The short answer
The best AI for teachers in 2026 is Gemini Notebook by Google, formerly NotebookLM, because it answers only from the sources you add and turns them into quizzes, flashcards, slide decks and Audio Overviews in more than 80 languages, free on the Standard plan. Claude by Anthropic is the runner-up for lesson plans, differentiated texts and feedback, and ChatGPT Free is the best free general assistant. Keep student data out of personal accounts.
| Our pick | Gemini Notebook, by Google (free Standard plan) |
|---|---|
| Runner-up | Claude, by Anthropic |
| Best free option | ChatGPT Free, by OpenAI |
| Best use | Unit planning, differentiated texts, quizzes, rubrics, revision material |
| Keep human | Final marks, reports and anything about an individual child |
| Student data | Only in tools and accounts your school has approved |
Our pick for teachers: Gemini Notebook
Why: teachers do not need an AI that knows everything. They need one that sticks to the curriculum, the textbook and the reading they chose. Gemini Notebook, Google's research assistant (called NotebookLM until 16 July 2026), answers only from the sources you add, with a citation for each answer, and turns those sources into teaching material. From one notebook you can make Audio Overviews (podcast-style summaries in more than 80 languages), Short Video Overviews of about 60 seconds, slide decks, flashcards and quizzes. Since October 2026 quizzes include short-answer, multi-select and fill-in-the-blank formats, and Interactive Learning Overviews combine summaries with slides, quizzes and flashcards in one step-by-step walkthrough.
Who it suits: teachers who build units from a fixed set of materials, and schools on Google Workspace for Education. With a work or school account, Google says uploads, queries and responses are not reviewed by humans and not used to train AI models, even if you give thumbs feedback.
The catch: it only knows what you put in. If the source is weak or one-sided, the quiz will be too, and it cannot add an example from outside the notebook. The free Standard plan allows 50 sources per notebook, and some features, such as the Longer Audio Overview and interactive mode, are English only. On a personal Google account, content is not used to directly train Google's foundational models unless you give feedback, and feedback may be read by trained reviewers. See our Gemini Notebook guide.
Runner-up: Claude, for planning, writing and feedback
Why: Claude, made by Anthropic, is the strongest writer of the general assistants, which is what lesson plans, differentiated texts, rubrics, reports and parent emails need. Claude Docs, Slides and Design are available on every plan, including Free, so a lesson plan becomes a document you can export to Word, PDF or Google Docs, and a lesson becomes a deck you can export to PowerPoint or open in Google Slides. Ask it to explain its edits on a model answer and you get something students can learn from.
Who it suits: teachers who write a lot of their own material, heads of department producing schemes of work, and anyone who wants help pitching one text at three reading levels.
The catch: the free plan has usage limits that reset every five hours with a weekly cap, and no Opus model. Personal plans can use chats for training unless you switch off Help Improve our AI models in Settings, then Privacy, so never paste identifiable student work into a personal account. Read the Claude guide or Claude vs Gemini.
Best free option: ChatGPT Free
Why: Gemini Notebook is already free on the Standard plan, so this slot goes to the best free general assistant. ChatGPT, made by OpenAI, gives unlimited text chats on the free plan with GPT-6 Luna, which matters on a heavy planning evening when other free plans hit their limits. Study mode is listed on OpenAI's plan comparison, and you get limited uploads, image creation and voice for free.
Who it suits: teachers who want quick ideas, explanations at different levels and worked examples without paying, using material that contains no student data.
The catch: the free Instant context window is about 27,000 tokens, roughly 12 pages, so long documents get cut short, and Improve the model for everyone is on by default on Free (Settings, then Data controls). Confident errors still happen, so check facts before they reach a class. See our ChatGPT guide and ChatGPT vs Gemini.
Other tools worth knowing in a school
- Perplexity Education Pro offers the Pro plan, including Learn Mode, at a discount to verified students and educators, and every Perplexity answer lists numbered sources, which helps when you teach research skills.
- Grammarly switches product improvement and training off by default on all Education accounts, and its Authorship feature shows whether and how a writer used specific Superhuman agents, with education admins choosing which agents students can use. That is useful if your school is setting rules on AI in written work.
