account but no design experience. Strong fit for brainstorming tasks, concept mapping, and group project planning. Free for education; Pro at $5/editor/month for non-education accounts.
Miro — The most feature-rich collaborative whiteboard in the category, with 2,500+ templates, flowcharting, mind mapping, and extensive integrations. Better suited for complex workshops and structured facilitation than simple classroom brainstorming. The free plan is limited to 3 editable boards. A verified Education plan provides unlimited boards — the application process takes some time. Paid plans from $10/user/month.
Excalidraw — Open-source, browser-based whiteboard with a distinctive hand-drawn visual style. No account required, real-time collaboration via shared link, end-to-end encryption, and completely free. Best for quick collaborative sketching and diagram work. No setup friction whatsoever — share a link and start drawing. Free (open source); Plus plan at $6/user/month adds cloud save.
6. Corpus and Dictionary Tools
Corpus tools let students and teachers look at how language is actually used in real-world texts, rather than how textbooks say it should be used. For EFL learners working on collocation, preposition use, and idiomatic expression, these tools offer something dictionaries can’t.
SKELL — Sketch Engine for Language Learning — The most accessible corpus tool for classroom use. Free, no registration required. Type any word and get example sentences, collocations organized by grammatical category, and similar words. Built on the same technology as the professional Sketch Engine corpus tool but simplified for learners. Excellent for vocabulary depth work and collocation practice.
COCA — Corpus of Contemporary American English — The largest freely available corpus of American English, with over 1 billion words from spoken, fiction, magazines, newspapers, and academic sources. More powerful than SKELL but requires more explanation before students can use it independently. Free registration; some advanced features require paid access.
Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English Online — The gold standard learner’s dictionary for EFL. Clear definitions, example sentences at appropriate proficiency levels, and audio pronunciation. Free.
Cambridge Dictionary Online — Clear grammar patterns and both British and American English. Good complement to LDOCE. Free.
Oxford Learner’s Dictionaries — Strong for academic vocabulary and formal register. Free.
7. Graphic and Image Creation
Canva — Has effectively absorbed most of this category for classroom use. Templates for presentations, posters, infographics, social media, and more. The Education plan is free for verified K-12 teachers and their students, with access to the full Pro feature set. University teachers are not covered by the K-12 program but can use the generous free tier, which includes 250,000+ templates and 5GB storage. Pro at $120/year for individuals.
Genially — Creates interactive, animated content: presentations, infographics, escape rooms, quizzes, and gamified activities. The distinguishing feature is interactivity — elements can be clickable, animated, and layered in ways that Canva doesn’t support. Used by over 30 million people, with strong uptake among language teachers building choice boards and interactive lesson materials. The free plan is genuinely usable: unlimited projects, 1,000+ templates, and shareable links, though all free content is public and carries a watermark. Paid education plans start at approximately $12.50/month and add privacy controls, downloads, and student workspace features.
Adobe Express — Adobe’s web-based design tool, comparable to Canva in most respects. Premium at $9.99/month; may be included in existing Creative Cloud subscriptions. Stronger integration with Photoshop and Illustrator for teachers already in the Adobe ecosystem.
Piktochart — Specialized in infographics and data visualization. Useful for student projects involving data presentation or visual argumentation. Free tier available; paid plans at discounted education rates.
Google Drawings — Basic vector drawing tool built into Google Workspace. Good enough for simple diagrams, concept maps, and labeled images. Free with a Google account.
8. Learning Management Systems (LMS)
Which LMS you use is largely determined by your institution. The options below are relevant for teachers making independent choices or supplementing an existing system.
Google Classroom — The simplest and most widely used option for teachers who don’t need advanced course management. Assignment distribution, feedback, and basic gradebook. Free for anyone with a Google account. Integrates cleanly with Docs, Drive, Forms, and Meet. Works well for straightforward classroom workflows.
Canvas (Free for Teachers) — Instructure’s Canvas LMS offers a perpetual free individual teacher plan with genuine course-building capability including quizzes, discussions, and a gradebook. More powerful than Google Classroom for complex course design. Institutional plans (required for centralized admin and LMS integration) are custom-priced. The free plan is a realistic option for independent teachers.
