PlanbookEdu review

PlanbookEdu is an online lesson planbook that has been around since 2004, which makes it one of the oldest tools in this category. It was started by a former classroom teacher and a software developer, and it still does the same core job: a weekly grid of lessons that you can open from any computer, tablet or phone. Teachers use it on their own, and schools buy group plans so leaders can collect and comment on plans in one place.

Who it’s for

PlanbookEdu suits teachers who want a plain digital version of the paper planbook, without a learning curve. If your school asks for weekly plans in a set format, it covers that job well, and the free plan may be all you need. Elementary teachers with many subjects a day and secondary teachers on A/B or rotating schedules both get a layout that fits.

It is less suited to teachers who want their planner to push lessons into an LMS. If posting straight to Google Classroom matters to you, look at Common Curriculum or Planboard.

What it does well

It is simple. You open the week, click a period, and type the lesson in a word processor style editor. There is no setup wizard and no long list of features to learn before you can plan Monday. Teachers who just want their plans out of a spiral notebook and into the cloud will be working in a few minutes.

Scheduling copes with real timetables. The free plan already handles A/B days and rotation schedules, which trip up a lot of simpler planners. Unlimited weekly plans are included, so you don’t run out of space halfway through the year.

Premium adds the tools most schools ask for. You can tag lessons with Common Core, state or custom standards and search by them, attach worksheets and files, and print or export plans to Word or PDF with the attachments included. Sharing lets you send plans to a principal, a grade-level team or a substitute and choose what each person sees. That substitute option is handy when you are off sick and need to send tomorrow’s plans quickly.

School accounts work well for leaders. Administrators manage teacher accounts centrally, review the planbooks teachers turn in, and leave comments on them. Billing comes as one yearly invoice or purchase order, and staff can sign in with their Google Workspace for Education accounts. For a school that collects weekly plans by email today, this saves a lot of chasing.

Where it falls short

The free plan is a planbook and little else. Standards, attachments, sharing, export, search and spell check all need Premium. At $30 a year that is cheap, but a teacher who needs to hand plans to a principal will have to pay or rely on a school plan.

Its site doesn’t describe any posting to Google Classroom or other LMS integration, so lessons stay in the planbook. Teachers who build their materials in an LMS will copy content across by hand.

It runs in the browser on every device rather than through dedicated apps. That works, but planning on a phone in a browser is less comfortable than in a purpose-built app.

The privacy policy is thin for a school tool. It has no date, doesn’t mention students, and doesn’t name FERPA or COPPA. Lesson plans rarely hold much student data, but schools should still check before teachers add student names or accommodations to plans.

Pricing

The free plan costs nothing and has no time limit. Premium costs $30 a year and comes with a 14-day trial, checked in November 2026. Schools and districts can get group pricing by quote, with central billing and one yearly invoice or purchase order.

Privacy and data

PlanbookEdu’s privacy policy says the company will not rent or sell personally identifying information, and that it shares data only with staff, contractors and affiliates who need it, some of whom may be outside your country. With a visitor’s consent, the site uses Google Analytics and Google Ads cookies, plus a feedback widget from UserVoice. The policy doesn’t say where data is hosted, how long it is kept, or how to delete an account, and it doesn’t address student data. Schools buying a group plan should ask for a data agreement that covers those points. Our student data privacy checklist lists what to ask.

Verdict

PlanbookEdu is a cheap, no-fuss planbook with a free plan that really is free and school accounts that make collecting plans easy. Teachers who want standards, LMS posting and a modern app should compare it with Planbook and the rest of the teacher planner ranking. Schools should ask for clearer privacy terms before rolling it out widely.

See the best PlanbookEdu alternatives