- Canva says it never uses Canva Education student content to improve its AI.
How to choose an AI tool for teaching: three questions
- What has your school approved? Start there. School or district accounts usually come with data agreements that personal accounts do not, and student data rules are strict in most countries.
- Do you teach from fixed sources? If the material must match a set text or syllabus, use a source-grounded tool such as Gemini Notebook. If you are creating material from scratch, a general assistant such as Claude or ChatGPT is faster.
- Will student work go in? If yes, remove names and identifying details, use an approved school account, and keep the final judgement on marks with you.
Workflow: planning and resourcing one unit, end to end
- Collect the sources. Add the syllabus extract, the textbook chapter and two or three trusted readings to a new Gemini Notebook.
- Outline the unit. Ask the notebook for a six-lesson sequence with one learning objective per lesson, citing the source for each.
- Plan the lessons. Paste the outline into Claude and ask for lesson plans with a starter, main activity, check for understanding and exit ticket, each under one page.
- Differentiate. Ask Claude to rewrite the core reading at three levels, keeping the key vocabulary in all three.
- Make the checks. Back in Gemini Notebook, generate a short-answer quiz and flashcards from the sources, so every question is tied to what you taught.
- Add revision. Create an Audio Overview or a Short Video Overview for students who missed a lesson or want to revise.
- Mark with a rubric. Generate a rubric with clear descriptors, then use it yourself. If you ask AI for draft feedback, anonymise the work and rewrite the feedback in your own voice.
- Check everything once. Read the quiz answers and the differentiated texts before students see them. Fix anything wrong at source so it is right next year too.
More ideas for the classroom are in AI for teachers and our prompts for teachers. For students' own use, see the best AI for students.
What to keep human
- Final marks and reports. AI can suggest wording. The judgement on a student's work is yours.
- Anything about an individual child's wellbeing or needs. Keep it out of AI tools that your school has not approved for that purpose.
- Relationships. Use AI to draft the parent email, not to have the conversation.
7 prompts for teachers to copy
Replace the [placeholders]. The quiz prompt works best in Gemini Notebook with your sources added; the others work in any assistant. Remove student names before pasting any student work.
Prompts to copy
Plan a lesson that fits one page
Plan a [50]-minute lesson on [topic] for [age or year group]. Learning objective: [objective]. Include a 5-minute starter, a main activity with clear teacher and student steps, one check for understanding, and an exit ticket question. Note one common misconception and how to address it. Keep it to one page.
You get: A ready lesson plan with a misconception to watch for
Differentiate a text three ways
Rewrite this text for three reading levels: [below expected], [expected] and [stretch] for [year group]. Keep these key terms in all three versions: [list]. Keep the meaning identical. After each version, add two comprehension questions at that level. Text: [paste]
You get: Three versions of one reading, with questions
Quiz from your own sources
Using only the sources in this notebook, write a 10-question quiz on [topic]: four short-answer, three multi-select and three fill-in-the-blank. Give the answer and the source passage for each question. Do not include anything the sources do not cover.
You get: A quiz that matches exactly what you taught
Build a marking rubric
Create a marking rubric for a [persuasive essay] for [year group], with four criteria: [list]. For each criterion describe four levels in student-friendly language, from 'working towards' to 'exceeding'. Add a one-line example of what each level looks like.
You get: A rubric students can understand and use themselves
Draft feedback on anonymised work
Here is an anonymised student answer and the rubric: [paste both]. Suggest feedback in this format: two specific strengths with quotes from the work, one target for next time, and one question that helps the student improve it themselves. Under 100 words. Do not give a mark.
You get: Specific draft feedback you then edit in your own voice
Explain one idea four ways
Explain [concept] to [age] students in four different ways: an everyday analogy, a step-by-step worked example, a short story, and a diagram described in words I can draw on the board. Each under 100 words. Flag any simplification that could cause a misconception later.
You get: Four explanations to try when the first one does not land
Write a clear parent email
Write an email to parents of [class] about [upcoming trip / new homework policy / exam dates]. Include what is happening, dates, what they need to do and by when, and who to contact. Friendly, plain English, under 200 words, easy to read on a phone.
You get: A short email parents will actually read