Moodle — Open-source LMS used by universities worldwide. Highly customizable but requires hosting and technical setup. Not practical for individual teachers without institutional support. Free to use; hosting costs apply.
H5P — Not a full LMS but a powerful interactive content creation framework that integrates with Moodle, Canvas, and WordPress. Allows teachers to build drag-and-drop activities, interactive videos, fill-in-the-blank exercises, and more. Open-source and free on self-hosted platforms; hosted version at H5P.com has a free tier with limited content types.
9. Live Classroom Response Tools
Tools in this category turn student devices into real-time response systems for quizzes, polls, games, and formative assessment. For a full review of current platforms including detailed pricing and free tier comparisons, see Live Classroom Activity Sites in 2026.
Baamboozle · Blooket · Gimkit · Kahoot · Mentimeter · Nearpod · Plickers · Quizlet Live · Socrative · Wayground (formerly Quizizz) · Wooclap · Wordwall
10. Media Players
VLC Media Player — Still the universal recommendation. Plays virtually every video and audio format without additional codecs, runs on Windows, Mac, Linux, Android, and iOS, with no ads or tracking. Speed control, subtitle support, and network streaming make it particularly useful for language teachers working with video content. Completely free, open-source.
PotPlayer — Windows-only but more visually polished than VLC with deeper customization and strong hardware acceleration for high-resolution video. Free.
Windows Media Player — The built-in Windows 11 Media Player (a significant improvement over the legacy version) handles MKV and most modern formats natively. Adequate for basic needs. Free.
11. Quiz and Activity Creation
H5P — The best tool for building genuinely interactive content: drag-and-drop, cloze tests, interactive video, matching activities. Can be embedded in WordPress, Moodle, or Canvas. Steep initial learning curve but high output quality. Free on self-hosted platforms.
Google Forms — Fast, free, and integrates directly with Google Classroom and Sheets for response tracking. Good for straightforward quizzes, surveys, and exit tickets. Free with a Google account.
Quizlet — The standard vocabulary study platform. Teachers create term-definition sets; students use them for self-study via flashcard, Learn, and Test modes. More features have moved behind a paywall since 2024, but core creation and basic study modes remain accessible for free. Teacher Plus at $35.99/year adds progress tracking.
Wordwall — Enter content once, generate multiple activity formats: matching pairs, anagrams, maze chase, crossword, quiz, and more. Particularly useful for EFL vocabulary and grammar work where format variety aids retention. Free tier limited to 5 activities; Standard from approximately $2.99/month.
Quizgecko — AI-powered quiz generation from uploaded documents, PDFs, or text. Useful for building reading comprehension activities quickly from authentic materials. Free tier available; paid plans from approximately $8/month.
Microsoft Forms — Comparable to Google Forms and free for anyone with a Microsoft account. Worth knowing for institutions running Microsoft 365.
12. Screencasting and Recording
Loom — The easiest option for recording short instructional videos with webcam and screen capture simultaneously. The free plan allows up to 25 five-minute recordings. Loom for Education is free for qualified educators with unlimited recordings and premium features. Paid plans from $15/user/month.
Screencastify — Education-focused screencasting tool working as a Chrome extension. Allows video assignment submission from students, making it more useful than Loom for classroom workflows where students record and submit. Free tier limits recordings to 5 minutes. Paid plans at $15–20/user/month.
Screenpal (formerly Screencast-O-Matic) — Free tier allows recordings up to 15 minutes with no limit on number of recordings, making it more practical for longer lesson recordings than Loom or Screencastify on free plans. Includes basic editing tools. Free tier available; paid plans from approximately $3/month.
OBS Studio — The most powerful free screencasting and live streaming tool available. No recording limits, extensive customization, and multi-source compositing. Steep learning curve — not a quick setup. Worth learning if you produce regular video content. Completely free, open-source.
Built-in options — Windows 10/11 includes Xbox Game Bar (Win+G) and Snipping Tool for basic screen recording. Mac includes QuickTime Player screen recording. Both are free and adequate for occasional use.
13. Utilities
Tools that don’t fit neatly elsewhere but that teachers and students regularly need.
File Conversion
CloudConvert — Converts between virtually any file format (documents, audio, video, images). Free tier with a monthly conversion limit.
Smallpdf — PDF compression, conversion, merging, and splitting. Free tier covers most basic tasks.
ILovePDF — Similar to Smallpdf with a generous free tier for PDF tools.
PDF Tools
Adobe Acrobat Reader — The standard for viewing and annotating PDFs. Free.
Sejda — Online PDF editing, merging, and compression. Free tier available.
QR Codes and URL Tools
QR Code Generator — Free basic QR code creation. Useful for linking physical materials to digital content.
Bitly — URL shortener with basic click tracking. Free tier available.
Speed and Connectivity
Speedtest by Ookla — The standard internet speed test. Useful for diagnosing streaming and video call problems. Free.
Fast.com — Netflix’s simple speed test. Good for quick checks. Free.
Browser Extensions
Google Translate extension — Inline page translation and text selection translation. Free.
Language Reactor — Adds dual subtitles, vocabulary lookup, and sentence-by-sentence navigation to Netflix and YouTube, turning streaming content into a language learning environment. Particularly useful for self-study learners working on listening and reading simultaneously. Free tier covers core features; Pro at approximately $7/month adds export and advanced tools.
AdBlock / uBlock Origin — Both block ads across websites and YouTube videos, worth installing on classroom computers to avoid inappropriate or distracting content appearing mid-lesson. uBlock Origin is lighter on system resources and generally considered more effective; AdBlock is more widely known. Both are free.
14. Video Creation and Annotation
Edpuzzle — Turns any video (YouTube, uploaded, or recorded) into an interactive lesson by embedding questions at specific timestamps. Students must answer before the video continues. Analytics show exactly where students paused, rewatched, or struggled. Widely used for flipped classroom and homework viewing tasks. Free tier limited to 20 videos; Pro Teacher at $15/month removes the limit.
YouTube Studio — For teachers who create their own video content, YouTube Studio provides basic editing (trimming, cutting), automatic captions, and analytics. Free with a Google account.
Kapwing — Browser-based video editor with subtitle generation, trimming, resizing, and simple effects. Free tier available with watermark; paid plans from approximately $16/month.
Clipchamp — Microsoft’s browser-based video editor, built into Windows 11 and free with a Microsoft account. Adequate for basic video creation with templates, text overlays, and stock media.
Canva Video — Canva’s video creation tools are included in the main Canva platform. Good for short, visually polished classroom videos from templates. Free tier available; Education plan free for K-12 teachers.
15. Virtual Environments and Meeting Spaces
Zoom — Still the most reliable platform for video calls, webinars, and online classes. Free plan allows unlimited meetings with a 40-minute limit on group calls of 3+ participants. Pro at approximately $13–16/month removes time limits. Education institutions can contact sales for academic pricing.
Google Meet — Free tier allows group meetings up to 60 minutes with up to 100 participants, automatic captions, screen sharing, and recording to Drive. Integrated into Google Workspace. No download required for participants. Paid plans as part of Google Workspace from $6/user/month.
Microsoft Teams — The natural choice for institutions running Microsoft 365. Free tier available; bundled into Microsoft 365 plans at various price points.
Gather — A 2D virtual space where participants move avatars around a customizable map and enter proximity-based video conversations. Offers something standard video calls can’t: spontaneous small-group interaction, student movement between activities, and persistent shared spaces. Gather ended its free tier in September 2025. Paid plans now start at approximately $7/user/month, with education and nonprofit discounts available on request.
Mozilla Hubs — Browser-based 3D virtual space accessible without VR hardware on any device. Less polished than Gather but more immersive and useful for teachers interested in virtual field trips and 3D collaborative environments. Free for basic use.
AI-assisted, human-edited. Pricing verified May 2026 — confirm current rates on each platform’s pricing page before purchasing.